How I Supported My Family Working from Home Before It Was Cool
Today, it’s common working from home, and virtually everyone with an office job now has experience working from home. However, it wasn’t always that way.
When I started working from my home office in the ‘90s, doing so was considered genuinely weird, if not unprofessional ― a fun fact to look back on and marvel at the changes that happened since my earliest days in my home office.
How My Working from Home Started
I started my business with the idea of staying home but still working after my first child was born. At that time, people assumed that “working from home” meant watching soap operas and eating bonbons all day. However, I knew in my heart that a home office could help me achieve my goals. Here’s how it all came together.
Like many moms, I planned to return to work after my baby arrived. After my maternity leave ended, I returned to work but found that I desperately missed my baby girl. When I approached my boss for flexible work options, the answer was no. My boss said the job could not offer any flexibility or schedule changes.
I was disappointed, needless to say. I loved working and using my skills, and I had big ambitions to climb that corporate ladder. However, I knew I could not stay in a job without wiggle room to accommodate my family. I desired a full career and wanted to make a professional contribution. However, my family life was a priority. Therefore, I set out to find another way to continue my career and ambitions.
Suspecting that I was not the only mom in this situation, I launched a website for moms working from home ― or those who wanted to work from home ― as a resource for networking, learning, and support. My first site, Home-Based Working Moms, ran from 1996 to 2010.
In 2007, I launched HireMyMom.com, changing my website and business as the business world began to slowly embrace hiring off-site contractors and team members. More businesses started seeing the benefits of hiring off-site workers from a national pool of talent. HireMyMom.com continues today, and it is one of the top destinations both for women (and some men) who want to work from home. It is also a destination for small businesses that want to benefit from this talented and often under-tapped labor force.
Working from Home Is Now the Norm
Working in this space, I am fascinated by how the idea of working from home has changed dramatically. For example, I didn’t offer it up to clients that I worked from home in the early days, knowing that many viewed it as unprofessional. I just always eagerly offered to meet at their offices, and the convenience for them was a bonus they accepted.
Now, people readily share that they are working from home. The world understands this and accepts barking dogs, doorbells, and kids making an occasional appearance during the workday. The mentality for many business owners is that if the work is being done and productivity is as high or higher than office counterparts, then everyone wins!
In addition to changing attitudes about working at home, a suite of tools developed to support people in home offices. Even the concept of an ADU office has been embraced, providing a comfortable and functional workspace separate from the main home. It’s fun to look back at the tools available in 1995 and compare them to today.
Then & Now Tools for the Work-at-Home Crowd
The tools available to support a home office changed considerably since 1995.
Computers and Laptops
When I started working from home, computers were large and bulky. You couldn’t save things to the cloud or a shared drive. Instead, you used floppy disks to save your work, and you kept each disk in an envelope in a filing system on your desk. Losing a disk meant losing valuable work.
You did the vast majority of your work at your desk, because laptop computers were very expensive. As I was getting started, Apple released its first-ever laptop at a cost of about $6,500. That is like paying $12,000 for a laptop computer today.
In addition, I used my computer very differently than I do today. I primarily used it for word processing, spreadsheets, and design work. Importantly, email did not exist — or at least it was not widespread. This meant that all communication was through the U.S. Mail (that’s right, snail mail) or via fax. To use a fax machine, you paid the telephone company to install a dedicated landline for your fax machine, resulting in two phone bills every month.
Email and Newsletters
No email meant no e-newsletters. Once written and designed, newsletters to members and customers were printed and mailed.
Meetings
There was no such thing as online meetings. Video conferencing tools like Zoom and Skype did not exist. Meeting with clients involved getting dressed up and going to their offices or meeting at restaurants or coffee shops. Alternatively, you opted for a phone meeting.
Internet
In 1995, the internet was in its infancy and not widely used. Paper-based books, magazines, and the encyclopedia provided the information that Google now offers with a few keystrokes. In addition, if you wanted to connect with others online, that happened on message boards and forums. Social media had not yet been invented.
Cell Phones
Cell phones were rare, bulky, and expensive, as the wireless company often charged for calls by the minute. Phones generally came in two pieces — a big, heavy brick and an antenna that you attached to the brick portion before making a call. Phones weighed several pounds and often came with a mesh bag to make them easier to carry. Very few people had cell phones, and those who did would often leave them in their cars for emergency use only.
If you needed a phone and you weren’t at home, you stopped at a payphone. You dialed a number you knew by heart. If your memory failed, you looked it up in the phone book, and you relied on notes or call information for phone numbers. (Calling information was an expensive option!)
Texting
You could only make voice calls on the phone. Texting had not yet been invented. Chatting with someone literally meant talking on the phone — what many dread or avoid now if possible.
In Closing
It’s fun to look back at all the ways working from home has changed since the mid-90s. I can’t even imagine what work trends look like 20-30 years from now.
