Investor Mama

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Joy Owens loves outdoor activities, travel and staying home with her two little ones. She is also passionate about learning how to make money grow through real estate and business. Joy quit teaching to stay home with her children, and now owns and manages Butler Travel.

1. Stop Shrinking Yourself — You’re Not “Just” Anything

Joy spent her first year as a business owner doing the same work as her employees — answering emails, booking tickets, trying to stay “on the same level.” She didn’t start calling herself CEO until almost two years in. And when she finally did? Everything shifted — how she made decisions, how she carried herself, even how she talked about her company. Her 4- and 5-year-old kids now proudly tell people “we own Butler Travel.” If you’ve built something — a business, a side hustle, a career — stop introducing yourself with “I just…” You earned the full title. Use it.

2. Ask the Uncomfortable Question: “What Are We Getting Wrong?”

Joy didn’t sit behind a desk and guess what her clients needed. She got on a plane, flew to California, sat down with her biggest client, and asked: What do you love? What’s not working? That takes guts. The answer? Their after-hours support was terrible — clients were stuck on hold for two hours during emergencies in foreign countries. So Joy built her own 24/7 emergency team. That decision literally saved an 8-year-old girl’s life when a missionary family in Tanzania needed an emergency flight home. Most of us avoid asking “what’s broken?” because we’re afraid of the answer. But that one uncomfortable conversation became the thing that set her business apart. Whether you run a company or manage a household budget — ask the hard questions. The answers are where the growth is.

3. You Will Outgrow Your Circle — And That’s Okay

Joy joined a community of mom entrepreneurs early on. It felt great at first — supportive, relatable, everyone figuring it out together. But after a few months, she realized the conversations were about things she’d already figured out — setting up a website, getting on Instagram. She wasn’t growing anymore. So she made a scary (and expensive) leap into a room where people were scaling to $300 million. Suddenly she was the smallest fish — and that’s exactly where she needed to be. Here’s the real talk: it can feel guilty to outgrow a group, especially one full of women you relate to. But staying in a room where you’re the most experienced person isn’t humility — it’s hiding. Joy’s advice? Whether it’s a podcast, a book, a coach, or a mastermind — put yourself in the room that stretches you, not the one that just comforts you.

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Episode #150: How this Mom Bought A Travel Business and Lessons Learned with Joy Owens from Butler Travel

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Key Takeaways:

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Maja Taylor is a Career Ownership Coach with The Entrepreneur’s Source where she helps people explore opportunities outside of the traditional job market such as business ownership. She is passionate about positive transformations and continuous learning. She enjoys watching people experience “AHA” moments and live up to their full potential.

For over 15 years, Maja has partnered with individuals to go through career, life and leadership transformations successfully by working through those tough questions together. She is a certified professional coach with a background in talent development and science education. She has worked for global organizations in Europe and the United States as a team leader, scientist, strategic HR professional, trainer, coach and mentor. Her primary focus is for her clients to reach higher levels of success and happiness by helping them turn challenges into opportunities and obstacles into growth.

While Maja was born, and raised in Germany, she now lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband Dan and their 2 cats. They have 3 grown sons. Maja considers herself a world citizen, loves to go on outdoor excursions and global travel adventures with her family and friends. She has a passion for serving the highest purpose, loves languages and exploring diverse cultures as well as curling up with a good book.

Life motto: Learn something new every day and expanding. Trust your process!

Key Takeaways:

1.You’re Not Stuck in Corporate—Franchising Offers a Proven Exit Path After 30+ years in corporate with 9 bosses in 5 years, Maya discovered franchising as a way to build her own equity instead of someone else’s dream. The education-first approach helps you explore whether business ownership aligns with your goals before committing, with no sales pressure.

2. Budget Conservatively—Plan for at Least One Year of Working Capital The #1 reason businesses fail is lack of funding. Maya strongly recommends having 12 months of working capital (both personal and business budgets covered) because the first year is a builder year—you’re creating awareness and relationships, not generating immediate cash flow.

