HAVING a business demands just as much dedication, effort and commitment as having a child does. In many places, women are told that they can either have a baby or a business—that it is impossible to do both at the same time. Although this may be true to many, a great number of women also live to disprove this common—albeit non-universal truth.
Take Cebuana businesswoman Marivic Labrador Schaefer, for example. The mom of two started a business, and has been running it for about a decade, in a country with an extremely competitive environment—the United States of America.
Having graduated high school in Sacred Heart School-For Girls (presently Hijas de Jesus), Marivic moved to the U.S. back in Sept. 5, 1989 to take up Business Management in Santa Monica College when she was only 17 years old.
She started SnuggBuds Sport Headsets, a Southern California company based in Laguna Niguel, with her husband, Stephen Schaefer, in 2008. SnuggBuds develops in-ear headphones for a wide demographic customer base. They have been designed specifically for travelers and sport enthusiasts.
The Business
“In 2008, the economy was going downhill and we were getting tired of working for corporate America. Initially, it was supposed to be a third source of income but when business picked up, we decided to be full-time entrepreneurs and focus on that single product,” said Marivic, as she explained that because of her experience in marketing and events, she had become the face of the company while her husband, Stephen Sr., worked behind the scenes.
“I managed the operations and helped market our product to end users. We tried different industries—from gaming to music—and eventually found a niche selling our products at sporting events. I faced clients such as the Ritz Carlton, the Renaissance ClubSport, E3 Gaming Expo, MacWorld, South by Southwest, Disney—and ended up doing a bunch of high-profile events such as the Miami Boat Show, Boston, New York City marathon and many more. I was all over the country and traveled like crazy—it was insane,” she said, counting about 70 to 80 events done a year all across the country, from Alaska to Honolulu.
The Challenges
Marivic explained that the challenges she had faced involved organizing her time to fit everything in her busy schedule and trying to balance her personal life, family life and her business as well as trying to find the time to keep herself and her own happiness in check.
“Everything needs to be in balance. I was fortunate enough that my mother-in-law and my parents were there to help me. It required a lot of organizational skills. My son is a hockey player and, luckily, my husband was very helpful with that. My nanny became my executive assistant—she helped me as well,” she said, adding that she never forgot to cater to her own needs. “I decided it was important for me to take care of myself, so I joined a tennis club, the Laguna Niguel Racquet Club. I’m very competitive and tennis made me feel good about myself. It empowered me more as a woman. I was very ambitious. In spite of my crazy schedule, I tried to be an over-achiever and joined four tennis teams.”
She reiterated that having a business required a lot of blood, sweat and tears by recalling challenging moments that she had to overcome.
“When I was pregnant with Sophia (my second child), I was literally working ‘til I was ready to give birth. I was preparing for an event called the Soccer Nation Expo in L.A. and my husband begged me not to work in case my water would break while I was away from our home in O.C. I ended up not working and, true enough, I gave birth that weekend. Two to three weeks later, I ended up doing an event during Thanksgiving, and another Rock and Roll event in Phoenix (where I took my daughter with me). When she was seven months old, I went to Washington State and I was gone for almost a month selling our products—that was very difficult.”
Back then Marivic had a very complex schedule and would travel almost every weekend. To balance it out with her family, she maintained an active involvement in her children’s lives by volunteering for things such as reading and gardening for Sophia and math for Stephen Jr.
“I still tried to be as involved with my kids as I can. An example of my schedule is flying to Washington, DC on Thursday night, working on Friday and Saturday, then flying home the first thing on Sunday morning to spend even just half of my weekend with my family,” Marivic also mentioned that a lot of the time, she would go straight from the airport to the hockey field to watch her son play—all the while fighting the jetlag from the time differences between the East Coast and West Coast.
Mom-trepreneur Advice
“To whoever wants to start their own business: it requires a lot of passion, hard work, sacrifices, motivation and guts—a lot of guts,” she said as she also highlighted the importance of positivity. Marivic at an expo is described to be a live human infomercial—a sight so fascinating, passersby would not be able to help but stare.
“I just try my best to bring this positive energy. When people would come up to our booth and give us positive feedback that they loved our products—we would ring our cowbells and make a lot of noise...just like someone just won the lottery which would entice people to come to our booth and find out what was going on. Positive energy. When you project it outside, it comes back tenfold.”
“It feels great to hear live testimonials from our customers. It validates why we are there selling our products. Being at a marathon expo, it is such an amazing and positive experience. I drive on that,” she said as she explained that she felt like SnuggBuds was her baby too.
“A lot of people out there wish to have their own business but they don’t know where to start nor have the courage to. Just keep on believing in yourself and that you can do it—and you will definitely do it,” said Marivic, who said that accomplishing something is a mindset where someone programmed to have that kind of mentality can do anything.
“If you don’t have the passion, dedication and motivation, it’s not going to work. You have to pursue what you believe in. Through the highs, lows and doubts, just keep on thinking positive thoughts that things will work your way. It might not happen right away, but it will take place at the right time.”
The Right Time
Marivic now works managing a division office (of about 60-70 people in-house) and assisting the division president at the largest home-building company in the U.S. called Lennar. The multi-billion dollar company builds smart homes that can be controlled by an app on smartphones. Many factors triggered her decision to put her business aside and return to the corporate world.
“It requires a lot of investment to participate at an expo. There are exhibit fees, airfare, traveling—we could easily spend $10,000 to $11,000 for a two-day event. The reward is not as high as it used to be and the marathon industry—our target market—is declining. But, more than that, it takes up too much time. My kids are older now and it’s tougher for me because I want to be more involved in their schedules. I realized that I’ve been doing it for more than 10 years. I have made my decision that it’s best for me to spend more time here, locally. The clock is ticking and I want to spend more time with my kids and make up for the weekends I’ve missed. Time with my family is more precious than anything else.”