4 Best Tips for Stay-At-Home Mom Entrepreneurs
So you’re a mom, but you also have some pretty big creative or business dreams. Sound familiar? These days, so many successful moms are launching and growing businesses while raising their kids. But how do they balance work and family without completely burning out? In this post, I’m sharing 4 best tips for stay-at-home mom entrepreneurs that will help you navigate this exciting, sometimes tricky path!
So I have two kids. Jayden is six and Nyah is three. They’re a bundle of joy. Like, the cutest kids you’ve ever met in your entire life. They’re so much fun, but they are bonkers. Let me tell you when they’re both in the room, they will demand all of your attention and time, and our house looks like a hurricane when they’re both home.
Now as you might imagine, this is not super conducive to being a super successful mothers with careers.
Growing up, I always just assumed I would be a mom who worked. I pictured myself being like Carrie Bradshaw, clacking away on her laptop looking out the window, and then making thousands of dollars for an article in Vogue.
I would wear wobbly high heels around town or carry a briefcase and wear cute designer suits. I figured I’d be in the city, working at some big job. And that’s honestly not what my life looks like now. That’s not what it looks like for most successful moms. But I do love how things turned out.
“We’re creating a life that fits for our family, and that is, honestly, one of the most amazing things about being able to build your own thing.”
If you know my story, I have a long history of trying a bunch of jobs in a bunch of different industries and always feeling like, “This isn’t quite it.”
I started freelancing about five years ago, and that was really the beginning of everything for me. Since then, I’ve built a content-writing business and have clients that I absolutely love. But the reality is, I’m still a mom first.
So how do you learn how to balance work and family as a mom?
Prefer to listen to this blog post? This blog was taken from Season 2: Episode 1 of The Joy Rally Podcast. You can hear the full episode right here!
If you have a dream or want to build something, but also want to be present and available for your kids, I won’t lie to you. It’s not always easy. And I recommend you get alllll the working mom tips you can along the way.
As I’ve built my own business, here are 4 must-have things that I’ve learned are super helpful for stay-at-home mom entrepreneurs.
How to balance work and family
1. CHILDCARE
Some people act like it’s a dirty word, but I’m gonna be straight up with you guys – the word is daycare. Childcare, okay? Like I said, my kids are tornadoes, and it’s really hard to do meetings and focus on really important pieces when they’re with me. So I have no shame in my game. As long as where my kids are is safe and I know that they’re being loved on and taken care of, I have no shame in sending my kid to daycare.
“Be creative about your childcare when you need it.”
For us, it just so happens my husband’s office has a daycare, which I know not everybody has perks that amazing, but it has worked out so great for us. Jayden and Nyah both go four days a week, and then they’re home with me on Fridays. So that’s been great.
Before I was making enough for us to do daycare, I had a gym membership. I paid for a monthly YMCA membership, and Jayden would come with me. I would go every single day because they gave you two hours of free childcare to work out.
My workout was sticking my computer in my gym bag, and I’d sit in the hallway and just pound it out for two hours. That was my work time every day. Then, I’d work at night, and it was amazing. It gave me a nice mom break, and it gave me a chance to really build a business in that time.
So be creative about your childcare when you need it. If there’s a high school student in your neighborhood who wants to work in the afternoons, they can watch your kids. Use that time to work. Get a babysitter when you can.
Tag on and off with your spouse while you’re working, that sort of thing. It’s super important that you have work time set aside, and childcare can be a really big part of making that easier.
2. A SUPPORTIVE PARTNER
Number two may be the most important thing – it’s having a supportive spouse. Having a partner who understands why your work is so important to you and who will champion and cheer you on the whole way? This is huge.
If you’re not married, this could be a significant other. This could be a friend, someone who supports you in a big way. Especially if you’re married, if you have a spouse who’s not on board with whatever you’re trying to build, you are going to hit wall after wall. It’s not gonna work, especially when you have kids.
“It’s important that your spouse gets your vision and can support you in what you’re trying to build and what you’re trying to do.”
I’m so grateful to have a husband who is supportive, and anytime he doesn’t really understand what I’m doing, I just do my best to explain it to him.
It’s been a process and I’m really happy with how we both have grown and have been able to support each other in our individual careers and balance taking care of the kids in between those two things.
So if your spouse is not on board yet, it’s time to have some conversations. It might be awkward, but it’s gonna be so worth it in the end.
3. KIDS BEFORE CLIENTS
You need to have clients that understand being a mom first is your priority. There are horror clients out there who will say, “I know you’re with your kids, but can you stop and do this right now?” Well, the answer to that is, “No,” because my kids are the priority. My kids will be in the house for the next 18 years, and you’re only with me until this contract ends. So kids before clients.
“It’s important that you’re vocal about the fact that your kids are a priority. You’ll attract the right clients when you’re willing to talk about that honestly.”
There are so many amazing companies and business owners out there who will hire people with kids and who are patient and understanding that your schedule and your time is gonna be a little different than if you were sitting in an office for eight hours a day.
4. CREATE A LIFE THAT FITS AROUND YOUR FAMILY
Last but not least, it’s important that you create a life that fits around your family. The best thing about being a business owner, building your own brand or your own platform is that you get to decide exactly what that looks like. Why would you build something that doesn’t actually work with your life?
“We’re creating a life that fits for our family, and that is, honestly, one of the most amazing things about being able to build your own business.”
So, for us, every week is a three-day weekend. It’s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sunday is consumed with church stuff, and that’s fine, but that’s just what works for our family. It gives us a chance to have quality time with our kids, and because I work from home, I can say that on Fridays I’m mostly not available.
I’m able to do work at night when I need to. My husband has a crazy busy job, and some nights our quality time is just sitting on the couch with our laptops clacking away together. But we’re creating a life that fits for our family, and that honestly is one of the most amazing things about being able to build your own thing.
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Stay at home mom entrepreneurs struggles are real. But I genuinely do love this life! I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. But it does take time, and it hasn’t always been easy.
We’ve had some really difficult months where I’ve wanted to throw in the towel because things get hard. But even when it gets hard, I want to encourage you to push through it.
Because if you’re building something that you’re really passionate about and that you really love, balancing work and motherhood is all going to be worth it. And your kids and your spouse will be so proud of you for how hard you’ve worked.