234: Balancing Business and Kids in The Summer

Melissa [: 00:00:00

Alright, guys. I've got a summer episode for you. How am I making it light, easy, and airy this summer while still making over a1000000 in revenue? You're gonna want to listen in and take notes. These are some lessons I wish I had known years ago when I first started my business. So listen in, and I'd love to know what you're going to take action on to make sure you have a productive but fun summer. Need some effective tactical advice that actually helps you get results and makes a real difference in your life and business? You've come to the right place. If you're finding yourself here today, it means you're getting ready to gain serious traction in your business, rapidly multiply your income and impact, and you're ready to make it happen while living all out. Guys, I'm Melissa Henault, your trustworthy corporate dropout turned 6 figure business burnout turned happy and healthy CEO of a multimillion dollar online business.

Melissa [: 00:01:10

And you're listening to the Burnout to All Out podcast. On this show, we're serving up innovative growth strategies, simple implementation methods to put them into practice, and action stimulating inspiration tailored specifically for the modern entrepreneur. Let's dive in. Alright, guys. Coming to you with a summer episode. So timely. Just left this cool NASCAR shop with a friend of mine that I've been networking with around business opportunities, and my kids got the opportunity to tour their track today. And it's really timely that happened today because today's topic is around summers as the work from home parent.

Melissa [: 00:01:59

If you're listening to this and you're a work from home parent, you know what I'm talking about. Do you find yourself pulling your hair out as the summers progress with the kids and you're trying to juggle your work schedule and the irregularity of the kids schedule. Perhaps if you're the work from home parent, your spouse is out the door every morning routinely, but the kids have different drop off and pickup schedules every day of the summer with the chaos of just the change, right? And so, for those of you who can relate to this, I ask, are you struggling with the chaotic schedules and the unpredictability of the summer? And are you struggling with feeling guilt on two ends? Are you feeling guilty that you're a little bit annoyed or even triggered or that your kids are just kind of, like, in your way and you're feeling bad about that? And or you're feeling bad, I should be spending time with them. I am the entrepreneur who works from home, who strives for its time freedom and here I am stuck in my office trying to work and manage all of this. I have been in your shoes, guys. I am just a couple years into really kind of cracking the code and enjoying my summers, but it wasn't always that way as the work from home parent. And so in this episode, I'm actually gonna cover with you a couple of steps today where I've been able to embrace the summers with more grace and more fun with my kids and actually still make plenty of money. And, yes, still make plenty of money.

Melissa [: 00:03:30

I wanna reiterate that. We have grace and ebb and flow, but we're also on track to have the largest launch ever, mark my words, in about 2 weeks. We've got more registrants than we've ever seen. So you can have ebb and flow and ease in the summer and make a $1,000,000 in the summertime. And so couple of steps I'm gonna walk you through today to get started, and then I'm gonna just give you a little bit of an action plan. So the first step, really, is to start with asking yourself a simple question. And this is a really important question, although it may sound really simple. Right? And the question is, do you want to leverage the that you are an entrepreneur and your own boss this summer and exercise your right to time freedom and create some ebb and flow and flex this summer to actually enjoy the time that you get with your children? The answer could be yes, or the answer could be, I really wish I could, Melissa, but I didn't plan properly, and I'm overbooked.

Melissa [: 00:04:34

I've got way too much to do this summer and I'm kind of regretting it. Some of you are in that spot. Some of you are saying, no way. It's hustle season. I'm in momentum in my business. There's a lot of work to be done, and I've gotta meet my goals and that is okay too. That was me 3 years ago. I had a summer that was hustle, and it was on purpose.

Melissa [: 00:04:58

And that brings me to, like, the next thing, which is once you decide that it's going to be an ebb and flow summer, commit to that and don't beat yourself up with any shoulds and would. So, what this looks like is if you've planned, an easy summer and you get a 3rd or halfway through and you start feeling guilty that you should be working harder, don't do that. Don't do that. Commit to what you commit to and then enjoy and embrace it that you've committed to this summer the way that you have and you've earned it, by golly. Now, the flip side is the same. This happened to me 3 years ago. The year that I hit a million in revenue, the summer kicked my ass. And I knew before the summer started that I had a really, really robust launch schedule.

