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Summer Hustle: Balancing Business and Parenting Like a Pro
In this episode of the She Needs Profit podcast, host Sam Varner discusses how to navigate the challenges of running a business while also being a parent during the summer months. She provides tips and strategies for managing time, outsourcing childcare, and staying focused on key business activities. The episode emphasizes the importance of planning, organization, and creativity in order to have a successful and enjoyable summer as both a business owner and a parent.
Transcript
Thanks to the She Needs Profit podcast,
I'm your host, Sam Varner.
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:You know, in my 15 years of business
experience, I've noticed there are three
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:things required to create a thriving
business.
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:Sales, visibility, and profit.
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:And yet most business owners find
themselves overworked, overwhelmed, and
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:underpaid.
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:If you own a private practice or are a
service -based business owner, this
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:podcast is for you.
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:On this show, I give you the tools,
strategy, and coaching.
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:to run a profitable business and share
stories and insight from people who are
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:right there with you.
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:Let's dive into today's episode.
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:It is that time of year again.
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:We are staring down the calendar.
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:That school year is about to wrap up.
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:And for those of us that are business
owners and parents, you know full well how
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:much the dread can set in.
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:I'm so glad you joined me today.
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:I'm Sam Varner, the host of She Needs
Profit podcast.
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:And we are gonna talk all about, first
off, just acknowledging and embracing the
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:fact that sometimes,
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:That looming summer holiday for the kids
isn't something that we're looking forward
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:to with as much anticipation as we would
like.
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:And we're going to lean into the fact that
that's okay.
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:We're also going to figure out what we can
do about it to ease some of that summer
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:dread and just get us into the mind space
of how can we work with this instead of
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:work against it.
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:So I'm so glad you joined me today.
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:I wanted to, before we get started in this
episode topic, I wanted to be sure that
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:you knew I am getting ready to run the
sales accelerator bootcamp.
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:Now, if you're not familiar with the sales
accelerator bootcamp, here's the thing.
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:Time and time again, I hear from clients
and potential clients out in the world
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:that the number one challenge they have is
figuring out how to sell better.
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:Either it's a leads generation problem,
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:They don't have enough people asking them
for their product or service, or they have
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:people asking and sitting down with them
and they're not able to take them from
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:interested party to legitimate client.
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:These are problems that as a business
owner, you have the ability to fix.
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:It is absolutely critical to dive into how
do I sell better?
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:How do I find leads?
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:How do I keep that pipeline full?
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:so that there is always new interested
parties ready to take you up on your
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:service.
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:So if you're sitting there and thinking,
yeah, shit, that's me.
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:I need to do a better job.
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:I'm really struggling in either getting
leads, converting leads, or even just in
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:the, how do I talk about my product or
service out in the world in a way that
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:feels confident and capable and draws
people into you?
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:That is what the Sales Accelerator
Bootcamp does.
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:So with a series of videos and live
coaching with me, the ability to raise a
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:hand and actually get me to answer exactly
what's happening in your business, along
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:with videos of the key skills and
information you need to be a better
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:salesperson, that is what this program is.
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:This is a short, quick and dirty program
that gets you exactly what those skills
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:are and allows you in a sales sprint
position for me to push you.
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:to really push the accountability so that
when you're finished this 30 day bootcamp,
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:you are super confident on where to find
leads, how to get those leads into
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:clients, and how to do it with amazing
confidence.
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:So if that's something that you know your
business needs, you cannot delay.
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:You need to go to the link in the show
notes and join me for the sales
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:accelerator bootcamp.
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:I can't wait to see you there.
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:Okay, but let's get started.
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:So we're dreading the summer, right?
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:Is it just me?
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:I'm not dreading the summer.
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:I'm looking forward to the fact that the
summer is coming.
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:I'm looking forward to the fact that our
days can be a little bit more flexible, a
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:little bit less frantic.
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:But if you're like me, I'm sitting here
with four kids, right?
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:And at this point, nobody has a driver's
license.
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:So for the summer, so much of what is
important to me as a mom is to allow them
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:to have experiences.
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:to spend time with their friends, to get
engaged out in the world and do things.
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:And that means I'm the Uber, right?
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:So usually during the school year, I end
up with a six hour window that I can work
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:on my business minimum every single
weekday.
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:This shifts in the summer.
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:And I have gotten better and better over
time to shifting with it without so much
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:of the angst that goes along with it.
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:And the better you plan your time,
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:and your must -dos in the week, the less
frustration you will feel or resentment
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:even if your kids are looking to do X, Y,
and Z.
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:You also will get rid of some of that mom
guilt or dad guilt if you're listening and
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:you're a dad of the fact that you're
leaning in to getting all of this stuff
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:done in your business and the kids want to
just take it easy.
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:They want to be in the pool.
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:They want to be going to the neighborhood
park.
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:They want to be going to get ice cream.
