Building a successful career while making time for the people who matter most can feel like a constant balancing act. For many working mothers, that balance remains difficult: 62% say managing work and family responsibilities is difficult, while 54% of mothers who work either full- or part-time say they would prefer to spend more time with their families if they had the choice.
For some women, entrepreneurship can offer another way to think about work, flexibility, and long-term career goals. But becoming an entrepreneur does not have to mean leaving a career, starting from scratch, or following a single path to business ownership. Two franchise owners, Summer Bowers and Tammy Overcash, exemplify how diverse these journeys can be.
Two owners, two different paths to entrepreneurship
Bowers and Overcash operate the same Cruise Planners travel franchise, but their paths to business ownership look very different. Neither originally planned to build a career in travel.
As the spouse of an active-duty service member in Fairbanks, Alaska, Bowers understands how military relocations can disrupt careers and professional networks. After earning degrees in mathematics and actuarial science, she became a high school math teacher. An overseas military assignment eventually made continuing that career difficult.
While living abroad, Bowers began sharing her family’s travels online. What started as an interest in travel and social media eventually became a business. Today, her content can generate millions of views, helping her showcase destination expertise, build relationships with travelers, and turn followers into clients.
The portability of the business has also become important to her. When military life takes her family to a new location, she can continue serving existing clients while building relationships in a new community.
Tammy Overcash, Cruise Planners franchise owner since 2013, and Summer Bowers, franchise owner since 2019, aboard Wonder of the Seas during the Cruise Planners Convention.
Image Credit: Cruise Planners
Overcash found entrepreneurship through a very different set of circumstances.
After her husband was laid off from a company where he had worked for 20 years, the couple spent six months researching different businesses and franchise opportunities before choosing Cruise Planners. Her husband initially operated the travel business full time while Overcash continued her longtime career in finance.
When her husband later returned to the corporate world, Overcash faced a choice: step away from the travel business they had built or take on a larger role herself.
She chose the business.
After nearly 35 years in finance, Overcash now views travel entrepreneurship as part of her next career chapter and a potential path toward eventually transitioning out of her CFO career.
Different strategies for building a business
Their approaches to finding and serving clients are different, too.
Bowers has grown much of her business through social media, online content, and connections within new communities. Overcash relies more heavily on personal relationships and referrals.
Approximately 95% of Overcash’s business comes from referrals, including one client who has referred more than 100 people to her over the past decade.
Same franchise. Two different schedules, career backgrounds and approaches to building a client base.
Their experiences highlight an important consideration for aspiring entrepreneurs: there is not necessarily one way to build a business. The systems, technology and support available through a franchise can give individual owners the resources to shape the business around their skills, responsibilities and goals.
What you’ll learn during this webinar
Attendees will hear directly from Bowers and Overcash about how they have built a travel business while navigating careers, family responsibilities and major life changes. Their journeys offer valuable insights for anyone looking to balance professional ambitions with family life:
How to start while keeping your day job: Overcash will share how she balances a demanding career in finance with the responsibilities of growing a travel business.
The systems that can help you manage your time: Learn how processes, scheduling tools, technology and clear client expectations can help business owners organize their time around existing responsibilities.
How to evaluate when it may be time to go full-time: Bowers will discuss her transition from teaching to building a portable travel business around her family and military lifestyle.
How one business model can support different schedules: See how Cruise Planners’ technology, marketing, training and business support give franchise owners resources they can use while developing a business around their individual schedules and goals.
How entrepreneurs can build clients in different ways: Hear how Bowers uses social media and online visibility while Overcash has developed a referral-driven business rooted in long-term relationships.
Can entrepreneurship create more career flexibility?
There is no single formula for balancing work, family and entrepreneurship. For some people, the answer may involve building a business gradually alongside an existing career. For others, entrepreneurship may eventually become a full-time opportunity.
Bowers and Overcash offer two examples of how business ownership can evolve based on an owner’s career stage, family responsibilities, skills, and long-term goals.
During the webinar, they will share the decisions, systems, and strategies that have helped them make entrepreneurship work within their own lives.
Bonus Resource: All attendees will receive a free guide from Cruise Planners on building a travel business that fits alongside an existing career and schedule.