Melissa [: 00:05:56

I had a lot of work that needed to be done, and it was a lot to manage my work and my kids. But here's the key. I made the reality gut check. This is a season of hustle. I have committed to this summer to do the work. I'm not gonna live in the shoulda, woulda, coulda, and spending all of that energy draining myself of regret. I'm committing. It's a season.

Melissa [: 00:06:23

It's a summer. There's gonna be multiple summers to come where I'll have the ebb and flow. So just know that whichever season you're in, one of the best things you can do right here, right now in the middle of the summertime is check-in and commit to it. If you committed to ebb and flow, give yourself grace, reward yourself, and enjoy the time that you've earned. If you are leaning into the hustle, don't let the guilt creep up. Know that you committed to this for a season such as this and know that your future ebb and flow summers are coming once you get that momentum into a sustainable state in your business. Okay? Step 3 is really when you think about what you've committed to with no regrets is to then make a plan around it. Now, some of you are like, well, easier said than done, Melissa.

Melissa [: 00:07:15

This episode is dropping in the middle of summertime. I have planned poorly. Well, save this episode to listen to as you start business planning for next year. Okay? I'm actually already beginning to map my calendar out for next year, which might sound wild to some of you guys. But plan in advance how you will support your goals if you desire the ebb and flow in the summer, joy and productivity, then you need to plan for that in advance. And I'm gonna do a deep dive on this in a couple minutes. How do I gun for 4 to 5000000 this year yet still have a really flowy summer with tons, I mean, tons of vacation? We're gonna talk about it. You gotta plan it.

Melissa [: 00:08:00

You gotta plan it. Okay? Now, step 4, last step before I get into some, like, tactical strategies. This is regardless of if you committed, like, this is hustle season, no regret, I'm leaning in, or whether you committed to ebb and flow and ease this summer. Regardless, anticipate flexibility. There is nothing worse than spending your summer resisting the irregularity. How many of you are just in a bad mood on certain days in the summer because things aren't going the way they're supposed to? There is what I've learned in the summer times is there is no supposed to. Everything's happening the way it's going to happen. And so if we can stop being so worked up over the schedule not going the way it's supposed to, that the kids camp isn't starting as early as it needs to or it's not ending as early as it needs to.

Melissa [: 00:08:58

I have learned that I can save so much energy, and I can have so much more joy in my life if I just accept my destiny before the summer starts. And not just destiny, the accept with gratitude the opportunity to be the parent who gets to work from home and can plan in advance more flexibility around the summer even if you're in a hustle season. What does that look like? Most of us know there's gonna be irregularities. For me, accepting that it's a blessing that there's gonna be irregularities and I get to be the parent who doesn't have to be out the door at 7:30 every morning. And so, again, even in a hustle season, you can commit to not taking calls until 9:30, 10 o'clock. We know that most can't drop offs are by 9. You can plan to not take calls after about 4 PM. If you can plan this in advance and anticipate being a little bit more flexible in your summer schedule, what happens is you protect yourself from disappointment.

Melissa [: 00:10:07

I'm gonna say that again. You protect yourself from disappointment and frustration. And if you don't do this, you live your summer in frustration and disappointment. And quite honestly, my first couple of years of this, resentment. I had resentment to my spouse that, like, you get to just walk out the door at 7:30, like, nothing has changed since school year and just go to work. And I have these extra hours in the morning with the kids and it's a different camp every week and what the schedule is and what the drop off is. And I used to almost feel resentful that my husband got to walk out early in the morning. Now, I've reframed that.

Melissa [: 00:10:51

It's an energy. I've reframed that. I get to be the parent who actually gets more time with our kids. My son is 12, he'll be 13 this year. Some crazy statistic was shared with me not too long ago that, like, by the time your children are 12, you've spent 80% of the time you'll ever spend with them. And by the time they're 18, you've spent 90% of the physical time you will spend with your children. And so I've learned to actually reframe that I get that time. And so I embrace flexibility.

