Having Two 24/7 Jobs

There’s never a ‘good time’ to have a career and a family. Being an entrepreneur is a 24/7 job, and being a mom is a 24/7 job. Look to your family for inspiration and support when you take risks.

There’s never a good time to have a career and a family, and I think this is true for anybody, but as an entrepreneur I have found that there’s no maternity leave, there’s no opportunity to leave your work in the office, being an entrepreneur is a 24-7 job, and being a mom is a 24-7 job, and I don’t see my family life and my career as separate from one another, I see them as completely inter-meshed, I think that my children, who came very close together and not all expected, are a blessing and really push me as an entrepreneur to make choices, to take risks that I maybe would not have if I had not thought, ok now I have an extra mouth to feed, what will be my legacy to this next child that I’m having. And finally, I think a lot of it has to do with finding a partner in life, particularly if it’s a man, who is comfortable as Nanon would say, letting his partner wear the big-boy pants in the relationship. It’s a challenge, and it really is a process, I think, because intellectually, your partner can understand that your starting this, that you’re doing something that will benefit the family, that will benefit your personal enrichment, that your career enrichment, but to have the confidence and the power within himself to assume some of that care work at home, and to do things that are not traditionally male roles, which was very important to me in our relationship, for one of us, at least when our children are so young, to be the people who are there. You know I think that’s probably a big challenge that I haven’t necessarily figured out, but I’m working out with my partner.