What exactly do you do?

Most people know that I work but they don't really know what I do. The suburban mommies know that sometimes I can power walk in the mornings and sometimes I have to race home to get on conference calls or don't drop off at all, having been sporting my fashion-forward headset since 5a. Some days I am in my pajamas until noon and some days I am dolled up and on the road to the South Bay by 6a. Sometimes I sit in my car in the school parking lot scribbling frantically in a notebook while on my Bluetooth. Sometimes I get on planes.

And sometimes the mommies even ask exactly what it is that I do.

The thing is, I do a lot of different things. But mostly they fall into two categories.

1. Consulting - Deliberate Communications. I hung my own shingle nearly ten years ago. Eldest Daughter was a year old and the thought of working full-time and commuting was very unappealing. The Dot Com Boom was in full swing and I had three successful startups under my belt. I began providing marketing consulting services to technology companies and I've stuck with it except for the year I was pregnant with our twins. To me, consulting is a lot of writing and editing of technobabble. I orchestrate product launches, write web content and develop sales tools like brochures and presentations. Sometimes I get tasked with selecting and ordering promotional products like logo'd golf shirts and thumb drives.

2. Publishing - New Year Publishing. My husband and I, along with our friend Thom Singer, started this company three years ago. Thom was an up-and-coming speaker on social networking and we wanted to help him launch his professional speaking career. Three years later we've published six books and Thom is right on course. I am his editor, the person who makes sure his words stand up and behave themselves. We also do credibility press because many people want to be published authors.

I love what I do professionally and am incredibly fortunate to be able to make a living doing what I love. I've worked with some incredible people over the years and many of my clients are now my friends. In many instances, I work with the same people over and over again. I'm always learning new things and I meet interesting people.

The thing is, I think it's harder to be a stay-at-home-mom than it is to work. So many of you are really good at it and I applaud you. But I can't be one of you, at least not now.