mamas rock: cori howard
Filed Under Mamas Rock | August 11, 2009
Mamas Rock is back! This monthly feature fell by the wayside, but we’ve resurrected it and will be expanding our reach beyond entrepreneurial mamas to mamas of every stripe. First up, a profile of mama of two, author, acclaimed journalist and creator of The Momoir Project, Cori Howard.
The Momoir Project connects women and teaches them how to write and publish their own stories on motherhood. It was inspired following an influx of queries and conversations after the publication of Howard’s anthology ‘Between Interruptions: Thirty Women tell the Truth about Motherhood‘.
Initially Howard put together a group of 10 women all of whom shared a cathartic and inspiring experience over the six week course. A Kits coffee shop provided the backdrop for these women to write together, share their stories and their feelings. Howard was so encouraged by her initial foray that she formalized things with a website which offers useful resources, a delightfully down- to- earth blog and the option for online classes. In addition, two of the writers from her book started teaching her classes in Toronto and Washington, DC.
Before she had kids, Howard worked as a reporter for The National Post, however after her first baby was born she realised that “everything changed, my ambition, my desire to work, my marriage, my dreams”. So she started focusing her writing more on parenting and motherhood issues for publications across Canada such as Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail and Today’s Parent. This writing inspired her anthology which in turn inspired The Momoir Project.
Howard works from her corner office in her bedroom. She describes herself as a Bohemian and it suits her to have the freedom to work at her own pace. The challenge of childcare is “constantly evolving”, and Cori manages to fit work in, in the few short hours she has free each day, along with taking advantage of summer camps and vacation time.
Find out more about the Momoir Project at: www.themomoirproject.com
Entrepreneurial tip:
Cori says that one of the most obvious struggles she sees is her students’ lack of belief in themselves. She reminds us all to “have confidence, if you have faith that you can do something, most often you can do it. Take advantage of your network of mom friends and acquaintances to help you and be open to the world of possibilities”.
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