Episode 74: Permission to Pivot: Amanda Davis on Risk, Growth, and Motherhood
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Welcome to Season 2 where I'm sitting down with everyday working moms to ask them how they do it! We're pulling back the curtain on morning routines, work responsibilities, getting help, sharing the mental load, and so much more.
In this conversation, I sit down with my former manager and friend, Amanda Davis, to talk about the real-life juggle of growing a career while raising a family. Amanda is a mom of four (including twins!) and currently leads a sales team. We reminisce about our early days working together in tech—navigating mergers and maternity leaves—and then dive into what life looks like for her now.
Amanda shares how she and her husband encourage independence with their kids, the lessons she’s learned from taking big career and business risks, and how she makes time for both her professional ambitions and personal passions. We also talk openly about asking for help, leaning on community, and giving yourself permission to pivot when a job no longer fits your season of life.
If you’ve ever wondered how another working mom manages the chaos of school mornings, sports schedules, and career transitions, this episode is for you.
links & resources mentioned in this episode:
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You are listening to the Life Coach for Working Moms podcast, the show where we are talking about what it actually takes to make life work as a working mom. I'm your host, Katelyn Denning, a full time working mom of three and a certified life and executive coach. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you enjoy this week's episode.
Welcome back to another episode of the podcast, and welcome officially to season two. It's about time, but we're doing it season two. I can't wait. If you are new here or you're catching up, maybe you didn't hear my announcement a couple of episodes back, but this season we're doing things a little differently.
I am bringing in some very special guests to the podcast. These are women who have inspired me in some way. Women who have a unique approach to how they manage careers and families. And honestly, they're women who I just enjoy talking with, and I think that you would love them as well.
You know me, I'm a very curious person. I love to know what everyday life actually looks like. What time do you wake up? Who drops the kids off at daycare or school? What does your work day look like? How do you fit in everything that you do? Give me the details. So
I will be asking questions like that to my guests and so much more. And I can't wait to share this first conversation of the season with you could not have picked a better guest to kick things off. You will hear more about how Amanda and I know each other, but in short, Amanda.
Used to be my manager back in my corporate days, and I absolutely adore her and feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to learn from her at a time in my career when everything was changing. IEI had my first child. Amanda is a mom of four. She and her husband both work full-time, always have from the jump, and so we talk about what it's like to work and raise a larger family, how the different seasons of parenting have impacted life and also.
Amanda has made several job and career changes while being a mom to four young kids, and we get into it. The questions, the considerations, the fears that come up when you are about to, or have decided to make a big change like that. Plus she is hashtag goals when it comes to morning routines with kids.
And if you have young ones at home, let this be some inspiration of what you're working toward. Because I worked with Amanda when her kids were babies, and it is so fun to think about what the future could look like based on the stories that she shares in this episode with older kids. All right. With that, let's get into it.
I hope you enjoy this conversation between two old friends and colleagues.
Hi Amanda. Welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited to have you here. Thank you, Katelyn. I'm excited to be
here.
All right. So we'll get into sharing with everybody how we know each other, but do you wanna just start with a quick introduction?
Yes, yes. Thank you again for having me. Excited to, to catch up. It's been a long time. , but I'm Amanda Davis. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have four kiddos at home, ranging in ages from nine to 13. , I am married and I currently,, run a sales team at a company called Relay.
Okay. And so Amanda and I know each other. Because as some of you may know, before I was a life and executive coach, I did well, lots of things in my career as we'll get into, but gosh, when was it? It was in, I know this answer, 2012. Okay. And I was referred to, an ed tech company that was based in Cincinnati.
My husband and I were looking to relocate from New Orleans to Cincinnati, had some interviews. Long story short, I took the job there and Amanda was on my team. I wasn't reporting to you, I don't think at the time. Yeah. And so you would've just had your oldest, I think, at that point. Would that make sense?
Yes.
Yeah. She was born in 2012. So, yep.
Okay. So maybe you were like freshly back from maternity leave probably. Yep.
Yes
And you know, as a lot of these, , tech companies, as we do, we merge, we get acquired, we change roles, we shift teams.
And so Amanda and I went through a number of changes together, and I think it was not at the very end of my career, but for a significant chunk of while I was becoming a mom, you were my manager.
