This is part of a series called "One Entrepreneur's Journey," where I'm talking with solo entrepreneurs about their successes (and failures) along the path of entrepreneurship.

In this interview, I spoke with Josephine Geraci, a former Wall Street executive and founder of My Mom Knows Best, maker of gLovies®, which help protect kids from germs in public places.

How did gLovies® come about?

When my child was two-years-old, I took him into the restroom for the first time after he was wearing his "big boy" underwear.  We went into the restroom, and I was completely horrified at everything he touched.  No matter how much paper I put on the toilet seat, his fingers were still gripping the bottom.  Just the thought of his hands on that toilet seat, I said, "There must be a better way.  There's gotta be something on the market that can protect our children from germs in public places."  I researched it, and there was absolutely nothing on the market.  That's when I decided I would create a solution to a problem. 

The fact that I had a concept in my head, and to actually see my product on the shelves in some of the largest baby retailers, I still can't believe it.

How did you go about the initial promotion of your product?

I still feel like I'm in the initial phase.  I had a lot of time spent in the development of my product.  There was a lot of legal work involved in getting my product to where it is now.  As far as getting the word out there, I would talk to people.  I would respond to leads that I would get.  What is amazing is that I got a phone call from a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle.  It was a very simple interview that I had with him, and it went okay, but I felt that there were some questions that I wanted to expand upon, so I took the time to spend expanding on all the questions that he had asked, and I emailed it to him.  He was so appreciative that I put so much time and effort into his interview that he wrote an incredible article and quoted me in the article, and next thing you know, the producer of ABC Nightline News read the article and called me and said he wanted to come and interview me.  I had the crew of ABC Nightline News here interviewing me in my home, and it was just a snowball effect.

I was on national TV on Friday night, and they decided to replay it on Good Morning America the next day.  Then I had the local newspapers coming to me and magazines coming to me.  That's how I'm getting my name out there, and I have an awful lot of mom bloggers contacting me, and there are people Googling "how to keep kids safe from germs," and they end up on my website, so slowly but surely, gLovies® is becoming a common word around them.  It's quite interesting to me.

What do you think is one thing you're getting right so far as a solo entrepreneur?

As of right now, when I look at my business and at my life, I feel that I've managed to come up with the right balance.  At first, when I came up with my business idea, I mistakenly thought I was still single in Manhattan, ready to conquer the world, and I could get this business up and running in no time, and it would be a success very, very quickly.  Then I realized that I decided to get married and to have children, and they are my #1 priority, so it's not that my business is not going to be successful, it's just going to take a little longer.  Once I accepted that fact, I calmed down internally.  Instead of always worrying, "Well, I should have sent out ten marketing kits today," I just decided, "You know what, life is short.  I'm going to enjoy my family, and I'm going to create a balance."  Once I did that, I established a schedule, and I decided, "These hours, I will dedicate 100% of my attention to work, and these hours I will focus 100% on my family."  I feel proud of myself that I've figured out that balance.

I hired the right people to help me run my household as well.  That was important.  I saw Bobbi Brown, the makeup artist, on TV about three years ago, and she was giving advice to entrepreneurs.  She said, "The best thing you can do is hire the best help for your home, because if your home is run smoothly, then it allows your business to run smoothly."

What are the things you struggle with?

I have recently realized that I can't do it all by myself, if I want to bring my business to the next level.  I decided to hire a coach, and it's just working out incredibly well.  That's helped me bounce ideas off of a professional, and they're like my own little cheering squad.  What I've learned is that it's just so important to work on your business and not in your business.  My weakness was that I was working in my business.

I just actually outsourced my accounting, and I've been sleeping better, because I've outsourced it to someone who's even smarter than me in accounting.  That's not my expertise.  That's all off my back.  I won't have to spend my own time doing that.

I'm creating a dream team.  I want people who are excited about my product and business, people who take pride in what they do, and people who are qualified.  Hiring the dream team and hiring qualified people is just so important.

If you could start over, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

The biggest expense was legal expenses.  If you have a patent pending, it does bring value to your product, but I probably would have gotten my product on the shelves and selling before I invested such a large amount of money in my legal fees.  Once I get my patent, it will be valuable, but it was an awful lot of money.  I wish I would have talked around.  I wish I would have interviewed more attorneys.  I think that was my biggest lesson learned.

What's your best advice for new solo entrepreneurs?

First, know what you're good at and what you're not good at, and don't try to kid yourself.  Be brutally honest with yourself and [if you can] say, "I know how to do this.  I am really good at this, I am the best person to do this, and I enjoy doing this," then by all means, go have fun and do it.  If there's something that you're so-so about, let's just say sales, and you think, "Well, I've always done sales, and I can do this by myself," the truth of the matter is, you might not be the right person to sell your own product.  Just be honest and say, "Let me just hire a distributor or some sales people."  You have to put the ego aside.  Decide what you're good at and focus your time on doing that.

Second, follow your intuition.  I think that your gut will always lead your business in the right direction.  There were times when I just felt like, "You know what, I really just need to go after the big guys," and people were like, "Oh, it's a brand new product.  You haven't sold it any place else."  I said, "What have I got to lose?"  I went for it, and I got it.  You have to follow your own gut.

Finally, for all those people out there who have always dreamed of owning their own business, finances are super important, but if you're on the fence and really think you can swing it, it's amazing what you would give up in order to follow your dream.  We go through life one time.  It is so short.  It's important to do what's going to make us happy.  Give it a shot.  If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.  You move on to the next thing.  There are so many entrepreneurs out there who are super successful, but they would be the first to tell you, "I did become successful off my current business, but I had two failed businesses before this successful business."  You just have to have the guts and go after your dream.  If it doesn't work, you pick up the pieces and move on to the next thing.