Melissa [: 00:11:25

Even if you're in the hustle season, can you embrace a more flexible schedule in the summer to create buffers around the irregular mornings and evenings so you don't start each day frustrated? So that's my tidbit to all of you. Okay? Now, if you said, I'd like to leverage the time freedom this summer, This is where I want you to listen in on some hacks that I've done and implemented enjoying the summers while also being productive and on track to do over a1000000 in revenue over the summertime. And not only doing a1000000 in revenue, taking a trip to the beach, taking a couple of trips to the mountains, spent 7 days in Ireland, headed to Wisconsin next week, headed to Maine and New Hampshire for 10 days. The vacations go on and on and on. So, first off, like I said, with life hacks, mindset and preparation for the summer are everything. So what I wanna say here is that I don't take an all or nothing approach to the summer. However, I do lighten the load and anticipate and embrace what's coming to me as I alluded to. With that, and this is a really important point, I take a lot of vacation over the summer, but I take a little bit of a flip flop CEO approach.

Melissa [: 00:12:40

So I'm able to exercise my right of being an online business owner and being able to travel and spend time away from home with my kids, with my husband, more than normal, but I may bring my computer with me and still check-in with my team. So I'm headed to Wisconsin next week, but I'm still gonna check my inbox each morning. And so part of it is, it's not necessarily a complete all or nothing for me over the summer. I'm not closing down the business, but I'm creating a lighter load and I've created a lifestyle where I can take my computer with me and do work where I need to. Now, the flip side of that is it's a slippery slope to take your computer with you everywhere. How many of you are victim of this? I wanna make sure I'm underscoring here that it can be a slippery slope. Yes. I have traveled over 50 days out of the 1st 6 months of the summer of this year, and a portion of that, I have taken my computer with me where I've gone.

Melissa [: 00:13:39

But I do think it's important to have true digital sabbatical. So, like, when I went to Ireland 2 weeks ago, I didn't open my computer once the entire week. So it is important and I've planned that in advance And I have a team and structure to support that, and we'll talk about that in a minute. Number 2 is plan ahead. I talked about your midsummer right now, and you're probably like, this ship has sailed, Melissa. I'm drinking water from a fire hose. I've bit off more than I can chew. I've got a ton of work to do this summer.

Melissa [: 00:14:10

I've got revenue to catch up on, and my kids are home. I hear you. Like, I hear you. Again, plan ahead next year and here's some advice. For me, I run my business accordion style. Okay? Accordion style around the summer. That means that we hustle. Like, we are working hard at different times outside of the summer in very compressed time frames.

Melissa [: 00:14:38

I'm already in that hustle mentality. We're kicking ass, taking names, we're in momentum, and then I take my foot off the brakes in the summertime. Now, the reality is it may drive some of my team nuts. That's the way I run my business. Oh my gosh, Melissa, we're not launching for like almost 3 or 4 months, and then you're gonna come in and hit the fall and we're gonna launch and then we're gonna launch and then we're gonna launch like, oh my god, you're killing me. To that I say, I'm the boss. And if you would like to run your schedule, you go start a business. With love from the Enneagram 8, I started this business.

Melissa [: 00:15:13

I run this business. In many scenarios, I take feedback from my team, but when it comes to calendar management, I'm a dictator. Why? Because I take all the risk. I started this business so that I had control of my calendar. Bottom line. So if you don't like it, go start your own business or go find somebody who runs their business differently. Now the flip side of it is my team and most of my team has been with me for over 5 years. They know that they also get to relax a bit in the summer as well.

Melissa [: 00:15:43

So we have kind of the European summers, if you will. It's lighter, it's airy, except for one big launch that we do and I'll talk about that. So you want to also know your numbers. So as you're planning ahead, for me, like I said, I play my business, like, accordion style around the summer and before the holidays. Like, I don't do anything after the 2nd week in November for a number of reasons. Number 1, because I'm the boss, and the holidays get really busy. And if you can manage strategically your business to bring in the revenue at the time that works for you and not during inconvenient times, then by all means, go do it. So my business is an accordion with our strategy and what we're doing to lift off initiatives.