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:And if you're always having to say, no,
not right now, I'm busy, I'm working, come
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:on out of the office, that can start to
feel really shitty as a parent.
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:So the first thing that you need to do
when it comes to this is understand first
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:and foremost that you are not alone.
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:There are a lot of working parents out in
the world that literally dread the summer
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:because all of a sudden it throws our
schedules into chaos and we have to really
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:work through what we're going to do next.
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:So no judgment.
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:No guilt, no shame.
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:This is reality.
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:It can feel hard.
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:Okay?
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:So I want you to put that piece of it
aside and we're gonna come to this for the
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:remainder of the episode from a problem
solving standpoint.
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:We are gonna figure out what we can do to
make these things work.
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:Now, I also know having been a mom of
littles and middles and now of pretty big
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:kids that there is a differing level of
abilities for what you can do.
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:during the day depending on the age of
your kids.
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:And of course the ability to put them into
camps or things where they're literally
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:outside of the house.
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:So first let's have a little conversation
about if you're the parent to littles.
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:And I mean those little ones that are
under, let's call it under eight.
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:They're not capable of making themselves a
sandwich.
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:They're not gonna be able to be distracted
very long.
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:You're not gonna be able to leave them
alone very long because you know, quiet
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:means problems.
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:At least it did at my house when they were
that age.
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:So that stage of parenting and business
ownership means you have to be really well
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:prepared to work in the nooks and crannies
of your day.
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:So what I mean by that is taking advantage
of things like nap times, exchanging
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:babysitting with people that are close to
you, right?
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:So whether that is hiring a babysitter,
and honestly, that was the best money I
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:spent one summer.
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:I got a mother's helper because I was
here.
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:Right?
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:And she came and just helped with the
kids.
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:She made them lunch and cleaned up lunch.
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:She took them to the park down the street.
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:She took them out into the cul -de -sac to
ride bikes.
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:She took them to do sidewalk chalk, all of
those things.
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:And it bought me that time back every
single day that I could consistently count
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:on a two or three hour window.
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:It's not a huge expense, but it does
create that ability for you to carve out
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:that time.
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:without having to necessarily dip into
your evenings, your weekends, when your
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:spouse is home and can watch the kids,
that sort of thing.
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:So I really want you to consider, is there
a teenager that lives close to you that
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:would be able to do that sort of thing
where they're not completely independent?
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:They're not driving your child around.
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:They're not taking them swimming
necessarily, but what they are doing is
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:occupying them and creating some way of,
hey, somebody's gonna sit here and do Lego
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:with me.
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:for a little while, which means mom can
get her stuff done.
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:Okay, so that's the littles.
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:Now the middles.
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:The middles are starting to get more
independent.
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:They can be left alone for longer periods
of time.
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:They can probably be outside playing on
the cul -de -sac or playing, especially
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:playing in the backyard, that sort of
thing, without you having to be there,
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:eyes on, at all times.
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:So...
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:Here, a mother's helper can still be super
valuable because there's somebody who can
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:walk them to the park or take them to do
an activity or a craft in the house that
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:isn't just complete unsupervised glitter
and glue.
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:Because I don't know if you guys have had
that experience, but I definitely have.
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:And I'd like to avoid it ever happening
again.
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:So that leaning in that way.
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:The other thing is outsourcing the kids
for somebody else that is a working mom.
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:So you can say, hey, Tuesday and Thursday,
I've got the kids over here.
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:I'll take them for three hours, both those
afternoons.
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:And then Monday, Wednesday, if you can do
the same and they're out at your place,
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:then that way, first, the kids get the fun
of hanging out with their friends and
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:being able to do stuff that's different
than what's at their house.
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:Plus they get the fun of having friends
over and you get the fun of participating
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:in those summer activities in a way that
you really, really want to do it.
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:So.
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:There are creative ways and it's gonna
depend on what your life looks like, what
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:your support system looks like, what your
friendship looks like, what maybe even
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:where you live looks like.
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:But what I want you to think about is that
we don't always necessarily have to put
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:the kids in like a month long summer camp
in order to still be a working person
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:during the summer.
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:The way that I come at this with the older
kids, now my kids are at the point,
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:they're 16 through 10, they're capable of
cooking themselves lunch,
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:They can actually cook it.
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:They don't have to just eat PB and J.
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:They are capable of going to the park.
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:They're capable of swimming in our pool
without me worrying about me having to
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:have eyes on them.
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:They have friends in the neighborhood that
they can get to and from.
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:We have got a lot more flexibility at that
age.
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:But by the same token, those kids will end
up on screens if at all possible as much
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:of the time as possible if you let them.
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:And if I'm knee deep in work, I can
guarantee to you,
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:that we are on a lot of video games longer
perhaps than I would want them to be.
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:So what I've started doing is there are
kind of outcomes they need to do during
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:the day in order to be on screens.
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:And some years I've been more militant
about this and some years I've been less.
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:But overall, I have worked out a balance
with, hey, the dog needs to be walked,
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:absolutely critical.
