A Terrycloth Tradition
Local work-at-home mom Tracy Ebert will join thousands Feb. 12 in international observance of Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day.
courtesy of Tracy Ebert
Local work-at-home mom Tracy Ebert is one of thousands that will celebrate Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day on Feb. 12.
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Kent Jennings Brockwell
Richmond.com
Friday, January 19, 2007
If you think your boss had a bad hissy fit when you wore a Hawaiian shirt on a Thursday, you might want to just call in sick on Feb. 12 this year.
The second Monday in February is officially International Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day.
Seriously, we aren't joking.
Just ask Midlothian-based work-at-home mom Tracy Ebert. She has been religiously celebrating Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day every year since it's inception in 2003.
"Well, it's more of a virtual day and event but the day is a celebration for entrepreneurs who work hard but try to find a good balance between life and work," said Ebert, who is a sales representative for Atlantic Logo Wear and founder of MomsNiche.com, an online advice resource for mothers, and a mother of three.
Ebert, however, won't be the only terrycloth clad entrepreneur working on Feb. 12. According to Kristie Tamsevicius, the Chicago-based creator of Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day, she will join thousands of other work-at-home entrepreneurs all over the worlds who are celebrating the burgeoning holiday.
Though originally created in 2003 as a publicity tool for the release of her new book, "I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to Working from Home," and its supporting Web site, WebMomz.com, Tamsevicius said the holiday quickly became popular among entrepreneurs and much larger than just a book release gimmick.
"We were looking for a way to promote [the book] and we were joking about how entrepreneurs are always working in their pajamas and my business partner joked with me and said, 'We should do something about working in your bathrobe or something.'" Tamsevicius recalls. "We just looked at each other and that was it. That's how it was born because it is silly and fun and we really thought that the bathrobe symbolized perfectly the freedom of being an entrepreneur. Instead of being a road warrior, you are a robed warrior.
"The world needs a little fun and this is good news. After we saw the power of how the entrepreneurial community welcomed it and that the media went wild with it, we realized that this was a good thing and that we needed to keep it going."
Now, five years later, Tamsevicius estimates that at least 10,000 entrepreneurs, which is the membership base of WebMomz.com, will celebrate Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day throughout the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and most recently Bulgaria. The event is also now recognized and sponsored by InternationalRobes.com.
Besides dressing down for the day, revelers also can celebrate by registering for a number of robe and prize giveaways at WebMomz.com.
While many may snicker at Tamsevicius' self-created holiday, Ebert said it's really a great way to recognize the importance of entrepreneurship and to demystify the stereotypes about the work-at-home mom.
"It's always a joke that the stay-at-home mom or work-at-home mom just sits around in her pajamas all day and doesn't do anything but eat bonbons and watch soap operas," said Ebert, who began working at home in 2003 after having her third child. "So it's kind of a spoof on that but we do mean business and we do get dressed up professionally and go out and meet with people. Our businesses are just based out of our homes so that we can have the family life that we want and provide what our kids and our families as a whole needs.
"Since I started working out of my home in 2003, I am so glad I haven’t had to look back. I wouldn't trade it for the world."
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