Melissa [: 00:16:24

And if you know your numbers, then you can plan this beautifully, but you have to have a business plan in place. I have mine meticulously calculated and mapped out for the entire year. I also started planning ahead. I don't take calls, but in general, I shouldn't say calls. I don't take calls in general at all in operating my business before noon on most days. But outside of that, what I truly mean is that I don't in my calendar in the summer, it is blocked that I won't commit to any work initiatives before 10. I wanna clarify this. This is like a whole another podcast topic, but I do some of my most important CEO work early in the morning.

Melissa [: 00:17:05

So it's not that I'm not working. I have a very specific routine that I sit through between about 8 and 10. And even from 10 to 12, a lot of preparation and strategy and work that I'm doing. In the summertime, that doesn't start until 10 o'clock. I don't commit even myself and my business before 10 o'clock every day. And then so then I'm surprised and delighted when I've got the kids off to camp, I'm settled back in my office, and it happens to be before 10 o'clock. See how that works? We're going to eat up our calendar as much as we commit to, or we can get more done in a less amount of time if we manage it properly and commit to it. We're gonna use the time we allot to ourselves.

Melissa [: 00:17:48

Okay? So that's another tip I have as far as planning ahead. Also, don't be afraid to hire some part time help to ease the load. I know when I first got started running my own businesses from home, it was like a badge of honor that I could manage the kids and their calendars and all their things and work. Until I became a $1,000,000 a year business, and I was on the brink of burnout again because I was trying to do it all. I was trying to be supermom, like a stay at home mom because I worked from home. That is working from home is very different than being a house manager and really running the household a stay at home mom does. That's a full time job. So I actually hired a college student who helps me out.

Melissa [: 00:18:30

So today, after touring the racetrack or the shop with my kids, So I had a fun activity. I took them over to the shop, met my friend, Sean, and my sitter met me here at my house at what time? 10 o'clock. She grabbed the kids and took them off to camp late while I could jump right into my work. So see how that's a great example of I kept my calendar open till 10. I made space for miracles to happen. This opportunity came up. My kids just had an experience of a lifetime. I'm not feeling like I've compensated anything in my business because I'm not committed until 10 o'clock.

Melissa [: 00:19:07

Okay. So having a college kid or a local kid help you out. And the other thing you can do if you're not putting your kids in camps, which is the obvious, like putting your kids in camps, is to have someone come into your house on certain days of the week to watch the kids for a couple hours. Some of you might not believe this, but when I launched my LinkedIn business, my lead gen academy, it was launched in the midst of COVID. My kids couldn't go anywhere, and I had a college kid who would come to my house 3 days a week for 4 hours at a time. And in those 3 days a week for 4 hours at a time, you better bet I got more done in those 4 hours than I probably do in an entire day now just because I have it. And I know some of you moms who have to operate this way know exactly what I'm talking about. The moment the sitter would come in, I already knew exactly what I needed to execute on.

Melissa [: 00:19:58

I had my shit together. I was not spending a minute trying to figure out what I needed to do. Door was shut, Bose headphones on, noise canceling, and to work I would go for a couple of hours. So some of you can even just commit to something like that. Now, other ideas, grandparents, we have something called nanny and poppy camp where our kids actually go visit grandparents. So if you're on a tight budget and camps are wildly expensive, that is something you can consider if your parents are up for it. And the other thing, if you've got older siblings, now this takes a little bit of organization and leadership on your part as a parent, but I've actually I have a 12 year old, an 11 year old, and a 6 year old. For either one of my older kids, it's a bit much to ask them to be responsible for the 6 year old all day, but I've actually had days where I didn't have a sitter or a camp and I've split the responsibility.

Melissa [: 00:20:49

The 12 year old has the youngest for 6 for 4 hours or 3 hours, and then the oldest has him for 3 to 4 hours. And what I do is I give them a list of, like, responsibilities with the 6 year old. I'm not leaving them here with them all by themselves all day. I'm here in the house. They're kind of the perfect age to be doing this, but they're in charge of getting them breakfast and getting them lunch and doing some activities with him, and they each get to give a report on each other at the end of the day. They get a scorecard, which really enables both of them on each end, the youngest who needs to behave and follow instructions, The kids are babysitting, who are getting graded from the youngest on their performance of how fun the experience was with them. Now, that type of activity is not gonna work all summer. They get tired of it.