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:You need to be doing an hour of activity.
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:You have some...
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:sporting camps and things like that that
are scheduled that are a couple of hours a
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:day.
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:I'm going to take you to and from those.
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:This summer in particular, one of the
things I've had to shift is my working
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:hours are not going to be able to include
the mornings Monday to Thursday.
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:Just the way that the driving is for the
things that the kids are registered for
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:means I'm going to have to shift things.
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:So what it's going to mean is that the
afternoons of Monday to Thursday are my
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:work time.
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:The mornings are the kids are gonna be
doing their activities, and if they don't
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:have activities, I will be setting them up
with activities because I know the
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:afternoons are gonna be more screens than
I want, but we live in Texas and it's hot
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:as Hades here in the summer, and sometimes
they need some AC time.
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:Sometimes they can't just go outside.
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:When I was growing up in Alberta, we could
be kicked out of the house for the entire
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:day and we weren't actually gonna die of
heat exhaustion.
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:So that's a little different here, and I
need to be cognizant of that.
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:The other thing that I will do this summer
without a doubt and I did last summer is I
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:take Fridays off.
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:So Fridays are off, which means we can do
things like go to the water park, go
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:shopping if we want to go shopping, go to
a movie, go take them to do the activities
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:that they need me and want me to
participate in and that I need a bigger
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:chunk of time.
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:All those things considered, right?
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:So regardless of the age of your kids or
how much
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:organized activities versus an unorganized
summer you want to have, right?
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:And that can play out in your house
differently than it does in mine.
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:All those things to consider is that your
work hours are going to be condensed for
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:the summer.
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:So we're just going to embrace that.
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:What we're then going to do is look at our
work schedule and trim the fat.
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:We are not going to do the extraneous
stuff over the course of the summer if we
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:don't have the available time.
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:We are instead going to make that list of
what do I need to move?
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:forward each week to hit my goals over the
summer.
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:You make a list, you fit it in, you decide
where you're gonna do it, and you commit
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:to that.
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:Summertime is a time where you hold
yourself super accountable to small amount
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:of activities that actually have impact.
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:The summer, in my opinion, is not a time
where you start building a whole lot of
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:backend stuff, new stuff, right?
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:We don't need to revise and rebrand and
redo all of those things.
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:yourself.
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:Now, if you're outsourcing that, that's
different.
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:You can of course fit that in.
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:But instead what we're going to do is as
we talk about on this podcast constantly,
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:right?
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:We're going to figure out our sales and
our leads and we're going to close them.
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:We're going to get really good at that.
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:We're going to make sure we're on top of
our money.
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:We're taking a look at the expenses.
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:We're taking a look at the revenue coming
in.
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:We are looking at the profit margin and we
are doing the things that create those
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:numbers to look better and better week in,
week out.
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:Then thirdly,
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:our promotion time, whether it's
networking or social media or podcasting,
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:it doesn't matter, is done in the way that
is gonna create the most impact with the
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:least amount of time.
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:If that is all you focus on for this
summer, you won't have those ups and downs
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:of revenue and you'll avoid that
resentment of, mom, I just want you to do
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:this thing.
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:Instead, you're gonna be able to come and
say like, hey,
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:On this day, we're gonna do this thing.
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:On this day, we're gonna do this thing.
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:And you will come to the end of the summer
so proud of what you were able to
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:accomplish in your business and so proud
and so full of memories that you've made
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:with your kids, it will feel amazing.
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:And next year, this time, you won't be
having that summer dread because you will
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:know you're capable of doing both.
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:It takes some planning, it takes some
organizing, it takes some creativity.
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:in knowing your kids, knowing what they
need, and figuring out a way to create it,
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:even if you don't have the budget for a
full -time care, there are different ways
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:of doing it.
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:So I hope this helps.
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:I hope this gets you kind of in that
summertime mood in a way that feels great
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:and feels fun and feels abundant and
doesn't feel like, shit, here it comes.
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:I'm gonna die.
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:It's gonna be terrible.
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:My business has to shut down for a hiatus
every single summer, and I hate it.
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:Okay, I wish you all of the best summer
planning.
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:I want you to work on this sooner rather
than later.
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:Don't leave this to the last minute.
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:It really will help with you feeling in
control.
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:So get it done.
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:And as always, you guys, leave a rating
and review, but shout me out on Instagram.
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:I want to hear you in the DMs.
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:Did you implement this?
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:Are you feeling good?
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:Are you not dreading the summer at all?
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:I want to hear.
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:So message me at Sam, the Profit Coach on
IG.
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:and I will talk to you next week.
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:And that's this week's episode of the She
Needs Profit podcast.
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:If you like what you heard today, connect
with us on Instagram at Sam, the Profit
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:Coach, or leave us a review in your
podcast player.
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:Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter
packed with more profit tips.
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:The link is in the show notes.
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:See you next week.