Yes, yes. such a good time and so many fond memories. And, , definitely a company that I think, you know, we all bonded over that motherhood and working and navigating all those things together,
I work with so many women who are in companies or industries where there are not many examples of what it can look like to be. A parent and a professional, and I feel so lucky to have landed in an organization that one supported that, , as a value, but also just I lucked out to be on teams with a bunch of peers who were.
Literally out on maternity leave and raising kids. I mean, how many times did we distribute our book of business to our colleagues when we would go out on that leave? Yeah. And I was just talking about you the other day. I don't know if you'll remember this, but when my youngest was born in January of 2019, I came back to work,
three-ish months later. You gave me a potted orchid to welcome me back to the office, and I just repotted it. On Monday. Oh gosh, it's thriving. And my kids were like, this is such a beautiful orchid. And I said, yeah, it's as old as you, Wyatt. And he was like, really? And I said, yes. My manager, Amanda gave that to me when I came back to the office after you were, oh my
gosh.
That is so neat. I love that.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, . You have four kids, and you just said your oldest was born in 2012, so, yep. . And then your other three are how old?
. So my oldest is a daughter, she's in eighth grade, and then my son is in sixth grade.
And then I have boy or girl twins that are in fourth grade. So
Okay. Keeps me very busy. Yes. So I'm always curious. Personally about mornings and how everybody makes that work. So does everybody have the same school start time? Are they picked up by a bus? Are you waking up and doing the whole shuffle, getting everybody out the door?
Like what does that look like?
Yeah, so funny enough, they, so all my kids do go to the same school right now, so they all have the same start time. , but about I would say two and a half years ago, my husband and I balancing both careers and kids really push the kids towards independence in the morning.
, and what that means for us is we both are early risers. We get up at about five 30. , we both go to the gym separately. Actually. I go to, , fitness classes, which I love, and he goes to a regular gym. , but we leave and the kids all get up on their own and they set their alarms. , they make their own breakfast, and we even have them, they rotate, , they have chores in the morning, so one of 'em is emptying the dishwasher and loading it.
So every morning one has to have it done. , and it's worked out great, like us actually being gone and giving them that independence. And honestly, that time to like be on, we're not, rushing them because I think that was a lot of it too, is like I'm on my own schedule. So I think everybody else needs to be moving at the pace I am, but giving them, you get up when you need to.
If it's an hour, 45 minutes. They get ready and then when we come home, they're pretty much ready to go. I'll make sure like lunches are together and like we have everything together. . But then I do drive them and I drive them because their bus comes so early. Yeah. That if they would get on the bus, I, they would be gone before I got home and I don't wanna do that.
, but it's been, it honestly, and their schedules at night are so busy with sports that we wouldn't have time to take that hour to ourselves. And so we do it in the morning and kind of push that on them to get ready. So.
Wow. So they're packing their own lunches too. Are you doing those the night before?
Kind of a mix depending. So they'll either buy, some mornings they'll pack. My oldest, she packs her own 'cause she's so picky. , but the other two, if they need help, you know, we'll make some stuff ahead of time. , but it just allows them to, to have a little bit more of that freedom. But we're still there to obviously make sure , they get to school , and they're there on time.
Yeah. Yeah. For anyone listening who has very young kids, maybe you're feeling hopeful. That this is in your future, like at some point they do become more independent. I'm sure you've probably heard that and everybody says that, but it really is true. , I'm starting to feel some of that as well. And I think what you said is so interesting that with you not being there, they really do have to step up.
And sometimes I wonder. In the mornings when I am, like you said, rushing everybody, I'm like, come on, five minutes, get your shoes on. Does your water bottle full? Does everybody have their lunch or all of the things that they need? I wonder what would happen if I weren't there, and maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but I have this belief or this hope that they would actually step up more.
Well, and I think too, like, and I noticed it a lot with my oldest, and you know, she is older, she's in eighth grade, but we've been doing this for, like I said, about two and a half, three years, and. It. , she would tell me that, she's like, it stresses me out when you're yelling her name upstairs.
And she's like, it just, it gets me anxious. And so, and it's hard for me 'cause I am, I'm like very, like I got a schedule and I like to be on time. So , it was hard for me not to rush her. So not being there I think helped. , and it's funny 'cause all four kids, they move all at different paces. We laugh.
'cause my youngest, she just is on her own schedule. She's the last one to the car. She goes upstairs six extra times, but it all works out and they just, they go at their own pace.
Yeah. Oh my gosh. So then you drop them off at what time? And then you're working from home these days, which I wanna get into all of the career shifts.
