A Note from the Heart: Being a Mom and a Business Owner

I’ve been a business owner for more than 8 years, but I’ve been juggling the role of business owner and mom for less than three years. And you know what? It’s really hard! For example, as I was writing this blog post I got pulled away no less than 3 times to try and settle Grayson down for his nap! The days of having 8 uninterrupted hours to get things done are long gone. Some days are far from perfect, and there’s always that guilt of “Am I doing enough?”

Enough as a mom.
Enough as a business owner.
Enough for my clients.
Enough education and growth.
Enough for my website.
Enough posts on social media.
Enough creativity.
Enough time for myself.
Enough of everythinggggggg.

And most days it feels like some areas take priority over others, but I’ve learned to accept that that is okay. I’ve learned to accept that I just want to do enough as a mom first, and then the rest will always be there.

Because THIS is what matters:

So I carve out pockets of time to work on my business and to serve my clients. I take my son into the studio when I’m setting up for sessions, testing out new lighting, or organizing props. He comes with me when I do client deliveries, and he helps put every package in the mailbox when we’re mailing something out. He even joins in for the occasional cake smash if the baby needs a friendly little face to help them feel comfortable!

Grayson watches everything I do. He welcomes every client that comes in the door of our home studio, and he befriends the little ones close to his age. He chooses which of his toys we can put in the studio’s play corner, and he has all of his favorite spots to visit and things to play with when he goes downstairs (the snack cart ranks as #1 for him!).

I’ve watched him take the little lovies and snuggle them up under my posing blankets and in the little beds and cradle props. I’ve watched him pick up his wooden toy camera and exclaim “Say cheese!” more times than I can count. I’ve watched him turn every rectangular thing he can find into a camera, looking through the “lens” and pretending to take pictures. He has a little keyboard that he pulls up next to me when I’m working on my laptop so that he can “work,” too. It’s so cute!

I love that he’s imitating everything I do. I love that he gets to grow up watching me go to work, watching me AT work, and understanding what it is I do.

He knows I take pictures of babies, and he knows that we turn them into prints and albums. He loves the photos hanging on our walls, and as any client of mine has heard me tell them, he is obsessed with our family’s photo albums.

It is so powerful for him to be able to see his mom as a business owner. To learn that women can run businesses AND be a mom. To understand that sometimes I have to go to work and that I will be with other babies and children, and doing something to make that family happy. Don’t get me wrong. I love staying home with my son and being a mom, and it’s a role I’ve dreamed of for more than thirty years! It’s wildly satisfying, but I also love going to work and growing this business, creating art and heirlooms that make others happy. It’s a balance, and I’m finally getting the hang of it!

For now, I’m soaking up moments like these ones when I’m setting up the studio for a newborn session and I turn around to find my son posing the little teddy bears in a bowl with a blanket and telling them to “Say cheese!” My mama-business-owner heart is so full!!