Inspiration Sunday with Danielle Ford

It's back! I have changed it up a little from last year and set each guest the same 7 questions. Over the 10 months I have met some amazing women, both virtually and in real life. Today's guest is a friend from b-school and she is a great inspiration to all young moms out there. (If you know any, send them over).

1. Tell us a bit about yourself....

My name is Danielle Ford and I'm a Las Vegas native. I have an 8 year old daughter, Angelina, and a 6 year old son, Logan. I'm an online marketer, a poker player, and a self-titled "Stache-onista" (I have a tattoo of a mustache on my finger and have become branded by mustaches.. which I'm proud of.)

I am a learning addict and am always undertaking new projects and starting new ventures. Once I feel like I've learned all I can about a certain topic, I get bored with it and immediately jump into something more challenging. This leads to some inconsistency (I'm working on it!) but it also keeps me interested and I'm always excited about what's ahead. 

2. Where do you get your inspiration from? 

I get a lot of my inspiration from books. I read a lot and especially like reading about leadership, psychology and marketing. A lot of the time, I feel like a weirdo for my interests, especially when scrolling though my Facebook wall and seeing the interests and mindsets of my peers, so I will turn back to my books and re-read what my favorite inspirational authors share about their interests and philosophies and then I don't feel like such a weirdo anymore. 

I'm also very grateful to be part of an online community where thousands of woman entrepreneurs, who have online businesses, all support each other. Even though I don't know many of these women in person, it's great to go into the group and see all these women doing similar things as I am and who are "speaking my language". 

3. Tell us about your business? 

Young Moms Club is a social site that connects and empowers young mothers around the globe. It's more of a personal development website than a parenting site. There are so many resources out there that are helping young mothers be better parents and provide for their child but Young Moms Club is about the mom herself. It's a place to get the guidance and support she needs to keep going after her dreams, despite the challenges that come with having a baby young. 

4. What led you to start your business? 

I was looking for some sort of topic that I was really good at and passionate about to build an online business around and I couldn't really settle on anything for a long time. One day, it just hit me that one thing I had always been really good at was relentlessly going after my dreams, even after becoming a single, teen mother of 2. I know how easy it would be for a young mom to just give in to the stereotyping that comes with it, and give up on herself. I wanted to create a place that was like, "OK, you had a baby young. So What? What's next? What are your goals and your dreams? Here's exactly how you go after them."

5. What does an average day look like for you? 

On an average week day, I take my kids to school and go to yoga or piliates. I come home, make a yummy green juice, shower and go to my nearest Starbucks which has become known as "my office". I work there from my laptop until it's time to pick my kids up from school. We do homework, hang out, and run errands. Then I make dinner and we go through the bedtime routine, baths, teeth brushed, bed time story. After the kids fall asleep, I read for an hour or 2 and then go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. 

6. What is the one thing about your job that makes your heart sing?

I love getting messages and emails from young moms telling me that something I said impacted them. When I was 17 and pregnant, I was part of an online group of moms that all had babies due at the same time. It was very helpful and all the women were very supportive, I'm still friends with almost all of them but I was the only teen mom there and I would've really liked to be part of a group that was only teen moms, because we deal with a lot of different issues than other moms. I'm very happy that I'm able to create that community for girls now.

7. Share a secret with us that has never been shared online before......

This is embarrassing but one of my high school jobs was working at Chuck E. Cheese. Although I enjoyed hosting birthday parties and singing and dancing, every few days or so I had to fill in a job that we all took turns doing and it was the most disgusting and humiliating job of them all.. I had to be Chuck E. Cheese. 

The costume was heavy and hot and I could barely breathe inside of it. I couldn't really see out of the 2 tiny mesh eyes and I used to knock kids in the head as I bent down to give hugs. Kids would hang on me; I couldn't even tell where they were coming from and they would knock me over from time to time. It was awful. I wouldn't wish "being Chuck E Cheese" on my worst enemy.

Danielle Ford is the founder of Young Moms Club, a website designed to connect and empower Young Mothers around the globe. Her mission is to help young moms reach their dreams while changing the stereotype that comes with being a teen mom. She spoke more about this in her TEDxWomen talk "Re inventing teen motherhood". 

Know a young mom? She can join the club and get Danielle's e-book "7 Steps to Being a Kickass Young Mom" for Free at http://youngmomsclub.com/7-steps

Find Danielle at

Website: Young Moms Club & Danielle Ford

Facebook: HERE or HERE

Twitter: @DanielleFordLV

Pinterest: DanielleFordLV

Danielle also did a great TED talk recently.....

Seriously, if you know any young moms that are needing support, not just 'how to be a mom' support but how to be an amazing woman and achieve their goals type of support then share this post with them. In fact, share the post anyway, someone out there, maybe a friends daughter, might just need what Danielle gives.