Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Parenting my boys is still my priority, so my business is tiny, and I am in no hurry to grow it too much just yet. I have dedicated work hours when my son is at kindy and some evenings, and I’m pretty good at sticking to those hours.
My home office is also our spare bedroom and my sons’ lego building space which can get tricky now and again when I have a Zoom call or am doing a video or webinar and the floor in the background is covered in lego! Still, it keeps it honest as everyone knows I’m a parent too, and a messy house comes with the territory of two busy boys!
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Learning about business, especially the marketing side of things, was entirely new for me, and there is so much to know! I have never been a massive fan of social media, but it is such an unbeatable tool for being seen and getting your message out to the world. I’ve had to overcome many fears of being visible and opening myself up to potential judgement. I worried at the start that people would think I was presenting myself as a parent that had it all sorted, but that certainly isn’t the case! I’m navigating parenting challenges every day. It’s just that now I feel so much more confident and well equipped to handle them and know that I need to take care of my needs. I would love everyone to have the same experience of enjoyment in their parenting that I now have.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
It is undoubtedly a rollercoaster! I love being able to set my own pace and direction. Take things slower when other priorities in life crop up, and then pick up the pace when there is more space. I also enjoy being able to follow my creative path rather than someone else’s agenda. If client enrollment is down, I ask myself, “What do I get to create?” to draw some people to me. It’s so liberating. I don’t have to ask permission from anyone if there’s a project I want to work on or a new aspect of my business I want to focus on.
Of course, there never seems to be enough time to do everything I want to do, and kindy pick-up time rolls around very quickly! But I tell myself this time when my kids are little is so precious, and there’ll be time enough to get to all the things when they don’t want me around so much.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I’m currently using the online course created by the Jai Institute for Parenting, which is in the US, for my clients to access content between sessions. I’d love to create and produce my own, more Kiwi-fied online course in the not-too-distant future. My little guy starts school next year, so I anticipate having more time to devote to this project. I’m also in the planning stages of setting up a low-cost membership option for parents who don’t necessarily want or need the intensity of 1:1 coaching but would still like the support on an ongoing basis.
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