I come from a long line of entrepreneurs. My mother and her father both own and operate successful businesses, but I never considered this lifestyle for myself. I went to school to be a teacher, and I taught third grade for two glorious years before I retired to stay home with my newborn son.

And yet, somehow, I seem to be walking in very familiar shoes.

My husband and I expected that once the kids were in school, I would go back to work to help save for our children’s college tuition and our retirement, but in the past five years, the blog that started out as a fun little diversion from the monotony of stay-at-home motherhood turned into an opportunity to earn an income at home while affording me the flexibility to schedule my working hours around the demands (and delights) of motherhood.

Blogging is my first love, but my success as an entrepreneur is due in large part to the blog design business I started back in 2008. I am not a designer by trade or by nature, to be truthful, but I discovered a hidden design monster begging to be released when I assisted with some of my own blog designs and found myself frustrated with the nit-pickiest of details. That’s when I decided to learn how to design blogs myself. Now I can honestly say, I don’t ever intend to go back to work for someone else.

There is freedom when working for oneself, but there are also a lot of risks, which is why I was happy to hear about Intuit supporting the small business community with their Love A Local Business competition. Intuit is helping small businesses achieve their dreams by awarding $25,000 each month to a local business.

If you’re a business owner yourself or you have a favorite local business you’d like to support, you can nominate that business for Intuit Love A Local Business competition, and encourage your friends and customers to vote for you. Note: votes are like raffle tickets – the more votes a business has, the more chances they have to win.

I love running my own business so I want to know: What dream business would you love to start? By replying, you will be entered to win an iPad 2!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Intuit’s Love A Local Business competition. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs July 6 to August 9, 2011. A random winner will be announced by August 11, 2011. Official Contest Rules

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