Mom and entrepreneur

As the mother of two young children, (Oliver is 6 years old, and Jackson is 9), I am frequently asked how I balance motherhood with owning and operating my own business. While every successful mother and business owner has her own recipe with ingredients that work for her, some tips that I like to give other mothers that are in similar situations are the “Divalysscious Tips,” and the ingredients that work for my “Mommy Entrepreneur Recipe.”

Here are my “Five divalysscious tips on how to be a mom and an entrepreneur” for owning your own business and being mother of children under the age of 10.

Prioritize

Make sure that your work can be done early in the morning before the children wake up. Yes, that means sometimes waking up at 4:30 am to finish work — of course you will need a large cup of coffee! If you know that mornings are to hectic, then finish the work the night before after the kids are sound asleep in their beds. But don’t put off time with them just to work. There still needs to be a balance between work and family. And be careful, putting things off will only stress you out more.

Delegate

Always remember that being a mom and a business owner gives you the right to delegate the work, which means surrounding yourself with a great supportive team comprised of positive people who have high energy. Make sure these are people who you can trust, and people who can help you. My husband is my biggest supporter, and at times he has to help with the children because I might need to be at a meeting, have to work late, etc. I know that I can count on my husband and vice versa for him, as he, too, has a high-demanding job.

This is your job and your life, so don’t let feelings get in the way, since the most important thing is to get the job done. That’s not to say you can’t be kind, but just make sure that you are respected by the people you ask for help so you don’t get stuck with more work than you originally anticipated. No matter who it is, delegate the errands with your family, caregiver, and do not be afraid to ask for help! It’s always better to ask, than to be completely overwhelmed.

Don’t cut corners

Sometimes it’s easier to skip that morning breakfast, or walk out the door without saying goodbye to your family before going to work. Don’t skip out of those moments because those little smiles saying, “Bye Mommy!” is what is going to put your mind and heart at ease when you get overwhelmed, and what puts you back into a great mood. Also, eating breakfast is critical. We hear it all the time, but we often shrug it off anyway. If you can, try to always have breakfast with your children in the mornings before you run to the office and they go to school. It is critical to build those family fundamentals at an early age so that becomes normal within the household. And if you prioritize properly, spending those extra 15 minutes sitting down with some cereal won’t stress you out and you will be able to properly enjoy the reboot period before you start your busy day.

Take a breath

It’s always stressful being in the office, even on a good day, but that means if you don’t stop for a second to take a breath, you’re going to become way too overwhelmed. Find a quick thing you can do every day that will bring you back to a calm state of mind when it starts to feel like too much. Perhaps you have a small photo album of your family you can flip through, or if you know your spouse or caretaker is going to be with your kids at a certain time of the day, give them a call, and speak to them for a quick second even to tell them you love them. Those little ones can do amazing things for you in such a short time, so don’t take that for granted.

Never forget YOU

As moms and business women, it’s easy to forget ourselves in the mix of things. It is so important that we don’t let all of our stress get so pent up that we don’t know what to do with ourselves, because it only makes us more on edge. Maybe during your lunch break, go down to the closest nail salon and get a quick 10-minute back rub, or keep your favorite color nail polish with you at your desk and slick on a new coat while you’re at your computer. Of course you need to find those moments for your family, and you don’t want to do so much that you aren’t able to get your work done, but in the time you spend saying you don’t have the time is enough to give yourself a little love in return for all the hard work you do. And besides, you deserve it.

Lyss Stern is the founder of DivaLysscious Moms (www.divamoms.com), the premiere luxury lifestyle company for moms, and co-author of the best-selling book, “If You Give a Mom A Martini… 100 Ways To Find 10 Blissful Minutes For Yourself.”