Stephanie Hubert has worn many hats.

Over the last five years she has been a nanny, a dog sitter, a waitress and a jewelry store clerk, to name a few.

But above all, Hubert is a mom.

Hubert left her job doing billing and collections for medical offices six years ago to take care of her daughters, Georgia and Zoey, full time.

“I wanted to be home,” Hubert said. “But I missed the money.”

Her husband, Wally, still works full time, but dropping from two salaries to one was hard for the family.

Staying at home with the kids was a priority for her, so Hubert started looking for part-time jobs she could do from home.

She started by just talking to people she encountered throughout the day.

“It’s all networking,” Hubert said. “You never know where you’re going to drop a little seed.”

Hubert found a job through talking to her neighbors.

“I got to know a girlfriend in the neighborhood. She and I were pregnant at the same time, but she was going back to work,” Hubert said. “She asked me if I would be interested in keeping her baby and she had a 1«-year-old. We tried it one or two days a week and then it turned into full time.”

Through talking to her daughter’s preschool teacher, she also found a part-time job with a newspaper clipping service.

But the economy has affected even side jobs like Hubert’s. Over the last few weeks, she has been laid off from the clipping service and is no longer watching a child during the week, taking her from four jobs to two.

“Her mom was teaching English as a second language at Perimeter (College) and they combined her class with another class because of furloughs. So she lost her job and then I lost my job with her. It’s all domino,” Hubert said. “That’s how quickly things can change.”

Left with just her occasional dog-sitting and cleaning jobs, Hubert is looking for employment once again.

She said she realizes that with the tough economy, she has to be open minded.

“I think realistically I need to know that I might have to work full time. That might be all I can find,” Hubert said. “But I don’t want to work full time outside the house.”

Hubert said she will need to use “creativity and diligence” to find work now, and may try to pursue a job in the medical field once more.

“I mean, how many jobs have I made out of something that I didn’t think was a job to begin with?” Hubert said.

Hubert’s success in finding work that fits her needs stems from a long and varied resume of jobs and a strong work ethic. She got a work permit at 15. Hubert’s mom drove her to her first job in retail.

“I’ve done it all,” Hubert said. “Work ethic is hard to come by, but I think it is so important. It can save your job sometimes. You might not be the biggest producer or the very best, but when you’re trying your best, that means something.”

Hubert said one thing that puts her at ease is that her family no longer has debt to pay off.

One of her many past jobs was as a waitress at Chili’s.

“Waiting tables? That’s not ideal. ... Everyone in there is 20 and I’m 40 waiting tables,” Hubert said. “But it was fun and I made good money. I did that for a year and paid off all our debt and that makes it easier now to swallow the pill of unemployment.”

As soon as she got the call from the clipping service that she was being laid off, she began to make a list of potential job leads.

Hubert encourages others not to pass up any job opportunity, but also not to settle and stop looking for the perfect job.

“Get something immediate, but keep the back burner on,” Hubert said. “A lot of times for me that has lead to something that is better than what I had my scope on to begin with.”