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Community Corner

Local Moms Get Down to Business

Four Highland Park women turn entrepreneurial.

Many moms have the same dilemma: Finding fulltime jobs that offer the flexibility to be with their kids when they get home from school.

These are the stories for four Highland Park mothers who, instead of going the traditional 9-to-5 route, decided to try things on their own. They’re finding freedom, fulfillment and enjoyment--not to mention success.

Jill Motew

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When Jill Motew’s doctor recommended that four of her children and her husband cut dairy and gluten products from their diets, she began formulating baking mixes.

“I wanted to build recipes that my kids would love [and] that would offer a natural source of nutrients,” said the 43-year-old Highland Park mother of five. “So for two years, I worked on five unique flavored recipes and decided to start selling them.” 

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Motew created a cinnamon oatmeal mix, a vanilla cocoa teff, a Peruvian sweet potato-pumpkin mix, a rosemary millet and a seeded multigrain mix. Her business, Zema’s Madhouse Foods, continues to grow. An Iowa company will take over production of the mixes in the next few months.

“I like having the option of being very creative,” said Motew, who posts a new recipe online every week on Facebook, Twitter and her e-newsletter. “It makes me feel great.”

Paula Avenaim

“I’m home when my kids get home from school,” said Paula Avenaim, a district manager for Arbonne, which provides cosmetics and wellness products. “And if they have an event, I don’t have to ask anyone if I can take off work to go to it.”

The 40-year-old single mother of two previously worked for various title companies.  Avenaim says she loves what she does now because she believes in her products, but it’s still hard work.

“I have to make a certain quota, so it’s pressure, but it doesn’t scare me. It pushes me to work harder. If I don’t make the calls and put in the effort, I know my paychecks are going to be small,” she acknowledged.

The flip side is, when she gets a big check, it’s rewarding.

“It reflects the amount of work I put into it,” she said. “It feels very empowering and fulfilling.”

Emily Rudman

Emily Rudman, 41, discovered Pilates in the late 1980s. Who knew it even existed then?

“I thought it was the coolest thing,” said the Highland Park mother of four. “But I was in college and I couldn’t afford it.”

Rudman began doing Pilates 14 years ago to lose weight after she had her first son.

“It strengthens your core, so it takes the stress off your back. Also, it’s lengthening. People get thinner and feel very stretched out afterward.”

Rudman decided she wanted to share her love of the exercise system, which uses a floor mat or various equipment to increase agility and flexibility. So she now teaches Pilates in her home.

“I love helping people feel good about themselves and feel stronger,” said Rudman, who completed an intensive training program through Balance Body University. “Watching people’s improvement is fun and gratifying.”

She also loves the flexibility of her career (no pun intended).

“It’s nice to be in charge of my life,” Rudman noted.

Heidi Aloush

“I fell in love with a pair of yoga pants my sister was wearing, so I went online to try to buy them and it said ‘wholesale opportunities,’” recalled Heidi Aloush, a social worker by trade and mother of two. “I really felt like it would fly here, so I made a random phone call and they sent me samples.”

That began her distributorship for Margarita Activewear

“The clothes have literally taken over my basement,” said Aloush, “People get so excited when a new shipment comes in; they’re knocking down my door.”

Aloush says she enjoys seeing people in town wearing the clothes, as she loves supporting Israel, where Margarita Activewear is based, and finds having her own business has given her great self-esteem.

“It was a risk that I took and I was scared," Aloush said, "and it makes me feel good about myself that I’ve been able to build something.”

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