Teresia's Blog

I am going to be a mom!

Am I excited? Yes! Am I grateful? Yes!! Do I have fears? YES!

For years I’ve told women just like myself – ambitious, established, and full of vision – that they CAN have it all, and keep a firm grip on their sanity too. Every fiber of my being believed it, and every day I helped women achieve it.

And yet today, as my belly swells bigger with every passing moment, I must confess: making the move from entrepreneur to Mompreneur looks like a tremendously daunting step!

Can I really do it all? Will I always be exhausted? Will the stress of being a new mom with a thriving business destroy my zest for life? Will I lose my passion for the work I do? How will I balance the demands of my business “baby” and my real-life, crying-in-the-next-room, needs-a-diaper-change-NOW baby?

These are the things that keep me up at night. (Well, ok – the heartburn does too.) But, when the fears subside and the next morning arrives, I stand up straight and tell myself, “Teresia, put on your big girl shoes and go make it happen!”

To tell the truth, there’s no reason to fear. As all my friends will tell you, I am a planner; a super-planner in fact. I designed my nanny plan and postpartum workout plan over a year ago. So it probably comes as no surprise that I’ve been working on strategies to help me through the transition from entrepreneur to Mompreneur. 

Yes, true to form, I’m bringing my professional principles into my pregnancy.  Here are some key ones that I’m counting on.  

Support Makes All the Difference

Women often find it hard to ask for and accept help, which is unfortunate because to truly do it all, we need an abundance of support. (And I am not talking about a good bra, although I sure could use a good one right now – my boobs have never been so big! (Ok I digress)

Whether you’re pregnant or not, do yourself a favor and S.E.T. yourself up with three critical kinds of support:

S: Strategic Support helps us shorten the learning curve, find resources and create faster, better results. It could come from a colleague, someone with more or different experience, a mentor, coach, mastermind group, even someone you hire such as an webmaster or ghostwriter.  Collaboration lets you do a lot more with less time, and that’s what every Mompreneur can use, right?

E: Emotional Support is something that every single person on this planet needs. Women seem to need an extra dose on occasion (okay, daily). But for a woman with a lot on her plate, emotional support is even more important. And if you’re an entrepreneurial woman with high standards and ambitions, well… emotional support is like oxygen! Make it a priority to build and lean on your emotional support team – a soul community of intimate, like-minded women who give you permission and encouragement to be all that you want to be. We owe it to ourselves to establish relationships at that level – because we need it.

T: Task Support comes from those who help us get things done – an assistant, housekeeper, babysitter, even the helping hands of those we love. This kind of support gives us more time and energy for the things that matter most. Did you know that the average woman in a family of four devotes 20-25 hours a week to running her household? That’s a lot of time! Is this the best use of your time? Work on your delegation skills, as well as systematization and automation. Get creative and dare to do things differently.

I used this model to help me build my business, but in truth, it applies to all areas of life – even my maiden voyage into the wild seas of Mompreneurship. “Honey, I’m going to need a lot of support through this transition… can you say, ‘Daddy Saturdays?’

Having the proper support system is key to making any dream come true!