The Mom Resume

June 26, 2026

You’ve heard the saying… ‘If you want something done, give it to a busy mom.’

Over the years I’ve heard this too many times to count. People would jokingly tell me this as they handed me tasks and lists and items to complete for them.

Hilarious.

This morning I asked ChatGPT to write me a resume for being a mom.

It was meant to be funny.

But somewhere between digging up all the mom skills I had acquired over the years and seeing them on my computer screen… really sent me down a rabbit hole. It made me realize how strange it is that society dismisses decades of experience simply because it wasn’t paid for in dollar bills and benefits.

Women, myself included, who have spent over a decade or more running families, households and volunteering (or if we’re being honest, being Volun-Told) at their kids’ schools, sports, churches, extracurricular activities… lack the words to adequately describe these skills on a resume for potential employers.

But why?

The idea is actually laughable to most. Putting mom skills and volunteer jobs on a resume?

Yes. Putting mom skills and volunteer jobs on a resume.

The thing is… most schools and organizations could not run without moms.

Go on. Ask them. They will tell you.

This silent army of women who learn databases, create spreadsheets, answer phones, run logistics for fundraisers and field trips, plan events, do endless tasks, run social media accounts, learn websites, do the accounting, sit on boards, lead teams, organize everything…

These are tangible, valuable skills.

And it’s not a secret.

Organizations tell this ‘silent army’ all the time just how valuable they are at the banquets the army sets up themselves. Banquets complete with punch bowls and cheap streamers that they’ve most likely paid for out of their own pockets because figuring out how to spend any of the money they have raised for said organizations is more of a headache than a $20 Dollar Tree tab.

All while running their own households with its own set of duties and responsibilities and attempting to cling to some sense of sanity.

I know this because I did this. For years.

When my kids were little I dove head first into the entire ‘get involved’ scene. You know, being the ‘good mommy’ I was... after all I had to get those mandatory volunteer hours in at the school. And since I’m a ‘Stay at Home Mom’ I have nothing but time… right?

So I strapped on my mom boots and got to work. I got myself elected to be the PTO President where I spent years achieving fundraising goals that looking back were insane. As a PTO we had a fundraising goal of $60,000 a year. That meant galas and book fairs and some sketchy ‘lottery/not lottery’ game that I was never quite sure if it was legal or not. Planning the holiday parties and the teacher appreciation and the field days while figuring out how to update the website and manage their social media accounts.

The PTO was also required to help with the annual fair that brought in about $200,000 to the school. The fair had its own committee and took a full year to plan. It was a massive undertaking and relied on additional ‘mandatory volunteer hours’ from every family.

I steered planning committees, worked hundreds of hours, traded every ‘friend favor’ I could to get people to help me.

I lived at the school.

Everything became exhausting.

What little time I had, outside of caring for the 4 small humans I carted all over hell’s half acre, was swallowed up by this ‘non-job job’ I had.

And before you say… ‘You brought this on yourself.’

You’re right.

That’s certainly a fact I’ve wrestled with. Because I did. I signed up for it willingly. At the time I was thinking that ‘being involved’ showed how much I cared for my kids. Like there was some correlation between the hours I spent ‘volunteering’ and how much I loved them. To be so involved in their education and extracurriculars was a measuring stick and source of pride.

Zero time for myself. If there was a number for less than zero… that’s what I actually had.

* Note: This was before the ‘self care’ movement took over on social media. TBH… I almost choked on my coffee the first time I heard about ‘self care’ while doom scrolling the socials. As a child of the 80’s & 90’s raised by Boomers, ‘self care’ is what other people did while eating bon bons on the couch in weird nighties. Even now it seems laughable to think about taking care of myself in those days. I was vibrating on a whole different level.*

Don’t get me wrong. It takes money to run a school and organizations. And honestly who doesn’t want their kids to have the best teachers and equipment and opportunities?

