3 Things I've Done To Stay Sane While Balancing Motherhood and Business

We are always on the hunt for skincare companies that focus on quality, are TRULY pure and actually work! Primally Pure is one of those companies. Bethany is a supermom--passionate about ridding our pits of toxic deodorants (their charcoal deo is AMAZING!) and providing skincare products that have high quality ingredients, all the while being an amazing mother to her almost two-year old daughter. We are so honored that Bethany is sharing some of her top tips for staying sane while being a new mom and running a thriving business!

Six months into starting my business, my husband and I found out that we were expecting a sweet baby girl.

At this point, I was running Primally Pure out of our home and felt completely consumed by it. At any given moment, you could find me hand-cutting product labels, manually shredding newspapers and magazines to use as packaging material, and whipping up batches of deodorant all night and into the early morning hours.

Everyone thought I had gone mad as they watched me devote countless hours to this passion project that no one (including me) was sure would take off. But I was so entrenched in this new thing that I couldn’t not see it through. I felt a deep responsibility to myself and to my small but loyal customer base to keep going.

As my due date approached, I became increasingly unsure of how in the world I was going to balance my business with this new life I would soon be responsible for. I had some help at this point, and Primally Pure was generating enough revenue for me to feel comfortable with moving it out of my home into a space of its own (which ended up happening within a month or so of my daughter’s due date) but how could I be a good mom and good business owner at the same time?

If you own a business or have a side hustle, you may understand my concern. People that do these things are not normal. We start businesses because we crave freedom, but in reality we have the tendency to become slaves to our work. We put countless hours into new initiatives, launches, running or overseeing the day-to-day stuff, thinking about work when we’re not actually working, etc. and often skimping on sleep, working late into the night or early in the morning before the sun comes up.

This was (and often times still is) me, and a baby isn’t exactly the best fit for this lifestyle. But by the grace of God, a supportive family and an incredible team at work, I’ve managed to navigate through this challenging journey. I’ve made (and am still making) loads of mistakes but am trying to learn from them as best as I can.

Here are three hacks that have helped me to stay sane while balancing motherhood and a business.

Focus on what you CAN control.

Health, wellness, sleep, exercise, etc. are hugely important to me. But for the past two years since my daughter was born, I haven’t done a great job of getting 8 hours of sleep per night or exercising regularly like I usually did in the past.

Instead of guilting myself about it, I’ve decided to care for myself in ways that are easier for me to control at this point in my life. I stay away from processed foods 100% of the time. I use Branch Basics cleaning products in our home. I take supplements that support my health in various ways. I go on walks with my daughter. I take baths with epsom salt and organic essential oils a few times a week.

I do what I can and I don’t stress about all of the things I’m doing wrong, because I know life won’t be this way forever. There will come a time when I’ll be able to sleep longer, exercise more and do all of the other things I haven’t been doing lately. But until then, I’m making the best of my current circumstances.

Schedule uninterrupted time away with family.

As a business owner and new mom, finding balance on a daily basis has been a huge struggle. No day is the same, and the challenges that come with growing a company and leading a large team often take away from quality time with my family. In order to truly escape from these struggles and live in the moment, it’s been necessary for us to schedule time away as often as possible. This allows us to unplug and truly enjoy one another, something that we can’t always do when we’re home. (Did I mention that my husband owns two businesses? Another reason why time away is so important to us!)

Don’t feel guilty about getting help.

For the first several months of my daughter’s life, I was convinced that I could be a “stay at home” mom and run a business. I was able to take a month almost completely off after June was born, and then started taking her into work with me when she was about 6 weeks old. This worked out fine in the beginning because she slept so dang much! But at about 3 months, I was struggling big time. I felt torn constantly. When I was with my daughter,

I felt guilty for not being at work, making things happen and supporting my team. When I was working, I felt guilty for not being with my baby. This struggle continued until my daughter was about 6 months old. At this point, I decided to spend 3 full days at work while my mother in law watched June (and not feel guilty about it). This allowed me to fully focus on work when I was at work, and focus 100% of my attention on my daughter when we were together. Now that June is almost 2, I’m spending even more time away from her at work and I am okay with that. I wish I would have known sooner that’s it’s alright to make decisions like these based on what works best for you and your family, even if it’s different from what other moms are doing! I’ll never be the perfect mother or business owner, but I’m taking each day as it comes and learning from every mistake I make.