Moms are busy people.
Raising a family makes you busy, but when you throw in the added responsibilities of running a business, you may feel like a professional juggler trying your hardest every day not to “drop the ball”.
Today’s mom entrepreneurs are so busy juggling their family and business, some days it may be difficult to find time to breathe. The benefit of good advice from moms who have already raised their families is priceless and can help you to set your priorities.
Here are two mom entrepreneurs from the National Association for Female Executives's
"For You Network" sharing their thoughts and stories about what they wish they would have known while working a business and raising a family.
Reminder #1: Children grow up quickly…
Meli Van Natta’s son was seven years old and her daughter was four when she got into the real estate business. Meli, of Ask Meli Realty, says, “I learned that children grow up quickly and you can never recapture the time that you miss.”
If Meli had it to do over again, she would have arranged her schedule to spend more time with her children even if it affected her business.
Now that she is older (and wiser), Meli realizes that she could have delegated some tasks, maybe taken on a partner. And she now knows she didn’t have to attend all the social events that went along with the business. But, she was young, having fun, and feeling very powerful and successful with all the money she was making.
Meli’s kids don’t seem to feel that she neglected them. After all, they had time to go to Disneyland, the Zoo, and other places during the week when all the other mothers were at work. So, they didn’t mind too much if she worked weekends because of her schedule.
Meli's children often helped her by stuffing envelopes, going with her to knock on doors, and sitting with her at Open Houses when she couldn’t get a sitter.
Both of Meli’s children are now happily married, well-adjusted adults with kids of their own. Her daughter has chosen to be a stay-at-home mom. Her son is the entrepreneur in the family. After a brief foray into the real estate business himself, he is now the owner of two successful businesses.
Meli’s Top Tips:
- Learn when to turn off the phone and learn the difference between merely important and urgent.
- Take those vacations and make your days off sacrosanct. It may take you a little longer to reach your business goals, but you’ll be happier for it!
Reminder #2: Take advantage of your flexible schedule to share great times with your children…
Robbie Motter, CEO/Founder Nonprofit network at Global Society for Female Entrepreneurs was a single parent who raised her three children (who are now grown).
Robbie loves being an entrepreneur. Robbie says, “If I had known then what I know now, I would have left the corporate world earlier so I could have had the quality time with my older children that I had with my younger daughter.”
Robbie took a break from work each day for about an hour and a half after her daughter came home from school. They spent that time together before Robbie returned to work and her daughter then started on her homework.
Robbie recalls that it was she had some difficult challenges when she first became an entrepreneur. It took a while for things to start moving forward and times were tough.
Her two older children were not too supportive at first, as they were used to the big corporate paycheck. Many times they told her to go get a regular job, but she was determined to make it work. Before long it did, and they truly loved having her work from her home office. They shared great times together.
Robbie used to have her children help in the business. They stuffed envelopes or jobs like that, and they loved it. As they got older, Robbie let them answer the phone so they could learn the correct way to do that.
Robbie’s son is an entrepreneur. He and a partner have owned a company for 18 years. Her two girls are not entrepreneurs--they like having a big paycheck, the perks, and benefits that a corporate job provides.
Robbie’s Top Tips:
- When you run your business, and if you work from home, make your children feel a part of it.
- When it is family time, stop worrying about business and give your children quality time.
Sources
National Association for Female Executives
Meli Van Natta
Ask Meli Realty
Robbie Motter
Global Society for Female Entrepreneurs
The Business Mom Guide Book
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
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