It wasn’t all bad. And that’s where they get you. To this day I still have great friends from this period of my life. And I stand by doing everything possible for teachers. They are the lifeblood of society. We have some really great memories from that time period and felt very connected to the people who surrounded us.

But this is where it broke me… I had 4 little kids to wrestle with and a marriage that was collapsing.

I lost sleep. I was stressed out. I was overwhelmed. I was on the brink of divorce.

For what?

I had lost myself in all of it.

And then Covid happened. And it all melted away.

All of it. Gone.

*Note: There is a story here about an island in the Keys and a boat with a misspelled name that saved me, my family, my marriage and well… me. But that’s a story for another time.*

And for the first time it was like gulping oxygen I didn’t know I needed. Quiet crept into our lives. There was nothing on the To Do list. There was just me and the kids and my husband. We cooked and played games and went to the beach and created a tiny little village of friends who sustained us.

We dared to dream. (Insert above mentioned boat story)

Here’s the kicker… My kids, all teenagers now, hardly remember this period of time prior to Covid. But they do remember how busy and distracted I was.

My resume currently holds almost nothing from the decade I spent keeping my small humans alive and ‘volunteering’ and running circles around the circles.

But it begs the question… Why?

Why can’t we normalize listing these accomplishments and skills on a resume? Why can’t employers see the potential in these skills or the potential in this highly skilled workforce just waiting to be discovered.

Seriously, give me a PTO mom any day for any job. That chick is gonna turn up the gangster rap and handle it. She can see the workload, make a plan and GET. IT. DONE. with a toddler swinging between her legs and bouncing a baby on her hip.

The truth is moms who don’t work a paid gig outside the home and run all the organizations their kids are attached to, have almost no options to enter or reenter the workforce after closing the chapter of raising kids.

I know this because I have been rejected from hundreds of traditional jobs and am watching this storyline play out with moms I know in real time. I’ve written a hundred resumes, applied on all the job sites and honestly up until about a year ago never took LinkedIn seriously at all. How could I? It was just another platform to learn in my non-existent spare time.

The thing is I’m considered ‘one of the lucky ones’. I was able to form relationships during this period of time that helped me build my own company. A company that has shaped my professional development over the years and one I am very grateful for because building that company has led me here.

But I’m going to get really honest. My company exists because this has been my only choice. To hustle my ass off and deal with the ups and downs of being a small business owner.

And owning a small business is hard work. It’s up to me to do all the things.

So when I get alerts on LinkedIN about jobs I qualify for, I toss my resume out there to see what’s what. Because on some level I have this idea that it would be easier to have a steady stream of income, benefits, a 401k, days off etc…

The interviews I have managed to get have been lackluster. Interviewers I’ve encountered become dismissive of me when I talk about the gap in my resume.

The disdain is palpable.

No shade to the mommas who worked right through this period either. My closest mom friends who kept their careers alive through the years of raising small humans struggled and juggled like I did.

They just got paid.

And they attended all the things I planned. They wrote the checks I needed to get me to those fundraising goals. I love them because they support me and they see me. We see each other.

I have enormous empathy for moms on all sides of the coin running the motherhood marathon. In the end, we’re all just out here trying to keep the balls in the air while agonizing every damn night about what’s for dinner.

It would just be nice if those skills I acquired during those years would be recognized out there in the big bright world. And for my fellow SAHM friends who have spent their precious time making the world a better place… while juggling their small humans… you should also be able to toss that

Don’t you think?

~Christy

PS Sample Mom Resume below. The references part is probably my fav. Enjoy.

THE MOM RESUME
Chief Executive Officer, Household Operations

Chief Negotiator • Logistics Director • Crisis Manager • Snack Procurement Specialist • Maker of all Magic

Moms, Everywhere

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Experienced executive with decades of leading a fast-paced, high-demand organization operating 24/7 with four direct reports, multiple stakeholders, shifting priorities, limited resources, and absolutely no off switch.

