How I Finally Found Fulfillment as a Mama + Small Biz Owner
āI just want you to be happy.ā
These words hung in the air as I tried to think of a response or how to proceed with the conversation with my husband.
I wasnāt NOT happy.
I love being a mom. Even on the hard days, my heart continues to burst with love and adoration for our little human.
But he wasnāt talking about happiness, per se.
He was talking about fulfillment.
Moving from self-employment to almost full-time motherhood was an extremely tough shift for me.
For multiple reasons, we decided as a family that she would primarily stay home with me during the day, other than 1-2 days of provided childcare at the in-lawsā.
But yāallā¦ I can look back now and say that I feel like I lost a bit of myself in that transition.
I was lacking a clear purpose, direction, and vision for life as a mom with a part-time business.
(Oh yes, I continued to operate my business as a self-employed mama ā but due to the nature of my business, the challenges of making this happen efficiently were many. Product businesses are not for the faint of heart, and running this alongside almost full-time motherhood was a tough balance.)
Fast forward to over two years into this delicate balance while still maintaining this level of work and commitment and I KNEW something had to shift.
Anything I created or tried would feel great for about a week before I realized that still wasnāt the solution. (And trust me, I tried SO many strategies.)
I was stuck in a cycle of constantly striving to create a clear vision I could get behind.
Plus, at this point, we had a second little one on the wayā¦ and I knew it would only get more challenging to maintain my sense of self.
So I made a couple shifts that felt minor ā but had a MAJOR impact.
And now, I can honestly say Iām in a healthier place of fulfillment, purpose, and well-being.
Here are the two things that finally made a difference for me and completely changed my life (and business) for the better.
01. I prioritized my zone of genius in my work.
Your āzone of geniusā is your power. Itās where you feel most aligned and in flow with your work ā leaving you feeling more energized, productive, and with a sense of greater purpose than almost anything else.
Itās not simply talent ā itās innate passion, drive, and inspiration.
Your own zone of genius is unique to you.
I like this description from 15Five:
āIt is the physical and mental space where your interests, passions and skills converge to make you unstoppable.ā
My husband is in healthcare. His zone of genius (and the number one thing he finds fulfilling in his work) is strategic problem solving for his patients. He has the opportunity to make new discoveries and read through the lines to uncover hidden diagnoses every day. This gives him a sense of ongoing purpose and fulfillment in his work, knowing heās making ā quite literally ā strategic life-changing decisions for others.
Iām in the world of creative entrepreneurship. My zone of genius is in creating beautiful, meaningful work. When I stepped back to look at my product business from a high level view, I realized this was rarely how I spent my time.
Instead of pouring myself into design as my heart desired, I was mostly focused on fulfilling orders every day of the week and keeping up on social media ā neither of which felt inspired, creative, or fulfilling.
One approach could have been to outsource some of these tasks in order to make room for the things I LOVED to do.
Instead, I decided to make a fresh start by closing the chapter on my product business and pouring myself instead into a new venture that allowed me to create more from the convenience of anywhere and anytime.
When youāre inspired by your work and operate in your zone of genius on a regular basis, you step into a healthier, happier version of YOU, which is reflective in all other areas of life, in turn.
02. I discovered my zone of genius at home.
80% (or more) of my time was now being spent taking care of our daughter and home.
I knew that if I wanted to thrive in this weighted balance, I had to figure out what aspects of motherhood and home life kept me inspired and fulfilled on an ongoing basis.
I needed to discover (and use) my zone of genius in our home.
This one was a little trickier. I canāt simply sit down and find my flow state designing with a toddler is running around.
Instead, I started finding small ways to incorporate my love of design and beauty into our home and even my toddlerās playtime.
Generally, this translates to projects we often do together that fosters fulfillment for me and a sense of empowerment and confidence for her, such as:
Cleaning different areas of our home together (she has her own play cleaning set and LOVES to help with this sort of thing, and I genuinely love knowing that our home is being taken care of)
Creating learning boards for her, like a nighttime chart and letter of the week (I let her pick out the color for the letter of the week, and we hang it together it on her board)
Building new ātoysā out of giant cardboard boxes we receive from packages (last month was a house, this month is a car)
Cooking together (I choose simple tasks she can help with in the kitchen, and her learning tower allows her to safely be at counter height with me as weāre preparing food)
Playing āschoolā (I quickly design āworksheetsā for her that she completes and hangs with pride! Listen, any opportunity to create anything remotely related to layout design ā Iām on it. Ha.)
Weāre also proponents of some independent play throughout the day and have been working to prioritize that more as a way to recharge separately before engaging again.
So while the zone of genius tasks arenāt a direct translation from work to home life, finding ways to incorporate what I LOVE and value about our home and family into our every day together helps immensely with preventing burnout as a mom.
If youāre feeling stuck from an inspiration and fulfillment standpoint as a mama, I highly encourage you to explore your zone of genius.
You may already know what it is ā but if you arenāt sure, think back to times when you felt in flow with your work, endlessly inspired, and like the best version of you.
Find ways to incorporate more of this into your day, and bring your littles along for the experimenting! Theyāll love trying new things and seeing you living as your best self, as well.
With love + inspiration from our home to yours,
Jenna
