More and more mothers are combining at-home care of their children with an entrepreneurial spirit.

The Plano Courier Star uncovers a number of stay-at-home “mompreneurs”, including Mary Stewart, who turned a shoe-tying conundrum into a sizable teacher learning tool store:

Frisco resident Mary Stewart spent eight years teaching with Wylie Independent School District before she decided to become a stay-at-home mom after her second pregnancy.

At the time, Stewart was trying, with not much success, to teach her then 4-year-old daughter to tie her shoes. Using her creative flare and access to her father’s woodshop, Stewart developed a simple learning activity for her daughter. After spending 10 minutes with the “toy,” Stewart’s daughter was tying her own shoes.

“My neighbors started asking for one because they also had kids who were having trouble tying their shoes,” Stewart said. “Then, before you knew it, an early learning center requested an order of 150!” The success of the simple shoe-tying activity gave Stewart the idea of providing more learning materials to parents and teachers. Stewart knew that as a teacher, it was hard to locate classroom supplies and decorations to purchase at a reasonable price.

With the help of her two sisters, Stewart opened Teacher’s Depot in July 2006 in the Centre at Preston Ridge in Frisco. The Teacher’s Depot provides parents and teachers with learning tools and necessities through all levels of education.

The Teacher’s Depot is a vendor for teachers in the Plano, Allen, McKinney, Dallas, Little Elm and Frisco school districts. There are currently more than 3,500 customers subscribed to the store’s monthly e-newsletter, all of which signed up at the register while purchasing supplies.

Source:  The Plano Courier Star