Jenny Hodges is the founder of the Kids Love to Sign Program (kidslovetosign.com), president of the Entrepreneurial Mothers Association and, most importantly, mom to Nathaniel (8) and Molly (4).

What did you do in your pre-mom life?

I was a teacher. I taught kindergarten and fourth grade before starting my own business.

Did you plan to continue teaching after your son was born?

I did plan on continuing to teach. I loved teaching and received a master's degree in elementary education. After my son Nathaniel was born, my husband [who is also a teacher as well] and I job-shared a fourth grade class for two year, so that we both could be home with Nathaniel, yet continue to teach.

What changed your course?

I was taking a class for my master's program and chose the topic of baby sign language for a research project. I loved what I read, started signing with Nathaniel when he was 7 months old and at 8½ months he signed back "more." At 12 months old, Nathaniel had a signing vocabulary of more than 30 signs. I knew I wanted to teach other parents about signing with their babies, and that is when I started my own business.

So tell us about your business.

In 2003 I started my own business as an Independent Instructor for the Baby Signs Program. I launched the Baby Signs Program in Arizona and quickly became the Regional Manager for the state of Arizona. After working locally and nationally with Baby Signs for several years I saw the interest and need for sign language classes for children 3 to 8 years old. In 2006 I created the Kids Love to Sign�® Program and in 2008 "retired" from Baby Signs to focus on my Kids Love to Signs Program.

Now I have more than 40 Kids Love to Signs Instructors nationwide and in Canada, teaching parents, caregivers, and teachers how to communicate with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers through sign language. We offer eight different signing programs for children 12 months to 18 years old. We are affiliated with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and have a Signing Scout Class and Patch program. I work with many Valley preschools and early childhood educators on how to incorporate signing into classrooms.

I have appeared on the NBC TODAY Show, NBC Nightly News, and in Life magazine promoting the benefits of signing with children. I was a semifinalist in the Redbook magazine Design Your Life Award in 2008. I was selected as the Entrepreneurial Mothers Association Mother of the Year in June 2008.

You are one busy mom! How do you find a balance between work, home and family?

Having a home-based business, the line between home, work, and family is very thin. Since I started my own business six years ago, I have had at least one child home with me most of the time, so multitasking has been a necessity. Owning my own business and working around my children and family's schedule has more rewards than challenges. Don't get me wrong — shifting gears between packing lunches, playing Candy Land, answering emails, then participating in a conference call and rushing to a business meeting can be stressful at times. But, I don't let the challenging aspects overwhelm me. I keep things in perspective, set realistic, attainable goals, and always keep in mind that I made the choice to own my own business.

Something else that helps keeps me balanced is exercise. I have come up with some of my best ideas while on the cross trainer at the gym! Relieving stress by taking a Zumba or Step class is not only fun for me, but also helps me maintain the energy level necessary to keep up with my crazy, busy, wonderful life!

Do you have any tips for aspiring mompreneurs?

One of the best business decisions I made when I started my business was to find a networking group to help me learn and grow with my business as well as connect me with other businesswomen. I found a group that was a perfect fit for me: EMA — Entrepreneurial Mother's Association.

The Entrepreneurial Mother's Association provides the opportunity for self-employed mothers to enhance their professional and personal development by offering support, exchanging information, and sharing resources and referrals. [For more information about EMA, visit EMAUSA.org or contact Jenny@KidsLovetoSign.com.]

I have learned a lot about business and marketing as a mom over the past six years and I would love to share some "tricks of the trade" with aspiring mompreneurs. I have collected so many inexpensive, highly-effective marketing and business strategies, excellent articles, and other resources and would be happy to share them with mompreneurs who are dedicated to creating a successful business.

If you know of a Valley mompreneur we should feature, write to brittney@raisingarizonakids.com.