Because Who Wouldn't Want To Have 2 Jobs?

Because who wouldn’t want to have 2 jobs?

And 2 kids.

And a husband.

And a house and domestic duties. 

And leukemia.

Well the latter isn’t really something I want, but, ya know.

If you are my Facebook friend, then you probably saw that my sister and I are starting our own business. I am so very excited!

I want to start by staying I’m still staying at United Way, because that is my career. I intentionally chose to be at United Way almost 4 years ago. I made personal and financial sacrifices to join the United Way team—mainly, accepted a job offer with a salary almost half as less as what I was making at my then current job. Why would one do such a thing? Because I knew it’s where I was called to be. United Way of Central Kentucky is an amazing organization that does important work in our community for children and families and I love being a part of that as the Vice President.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tough, tough job. The hardest job I’ve ever had and I’ve been in store management, office management, banking, and home financing. But knowing that the work that we do gives a child growing up in poverty the opportunity to break the odds and become a successful, self-sufficient adult makes it so, so worth it. Every kid in our community deserves that opportunity, and I get to be a part of that and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

But I’ve also always had the passion to be an entrepreneur and partnering with my sister to start a woman’s clothing store seemed like a no-brainer.  We grew up in a family business. I mean, we were literally raised in a bowling alley. I spent most of my days, nights and weekends from the time I was born and all through growing up at the bowling alley watching my parents work hard, really really hard. I am so thankful for that and the experiences I had as it’s where I learned all about hard work and the importance of community. I was raised by not only my parents, but my aunts, uncles, and grandparents as they were also a part of this business at that time, as well as the regular customers at the bowling alley, who are still just like family. It was an amazing experience because I got to not only witness the good times but also the bad times. Specifically the sacrifices you have to make and the struggles of owning your own business, and owning a business with your siblings. It wasn't always rainbows and butterflies and I don't expect it to be with my sister, but also know that with the amazing relationship that we do have, and with the support of our other sister, parents, and husbands, it’s going to be great. On top of growing up in a family business, both of my brother-in-law’s also have their own businesses as well. Entrepreneurship is just a family thing I guess. Hopefully it works out as well for us as it has them. :) 

Going into the fashion industry is what I had planned on doing when I grew up. In high school, I would make my own graphic t-shirts with iron on transfers. One of the shirts I made said ‘Hi Craig’ for a friend of mine that I always said hi to, obnoxiously. Ironically enough, his brother is now who we are renting our store space from. Funny how that worked out. :) 

My mom got us a sewing machine when I was in high school and we sewed some clothing pieces, together. I also even hand sewed my own purse, would sew material on shirts and skirts to spice them up, make belts out of t-shirts, and do other really weird and random things. The plan after graduation was to go to a fashion school in California and once graduation neared and I realized the cost for that was insane, I decided I needed to figure something else out. That something ended up being getting married and moving to Colorado but that’s a story that’s already been told. :) But over the course of those years, actually from the age of 16-20, I worked in retail. I started as an associate, to a sales lead, to assistant management, all the way to store management. I loved it. The last two stores I worked in were Charlotte Russe and Max Rave (a BCBG store) in Louisville and what we mainly did was help women pick out outfits to wear for a fun night out. It was so much fun. But after I became a single mom, I wanted a more 9-5 Monday-Friday job so I could spend more time with Talon so I moved on.

But here we are now. And now I have the opportunity to pursue my desire of entrepreneurship with my passion of retail AND continue my career at United Way. It’s a win, win! And only possible because I am partnering with my sister. She has amazing style and I know will bring great products to our store. She also has the time to be able to manage the store day to day, and I know she'll do great. I’ll be helping more behind the scenes with the finances and marketing, but you'll see me in the store on weekends. It’s a perfect fit. Have I mentioned how excited I am?

But let’s be honest.

I’m also a little overwhelmed.

As I’ve mentioned before, some days are just a struggle to get through a full 40 hour work week, much less a work day because of my health. So I’m not naive to think it will get any better, if anything, it will get worse. And my goal isn’t to work myself to death but to have fun with something new and different and also build something for the future.

And there is no way I could take any of this on if not for the support of my husband. He already has to pick up a lot of the weight around the house on the days that my health knocks me off my feet. And I already work full time during the day so now many of my nights and weekends will also be compromised with either me being sick on the couch or me doing work for the store, whether at home or at the store. So even more at home will fall on his plate when he gets home from work. But he has accepted that challenge and I’m so thankful for his support. We’ve began to implement some things that I hope will help so we can both find that balance and also ensure we are spending as much time with our kids, each other, and ourselves as possible. :) So that’s what I’ll end this post with. That plan.

As a working momma (or not), I encourage you to take some domestic pressure off yourself and partake in some of the below activities. And if you have any other ideas or suggestions on how to create a good work/life balance, please send them my way!

1.    Bills—all of our bills are on auto pay. All. Of. Them. We have 3 accounts. A savings account, bills checking account, and spending checking account. Our paychecks get deposited into our bills account and all of the auto pays for all of our monthly bills come out of that account. Also, each week a set amount of money is automatically transferred from our bills account to our spending account. That’s the account we use for flexible expenses—gas, groceries, shopping, eating out, etc. And a set amount is automatically transferred from the bills account to our savings account each month. All of this is automatic. We do nothing. It’s the best thing I ever set up. I never have to worry about if a bill is paid, if we have enough money in our account to purchase something, etc. and it saves so much time because let’s face it, paying bills and balancing your account can take up some time.

2.    Dinner—I love cooking. I do. But not after I work a full day, pick up the kids, go to practices/games, do homework, sign all the school papers, sell all the school/sports fundraiser stuff, etc. I used to try to cook 4 nights a week. That has dwindled over time. And I hate eating out, it’s expensive and gets old. So my solution has been to use E ’town Meal Prepping and I absolutely love it! Each week I purchase freshly prepped, healthy meals for the week for lunch and a couple of dinners. I still try to cook a couple of nights a week but this takes the pressure off and I know that there is always something at home to eat, whether I am home to cook it or not. Game changer.

3.    Click List—If you haven’t used Kroger's Click List yet, you really need to. I began using it before Taylor was born and it’s changed my life. Each week I order my groceries, pick them up, and then come back home to put them up. What used to take about 2 hours total now takes about 35 minutes.

4.    House Cleaning—we have some ladies come in to clean out house about once a month. It’s great. But I’ve already told TJ that once we open the store, I plan on having someone come more often so that’s one less thing I have to worry about when I’m at home. I’m looking forward to that one. :)

5.    Fetch Fox—so I haven’t used this yet BUT have full intentions on it once things really get crazy. Fetch Fox is a service that will essentially run your errands for you. I’m talking go to Kroger and pick up your Click List order for you AND bring them to your house AND put them up. They even do light tidying up around the house.

The goal is for when TJ and I are at home, all we have to worry about is spending time with our sweet kiddos and each other.

raiment + boon. Coming November 2017. Come check it out, people! We hope you love it!

And wish us all luck!