Life as a wife, mom, and entrepreneur

Life as a wife, mom, and entrepreneur can feel messy at times. Especially during my re-launch, my late nights away from my family were very trying on me emotionally. But at the same time, my hard-work and dedication have increased my self confidence as a business owner.

Entrepreneur

I use the term entrepreneur instead of photographer because in the past month I feel that I have grown professionally. I no longer feel like I am just occasionally getting paid for a hobby I enjoy. During my journey to becoming a photographer I never would have guessed I would be doing the things I am doing now. Staying up on until 2 a.m. (sometimes later) everynight for a month building my website. Having a notebook on my nightstand to write down ideas because I couldn’t stop thinking of ideas. Reading and creating contracts, or studying SEO abilities to optimize my website. Staying up on until 2 a.m. (sometimes later) everynight for a month building my website. Having a notebook on my nightstand to write down ideas because I couldn’t stop thinking of ideas. Reading and creating contracts, and actually reading the contracts. I would not have guessed that I would have spent less time behind my camera and more in front of my computer.

There are so many branches of this business that I never thought I was capable of doing. When I “log off” and reflect on all I accomplished that night, I give myself credit for achieving what I thought was impossible.

With the excitement and ability to work whenever, my mommy and wife guilt kicks in. When I look back on all the nights I spent at my computer and not with my family. A perk of this profession was that I wouldn’t have to sacrifice family time. But I have to make sure these thoughts don’t consume me and continue to grow.

Wife

I did not expect to have this aspect of my life be the thing that took that largest hit while re-launching my business. But as I read my website for the 100th time, I realized that I was not paying attention to my relationship. My husband is very supportive and understanding, but when I reflected on the last month, I split my energy 50/50 between my business and being a mom.

In my mind, Amelia needs me to live and function, my marriage is strong enough to be on the back burner during this busy period. But as I had that thought, I knew this had to change and that I needed to work on my priorities. 6 days from relaunch I did absolutely nothing related to my business. Did not expect to do this since it was crunch time. Amelia stayed the night at my parents and we had a date night. I was not expecting the emotional and mental recharge I got from this.

I am so thankful for realizing the impact me being so busy with work has on my relationship. Life is short and it is important to me to cherish the time we have with our loved ones. Take advantage of my ability to not work and be with my family, take advantage of living my dream.

Mom

Being a mom and an entrepreneur is more work than anyone could have prepared me for. I have joked that when I started my relaunch journey with Joy, I did not expect that I would be working second shift. During the day while my husband works (first shift) I take care of Amelia. When my husband is done working for the day, he would take care of Amelia so I could work. I would take breaks here and there to spend time with my family. But once Amelia went to bed, I would go into work mode, until 2-3 in the morning. I wanted to take full advantage of having zero distractions. I would think to myself, clocking out of second shift for some rest to clock in for first shift. Let’s be honest, moms never clock out, not sure what I was thinking.

There were a lot of moments during my relaunch that I found myself trying to work while Amelia played and I would get annoyed when she “interrupted” me. But I listened to Joy’s podcast Called to Both and followed her live discussion regarding the podcast and she said something that changed my point of view for life. She had pointed out that sometimes we can forget that our goal of being our own boss with the ability to be present and be there for that exact moment. This has helped my journey of motherhood and my marriage.

Blending them together

I am new at this. It is going to take me awhile to find the perfect recipe. The journey will be messy at times and that is okay. These are all memories I will love to have when I reflect on my business 10 years from now.

My photography journey has taken me places I never dreamed of and I have met so many amazing people. I am so excited to see how my journey continues.

Follow along and find out with me!

Xoxo,

Teddie