A Home Based Business For Mom
Taken from the November 2003 issue of Loudoun Magazine

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it," Yogi Berra once said. Tara Paterson, Round Hill resident and founder of JustForMom.com, took this advice several years ago when she and her husband realized they would need two incomes to make it in the current economy. Now, Paterson provides others with this wisdom on the website she created to be "a resource that fulfills the needs of women wherever they are."

Growing up in a one-income household, Paterson remembers fondly the time her mother was able to give to her and her siblings. However, she knows her parents struggled financially and her mother had a difficult time finding activities to occupy her time once her children had grown. Paterson saw that her mother never did anything for herself- and vowed not to let that happen to her.

"As a mother of two boys, I also realize how important it is to take care of myself first," she says. "In order to nurture the people that you love, you must first nurture yourself."

Paterson is not new to the dot.com industry. Six years ago, while pregnant with her first child and residing in Rochester, NY, she attempted to create a website. She felt that a website concentrating all informational resources available about the city would be very helpful to its residents. Unfortunately, her idea was premature and her plan fell through.

Paterson and her husband, Christopher, worked opposite schedules to meet the family budget so that their children wouldn't need daycare. Juggling a night-time waitressing job and full-time motherhood was wearing Paterson thin.

Tara Paterson with Adam (left) and Caden