PRESS RELEASE: I’m not a ‘Mumpreneur’, I’m the director of a company

‘Mumpreneur’ is a term used to describe mothers that run their own businesses. A side hustle to being a mum. You can even find the term in the Cambridge Dictionary.

But do you know what isn’t in the Cambridge Dictionary? ‘Dadpreneur’.

Female business-owners across Australia are calling for an end to the term, widely called “patronising” and “derogatory”.

“If you’re a business owner running a successful company, whether or not you are a female, or a wife, or a mum is irrelevant. We need to stop categorising women in business based on if they have kids,” says Amanda Lacey, founder of POPCOM, a communications agency based in Sydney.

“Maybe the term had a purpose a decade ago, to shine a light on the ability of mums to both manage family and launch a business. But now it’s becoming a form of casual gender-discrimination. It actually makes me cringe.”

Nikki Williams launched a sustainable designer handbag company of the same name in 2014. She also happens to be a mum.

“Have you ever heard a man being asked: ‘Tom, how do you cope with being a dad and running a successful business’? Just because I’m a mother of three children and happen to have set up and run a company, it doesn’t necessarily make me different from fathers who do the same,” she says.

“It suggests that business owners who are also mothers venture into business as a past-time, aside from their primary roles as carers for children. I didn’t start my current business because I’m a mum, I started it because I love business.”

A survey of 500 UK businesswomen in 2018 found 65 per cent thought the term held negative connotations.

Years later, the title is unchanged.

“The term ‘Mumpreneur’ was apparently first coined in the late 1990s. That’s over two decades ago,” Amanda points out. “A lot has changed since then, and I think it’s time to move on from it.”

“And if you’re wondering,” says Nikki, “We aren’t ‘girl bosses’ either.”

-ENDS-

For more information, contact Amanda Lacey on [email protected].