Now is the time for joy: entrepreneurial mothering, care work, and feminist resistance

This article investigates the radical manufacturing and recognition of joy among entrepreneuring mothers of children with additional needs. Shifting from deficit-based narratives that pathologize disability caregiving, the research frames joy as a site of radical agency and a hard-earned emotional resource. It introduces the concept of Caregiving Entrepreneurship, a practice in which the strategic competencies necessitated by intensive caregiving responsibilities, such as logistical agility and advocacy, are directly applied to business ventures to engineer a structural clearing for well-being. Drawing on Enrichment Theory, Resilience Theory, and a Feminist Ethics of Care, the study utilises Photovoice and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to reveal joy as a generative force coexisting with grief and loss. Findings demonstrate that joy is not a spontaneous occurrence, but a politicized outcome of self-created work. This resistance is crystallized through five themes: manufactured unity, transformative love, resilient advocacy, the extraordinary ordinary, and the paradox of longing. Ultimately, the research identifies joy as the primary mechanism through which mothers navigate and disrupt the complexities of neurodiverse care, asserting that the labour of joy is the essential foundation for radical professional innovation.