After leaving the workforce to care for her daughter with ASD, Paloma found in entrepreneurship a way to balance motherhood with her dream of owning her own business
For over 15 years, Paloma Angélica de Oliveira Conti built her career in Human Resources and Personnel. But motherhood brought profound changes to her plans. She is the mother of a girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and, as a result, had to reorganize her routine to support her daughter’s therapies and needs. It was in this context that entrepreneurship—an activity that was already part of her history—took on new meaning.
In 2026, after leaving the workforce, Paloma decided to fully commit to her baking business. To prepare for this new phase, she took a free entrepreneurship course offered by the Ramacrisna Institute through the “Building the Future VI” project, carried out in partnership with Petrobras through the Petrobras Socio-Environmental Program. The training expanded her knowledge of management and provided new tools to transform an activity that had previously been a supplementary source of income into a structured business.
Paloma’s connection to entrepreneurship began back in high school, when she sold truffles, bonbons, and chocolates to earn money. Later, as she built her professional career, the bakery remained a side hustle, especially on special occasions.
The arrival of her daughter, however, changed her plans. During the pandemic, Paloma left her job to devote herself to caring for her daughter, who was later diagnosed with ASD. She later returned to the workforce in 2023, once again in HR and payroll, relying on a support network consisting of her mother and husband.
But with the change in her husband’s work routine—he began working as a self-employed contractor in the transportation sector—Paloma had to leave her job again. According to her, the need to accompany her daughter to therapy sessions also became an obstacle in her search for new opportunities. “Unfortunately, in every job opening I apply for, if I mention that I have a child with special needs or, if possible, request one day of remote or hybrid work, the entire dynamic of the hiring process changes,” she says.
Faced with this situation, starting a home-based business became an alternative to continue generating income without having to give up caring for her daughter.
Paloma discovered Ramacrisna on Instagram after seeing ads about the project. When she was laid off from her job in January 2026, she decided to dedicate herself more to entrepreneurship and saw the training as an opportunity to become a professional.
During the entrepreneurship training program, topics such as business modeling, financial management, sales, MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur), social media, content planning, innovation, emotional intelligence, and communication were covered.
For Paloma, the free entrepreneurship course represented a shift in the way she viewed her own business.
“It was a turning point. I realized I was no longer just an amateur, but that I was becoming a business,” she says. Among the course topics, the area of technology and social media surprised her the most. According to her, the classes helped her “unlock” and see potential she hadn’t yet recognized in her own business.
Today, knowledge about pricing, cash flow, marketing, and metrics, for example, is already part of the bakery’s daily routine.
After completing the training program, ten entrepreneurs were selected to participate in a business modeling consulting program and received a financial grant of R$15,000 to invest in their ventures. Paloma is among them.
With the funds, she plans to transform a room in her home into a pickup location for delivery orders. The idea is to create a simple, cozy space that’s better suited for welcoming customers, while also strengthening the business’s presence on digital platforms. “The grant will accelerate our project. We’re going to get the project off the ground and transform the room we have into a delivery pickup location,” she explains.
Without the investment, Paloma believes she could still carry out the project, but would need to wait about six months. The family is still finishing the second floor of the house, where she plans to install a separate commercial kitchen.
More than just a way to generate income, the new business represents for Paloma the possibility of building a career path compatible with her family’s reality.
She acknowledges that balancing entrepreneurship with non-traditional motherhood remains a challenge, especially due to the routine of therapies and medical appointments. But she also realizes that, as her daughter has grown, some tasks have become easier.
Looking ahead, she hopes her daughter will understand that this entire journey has been driven by love and the desire to offer her the best possible opportunities. “She is everything to us. We love her just the way she is. Regardless of companies’ prejudices, God will always give us strength, and we’ll find ways to make it happen,” she says.
Paloma’s story shows how training, support, and access to opportunities can transform an idea into a life project. Through “Building the Future,” the Ramacrisna Institute seeks to empower entrepreneurs and expand opportunities for income generation and self-reliance.
Want to learn about other initiatives that turn opportunities into new stories? Explore the Ramacrisna Institute’s projects and discover how to support initiatives that contribute to the professional and social development of people and communities.