Recognized for expertise in conflict resolution, strategic planning, financial management, event production, transportation logistics, fundraising, volunteer leadership, procurement, communications, and surviving on interrupted sleep.

Successfully balances running two businesses while raising four children, supporting schools, serving on boards, organizing community initiatives, and ensuring everyone has clean socks... most of the time.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Chief Executive Officer – My Household (Birth of 1st Kid–Present)

Lead daily operations of a family of six while managing competing priorities, complex schedules, financial planning, education support, healthcare coordination, transportation logistics, conflict resolution, and long-term strategic planning.
Supervise multiple full-time human development projects.
Manage household budgeting, purchasing, meal planning, and resource allocation.
Coordinate calendars involving sports, school, medical appointments, extracurricular activities, vacations, birthdays, holidays, and approximately 4,000 forgotten permission slips.
Provide transportation services with on-demand scheduling and zero notice.
Serve as mediator for labor disputes, wardrobe disagreements, and who looked at whom first.
Negotiate with irrational stakeholders before coffee.
Develop contingency plans for every family vacation.
Oversee quality assurance for homework, science fairs, Halloween costumes, and forgotten lunches.
Maintain operations despite illness, broken appliances, missing shoes, and mystery smells.

President – Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

Led executive board meetings.
Managed volunteers.
Planned school-wide events.
Built community partnerships.
Developed fundraising strategies.
Balanced budgets.
Solved problems no one else wanted to solve.
Answered approximately 9,000 emails.

Board Member

Provided strategic oversight and governance.
Reviewed budgets and organizational priorities.
Supported long-term planning and community engagement.
Frequently asked, “Has anyone thought about...?” before it became everyone else’s problem.

Volunteer Event Director

Planned school festivals, family nights, teacher appreciation events, fundraisers, and community celebrations.
Managed vendors, volunteers, sponsorships, marketing, setup, cleanup, and last-minute miracles.

Chair of Fundraising

Successfully convinced people to voluntarily spend money for good causes.
Specialized in sponsorships, silent auctions, raffles, donor engagement, and stretching every dollar as far as humanly possible.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Executive Leadership
Crisis Management
Logistics
Conflict Resolution
Negotiation
Budget Management
Strategic Planning
Event Production
Volunteer Management
Board Governance
Fundraising
Project Management
Transportation Coordination
Advanced Multitasking
Snack Distribution
Laundry Operations
Finding Things That Were ‘Right There’

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE

Can identify which child yelled simply by the sound.
Able to translate teenage grunts into complete sentences.
Expert in locating lost phones using only intuition.
Performs advanced financial forecasting while standing in the grocery aisle.
Maintains operations despite everyone asking what’s for dinner at exactly the same time.
Has successfully kept four children alive through infancy, middle school, and teenage years.
Can pack for a week-long vacation in under an hour while simultaneously answering homework questions and signing school forms.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Google Calendar (weaponized) • Shared family scheduling • Online school portals • Meal planning • Amazon Prime • Costco optimization • Spreadsheet budgeting • Group text diplomacy • Last-minute costume engineering • GPS rerouting under pressure

CERTIFICATIONS

Professional Lego Finder
Certified Tooth Fairy
Licensed Monster Under the Bed Inspector
Olympic-Level Grocery Unloader
Black Belt in “Because I Said So”
Advanced Degree in Operating on Four Hours of Sleep
Certified Finder of Missing Water Bottles
Expert in Pretending to Like School Fundraiser Chocolate

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

Successfully launched four independent humans into the world (project ongoing).
Managed thousands of school pickups with a near-perfect attendance record.
Produced hundreds of birthday parties, holidays, school projects, sporting events, and family vacations.
Built lifelong relationships with teachers, coaches, administrators, and community leaders.
Demonstrated the rare ability to remember everyone’s shoe size while forgetting why I walked into the pantry.