Six and ½ years ago, I received news that changed my life forever. My husband and I found out we were going to be parents. It was an exciting time. We had just bought our first house and we were going to have an addition to that new house. I planned on changes in my life from the day I got the news, however the changes happened quicker than I had expected. I was very ill during the pregnancy and was put on bed rest. I had been working full time and had to stop working for a few months. When I was able to go back to work, it was only part time. It was hard financially, but made me realize how important my baby's life was over anything else.

I always wanted to be a mom. During my thoughts of motherhood, I always planned I would be able to stay at home with my children like my mother did. When I was closer to my due date, I realized I had to do something so I could stay at home with my baby. I began looking for ways to work from home. I bought books on the subject and tried to find any information to help me succeed. One of the books I bought was Priscilla Huff's book 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women. It began to give me ideas and helped me see that other women were making their dreams come true. Deep down inside I didn?t feel I had what it took to make it happen.

When Dillon was born, I still hoped to stay home with him. We cut as many expenses as possible and I was able to go back part time when he was almost three months old. I had a great care giver for him, but I missed him so badly. When he was nine months old, I decided I had to take that leap and start my own business. It was such a challenge and I never thought I would make it. I had the support of family and friends for the first year of business. I was able to cover our monthly expenses with my husband?s paychecks and my earnings from what business I did have. I didn't want to miss out on his childhood and it was what kept me going.

When we found out we were expecting our second child, I realized I had to do something to get my business off the ground. I knew that if I did not do anything to get the business, it was not going to happen. I actively began trying to get more business and met many women via the internet who were also home business owners. I learned so much from what other people had to share and the encouragement helped me to believe in myself. When Travis was born, I was beginning to see my business growing.

Through my contacts online, I began having women from all over the United States begin to work with my agency from their homes. I offered training and the support I did not have in the beginning of my journey. More people found about what I had to offer and each month new people joined my agency. I wrote an ebook titled Bizy?s Guide to How to Start Your Own Home-Based Travel Agency for Bizymoms.com This website had been very inspirational to me and I wanted to give something back. Since then I have written two other ebooks for this site on home business issues.

My agency currently has over 100 agents working with it from all over the country. We have become a top seller for several cruise lines and travel companies. I was faced with making my business succeed or losing the chance to be with my children full time. It was the driving force behind my success. I have been featured in several books including Mompreneurs Online, Stay At Home Mom's Guide to Making Money from Home, and HerVenture.com.

Amazing enough, I am now featured in Priscilla Huff's 3rd Edition of 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women. Reading the first copy of this book, I would have never imagined it. It does prove that anything is possible if you really want it bad enough.

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Jennifer Dugan, Owner of Dugan's Travels
jennifer@duganstravels.com
www.duganstravels.com
www.travelmommy.com

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