Balancing Work / Life/ School

I do not post much about my personal life but I can see it everywhere that we are all just struggling to make it through the end of the school year and also prepare for summer and so much more...

For me, that so much more is that my husband is in the hospital with an infection sooo that means not only am I dealing with end of year craziness, but also juggling childcare needs and events too.

It prompted me to share some of the content I had prepared for an interview on Mother's Day:

1) Tell me below some of the ways you juggle your time between raising your children and running your business?

I have posted a lot on my blog about how I manage being a mom-trepreneur and it has been important to me to try to balance and juggle still being at pick up every day and spending enough time with the children while building out my business (oh and teaching at local colleges and being a substitute teacher). With all of the things I do, the most important role for me is as a mom of two kids under 10. And maybe you would think that I have the answers on how to balance and juggle this but I do not. Every day is a plan for me and each day, my plan is subject to change based on life and what is going on around me. So maybe the answer to balance is just knowing things will change and that you have to be flexible.

I launched this business in July 2015 and have found the balancing is becoming more and more of a challenge as I continue to write and promote my books and launch my workshops and build more clients and partnerships relationships. Something that is amazing is that my kids are excited and proud of the fact that I run my own business and when I have considered pulling back and not doing it anymore, they are the first ones to push me to keep going.

I think for all working parents, whether it is their own business or their career, there is this inherent balancing and that most of us take our work home with us even if it is not a business we are responsible for running so it is key to know to take some personal time to reconnect with family and disconnect from work.


2) What challenges do you face? And how do you overcome them?
I find that having a Type A personality is a very good thing when trying to build my business but it is also a very bad thing. There are times when I just keep trying to do too much or do not know when to take a break. I have learned that it is important for me to be well-rested and to balance the work with other events and activities.

There are times where an opportunity will come up but I know I am not comfortable executing on it - for instance, I was recently asked to speak in Madrid and I knew that I would not be willing to travel that far from home at this time in my life. It did not mean I did not second guess my decision to say no, though. I think as women, we are quite hard on ourselves and can let the guilt take over - I try hard to stay focused on how proud my kids are that I am building a business instead of thinking about the baseball game I had to miss or the music lesson I had to reschedule. This is a challenge that I only overcome because I know that in the grand scheme of things, it is important to follow your dreams and to inspire your kids with the fact that you tried, even if you fail. Showing kids failure and following dreams is very important to me and I am lucky that I get to do that.


3) What advice would you give to other women who want to run their own business while raising children?
My advice to any woman who wants to run their own business while raising children is to go for it and to not let guilt or self doubt get in their way. I know from experience that I can let doubt creep in but I need to kick it out after a while and keep going forward! The guilt is something all moms (I think) feel no matter what so just acknowledge it and keep going. I have seen many women forge their paths to small business ownership to have the flexibility to be there for their kids and the irony is that when you launch a successful business, sometimes you wind up busier than when you had a 9-5 job BUT there is more personal growth in it and someday, you can even hire your kids to work for you and force them to spend time with you just around the time they are looking to get away from you - when they are teenagers!

What do you think about balancing and getting through the end of the year /waiting for summer camp/ family issues and more?  Please join my network by following me on Twitter or signing up here for special content and offers through my mailing list.
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