Family

Mompreneur? Work life balance for the Young Female Entrepreneur.

June 28, 2011

By Nisha Grice, IBCLC and Doula, owner of Mother Rites


Owning your own business can give you the flexibility to start a family, or spend more time with your children, but how do you make it work? Here are some tips for staying sane when mixing babies and business.

Redundant support system: Feedback and extra hands are helpful when you’re starting a business, but for the self-employed parent they are essential. Put together a supportive team of individuals who can help with things like picking up kids from school, entertaining your child while you entertain a client, and give you a break when you need one. Have more than one emergency childcare situation lined up so that you can take advantage of business opportunities without burning out your loved ones.

Set realistic priorities: If you’ve got a newborn baby for example, your daily to-do list should be very small. If you accomplish something more than getting a shower and returning business phone calls or emails? Fantastic. If not, don’t beat yourself up. Managing a home life with young children is difficult whether you work inside or outside the home. Attack tasks in portions triaged according to their importance. If something does not have to be done by you personally or right away, delegate or delay it. As you get used to juggling more, you’ll develop a feel for how to make time management magic, but it takes practice.

Practice Self-Care: Schedule downtime and rests for yourself and don’t let them slide because you’re the boss! Carly McLeod, a single parent of 2 children under the age of 5 and owner of Fat Cat Mustard : “I ask for help when I need it. I don’t want to martyr myself and then not be able to be there for my kids. I also make sure to take time away from the kids and the house to do things for myself, like seeing friends or just enjoying a cup of coffee at a shop. That’s how I balance it all. I focus on the business during the day and then my home and family at night.”

Network with other Moms: Don’t be afraid to ask another mother how she holds it all together! You may find a great recommendation for a playgroup, a fun tip on how to pamper yourself, or a new business lead.

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Nisha Grice, IBCLC and Doula, is the owner of Mother Rites which provides lactation services, labor and postpartum doula care, and all natural henna body art for mothers and families in the Greater Seattle Area (King & Kitsap counties). For more information or a free doula care consultation contact her at Nisha@mother-rites.com or visit www.mother-rites.com, @motherrites on Twitter, or Facebook – Mother Rites.

img courtesy limaoscarjuliet

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YFE Moms Want…

May 6, 2011

Mother’s Day is Sunday and YFE moms are a busy lot, so how do they want to celebrate? Like most moms they want to relax, be pampered… and focus on areas outside their business.

I asked a few YFE moms what they are looking forward to this mother’s day and found that the answers were pretty similar.

Heather, mom of two and owner of Chic Ink, a custom wedding invitation boutique has her “eye on are flowers for the front of the house and a new water fountain.” Shanda Foisy, mom to two dogs with a baby on the way and owner of Pixel Soup, a design studio that fulfills brand identity, print collateral and website needs has “both of my cars to be detailed” on her list. Having a pleasant and comfortable environment to be in on a daily basis makes having a hectic schedule and long to do list less stressful. Vacuuming and sprucing up the yard is one less thing we have to deal with on the list leaving us able to enjoy being at home and with family when we aren’t on the phone or answering emails.

While getting our surroundings just right to continue on towards summer, a trip to the spa was not far behind on the YFE Mother’s Day wish lists. “An organic prenatal spa treatment at Habitude in Ballard (the one that includes the smoothie!)” was high up on Shanda’s list and Jaime Slutzky, owner of Fit with Flair (WordPress developer for fitness professionals) was excited about “pampering of ANY kind!”

Being the fitness buff she is, Jaime also mentioned new workout clothes, being more “business-benefit related.” YFE moms love their businesses, love their clients, and while one day off to focus on other areas is fabulous, thinking about business never really stops.

What are you looking forward to this mother’s day? Sprucing up your space, pampering, or a business boost?

Happy Mother’s Day to all you young entrepreneurial moms (and moms to be)!

Photo courtesy panpacificvancouver

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Mother’s Day and the YFE

May 1, 2011

Here we gooooooo! I am so excited for this week and YFE! Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 8th and it is my first time celebrating as a new mom. To do it up right, I have a post coming out that comments on the role mothers and motherhood play in starting and building our businesses, one that features a celebrity YFE and mom, a Podcast featuring Jessica Zambarano talking giving us 5 steps to rock our legacy, and finally a gift guide for all those YFE moms out there.

To kick it off, YFE Member Jaime wanted to gift our community with a special offer. Jaime Slutzky, is a wordpress developer, specializing in building out websites for fitness professionals. She herself is a fitness pro as a Stroller Strides franchise owner. I took her Fit for Baby classes and credit her with keeping me fit and healthy (up until I stopped, at which point I gain 10 pounds in like 2 weeks- not cool).

Ready to work hard and see results in time for the summer? Our member, Jaime Slutzky, is offering Body Back – an 8-week results based workout designed exclusively for moms. Full details and registration can be found at http://simplyjaime.com/bodyback. New sessions in Duvall & Redmond Ridge starting soon.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Jaime is offering $25 off when you use the referral code MOM2011YFE. Don’t live close enough, contact jaime at simplyjaime dot com for assistance in finding a Body Back Pro near you!

Whether you are a YFE mom, mom to be, or not even anywhere near, or wanting to start having children… this week is dedicated to those of you who are thinking ahead and building a life for your family (or future family). You don’t ask permission and you know that while things may be tough now, tomorrow will be a better day because of the work you are putting in right now.

Cheers to you!

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