I am a mom of twins... and I am a business owners... and I'm a nonprofit owner. And like, 500 other things that I don't need to mention here.
And every mother reading this said: "yep... me too."
This is the reality for most moms, I think. And entrepreneurial moms are no exception.
There is so much I want to say to you. So many tangents I could write about. But, let's focus on this one: the stages of motherhood and how they impact our entrepreneurial life.
Entrepreneurial moms must lean on vocational imagination.
This term "vocational imagination" was crystalized for me after listening to Joanna Meyer's book: Women, Work & Calling: Step Into Your Place in God's World. I was looking for resources to help the entrepreneurial moms I disciple, and found this book to lay wonderful groundwork for the many questions that women ask.
Imagination starts with the stages of motherhood.
I had long been looking for a way to describe that feeling you get, as a mother, when you've reached a new stage in your parenting journey. That feeling when the way you've been doing things in your work will no longer suffice.
For first-time moms, it's in the midst of pregnancy. You're realizing that after maternity leave... well... there will be an after maternity leave. There will be a time when you can no longer be paid without showing up to work.
And for many business owners, it's knowing that you will not get paid at all while you have a new baby. There is no maternity leave. There's just working and not working.
And the baby will make working quite challenging.
Every stage of motherhood is like this. Your child hits a new developmental stage or you add a new baby to the mix and you have to adapt. You move schedules, adjust routines, and *just* when you feel like you're hitting your stride something changes. The baby is teething now or school is out for the summer and you realize you're in another stage of motherhood.
And each new phase requires you to re-imagine how you'll keep your business running.
There are countless reasons why this issue is almost exclusively for women. And I suspect it affects single Dads, too. But that's a different conversation for another day.
Because, like it or not, moms carry a weight and responsibility for their motherhood that deeply affects their work. A weight that men usually do not face.
Which brings me to this imagination thing.
Entrepreneurial motherhood requires us to get creative with our work... and quick.
Often, culture gives us a false paradigm. We're told we have two options:
Option 1: Quit working and stay home with the kids.
Option 2: Send the kids to daycare/school and work full-time.
That's it. That's all we get.
And let's just be clear: those can both be wonderfully intentional options. Those that stay home and take on the care of the house and family as their career are 1,000% working a job. Point blank.
And, those that go to work full-time in an office and pay for childcare or send their kids to school are no less of a mother.
This is not a guilt trip.
But... I propose there is a third option. In fact, I propose there is a fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth... etc... option for how we do this motherhood deal.
And especially for those of us called to entrepreneurship.
I have been asked this question *many* times by first-time entrepreneurial moms: "What about my job? Will I care about my work once I have a baby?"
And my answer is always the same: "Not at first. But give it a beat and you'll discover that your work takes a new place in your life that is healthier, more fulfilling, and more on purpose than ever before."
Or at least that's my prayer.
Because it can happen for us mom entrepreneurs. We have the capacity to make our work more meaningful and important and re-ordered after we have children.
And we can do that through vocational imagination.
Your entrepreneurial journey can be more surrendered to Jesus when you have vocational imagination.
Imagination for your vocation is exactly what it sounds like: creative ways of fulfilling your call to work.
Let's take the infant stage, for example, when our lives are constantly interrupted. Does that mean we cannot work? No! it means we have to get creative with what our work looks like, what we're called to accomplish, and the season Jesus is asking us to surrender to.
When we have another child, we're forced to re-imagine the constant interruptions of another infant while also helping our older child(ren) settle into learning and growing with intention.
For myself, that imagination meant taking twin infants to my office every day. It meant inviting others in to help. A lot.
It meant keeping shorter hours, hiring someone else to help with my work tasks, and receiving immense grace from my team (who were also family).
As they got older, it meant sending them to a private preschool so that I could work without interruption a few hours every morning. It also meant letting go of peace and quiet in the afternoons and allowing for interruption, chaos, noise... all while trying to get in a *little* more work.
And at kindergarten, that vocational imagination meant answering God's call to homeschool. At a moment when I could have sent them to public school and had full days of time to grow our business, the Lord told me "no." Loud and clear.
So... I restructured my days once again to leave room for homeschooling them in the mornings. Vocational imagination meant giving my children the very best hours of my day and trusting that Jesus would give me the energy and focus to accomplish everything during the afternoon.
Now in 1st grade, my children know how to stay quiet during a meeting, occupy themselves while I sit at my desk fully focused, and get through their curriculum without complaining.
They can't sit at my desk without interrupting me, but I still let them.
They don't *always* remember not to barge in during a meeting. But usually they respect the closed door.
And next year, when their school takes up even more of my day, it will require even more vocational imagination. I'll have to get creative, continue inviting my husband in to fill the gaps, rearrange my calendar...
But you see what I mean.
Right now, at whatever parenting stage you are in, your entrepreneurial life does not have to end.
And your call to work does not have to "wait until the kids are older."
Just sit down with Jesus and start getting creative. Answer His call to work or not work or hire a nanny or send the kids to school or... whatever.
You are a natural problem-solver. Remember? That's what got you into starting your own business in the first place.
So go solve the problem. Or don't. Surrender to the season and see what God does when you open up the door to what could be.
Don't let culture give you a paradigm that God never set.
