Working Women Left Out?

I spent the last several days revamping my website, stephaniehillberry.com.  As I was adding things, and subtracting others, I always had the stay-at-home woman in the back of my mind.  Would she read this?  Would she find it useful?

Later, I showed my mom some of the improvements I'd made, and she said something that has caused me to pause and think.  She asked, "what are you going to do about women who don't have someone in their lives to financially provide for them?"  In other words, what about all of the women who aren't staying home?  Who are working full-time?  Who have no other choice?  Will they be left out?

Her question is fair.  I spend a lot of time addressing the women who--like me--stay home.  They are either home raising children or running their own businesses or being housewives.  But what about everyone else?  Do I have anything to say to them?  

The answer is yes.  Yes I do.  I say to them the same things I say to women who are staying home, which is "you can be a civic and economic leader in your community."  The tools I've created for my website (many of them are coming soon) are for women in all circumstances to use in their lives, with their friends, families and neighbors.  Granted, some of the tools are easier to implement if you are staying-home, mainly because the stay-at-home lifestyle is more flexible than the 9-5 grind.  But none of them require a stay-at-home life.

And I guess ultimately that is the point I would like to stress.  A call to leadership is a call to everyone.  Yes, I will consistently be an advocate for stay-at-home women, because so often I think that society overlooks their potential.  But I sincerely hope that by encouraging one group I don't discourage the other.  

The bottom line is that our communities need the skills that women bring, especially in these times.  We should be bringing those skills regardless of the lifestyle we are living--working from home or working out in the traditional workforce.