Happy Valentine’s Day! This year marks the 17th year that I get to call Mike my Valentine, which is crazy because we only met just yesterday! We’ve had tons of adventures in those handful of years, not least of all having 6 amazing kids together and all the challenges that come with raising them. It was in that beautiful chaos that Mike had an idea for a changing pad to help keep babies hands out of the diapering mess. The problem was a recurring one in our own household. Now my husband has always been a problem solver. When my bride's dress wasn’t fitting properly just days before the wedding, he came up with the idea to add a removable panel and presto it worked. When he saw me drowning in diapers and squirmy kids he started thinking of a solution. You can check out that story here. It was a wild ride!
Everything about running a business together is a labor of love, there is always an abundance of responsibilities and usually not enough hands. Add to that, the varying needs of 6 kiddos that range from 19 to 4. It has been a challenging task to juggle everyone’s schedule, and making sure we are not dropping the ball - at both home and work. We’ve had to build up what we call “systems” to keep everything running in place and adjust as needed. Here’s how we manage:
First and foremost, this is what works for us, glean as much or as little from this as helpful for your circumstance.
When one of us is “running point” for Snoofybee, the other is stepping in to be with kids and take on more home responsibilities. Sometimes both of us are juggling both, but communication is key here. My husband and I make it a point to have regular check-ins and discussions about the business, especially during busy periods. This allows us to keep each other informed and make decisions together, while also making sure that we are both on the same page. The same goes for kids’ appointments, activities, home maintenance, etc.
The other thing that’s been extremely helpful is we each have a lane at SnoofyBee. In the beginning we didn’t know yet what strengths we’d bring to the table, so we started building up and assigning the responsibilities of each task bit by bit. Mike had a background in shipping, so I knew right off the bat, that was not mine. I was on Instagram way before Mike, so I naturally took that lane. And as we’ve grown, so has our skill set. Now I won’t lie, we’ve had the “stay in your lane” conversation before, but as we’ve mellowed out with age and experience we now see that offering the other partner advice is just someone offering a fresh perspective. More often than not, I’m so relieved to hear Mike’s feedback, it’s not personal - it's how we can get better and grow.
One of the advantages of working together is that we can also involve our kids in the business. We have found that this not only helps teach them valuable life skills, but it also gives us a chance to spend more time together as a family.
There are so many lessons that Mike and I have learnt in this process together. I really feel like entrepreneurship is a lot like parenting. It can push you past your limits, really stretch you as a human - but then you notice that you are a stronger person because of it. I’m just glad we get to do it together.
