Entrepreneurial Mom’s Days of 'Welcome Chaos'

"You plan... and God laughs," jokes Amy Platt about life as a working mom running her own website. "I could have seven things planned, but my kid wakes up sick and it's done."

Platt was a CPA with a thriving corporate accounting career in New York City until the birth of her two children changed her perspective and prompted her to go in a new direction. Today the Syosset resident is a successful entrepreneur as the founder and president of www.liparentsource.com, an informational website where parents can find local listings of things to do and a range of other helpful resources.

After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in the Plainview/Old Bethpage School District, Platt went on to study accounting at SUNY Albany, then right to work. "I started in public accounting," she says, "and after three years became the U.S. controller for a downtown ad agency." She thought she'd always work full-time in accounting.

"But then I had my son in 2003, and I was working in the city," she remembers. "I didn't get home until 9 or 10 o'clock most nights." In order for both Platt and her husband to maintain their careers, they hired a full-time nanny.

"I was commuting three hours a day–it was crazy," she continues, "so I started looking for a Long Island job."

She landed a local job as controller, where she remained for two years until her position was eliminated (a month after she notified them she was pregnant with her second child.) Her next job, although also local, required her to work long hours.

"I had to wait for other people to finish their work before I could do mine," she recalls. "I would have long periods of time where I didn't have a lot of work, then when everybody was going home I was busy... it was really frustrating.

"During that time period I said to my husband, 'I want to do something for myself. I don't want to work for somebody and have to report for every minute of my time for the next 30 years.'"

Around this same time, friends began seeking her advice. "By this point I had my second child, and friends who just had their first were constantly calling saying, 'What do I do?... I need a pediatrician... What did you do for classes?... Where did you get a babysitter?'" she recalls. "None of them had been through it, so to them we were pros."

So it was a natural fit when Platt came across a local resource website based in Santa Barbara, Calif. "She was licensing out what she had put together," explains Platt, "so people in other areas could start resource sites where they live."

Platt launched her site in October 2006 while still working full-time. By May of the following year she had left her full-time job for a part-time one. "But I still didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted," she says, "so in November of 2008 I said, 'This is it! I'm going to do this.'"

Her weekly newsletter has around 7,000 subscribers, she has a Facebook fan page and is set to launch a newly redesigned site later this month.

Running the website, especially out of her home, can be challenging at times. "Especially coming from the accounting world where every 1st of the month you do one thing and every 5th of the month you do another thing, this is chaos," says Platt, "but it's welcome chaos and I'm very grateful I can do this for myself, for parents and for businesses."

The coming months will be a particularly active: "I'm treasurer of our elementary school PTA," she sighs, 'and I'm chairing a committee."

Asked about balancing her hectic schedule, Platt says, "It's not so much balancing, it's juggling... and you're just hoping none of the balls drop."

For more information visit www.liparentsource.com.