Yeah. Kind of conversation. But, , what does that look like in terms of them when you're actually sitting down to get started for your day?
Yeah, so they get dropped off between about 7 30, 7 45 and our school's pretty close, which is nice. , but I'm usually home a little bit before eight, and then I shower and get ready and I'm usually sitting at my desk by like 8 30, 8 40.
Like I said, I'm very routine, so a lot of things when I get home. , but it, it works out. And then I try to block off the beginning, you know, half hour to an hour, , if I can on my workday just to make sure I can get settled in. , but it gives me that little bit of buffer if we're running late one day mm-hmm.
, it gives me a little bit of , that space to, to have things
up.
So
do you have a, yeah. Again, I'm so curious, like do you have a block on your calendar so that people see that as busy and they're not scheduling meetings first thing in the morning? Or how do you make sure that you keep that.
You know, I don't, but our company actually is pretty good about not scheduling things before nine unless we have to. And there's certainly times, and that's a nice thing too. I work for a smaller company, so a lot of the other leaders. I'll take a phone call in the car, , if needed, you know, leave in from pickup if something needs to happen.
I report right to our CEO, so he, is moving a, mile a minute. So, I'm very, , flexible that way and so is he. So things need to happen, but I don't have a block on there. I do have blocks, , for other things. , my daughters are competitive dancers, so there's two days that I have to actually pick them up from school versus the bus to get them to a private lesson.
So I, I do try to block that off. Yeah. , so yeah, 'cause the schedules, they're crazy. It's hard to, to manage all it, but,
yeah. Yeah. I mean, I remember that always being, . Dance, if you will, like when we used to work together, and especially when with one of those mergers and acquisitions, we were a part of a more global team.
And so you're accommodating different time zones and that can be a challenge where. We'd all love to have that buffer time, or I'd love to just sit down and have the first 30 minutes to answer my team's messages or clear out my inbox before I jump into things. But sometimes that is hard. And so just recognizing that that's an amazing setup and it's not always possible, but when it is or where you can put those boundaries around your time, it does, like you said, just allow for all of the things that we can't plan for and just a smoother start to the day.
Absolutely. It's a give and take based on, based on the day.
Yeah. Yeah. And so. You're pretty much at your computer throughout the day, taking calls, leading meetings, working with your team, that sort of thing. Is it like you mentioned, taking calls in the car, is it pretty flexible or do you feel like your work is very confined just to work hours?
I would
say, I mean, yeah, so pretty much at my desk the most of the day, right? Because a lot of my meetings are via Zoom or teams. I manage a sales team right now and so a lot of my meetings are mostly internal. , I have sales reps and then I have a lot of different leadership meetings and various things throughout the day, but we do do everything via Zoom and , team.
So I like to be at my desk if things happen. After hours or during some of those time blocks where I have to pick up the kids. , they're very flexible on being able , to jump on the phone that way. I do like to be at the desk though, because usually I'm referencing something or you're just a little bit more focused.
, so some of that is, it's easier that way, but we do have the flexibility if needed to. To take something without video or in the car , if needed, , and my kids are now, it's funny 'cause I remember before when they were little, like, I could not take a single phone call or do anything in the car.
Right? 'cause they were so loud and so unpredictable. So now , they tend to listen a little bit more. So we have gotten there, but it is always hard to manage that.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean , that is , the beauty and the challenge, right? That, that you could have that flexibility, but also, especially when you have younger kids.
That's a perfect word. I was laughing when you said unpredictable. I was like, it's so unpredictable. Yeah. They could just be staring at the window, right? Yeah. Other times they're fighting and yelling and kicking each other. You just have no idea what you're gonna get. Yep. You
never know. You never know when they're that little.
, and I have with the twins too, their dynamic was funny because they'd feed off each other. Oh, I would have one by themselves and they would be pretty good. But then they were together. They felt like, you know, like invisible. Like they could just get away with anything and it didn't matter 'cause they had each other.
So that was a fun, fun dynamic to watch when they were little.
Yeah. Yeah. Can we shift into talking about some of the. I would say bigger decisions that you've made over the course of your career from changing jobs, changing industries, taking risks on a business to also just the decision of.
Do we wanna have kids? Do we wanna have more kids? How many kids do we wanna have? How does that fit into our life and to the careers that we have? Because your husband also works, and I don't know the ins and outs of what his work schedule looks like today, but I can remember, back when we were working every day together, it was also a demanding job.