Melissa [: 00:21:35

But I have found that this has been a really great way to empower my older children, pay them a little bit of an hourly rate, teach them a little bit of responsibility. So, that's something else you can do in a household. Another life hack that I wish I had honed in on earlier is routine appointments. If you are a mother of multiple kids, you know what I'm talking about. Between dentist appointments, annual appointments, orthodontic appointments, it's a bear to try to pepper those in throughout your work year. What I have done is gotten into a cadence of doing all of these appointments in the summertime, because, again, my schedule's already irregular, and believe it or not, I actually find it to be a little bit fun. You can spend a little bit of extra time with them, go to lunch with them, and you're being productive in knocking things out from a health perspective that needs to be done. So this summer, I got my teeth cleaned, got my mammogram, I had my annual visit.

Melissa [: 00:22:31

This goes for you too. Had my dermatologist appointment. And listen, my kids come to some of my appointments. My youngest came to get my stitches out of my back when I had a minor surgery. If he's gonna be home and here's the thing, this is a whole another tangent I wanna go on. I just had a sidebar thought here. This is back to vacation, actually, versus putting them in camp. For some of you who are like camps are so expensive, I agree with you.

Melissa [: 00:22:55

So I'm going off on a tangent for a second, but I don't wanna lose it. Vacation, If you think about how much you could spend on a vacation versus putting your kids in camp, this is one of the reasons we take a lot of vacation over the summer. Right? If it's gonna cost me a couple $100 per child to put them in camp, I'd rather spend that on a vacation. Right? Why would I pay for someone to watch my kids for them to have fun when I could spend that money having fun with them myself? Right? Okay. So that was a tangent. I had nothing to do with the dermatologist, but I, like, had this thought and I had to go to it before I forgot it. The other thing is they're getting life experience. He gets to see mommy get her stitches taken out.

Melissa [: 00:23:31

So trying to time block all of those routine appointments in the summer has been a game changer for me when my calendar's already out of whack and I'm not, like, in a rigid routine like I am in the fall and in the new year. The other thing is including them in the fun, including them in the fun. So, I alluded to this earlier, but I heard a keynote speaker at a live event earlier this year, and I found him to be phenomenal and wanted to connect with him. Turns out, we live in the same town, which at the end of the day, ends up it's not that surprising because he works in NASCAR, and Mooresville, North Carolina is like NASCAR country. But I was able to take my kids with me this morning to go while I networked with him. They had a blast. They got to see race cars. They got to see the pit crew changing tires and enjoy them being a part of the experience.

Melissa [: 00:24:21

And that dovetails also into times when they don't have school. So my kids actually don't have school during my live event. For whatever reason, they don't have school those 2 days. So I'm bringing them with me. Why would I hire someone to watch my kids when I could bring them with me to my live event? They can experience it. So where could you actually just involve them? My oldest is gonna be working on a checklist from Jackie, from those of you who know my business and know Jackie. She's our in house CIO, and my oldest builds computers. He's very tech savvy.

Melissa [: 00:24:54

So, he's gonna be working in the business some this summer. So are there things your kids could be doing to support your business all the way down to, like, slapping stamps on post its, for thank you notes, or whatever that you're sending clients. Also, it's a reality check during the summer that, do you have the time freedom as a CEO? If you desire time freedom in the summer, but you're bound to your calendar, you may wanna ask yourself, have you scaled your organization to the right size for your desired time freedom? And that's gonna be also a look at your P and L, and what your P and L can handle with staff. I personally choose lifestyle over a larger margin, and some people would choose the opposite. I actually am okay spending more on staff knowing that my business can run without me then saving that money and having to work because the finite time I have with my children right now will be gone, but I can always make money. And so I actually run on a probably a thinner margin than a lot of people in the online business space, because between 2025 is my ultimate goal. By the end of the year, my business coach would like to see that 30. But I'm okay with giving up that money because I want more ebb and flow in my life, in my business.

