Woman of the Week, August 23, 2010: Joanne Lalonde Hayes

By Murtaza Adamjee

Joanne Lalonde Hayes, founder and creator of More Time Moms, has learned to master one of moms’ greatest challenges: Time. As woman of the week, she shares some insight on the number of tools offered by More Time Moms that are so commonly used by fellow moms to handle the constant demands of everyday life.

After receiving her MBA from McGill University, Joanne was offered a position with Petro Canada as a strategic planner. Back in the day where there were no women in the oil industry, Joanne admits working in upper management was quite the challenge. Still, though short in tenure, she recalls enjoying it greatly.

Soon enough though, Joanne was married, and started having children; having had three babies in two years, Joanne was forced to leave work, and put her organizational skills to the ultimate test. Joanne stayed home till her children were in kindergarten, and in 1993, founded More Time Moms Publishing Inc. With having three babies born so close together, Joanne needed a way to become more organized. With little to no resources available at the time, she decided it was time to develop and market her own time management tools; resources that would help others increase the quality of their family life.

Ironically, as Joanne’s business grew, so did her demanding schedule. She recalls the increased difficulty with organizing her children, with her kids often pointing out, “Mom, you’re too busy.” She admits for a while she unintentionally failed to put her kids first, ultimately leading to the design and development of both More Time Moms Fridge Calendar and Organizer.

The Family Organizer, a large, visual family calendar, is now in its 16th year of publication and acts as a scrap book and daily planner. It provides a command central for moms that can be used by the entire family to see what’s going on (including the kids). In turn, children are taught to think and plan ahead, and moms are allowed to prepare daunting, everyday tasks. The calendar currently sells more than a quarter million copies each year.

A recent report from the Canadian Index of Wellbeing revealed that women feel time-crunch strain more acutely than men. One of the key areas where organization is crucial is meal planning. Organizing food is a huge job for moms with chaos often ensuing. Joanne’s latest tool, More Time Moms Family Meals, was designed to take all the work and planning away from moms with the following goals in mind: feeding your children healthfully, saving you both time and money, helping your family lose weight, and helping moms have a little extra free time.

More Time Mom Family Meals provides meals that are quick, effective, and healthy. The meal guide offers 126 kid-friendly meals that are made with fresh, whole ingredients, using the principles of Canada’s Food Guide. The book also includes nutrition facts for each week of meals; not only can moms ensure quality meals for their children, but quality meals for the entire family (themselves).

Keeping up appearances with digital marketing, for the first time weekly groceries lists are now available through a smart-phone application. The application includes grocery lists found in the book, an errand and a do-not-forget list, and the option of including your own grocery list; essentially, an extension of further planning to put moms at mental ease.

More Time Moms Family Meals by Joanne Lalonde Hayes is now available for moms everywhere. For more information, you can visit the More Time Moms website. Currently, Joanne continues to work at developing tools that make family life easier; She is also working on trying to get kids more physically active, and supports charitable projects for children in need in developing countries.