It’s not easy, but you’re not alone

Entrepreneurship is exciting and brave and challenging and fun because it’s all yours! It can also freak you out on the daily because – it’s all yours. Every decision of what to do or not do, is yours. 

Because of that, entrepreneurship can seem very lonely. As a matter of fact, entrepreneurship is said to be one of the loneliest career choices. After-all, the very essence of what you’re doing is creating a career path like no one else.

It only becomes lonelier when you are all-in as a parent during the baby hours and all-in as a professional during the creative hours. It may seem like there are no  off-hours. That’s why I created This Fierce Life. I craved connecting with other women on this insane path. They were out there, I just couldn’t find them. As working women, we need a space to exchange ideas, encourage one another and problem-solve together because, the reality is, this is an insane adventure we’re on.

This fierce life is a wild ride, and as working parents, we need spaces where we can catch one another—exchanging ideas, encouraging one another and problem-solving together because let’s face it, this is an insane adventure we’re on.

You may be at a point where you’re questioning, “Who would ever think of starting a business at home while starting a family?”

You would.

I did.

And I’m here to tell you, you can do this. I’m also here to tell you that it is lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. 

I was starting a freelance creative business just after having my first born. I had gone from 60 hours a week of agency life and tons of travel to suddenly being home with an inbox full of nothing to check. It was a week after my baby girl arrived that I got my first freelance call—a simple postcard design. It was a  small and manageable request for a friend at the PR agency I was formally employed at. I took it. I knocked it out during those sporadic naps newborns take that trick you into thinking they’ll always be a good sleeper and that being a work-at-home parent was going to be a breeze. That first project made me grateful that my career in advertising and PR didn’t have to pause or even end because I decided to stay home with my newborn.

This was the beginning. I was learning how to be a mom. I was learning how to look at my day at home, by myself, with a newborn.

I started meeting up with other moms and their newborns, (and soon with our toddlers), for walks. Very quickly I realized that as my freelance gigs became more frequent, my friends couldn’t relate to my chosen path.

“Do you get any sleep at all?” 

“When do you have time or energy to do anything else?”

“I nap whenever I can.”

“I can barely stay up to watch TV after they’re down for the night, let alone think of starting to work at that time.”

“Just…why?” 

To them, it seemed to be insanity.

My busiest days and my sleepless nights filled my heart with love for my newborn and satisfied my creative cravings. This is what drove me forward. I couldn’t help but think there were other parents doing the same. But where were they? I read article after article on how to build my business as an entrepreneur. The same for the countless parenting blogs I’d scour. Yet, there were none that talked about the meshing of them in one house, being done simultaneously, by one person.

Now, 13 years later, I am not as lonely. I opened a brick and mortar creative space when my younger one entered kindergarten about six years ago. I understand the lonely feeling that no one understands why you do what you do and as much as I have felt the great sense of accomplishment in onboarding my first hire to now my eighth. I’ve struggled and I’ve celebrated. Throughout those years, I’ve not had to miss time with my kids or lose out on an opportunity with the agency.

It wasn’t always easy, but it sure is fun.

This Fierce Life is understanding that you are not alone. If you don’t have anyone in your corner, you can at least count on me. You can email me anytime, join our workspace conversations in Slack to connect with the community in real time or direct message me on Instagram.

You’ve got this. From your best days as a parent and creative, to the most challenging, you’re no longer alone. You’re now a part of This Fierce Life.