Melissa [: 00:26:16

The other thing I wanted to hit on here before I wrap up is, yeah, I'm still planning on making over $1,000,000 this summer. We are going to do one big launch in just 2 weeks. We're gonna do our lead gen academy launch. By the time you listen to this episode, it will may have already gone, maybe not. But if you watch this live on LinkedIn, you'll hear about it. What do I do around the 9 day launch? The 9 day launch is like a typical work week. It's totally different than my typical summer. And so during these 9 days, what I have done in the past, and I've already done this year, is enroll your spouse and or other support that you're going to need more responsibility on their end for these days.

Melissa [: 00:27:01

And the way I position it is, hey, babe. I know the summers are like, I strategically take it light and become more flexible for the kids. And I'm really the one who's bearing the load, if you will, with the flexibility in the summer, but I get to do that. However, there's this one week and a half during the summer, I need you all in committed to all hands on deck being in charge of the kids, just one and a half weeks. And I actually book the kids at a summer camp that is literally 2 minutes from his office in downtown Charlotte. So they're nowhere near me. K? And he takes them to camp every morning on his way to work. And if someone is sick and needs to be picked up, he knows even in his calendar.

Melissa [: 00:27:46

If someone is sick, daddy gets the phone call. Daddy is in charge. So I enroll him in this early on. These 9 days are really important to me. They should be very important to you too because they're helping funding our dreams. I'm doing a lot over the summer to be flexible and I enjoy it, but these 9 days are yours with the kids. You have to plan that in advance, or otherwise, there's gonna be mass resentment. Because, again, what I've run into is being the one last year, I really planned ahead in the sense that I plan to be flexible, but I also didn't prime my husband very well that, you know what? I know I'm really flexible this summer, but there's this one week and a half that I'm gonna move your cheese and tell you that it's your job.

Melissa [: 00:28:29

And so he was taken off guard. It's like, wait, what what's going on? What do you mean? It's been so easy this summer and all of a sudden all of a sudden it's my responsibility. So enrolling them in this vision earlier so that it's not a surprise and planning it. Okay? Alright. So that's a little bit about how to survive and not just survive, but thrive and leverage why you got into business for yourself in the first place, which is time freedom to get in control of your calendar and enjoy the summers as you should as a parent entrepreneur. Now for those of you in the hustle season, I leave you on the bright side. There are seasons for everything and getting a business up and running or facing headwinds is something that happens. Sometimes it happens in the summer, and it's just the nature of entrepreneurship.

Melissa [: 00:29:19

And know that it's just a season, and I've been in those seasons, and it won't be the last season. I know I have summers to come that are gonna be that way. And your time will come to be the free spirited summer entrepreneur. Here's the deal. The universe is working for you in the summer. The days are still longer. You can still have time to yourself with the sun up earlier in the morning. You can still have some time to yourself and your family with the sun going down later in the evening.

Melissa [: 00:29:48

So don't forget to still get out and have some fun. And if you are leaning into a hustle season this summer, what can you do to make it feel more elegant? If you've gotta grind and you've gotta hustle, this is my call to action to you to maybe go online and order that really fancy, really nice candle that you can light in your room or oils or really nice silk bathrobe that you can wear while you're working in the summer. Embrace what you've committed to and throw away the shoulda, woulda's, and commit to what you commit to. Don't waste energy with regret. And that is it, my friends. As a recap, plan ahead, embrace and commit, and have fun with it. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. Thanks guys so much for listening in on today's podcast episode.

Melissa [: 00:30:44

And I can't wait for you to see my upcoming guest in the next episode. You are going to love this keynote speaker. Hey, here's the deal. If you like this, please subscribe and leave a review. And you want the latest online business growth strategies and exclusive LinkedIn pro tips sent straight to your phone? Text the word update to 704 318-2285. That is text the word update to 704 318-2285. Can't wait to see you guys. Come find me over on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, wherever you like to hang.

Melissa [: 00:31:26

Cannot wait to hear how you are enjoying and applying what you're learning. You guys reach out to me over on social because I love hearing what's resonating with you. When you reach out to me and you send me those personal DMs, they really do impact the content I continue to bring forward to you. So again, come find me, melissa_henault over on Instagram. Melissahenault over on LinkedIn and Facebook. Can't wait to see you guys over there.