Imagine navigating motherhood with two children with a nine-year age gap, all while maintaining a full-time job, serving on the board of a non-profit, and trying to launch your own e-commerce business. It's a juggling act that requires creativity, dedication, and being a conductor of chaos.
Balancing Motherhood and Career:
We have to find harmony in the chaos and build systems that work for us (and our kids). From school runs to flag football practice and your next Zoom meeting, each moment provides us with an opportunity to connect with others. How are we showing up? Are you feeling like you are running around in circles, with your hair up in a messy bun, yesterday's makeup smeared all over your face, and a discombobulated outfit to get your kids from A to B in enough time to get back home and take a quick shower and throw an outfit together to get to your full-time job? (big inhale and exhale to let go of that stress) Or are you taking time to be intentional and connect with your kids to help with getting things ready for the next day, taking time to snuggle, taking time for yourself self, and having a bath/shower ritual dedicated to just you so that you can go to sleep feeling relaxed? Waking up the next morning ready to go, makeup and outfit on point to get those kids from A to B and allowing you some extra time for creative brain dumping in your journal while you sit in the parking lot of your full-time job? How do you want to show up? If the latter is your desire, join me on this mompreneur journey! We'll get there together.
Your Business is Similar to Being Pregnant, Again!:
When you suddenly have the idea of creating your new business, you "conceived" your new child. Similar to being pregnant, there are moments of exhilaration and moments of uncertainty. The late nights searching suppliers or content topics and the early mornings of making lunches for the kids while crafting the perfect business plan create a similar sense of anticipation as the countdown to childbirth. The birthing process of a business from the first sale to establishing your brand identity mirrors the good, bad, and the ugly of bringing a child into this world, and worth every single tear for the gratitude and joyous moment that your child and business is here and ready to grow.
Finding Time for Self-Care:
In the midst of the whirlwind, it's CRUCIAL not to lose sight of the one who holds everything together -YOU! Nurturing yourself has got to be a non-negotiable aspect of your journey. Steal moments in your day to go for that walk at lunch to get a coffee at the local coffee shop, or a quick workout at the beach before you pick up Jr from the afterschool program. Self-care is not a luxury it's a necessity for you to be a successful version of yourself.
Tips for my Mompreneur Squad:
- Create a Schedule: You must plan your time. Block off time in your daily schedule for self-care and connecting with people that matter to you. Only make time for the things that are in line with your end goal. Weed out the tasks that become distractions and take you down unnecessary rabbit holes. Establish a reset day that works for you and your family. Mine is Sunday, every Sunday I reset for the week -laundry is done, the house is clean, the kitchen is stocked, and the mindset is reset for the new week ahead.
- Delegate, Delegate, Delegate: Avoid morning meltdowns with your littles by preparing things the night before to make your mornings go smoother. There is no reason they cannot make their lunch, put their dry snack in their backpacks, and pick out their outfits for the next day. Teach them these habits early in life so they already have this engrained in their brain should they want to be an entrepreneur like you.
- Prioritize Realistic Daily/Weekly Goals: Recognize that you cannot do everything you want to do today. On your reset day, take time to create small tangible goals for personal and business life and create 1 larger tangible goal for the week. For example, on Sunday I will sit with my coffee in the morning listening to the birds chirp and will outline my personal goals, Monday I will have the goal to drink more water. Tuesday, go to the beach and work out for 20 minutes, Wednesday take 20 minutes to mindfully meditate. Likewise, for my business goals, I will set goals like Monday, and create a blog topic. Tuesday, start creating content for the blog topic and set up 1 page on my Shopify store. Wednesday, create social media posts. Weekly goal, have blog content ready to post by Sunday and 1 page for Shopify completely ready for publishing.
- Understand the Need for Flexibility: Please throw away any idea of being able to control every single thing, person, or outcome. Something is bound to happen, a child will get sick just as you are getting ready for that workout or your in-laws will pop in unexpectedly as you are about to post and publish your weekly content. Let it happen and breathe. You need to have a similar mindset to that of a coach for a sports team. It's the final play with 20 seconds left in the game, you call the play but your player has a different idea. Don't overreact, just be present and go with the flow. The only timeline and due dates you have are those that you've created for yourself.
Being a mompreneur is a journey that can be both fulfilling and rewarding. You're not just juggling responsibilities you are literally orchestrating a symphony with the ambition of doing it with love, and personal growth. The benefit of all your hard work is that it's financially rewarding. Just like the birth of a child, the birth of your business is a testament to your resilience and the limitless capacity of a mother's heart.
This blog invites other mompreneurs to share their experiences, tips, and tricks that worked for them. The hope is that you find small nuggets of hope and tools that you can use to be a powerful conductor of your chaos.