3. Bring Your Spouse/Support System Along the Journey Don’t make this decision in isolation. People who haven’t gone through the discovery process will give “good advice” that derails you (“get a steady job!”). Having your partner understand the opportunity and support you emotionally through tough days is critical—entrepreneurship is a team sport, and you need people in your corner who believe in your vision.

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Lori Atwood, CFP® is the founder of Fearless Finance, whose mission it is to bring money happiness to absolutely everyone. Lori founded Fearless Finance to provide fiduciary, hourly, virtual financial planning advice to people who felt expert financial advice was out of reach. No sales, no commissions, no minimums and no judgment. Lori started Atwood Financial Planning, LLC in 2016, and she has worked in finance for almost 25 years.he firm now operates under the brand Fearless Finance.

Key Takeaways:

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Abbe F. Large, CLU®, CLTC, is a Managing Director at Lenox Advisors, a national wealth management and insurance advisory firm and a subsidiary of NFP, an Aon company. With more than 30 years of experience, she specializes in comprehensive financial planning, estate strategies, asset management, and corporate benefits design. Shaped by personal experience, Abbe brings an empathetic, relationship-driven approach to her work. She is a passionate advocate for financial literacy, particularly for women and families, and has been recognized by Forbes as a Top Financial Security Professional from 2022–2025.

Key Takeaways:

The “RUAH” Method – The 3 non-negotiables that created her close-knit, financially savvy family (Respect, Understanding, Appreciation)

The Vacation Budget Hack – Why she handed her teenagers the family vacation budget and how it changed everything

Never Pay Kids for Grades – The psychology behind why this backfires (and what to do instead)

The Allowance Formula – How to teach saving, investing, spending, AND giving (not tied to chores!)

The Phone Rule That Actually Works – Her no-nonsense approach to technology that doesn’t make you the “mean mom”

The Bill-Paying Ritual – Why she makes her kids watch her pay bills (genius!)

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Lynne Samone Mazin is a luxury Real Estate Advisor with a distinguished background that includes a JD and an MBA from Cornell University. Lynne Samone specializes in luxury real estate, with a focus on New York City and the Hamptons.

Lynne Samone’s expertise goes beyond traditional real estate. She enjoys an understanding of investment opportunities and has honed her negotiation skills to ensure her clients achieve success. Her reputation as a seasoned deal maker stems from her unique network of leaders in the real estate industry and her deep understanding of asset valuation, industry trends, economic conditions, and the regulatory environment. Lynne’s passionate dedication to her clients, combined with her in-depth market knowledge, empowers clients to achieve exceptional results.

Beyond her real estate career, Lynne Samone is committed to creating a positive social impact. She actively supports organizations that uplift the greater New York City community, including Robin Hood, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Ghetto Film School, and Moving Mountains Theater Company.

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Sharri successfully litigated contentious custody and child support cases, as well as cases involving complex property and alimony issues. When settlement was possible, she helped clients amicably resolve their dispute out of court. But even when there was a “win”, no one really won. More often than not, the legal system could not address divorce & post divorce conflicts, leaving clients feeling more frustrated, hopeless and alone. And that is where her entrepreneurial journey as a divorce and relationship coach was born.

Combining 30+ years of legal wisdom with strategy, nervous system regulation, mindset coaching, and subconscious trauma healing and energetics, Sharri empowers women to embrace the opportunity that the divorce experience delivers for growth and transformation.She guides and supports women in envisioning, and ultimately creating, a future filled with limitless possibility and freedom.

Episode #184: Redefining Prosperity -The Three Pillars and Tools Every Woman Needs to Build True Wealth and Freedom with Ruchi Pinniger, Founder/CEO of Watch Her Prosper®

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Ruchi, like Gucci) created Watch Her Prosper more than a decade ago after a highly successful career as an executive on Wall Street. Her passion for helping other high achieving women get confident and comfortable with their numbers combined with her innate belief that prosperity encompasses so much more than money has created a unique and much needed space in the marketplace for Watch Her Prosper. Watch Her Prosper is a woman founded and run business that cares about meeting women where they are while helping them succeed. Ruchi continues to thoughtfully change the businesses and lives of women like you!