Let’s start this new blog fresh.

Let’s start it with brutal honesty, and real life talk.

Being a business owner is effing hard. 

My husband showed me a chart the other day he saw on Facebook, and I almost fell over from the sheer overwhelmingness that someone else felt the way I do. I made my own version for your enjoyment:

But, being a business owner is not all we have in our lives. As entrepreneurs, leaders and bosses, we still have a life. Like, a real life with husbands and families and dirty kitchens and pregnant bellies that move (weird) and furniture we can’t really afford on backorder.

Real life. Outside of the office. 

Sometimes I feel like that’s not even a real thing. Like being at work is one life and coming home is another. And wouldn’t it be great if we could differentiate the two that clearly? I mean, I wish I could compartmentalize Olivia Pope style. She’s so freaking good at it, it’s not fair. Ya ya, she’s a tv character, but still.

So there’s work, and life, and work life. 

Work is stressful. And wonderful. It has its ups and downs and we work dang hard to keep up with the emails and orders and phone calls and proposals and book keeping, all the while doing the actual “work” stuff, like the design, photoshoots, wire framing and consulting we are supposed to be doing that actually makes us the money we so desperately need to organize. Dang, the vicious circle.

I feel like I kind of have that under control…. like after so many years of reading about how to prioritize and get to the bottom of your to-do list strategies and Accounting for Dummies has actually paid off. 

And life… I mean, let’s be real, is never really under control. It’s life. There are always dishes and laundry and dirty floors. And husbands that want to buy more fishing lures and babies on the way that we really think we can totally make time for… You know, good parenting sh*t and all that jazz. Totally. I can handle that. Bring it.

But what about work life?

I share an office with 3 AMAZING ladies. Three of my very best friends, my soul mates, my partners, my kindred spirits. And they are all so different from each other.

We have 6 businesses operating out of one office, 1,000 square feet of dream incubation. 

However, the 4 of us, never mind our four different teams, four sets of clients, four sets of parents and siblings and significant others, populate our space on an everyday basis.

And we are all women. In four very different seasons of life.

But we are all struggling right now. Like, really really struggling. And all with such different things, and sometimes we simply don’t know how to support each other, and sometimes can’t even find the emotional space to help one another.

If we all were the typical “American” life story, we would go in sequential order, everyone having their place in life, in line. And dealing with such life struggles that come along with that season. 

However, it hasn't always been this way, and sometimes the massive “out of order” throws us for never ending loops. Like we are on the Chutes and Ladders game of real life, and oh what we would give to just skip that last chute… or make the choice to not climb that ladder…

In our office right now, we have lost parents, husbands living far away, babies on the way, growing businesses, home purchases, technical difficulties, team dynamics, an upcoming wedding season, travel plans to coordinate, day care issues, and that was just yesterday.

It’s hard. We want to support each other. We need to support each other. So sometimes, when in a single day, you have work, life and work life, you just have to lay in bed at night and ask God for peace in your heart, and in the ones’ you love. Pray that you can find the room, the strength and the patience to be the support your loved ones need in their struggle, and that they will do the same for you.

So today, as I step into the office, I will not worry about channeling my inner Olivia Pope, and I will instead remember that my friends need me, and I need them. That love will show through, no matter what. That’s what our purpose is, after all.

I think that little chart not only applies to business ownership. I think it goes well with life, too. 

So my dear Jodi, please enjoy your Mommy Bailey day while your little girl twirls in her tutu and dance class and enjoys her lunch time cookie. 

My love, Carey. The laser is your friend, and FreshBash is so incredibly lucky to have you and your dreamy ambitions. As am I.

Heidi, honey, may your talents shine bright today as your hard work presents itself to your clients. Be proud of what you’ve made, and the work you’ve put in. 

To my team, God bless you. I could NOT have done any of this without you. You are my bright lights, my saving graces and my dream team.

And Baby Andreini, if it’s at all possible, please don’t squeeze my bladder today, I have a long meeting that I’d like to get through. And I promise to pay more attention to you when we get home.