, where should we start?
I mean, , I think for me, if we take a step back in terms of like the kids, so my oldest is now, you know, like I said, 13, , I, it's funny, I always wanted to work and when we would have conversations about wanting to have kids, , I enjoyed working and I think it really fulfilled me and gave me, , just that sense of like something outside of. This was even before I had kids, so like before. But knowing that , I really did enjoy and I loved my interactions with the colleagues and, , I wanted to grow my career. So when we decided to have my first, there really wasn't too much of a conversation of would I stay home or would I, , continue working because that was something that I had wanted to do.
, and then I think with , the kids, I always wanted to have a bigger family. , and it really was really regardless of career. , my husband, I, we always joke, I was four, he said two. , we compromised with trying to have a third and we ended up having a twin. So I always joke that I won that, won that battle.
, but I think just like thinking through it, it's, we always, we didn't have family in town, so we don't have , support in terms of, my mom would babysitter, his mom would babysit. , but we did have really good childcare, so in my mind it was like, I, I wanted a career, so I was gonna figure out how to make sure that the kids were happy and healthy and thriving, , with additional help, even though it wasn't family.
So that's kind of, it wasn't like a, I always did wanna work. , I think now that they're older. There's moments where I'm like, oh, it'd be really nice, you know, it it to be home and to be more present with a teenager and, and those things. But, I do love the work that I do and I think the kids seeing me with a career, I think really drives them to be more ambitious themselves.
Yeah, I mean you brought up something else that I had forgotten about. But again, when I think back to the examples that I had in my early days , of working and having children, that I was also surrounded with women who didn't have, like you said, family who could just. Pitch in or be your childcare provider or what do you do when you have a sick kid at home or your nanny calls in sick?
And I learned so much watching you and a few others that I can picture right now. , because that is a whole other level of navigating support , and just the juggle of it all that is above and beyond just what we think of in terms of work and family.
Yeah, and I think it's just, it's being, it is being okay with things.
Like I said earlier, I am pretty structured with routine, but it's also being flexible and knowing that things are just gonna go. 10 different ways and you dunno which way. Right. And I've talked with my oldest daughter too 'cause she's pretty type A and you know, if things don't go the way she thinks, she really, she tends to shut down.
And she's spoken with someone too about , having a plan B and always knowing like if things don't go a certain way. We can adapt. And I think , with the kids, and to your point, like working where we worked, there were so many other working moms, so you'd wanna go cry 'cause things were going the wrong way, but somebody else is going through the same thing.
So having that support of women. At work was huge. Now I have a really good support. It's a little different 'cause we're not in the office and it's a lot more remote, but even in my community and my neighborhood, , leaning on those women to, to help out and it's always hard. I think us women who work , and try to do it all.
And I think that's something as the older I've gotten, is I'm okay to ask for help and I'm okay , to then help somebody in return , and not feel as guilty. Whereas before I wanted to be, I got this, I can do everything. And now I'm like, I do need help and it's okay.
Totally. I feel that as well. I am such a huge believer in being really transparent and open and sharing about all of the help that I'm asking for and receiving, I will share, tomorrow night I have to go to a work dinner with my husband. It is Thursday night where everybody has something, and of course it's at six o'clock, which means we gotta be out the door by five 30.
Now what's changed for me in the last couple of years is I do now have a set of grandparents in town, which I never did when they were younger. They moved here in the last few years, which is amazing. So they are gonna help with the kids. But I asked a mom who I never asked before, Hey, can you take my oldest to and from soccer practice?
She lives a couple streets away. I am like, it should be no big deal, right? She was like, yes, happy to. And then I asked another mom. I'm like, would it be okay if you drove my daughter with your daughter to gymnastics this week? And then the same is true in return.
I would be more than happy to pick up somebody, take them to and from something, watch them for an hour, whatever it is, nobody is doing it all.
Uh, a hundred percent. And I think especially when you're joining new teams too, like my daughter joined a new soccer team and, , I don't know everybody as well, but like, you kind of just get put in these situations where you have to, and I think it.
, it opens up the conversation and allows you to help others. I think everybody's in the same boat, and I think that's where I kind of feel better. I'm like, I'm not the only one with four kids running ragged. Like we're all trying to make it work and so everyone wants to help when they can and then, you know, you take the help , when it's offered.
So yeah.
I remember walking to like parent after parent, same thing. It was a new team. I didn't know anybody and I was asking them which neighborhood they lived in, and they kind of looked at me strangely. And I, I was trying to find the other families that lived in my neighborhood. I could ask for a carpool.
Unfortunately, I struck out on the first several I asked, they didn't live near me, but I figured. Yep. I'm gonna ask what's the Yeah, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah.
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All right, let's get back to the episode.
I.
So when you left the company where we were both working together when you think back on some of those times where you just knew it was the time to move on, or you wanted to, take a risk or make a shift like that, I would love to hear, if you remember at all.
What considerations you had in terms of your capacity to navigate what feels like a really big change when you're also managing, in your case four other people what do you consider before you make a shift like that?
I had my, my one big shift. So we were in tech sales together , and been there for many years. And then we went and decided to open, , and franchise fitness studios. And it was more one of those things. My husband is in financial sales, but we also have a rental company and some other things.
So he's very big on the entrepreneurial, dream and spirit of having our hands in a lot of different things, which honestly, like when we were younger. In our marriage. That scared me. I was like, no, no, no, no risk. Like nothing. Yeah. So. Watching him and the love for it did kinda, soften me to it.
, and I've always been big into fitness and it was just something we were looking into and we decided, you know what, it was kind of one of those moments we were having a glass of wine and discussed it and obviously there's so many more things went into like evaluating the business and things.
, but we decided, let's. Let's do this. Let's follow a dream that's a little off the beaten path of what we've done. , and go for it. And you know, we would definitely consider the kids and things like that. And I think at the time when you were looking at like franchising and. Especially with this, the idea is that you end up having more time with your kids because you're owning a business and can and scale it.
, and I think that's true to some degree, but I also think, for us it was very much, , a ton of hands-on, it was in the midst of COVID that we were opening these and you really had to be present, like physically there a lot, especially those first years of starting it. That was definitely harder, I would say, , with the kids in these studios that we opened were 30 to 40 minutes away just based on, where you could find space in the market.
, so for us, from there I shifted back into, , into software sales , and that area. But taking that risk, I think really came from just the desire to, to try something different and to trust in myself, and while we don't own those anymore. It was such an amazing experience and to be able to, to do that and successfully launch those, , I think was, , definitely something that I'm glad we did.
, and then took that risk.
Yeah. Yeah. It is interesting not to go off on too much of a tangent, but it is interesting that in some cases Yes. You could start something because your hope is that in the long term, it gives you more time or freedom than what we think of in a traditional nine to five, where we are employed by someone else.
And sometimes that is the case and sometimes that long term is so long term. Yep. It's like, you're right. Your kids just grow up and, and all they experience is you having to be so present in the business that maybe the payoff doesn't come until they're fully grown. I don't know. And again, these are generalizations and there's so much nuance that goes into it, but I love that you're sitting here in this place today, one, having taken the risk, done the work.
And stepped away from it and still feel good about the decisions that you made along the way and where you ended up.
And I think, I think that is the thing. It's like knowing, when to step away too. And to your point, it's like you, you think you can have a plan , and think about all the considerations and what our goals were with it, and then realizing it doesn't.
Align with the family and the schedule. And she, I, like you nailed it with like how long it takes to get where you, you know, need it to be. , and so that's where we, I made this shift coming back , into, technology sales within the education space, which I'm also extremely passionate about too.
And it's been the perfect blend of getting back in there and having that, family but also career at the same time.
Yeah. So you recently changed. Jobs again, or companies again.
Yep.
And I wanna hear what your thoughts are on this line of thinking that I hear a lot when I'm talking to clients who are considering changing jobs, changing industries, going for a promotion.
Even like maybe you're not even changing companies, you just want a different role. You wanna make a pivot in some way. I hear a lot of times this story that I have so much going on in my life. I have maybe young kids or school age kids. I'm playing chauffeur or I'm up at night or I'm navigating some developmental transition with my kids, with my family.
I feel like all of my brain power is being used right now just to tread water and the thought of tackling anything new, learning a new role, learning a new company, new processes, new team, rebuilding my tenure even. . A lot of people feel like they only have flexibility because they've proven themselves.
Do those questions come up for you at all when you change jobs? Or maybe you've done it so much now that you're like, I can tackle any No, no, not at all.
I think, um, I, I a hundred percent and I think that is the absolute hardest part. So my, from the fitness studios to this, .
