The years 2011 - 2014 are a bit of a blur. I don't remember everything, but I remember the way I felt after coming home from work each day. I remember crawling in bed night after night thinking to myself, "I just worked my tail off, but did I actually accomplish anything? I worked hard, really hard for 12 hours today, but did I even make any money? Why am I working so hard and have nothing to show for it?" During those years, I could have won an academy award for my act. "How's business?" they would ask ...
Read MoreI need to speak to those of you who are working from home. Those of you who have little ones running around while you are simultaneously trying to build your own business. Those of you who are preparing lunch for your kids while you answer client calls.
Read MoreEvery single day I quit the same thing - I quit my work.
Have you ever been home with your family and that little “ding” sound goes off notifying you of a new email? You immediately check it and feel the urgency to respond right away. While you are simply trying to get your thoughts from your head through your fingertips and onto the screen so you can press send, and your child walks over to you and says, “Mommy, look at…” only to be abruptly cut off by you with a response that resembles something like, “Honey, I need you to give mommy just a second - I’m just trying to finish this one thing then I can listen to you.”
Read MoreToday on the Zimmerman Podcast, we’re chatting boundaries. Specifically, how on earth can you be a good mom and a good business owner at the same time? I haven’t always been good at walking this fine line, and to be honest, there are still weeks when I struggle. My business and my children are totally separate, but also very intertwined. How can this be true? My business makes me a better mom and allows me to have a flexible work routine so I can show up for my kids. Similarly, being a mom totally determined the type of business I wanted to create, and my children continue to determine the trajectory of business today.
Read MoreToday on the Zimmerman Podcast, we’re chatting boundaries.
Specifically, how on earth can you be a good mom and a good business owner at the same time? I haven’t always been good at walking this fine line, and to be honest, there are still weeks when I struggle.
My business and my children are totally separate, but also very intertwined. How can this be true? My business makes me a better mom and allows me to have a flexible work routine so I can show up for my kids. Similarly, being a mom totally determined the type of business I wanted to create, and my children continue to determine the trajectory of business today.
Read MoreSneak peek- number three is here!
The third episode (and second one to drop next week!) will be about how to balance motherhood and entrepreneurship.
Want to know a secret? I hate the term #bossmom or #momboss. Why? They're cutsie terms and there's nothing cute about being a mom and a business owner. It takes a lot of grit and hard work.
Had I known, I'm not sure I would have agreed to do it.
See the little girl in this photo. She turned four a few weeks ago. We have never cut her hair. It has grown at it's own sweet, slow pace and I've honestly wished it would stay short forever. As silly as it may sound, there is something about her hair being short that makes me feel like she's still a baby.
Read MoreToday is our 13th wedding anniversary. We dated five years before we married. We've officially been with one another half our lives. Warning: This is not going to be one of those sweet and sappy anniversary posts.
To be honest, this past year has been the hardest year of marriage we've had. In almost every way, our roles switched. Something neither of us asked for or were prepared for. We struggled to navigate our new normal.
Read MoreLast year, I had the incredible privilege of speaking to the attendees at Nourish Retreat, an all-inclusive, luxury retreat for mamapreneurs looking to rest, connect, and create.
I was asked to speak on how I balance my business life with my personal life. It was an incredible joy to sit with fellow mom business owners and share my story, my struggles, and the boundaries I’ve created for myself in order to live the life I want to live. I personally think entrepreneurship can be a lonely thing. Throw being a mom on top of trying to run your own business and you totally feel alone. Speaking honestly about this struggle was a beautiful moment during the retreat because sometimes I think all we need is to know we aren’t alone. Someone else feels this way too!
Read MoreMy Great-Uncle Buck was a successful, self-made businessman. He grew up on a farm in Arkansas and later moved to Seattle with his wife, Lou. He started out dirt poor working in construction. Later, he began investing in storage units, then office rental properties, and eventually became a self-made millionaire. You would never know it. He wore the same pair of Levi’s jeans and denim shirt every single day of his life. He knew what was important in life, and it wasn’t flashy, material things.
Read MoreBrian and I were married eight years before we had kids. During those years I would go through Ina Garten’s cookbooks, page by page, and cook a new recipe each night for dinner. I love to cook. There is something about taking ingredients and making them into a delicious meal that just makes me happy. Brian and I always ate our dinner at the table together. This is where we would really talk about our day or dream about our next vacation. Fast forward to today and life's a little more full! Driving three ...
Read MoreThis past weekend, we went bowling with some friends. One of them said to me, “you know my daughter’s four and we only have 14 summers left with her and it really hit me the other day that we need to make time to create some memories. We need to plan a little vacation. I mean, 14, that’s not many.” I couldn’t agree more! Brian says out loud almost every week “the days are long, but the years are short” mainly to remind us that even though we are exhausted and ready to put the kids to bed and ...
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