After Shark Tank aired, my poor husband took a lot of grief for being portrayed as the supportive yet not supportive enough husband because I was doing all the Mod Mom stuff myself. He laughed at comments made about him but I want to set the record straight because it's not so easy for me to read that stuff about him. I'm addressing a couple points about him below to clear up the confusion and misperception. And I threw in a couple more frequently asked questions as well. :)
"Why didn't he help you build twice the amount of toy boxes so you could make double the money?"
Here's the deal. He was laid off from his job, doing some consulting work, taking care of the kids, taking care of the house (grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning), and interviewing for full-time work. His help with everything (including helping me with polyurethaning toy boxes, etc) allowed me to focus on growing Mod Mom and do everything needed to prep for Shark Tank which is an insane amount of work. While I did make $34K in 2009 (over $100K from 2007-2010), his salary was so far above mine that having him working with me full-time and me making and extra $30K a year wouldn't even touch his income level. A few people suggested that if he worked with me while he was unemployed, I would have made more money. He was working with me -- he was handling everything that fell under parenting/homelife. He was unemployed when we filmed the show in October 2010 and remained unemployed til January so every bit of emotion you saw and felt in the Tank was real. We were counting on either MMF or his job or both to save us financially. The main objective for him (for both of us) was finding a full-time gig making his VP level salary because we knew that what was going to save us immediately. We live in LA which means if you're making $30K per year for a family of four, you're living in a van down by the river. (Nod to Chris Farley) It's a TV show so they edit it the way they want to have story play out even though I talked quite a bit about how he was helping me. (Oh, and he does use power tools and builds things as well so he knows his way around the garage.)
"Why wasn't he in the Tank with you showing his support?"
It's my company-- always has been my brain child. While he's insanely supportive and helpful and will be collaborating with me on a few designs in the future, it's still my blood, sweat, and tears all over MMF from the very, very humble beginning in 2007. I certainly wouldn't go with him to show my support on one of his interviews. It's the same kinda thing. Also, he was home taking care of the kids. Besides, let's be honest. If he'd been up there by my side, the first question out of the Shark's mouth would've been, "So he's building them, right?" That's the world we live in....the world I'm hoping will change. I've been working my way through (sometimes fighting my way through) my male-dominated industry for years now so I'm not off in thinking that question would've come up.
"Were you always a stay at home mom? How did you come up with the idea?"
http://modmomfurniture.blogspot.com/2011/04/straight-and-narrow-career-path.html
6 comments:
Sorry to hear that your husband has been getting a bit of a bad wrap. I can understand you wanting to clear the air about it all and put it out there. Hope he hasn't taken any of this to heart - he sounds like a great, supportive husband. So glad to hear that everything is just taking off! How exciting.
Best wishes!!
I don't understand why your husband being present or not was even an issue. It's your company. I wouldn't bring my husband along for a presentation like this either, because my business is just that, mine. Now if it were a family business.....You were awesome on Shark Tank by the way! I saw the original, thankfully, my youngest kids cooperated and were asleep just in time for your intro. So proud of your accomplishments and determination. Very inspiring!
I run on a treadmill in the morning and watch crappy tv while doing so : ). It was during such a morning run that I saw you on The Shark Tank. I was super excited for you as I'd seen your stuff on etsy before and always thought it was so cool. I love your design esthetic and hearing your store on the show, made me champion your cause even more. Thanks for making cool furniture that looks good and functions well. Keep up with all of the good work!
i didnt see any part in ur posts that Robert is officially involving with MMF
No, luan Vo,he is not involved. We filmed in Oct 2010. I heard from him in January 2011. So in the four months between filming and him contacting me, I got a little nervous it wasn't going to happen. I accepted other investment offers back then. And I recently accepted another this past year. Intuitively, everything feels right. I have not spoken with Robert since (January 2011) he told me my company was a bit small and to come back in six months. I choose to go trust my intuition and everything happened for the best. I'm thankful to Shark Tank for the experience and the exposure.
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