Job that I recently left. I was there for three and a half years. , and it was great. , loved the people and we grew , and my role grew , and this next opportunity really, , was not what I was initially looking for. A former colleague that I work with reached out and I always love to.
To reconnect with former colleagues. And always open to exploring new opportunities. You never know what it can lead to , and the company I was with, I felt a lot, like I was kind of going through the motions.
, I'd been there for a while. The team was great, and there were times that crossed my mind like, oh, it'd be nice to be home. It'd be nice to be more present now that the kids are, which funny enough, like as you go through every stage, it's like the babies are so hard 'cause they're so physically hands-on.
But then you get older and it's more the emotions and then like the driving. So there's a lot of different things. I was like, I just, I really wanted to be like, fired up about something again, like truly, truly like that passion where you're just excited. And, , this company was, it was a smaller company kind of reminding me of, when I first got started, , the people were great that I interviewed with.
And, , I decided to take the risk. It was a better opportunity and I felt like it fulfilled that fire. And at the end of the day, like my husband and I had the conversation, I'm like, if it doesn't. Work out. It's okay. Like you can then go and try to find something that does, these decisions that we make are not permanent and it's not something that you have to be stuck with forever, ?
Mm-hmm. And ultimately, I've only been there about three months now and it's been great and it's exciting and a busier than ever. , but it's a busy that, that excites me and makes me happy and, , ultimately , why I decided to do it again.
Yeah. Do you feel like your capacity is really stretched or maxed out as you are learning so much, or is it feel maybe offset by the excitement that you have for learning new things?
I mean, I think it's both, right? Like coming in and in my mind, , the industry switched a little bit, so having to learn the industry, and this was a slightly different, , still in education, but different market. So that was like, oh wow.
Like I felt like I was learning to ride a bike again. , and still learning, right? Like that takes a while. So there are a hundred percent days where I feel like completely overwhelmed and maxed out, but I, I think you also have to shut it down and. I feel like over the years I've learned it is gonna be here tomorrow.
Not everybody can do everything at one time. , and my kids need me too, so it's like, I don't stay up till midnight doing work. I just, I can't, like, I need to prioritize myself with this. , and so far it's working, but I really try to create those boundaries. Like I said, I'll take phone calls , at night if needed and that, but it's not a regular occurrence where I'm feeling.
I have to overextend myself in one way or the other. , to do well. Yeah.
And do you feel like that's the culture that you stepped into and you vetted coming in? Or did you feel this sense of, I guess like how do you establish that for yourself, those boundaries when you are so new and I think a lot of people feel like, well, I should.
Work late at night or I should take all of the phone calls or answer all of the messages at all of the time to show them that I'm really here and I'm all in. Like, how do you approach that?
Well, and I think , like I said, with this company being smaller , and it is more of that, , like startup feel.
Mm-hmm. You are on a lot and you are working a ton, but it's not. It's not expected that you're gonna sit hours after the workday and work on things. Do I do that? Yes. Because I care. So I think it's kind of that balance of like, when you need to do it, you do it, but then you're not feeling forced to do it, to do it.
You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. So I think it's just working really hard and efficiently. And I think that's the other thing too, is during the workday you can get a lot done if you stay. Focus. It's hard 'cause we are running a million different directions. But if you really, carve out your time , and really, , you know, I know you do a lot with like, lists of tasks and stuff.
Yeah. I think it helps you stay on track so that you're not having all that extra time.
Yeah. What's your favorite tip or hack for staying focused and really getting the most outta the hours that you have while the kids are at school?
I always try to look ahead, so the night before, trying , to look at what I have the next day. Mm-hmm. , And plan it out. So like for me, getting up in the morning, getting my workout in, my routine just really does set my day up. , and then I do carve out time. So if I need to work on a project, I'll try to block that.
Of course, you're interrupted. Multiple times for various things, but I think it's just having that plan. Mm-hmm. Um, initially in place to try to work through it, I also give myself some buffers too, for the next day if things don't get finished. , but really just, you know, to my office too, which is kind of funny.
It's in our basement, , which I love and hate. At the same time. I don't have any windows down here. It is. I'm like, it's quiet. I actually feel like I'm in like my own space. Yeah. There's a lot of less distractions than, especially in the summer when the kids are home. Like it is, it is rough. So just really having my own space that I feel comfortable in , and you know, organizing myself with, yeah.
With my to-do list student tasks.
