I am a personal trainer, a group fitness instructor and of course, a mom. I was lucky enough to be able to start up my own business and include my kids in my work. Since my youngest was 10 months old, I have been training clients in my home-studio. There is an attached playroom for my girls (and any kids that come with my clients) to play in while I work and they have always come with me to my classes. My oldest is now in school, so she no longer comes with me, but my youngest is still there on the days that she does not have Nursery School.
We have our good days and our bad days, but overall, the kids are great for me. They understand that when I am with a client, I can not be as focused on them as they would sometimes like, but I am still close by to help them if needed. When I first meet with my clients, I explain that my kids will be with me during certain times of the day and I have been very fortunate with all my clients being very understanding with my kids. Some clients only come in the evenings, so they rarely even see my kids, but in general, my kids like to know who is with me, so they will come down for a visit every now and then, even if Daddy is home.
The hardest part of my day is trying to get paperwork done with the kids around. As great as they are if there is a client here, they just do not understand that when I am working at the computer, it is just as important. Getting my programs done, researching new exercises and, going through food logs, bookkeeping, marketing, creating new classes, finding good music to workout to for the classes, paying the bills and keeping up with the day to day office work that comes along with running a small business just does not seem important to kids. I can not blame them, but at the same time, it can be frustrating when I am trying to get something done in my office and they become needier than any other time of day! Even trying to have a conversation on the phone with a potential client can be close to impossible. Not sure why the phone is such a trigger for kids, but my youngest can not stand it when I am on the phone!
As for trying to get my own exercise in, it is tough. Since I teach classes and demonstrate the exercises for the participants, I do manage to get some exercise in, but it is hard for me to get the workouts done at home. Since I do not have a client with me, my kids feel it is crucial that they are all over me for this time.
Overall though, I would not change a thing. I love working with the women I work with, I love having the ability to schedule my work around my kids, and I love the fact that I am in control of where my career and business are going. I am happy with the small home studio I have in the Beaches for personal training and I am happy to rent spaces in Leslieville and the Beaches for my group fitness classes... for now. Once my kids are both in school, I am excited to spend more time expanding the business and hopefully getting a space somewhere in the Beaches or Leslieville.
I would love to hear from other "mompreneurs" about how they manage to get their paperwork done with kids around! Being a work at home mom and running your own business is a whole other world and I am still learning the tricks to making it run smoothly on a personal and professional level... any advice would be welcome!!!
Beaches Fitness is a boutique fitness studio with private and group training. As a mom with 2 young children, Sandra founded Beaches Fitness as a way to help out other women in her community and still be able to keep her children with her as much as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment