Many times the question arises on how to run a family and a business without losing your sanity. After speaking with one entrepreneur who is successfully managing the balance, we shared a few tips to keep the pressure down and the success rate high.
Jasmin Jade, boudoir photographer and owner of Embrace Presets is learning how to balance it all successfully. She is a military wife and mom of two boys, moving from Germany to Hawaii and across the US a few times in the past several years. She admits that being a military wife is not for everyone. "At times you often play single mom" Jade wrote.
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Being a photographer with two small boys means working from home most of the time for Jade. In this sense she works 24/7 sine she never truly leaves her work place with her family obligations as well. "Being a mom means your work is not done after your job is done. There is taking care of your kids especially little kids, school, driving them to sports, raising them, household, cooking cleaning etc." She wrote. Then on top of it all, she is running a successful boudoir business and a company that creates presets for other photographers.
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Running the Business With a Family
Her first tip is time management. She schedules shoots on the weekends when her husband is home, or during the week only during certain hours when her youngest is in preschool. This time management also must be strict for her clients to understand. She runs her social media for her preset company Embrace Presets. For this section of her company she works in-between taking care of her kids needs. "Social media does not sleep" she states which we all know to be very true. Editing after her children are sleeping, and now creating the presets as well. Along with this she is writing blogs, features to be made, emails to be answered and the list goes on.
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Her solution to this chaotic schedule was outsourcing. Many of us who demand control have a difficult time with this concept. We want to hold onto every piece of our business. However Jade strongly suggests this idea to make time for the things you love working on rather than time wasted on the business aspects that you do not. Another option is to outsource the work that you do not excel in such as website design or another portion that would take more time to learn. Someone can assist not only well but most likely even faster.
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Another tip Jade suggests is having a virtual assistant. They are helpful and time saving even if it is just to run your Instagram accounts while answering emails. These little time absorbers can be freed up for more productive things and the tasks that you thoroughly enjoy.
Family First
The balance between family and business can be a struggle. Knowing when it is time to focus on the business and when to focus on family is a fine line that many of us miss the mark on some days. "Mom guilt is real. Having your business on your mind around the clock and thinking you could be a better mom if you did not have that business" is a struggle Jade understands. She goes between wanting to work more, straight into thoughts of quitting photography almost daily. This is true for many of us, so creating that balance where we can let go of some of the business tasks will help to devote more time to the family. Another option is to outsource some household work instead. I personally hired someone to come to the house once a month to tackle jobs that were keeping me from working longer hours and in turn making me more money. These jobs were anything from dealing with permits for house projects to reorganizing my office.
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Jade's boys knows she photographs people. At this age, she writes that they are not old enough yet to realize what kind of photographs she takes, but that they know mom is going to work. She says it does not matter much because she has a YouTube channel which makes her "super cool in their eyes".
Image with permission and courtesy of Jasmin Jade
Jade understands that everyone's situation is different, but knowing where you can outsource or get help will aid in creating that balance.
Hah, interesting. I've never done - or likely to do boudoir photography, but a character in my book was stuck on a military base while her husband was off in Afghanistan.
By chance she ended up doing this work and she told me in her first shoot, the client's kids were knocking on the door. They had a lot of fun, she says. And the images worked out okay, so she got a lot of business from other wives who were forced to wait for their partners.
That sounds fun! :)