Are you putting those, like if you choose, this is the thing I have to get done tomorrow, are you putting that right in your calendar or do you keep a list somewhere? It depends. Depends, yeah.
Mostly a list. But I do if it's the big things, just so things don't get taken over on the calendar by meetings.
'cause that can tend to happen. Yeah. So I try to like, if there's, I'm hiring some new folks, so I'm trying to create schedules and different things, so I'm like, that is time bound and needs to be done. So,
yeah.
Uh, so it kind of is give and take of what it's put in there.
Okay. Yeah. I'm always so curious what everybody does.
, okay. My last question is, you've mentioned that you love your fitness classes and you do that every morning, which is amazing. Is there anything else you do that's. Just for you.
It's kind of funny 'cause I'm, I always say I'm an introvert, but like have extrovert tendencies.
So like for me, I do need to recharge. Alone. And I love cooking. I love, just having music on and having a glass of wine , and cooking when I do have time to do that. , but then I also love spending time with our friends. And we have a really good community of friends with kids that are similar ages.
So on the weekends we get together a lot and , it reenergizes me to take a step from that, like work mode. Mm-hmm. And just go into like friendship mode and. Kid mode and just all of us having fun together. ,
and then obviously, like the alone time. So I, I, I like to balance it , on both fronts.
Yeah. Is, are these like spontaneous backyard hangouts or is this like, we're planning Probably all of it. I feel like I've seen or we're like planning trips or we're planning, going out to a restaurant or something.
All of it.
I think it's all of it. Yeah. So it is nice because we do live in a neighborhood, so it's easy to get places. So some of it is that. , but I do love, I love planning trips or little, getaways and not that the kids are older too. It's fun to take them places. So it's a lot easier where I feel like when they're little, you felt a little more trapped.
And you had to get the babysitter and do all that. So , it kind of shifts, but it's now a lot of the spontaneous stuff with the kids too is super fun. Like we went to, , downtown for Octoberfest last weekend and didn't really plan to do it with the kids for just two hours, just to go and Yeah. You know, just kind of having this much, I was there too.
Maybe we passed by each other. It was very crowded.
Yep. Yep.
Yeah, same thing. Took the kids just a spontaneous Saturday night. Yep. , But yeah, then there have been so many occasions like that where it is, you have to plan it weeks in advance and you have to find a sitter who can come and it's costing you twice as much because you're paying for, your bill at the restaurant and then you're coming home and giving all of this money to a babysitter.
Yeah.
Yes. So many nights of that. Yeah. And it is worth it. I do say , it is worth it to plan this out when they're young. ' but, yeah, it does get, it gets easier on that front, I would say, as they get older.
I agree. I feel so. Proud, and I don't know if this is weird to say, but I love when my kids ask for our babysitter, like we have one favorite right now.
When they are asking when's the next time that Emmy's gonna come over? Yeah. I'm like, okay, great. I have done my work here. They have someone else who is so fun and they love her, and then we get to go have a great time. I'm like, all right, my work is done. My kids are asking, oh, a hundred percent.
Yes. Well, and it's good.
They need to see you go out and have fun too, even when they're young. Knowing that you can go out and do that, I think is important. And then them having somebody else that they can look up to, like we've had some great sitters in the past that, especially my girls, like they're great role models too.
So I'm like, for them to see somebody else on a regular basis like that I think is so important.
I agree. And that's another thing I found this babysitter and any of the others by asking people who, right. Maybe I felt a little uncomfortable, but I was like, Hey, do you happen to have any great sitters?
I promise I'm not going out all the time. I won't steal them. I'm I just like once a month. You know? And if you ask first, you can have her first.
Yeah, I know. Yeah. You have to be, people get territorial, but yes, a hundred percent.
But there's plenty of weekends in a month that we can also, there
is.
This is so fun.
Not just to catch up with you and reminisce, but , your story is so. Great to hear. Just again, examples of big changes, what I would consider a bigger family, ? Navigating the different stages of parenting while still pouring into a career that you enjoy, the routines that you have, so many fun things.
I'm sure people will take something away from this conversation. I'm so grateful that you agreed to join me.
Oh, it was so good to catch up and thank you for having me. It was was so fun. Yes. Alright, I'll talk with you soon.
All
right. Thank
you.
Thank you for listening and as always, for being a part of this working mom community. You can find everything related to this episode in the show notes at themothernurture.com/podcast.
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