Leslie Means is the co-founder and owner of the popular site, Her View From Home. Chances are that if you’ve read a viral blog post about moms, by moms or for moms recently, you’ve seen it on Her View From Home.
Her View From Home is an online community that shares real life accounts and articles about parenthood, grief, marriage, faith, and friendship from over 900 writers. Millions of people each month are flocking to Her View as a source of encouragement in our everyday lives.
Leslie is a former news anchor, a published children’s book author, weekly columnist, and has several published short stories as well. She has a very patient husband (her words – and you’ll hear more about that in the episode) and they have two little girls ages 10 and 8 and one little dude who is 1.
When she’s not sharing her personal life online and in the newspaper – you’ll find Leslie somewhere in Nebraska hanging out with family and friends. There’s also a 75% chance at any given time, you’ll spot her in the aisles at Target.
My favorite Her View quote so far is on Facebook and it says, “Target doesn’t care how messy your house is or how badly your kids behave. Target’s like, those are some nice yoga pants, girl. Here’s a latte, go do yo thang.”
The Birth of a Vision
After working in broadcasting as a news anchor with long hours and crazy shifts, Leslie needed a change after her second daughter was born. She started working for her local Chamber of Commerce, but missed being able to tell people’s stories.
Her View’s original version started over 7 years ago. Leslie talks about the difficult journey it was to build this website. The site was not making any money, and Leslie lost her business partners. She reached what she thought was a breaking point, but she says she just felt called to “pull up her bootstraps” and keep going. She went door-to-door, asking people to invest in Her View.
In 2016, after being at another low point with the site, quitting her “day job,” and the business being broke, she found out she was pregnant with her third baby. She still felt a peace about continuing Her View, paying writers, and telling their stories
In September of 2016, a woman chose Her View From Home to share her personal story about how her friend committed suicide after suffering from postpartum depression. Her post went viral and changed Her View forever.
Leslie has always believed that this website serves a bigger purpose than she will ever know, and that’s why she keeps going.
What was the original plan?
Leslie appreciates how wonderfully naive she was when she started the site. If she knew then what she knows now, she says she never would have started the site!
I love her words about sharing “everyone’s view.” She has a passion for her community, and she feels that it’s important to share their passions as well.
It took Leslie weeks to come up with the name “Her View From Home.”
Hit play above and listen in to the show to hear the story!
What advice would you give a mom who’s looking to start something new?
Community is so important. Find at least one person who believes in what they’re doing. Leslie spends some time bragging her husband, and her thoughts on a “back up plan.”
Leslie feels strongly about “getting rich quick” and says that anything worth having is no quick process. Women need to know that anything they want to make a success requires sacrifices. Making something that’s bigger than yourself is not for the faint of heart!
Hear more about Leslie’s current schedule and how she finds time away from work, in the show!
The Her View Community
The passion behind the community has always been to share a story. Leslie encourages women to write, and a driving force for her is to be able to pay her writers. She wants women to have a place to feel supported in their writing dreams.
A big portion of the Her View site is faith-driven. They don’t want to tell you how to believe, but it’s an opportunity for women to share what they believe. It covers grief, parenthood, and more. It’s mostly for parents with kids ages 18 and under (but she admits that might change!)
How do I pursue my passion?
If you love to do something, just start doing it. Don’t compare, don’t stop doing the thing you love, and make as many connections as you possibly can.
Listen to the full episode to hear about Leslie’s life as a mama, her guilty pleasure, and her thoughts on balance (her response to my question about balance is literally my favorite part of the episode)
Connect with Leslie!
