To the age-old question as to how to combine the role of mother and businesswoman, Rachael Smith, inventor and owner of Mrs Smith's Bags provides her own unique answer. Rachael's product is the new face of diaper bags - fashionable, practical and intelligently designed. After all, moms and dads are people too. As long as they have to lug around bottles and diapers, why not be able to carry a cell phone and an umbrella in the bag as well - and look stylish doing it? It seems that the underlying philosophy behind Rachael's products is to integrate life and parenthood.

Is Rachael able to do that in her own life? How does she integrate her business life into her personal life? She explains, "My office is in the kids’ playroom. They come home from pre-school and kindergarten and play in the room while I work. In the afternoon I take a break and we go to the park and walk the dog. Then they have rest time which allows me to get more work done. When my husband comes home I make dinner and then put the kids to bed. I then work for the rest of the evening, often going to our warehouse to ship bags. Thank goodness for my Bluetooth. I have held many a meeting while serving my children chicken nuggets, carrot sticks and apple slices. All accompanied by ketchup, of course."

"When it comes to balancing my family with my business," Rachael continues, "I want to make sure that everything I do is tip top but if I have to choose between volunteering at one of my kid’s schools or working on my Facebook page, I will choose my children. My kids come first. It’s great for the kids, but doesn’t always close a sale. My customers can relate to my situation and understand why it’s important to "make the day about the day" and not about the details.”

Rachael sums up her work/life balance strategy like this, "When you hear about my typical day, you can see why my company’s slogan is “Keep it all together” because sometimes it’s a struggle!"

Although balancing life and career may sometimes be a struggle, there are unique lessons to be learned by the children of an entrepreneur. Rachael says, "By necessity, they learn to be flexible. When I need to take a call they have learned to be quiet and entertain themselves. If I have bags that need to be shipped immediately they are happy to ride in the minivan and watch a movie as we drive to FedEx Kinkos, and when we get there they are excellent door holders."

Rachael proudly recounts, "Yesterday it was career day at my son’s school and I spoke about Mrs Smith’s Bags. My son was so proud and kept chiming in with “and we sell this type of bag too.” It is a great thing to be able to work from your kids’ playroom as you get to be a part of their adventure while you have one of your own."

It's not only her children who have learned valuable lessons since Rachael has become an entrepreneur. She recounts, "I learned that I am tougher than I thought I was. Business can sometimes be unpredictable and rough, yet I have found the courage and strength to keep moving forward."

Entrepreneurs are a brave and hardy lot. We can learn much from their challenges and successes. The significant challenge - and its solution is exactly what Rachael says, "Keeping it all together."

How do you "keep it all together" when the demands of work and life challenge you?

Sometimes the urge to strike out into an entrepreneurial venture is undeniable - a person feels born to it. Other times the entrepreneurial bug bites when we least expect. Such was the case for Rachael Smith.

Rachael was a first grade teacher when an "accessory malfunction" inspired her to consider a new career path. She explains, "It all started with a dripping wet diaper bag at Tucson International Airport. My son was crying and I was trying to find his favorite toy in my generic diaper bag. It was so unorganized that all I succeed in doing was spilling milk on everything in the bag." That incident provided the spark that set Rachael on her way to starting her own business.

"I searched the marketplace for a bag that would help me stay organized to better care for the needs of my children, but was unsuccessful. So I designed and manufactured my own." That's how Rachael's business, Mrs Smith's Bags, was born. Mrs Smith's makes diaper bags that are fashionable as well as practical and intelligently designed, taking into consideration the needs of the parent as well as the child.

"The idea first came to me in December of 2005. In the summer of 2006, I designed my first diaper bag using a cardboard box and tape, and with kids in tow visited a local manufacturer who made my first prototype."

A fantastic idea is one thing, but how was Rachael emotionally able to make the leap from the steady paycheck of a teaching job to the dicey proposition of manufacturing her own products? "My family was very supportive," Rachael declaares. "My grandmother told me constantly that I could do anything I put my mind to. After hearing of my plans she wrote me a card that says “Go Get’em Tiger” on the outside. On the inside she wrote, “There is not one doubt in my mind that you will succeed in anything you set out to do! You need to pursue this with great passion!” I keep the card in my desk drawer."

It wasn't unanimous support for her new venture from the outset, however. "On the other hand," Rachael says, "My husband was fairly unsupportive. He is not a risk taker and worries about money a lot. I remember one cold evening I went down to his office and sat there crying. I said, “I want to quit, this is too hard,” and all he said was, “Ok.” That just made me angry, so I pressed forward even harder. So in a strange way I have to thank him for getting me to keep moving forward."

My friends were intrigued, to say the least. It was a foreign concept to them. We were all mothers who would attend playgroups with our children where we would talk about which kids were walking, not about what product we were inventing. Now that my diaper bags are on the market, however, they are quite thankful as they all use Mrs. Smith’s Bags now.

The most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur mom for Rachael is that she now has the opprtunity to serve as an inspriation to other women who may also be "unintentional entrepreneurs." She offers them following advice based upon her own experiences:

• Be brave
• Talk about yourself
• Ask lots of questions
• Listen
• Be forthright
• Stay the course
• Most importantly, take one day at a time

Rachael may not have had a lifelong ambition to be an entrepreneur but when she identified a need and a solution, she seized the opportunity, despite the well-meaning concerns of her husband. Rachael defied the odds and made a success because of her determination to make a product that solved a problem and filled a need in the marketplace. Her success is now, "In the bag."

Would you have the wherewithal to strike out as an "unintentional entrepreneur" like Rachael?