7 Habits of A Successful Mom Boss

Thank you to MOO Print Ltd. for sponsoring this post. All Mom Boss thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Being a mom and a business owner requires a massive amount of juggling. Both roles can require 24-7 attention, and our to-do lists for either are rarely empty. Throw in keeping the house clean, spending quality time with our spouses, and maintaining a good relationship with our hair colorist (because even if grey hair is on trend right now, it's not one we're willing to get behind just yet), we rarely feel as if we're "off". The search for work-life balance is constant, and our brains feel like they are powered by the Energizer Bunny just to keep up.

It seems overwhelming, but more weeks than not it's manageable. After five years (yes, five!), we've finally found a few tricks that help us keep on top of things. Chatting with other mom bosses has helped too. We realize that there are certain habits that we all had in common that help make things run a little smoother.

| Notebooks | Business Card Holders | Mini Cards | Labels | 

HABITS OF A SUCCESSFUL MOM BOSS

Get Organized!
Okay, this one seems obvious, but it bares repeating! Each day we wake up and look at what's ahead and what we need to do. Next, we write it all down. A paper calendar is our best friend. That's right we said paper. We're so old school. We carry our calendars everywhere with us, and if something happens to our phone or computer our entire schedules are right in front of us.

| Calendar | Notebooks | Business Card Holder |

Plus there is something about seeing our days and weeks laid out in front of us with out the distraction of electronics. We can visualize everything we need to do, where to get people, and see where we have wiggle room for spending quality time with our loved ones. Seeing everything written down helps us limit over-scheduling and manage our day while minimizing that feeling like we are always playing catch up.

Write it Down
Our second BFF is a good old fashioned journal. Sometimes we're in the car pool line, and then "wham!", an idea just hits us. Or we pop on a last minute conference call and need to write down key details. Being able to write it down in the moment instead of trying to play recall later when our brains have a million things going on is beyond helpful.

We love these Hard Cover Notebooks from MOO. They are the best! The hard covers help maintain them from our constant wear and tear, and they have lined pages that lay flat (a key feature when you need your hands from something else but want to read from your notes!). We keep them in our bags and in our cars. We bring one into any meetings we have. There is always one with us. And because we are type A we have a whole stack of extra ones on the ready.

Don't Be Bothered By The NO
Having the ability to be okay by the word "no" is a huge key to success. Both on the receiving end and the giving ends. This was a hard one for us for awhile, but once we developed the habit of being comfortable with it, life got a little easier. If we don't have room in our schedules for something we have learned to say no, instead of piling on more stress by saying yes. If we hear no on a major project we would really love to do, we try to not let that get us down. We've learned to brainstorm about a different approach or a way to facilitate that project into a yes in a different way.

Keep in Touch
Networking is a key to success, but to be truly successful at it you have to maintain a relationship beyond that initial introduction. We keep our business cards on hand and accessible in our favorite business card holders, and make sure to exchange information on the spot. Then we follow up with everyone we meet.

| Slim Case Business Card Holder | 

A simple email. A notecard mailed a few days later. A phone call. Even if it is something small, we try to take a proactive approach in keeping relationships moving forward.

We love being able to surprise someone with a little gift or packaging up a little extra surprise for our readers. We keep on hand stacks of branded paper products that make it easy for us to grab and send for any event. These mini cards are some of our favorites, and are perfect to use for almost any occasion. With MOO Printfinity we are able to get a different image on the back of them without any additional cost.  We love that we can customize them for business use, but with a personal touch.

Same with these sticker labels from MOO. There are so many options for both business and personal use, and we love how they let us quickly give any package a quick branded touch.

Everyone's lives are busy, and taking that extra step to be the one to keep in touch will make you stick out above peers more than taking a "sit back and wait" approach.

Outsource
Even though we like to think so, we can't do everything. There just aren't enough hours in the day  sometimes. Outsource what and where you can. Is that hiring someone to clean your house one day so that you can spend your weekend enjoying it with your family? Is that ordering the cupcakes for the party instead of making them yourself? Is that hiring someone to maintain your social media accounts so you can concentrate on in person meetings more? See where you can get help in certain areas to free you up for others.

Meal Prepping
This is still a habit we need to work on, but when we do meal prep it makes things so much easier. Running from carpool, to working from home, to after school activities leaves little room for cooking. Grabbing meals on the go is convenient, but not always healthy. Meal planning not only helps alleviate the stress of "what's for dinner?", but is proven to be healthier and more budget friendly.

Show Gratitude
Showing gratitude is a habit that helps in every aspect of life. Being grateful for the opportunities that we receive, and getting the chance to show those around us that we are thankful for their continuous support...that's been the ultimate key to feeling successful.

Now what are some habits that you've found help make you a successful mom boss? Share with us! 

(Because we all want to feel ahead of the game, and nothing makes you feel more superhuman than when your home life is just as boss as your work life.)

Learn more about MOO Print Ltd. and the products they offer to support Mom Bosses here: 

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Get 15% off all MOO products by using code 15MOOMAGNOLIA!

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Getting Down to Business with Basic Invite

We started this little blog over four years ago. Four! We can't believe it! If you had asked us as we were sitting by that pool dreaming up a little collaborative blog for moms where we might be in four years we would have laughed at you. I mean we were just hoping someone other than our moms, best friends, and husbands might actually read our little slice of Internet.

Fast forward to now and we are amazing at what our tiny little blog has become! Don't get us wrong, it's still a tiny little blog, but at least a handful of other people read it outside of those under pure obligation (thanks again mom!).

And we are so thankful/in awe of that!

We have been able to take part in some amazing things, had the ability to be stretched creatively, and have connected with some truly inspiring people. This blog has allowed us to interact with people all over the world, and each and every day we learn a little something new. And we freaking love that!

In the last four years, our blog has transitioned into something way bigger than we ever imagined - both personally and professionally. It excites us in so many ways, and yet equally stresses us out. Because hello?! We are just two moms who decided to create this thing while cocktailing it up poolside.

So after four years we finally succumbed to the idea that while it is super fun, it is also work. This little blog requires a lot of attention these days, and on a few levels we can't continue to treat it as though it is just a "fun little side project" anymore. That's the side you guys get to see (and hopefully always will!). Behind the scenes though it's a lot of brainstorming, a lot of calendar coordinating, and lot of negotiating. It's a lot of networking, it's a lot of figuring out our worth, it's a lot of time management and it's an obscene amount of phone calls/emails/texts...

It's a job. It's a little (big?) business that we run without realizing we ever started one.

So that brings us going into our fifth (holy cow!) year. We have so many fun things on the horizon, and a ton of new ideas that we think will excite you even more than they excite us. But first...we had to make it official. We strapped on our big girl mom boss pants and made a plan to keep the business side of our blog a little more, well...businesslike.

BUSINESS CARDS BY BASIC INVITE

Our first order of business was to create custom business cards. We can't tell you how many times in the last four years we have been asked for a card and have embarrassingly not had one on hand.

Well...a little background. We did have business cards we created ourselves three and a half years ago before we went to our first blogger event. Jen designed them, Carrie Beth printed them on her at home printer, and we felt like a boss when we stared at those cards with our very on logo on them. Perforated edges and all - we thought they were glorious. Then somewhere along the way we lost them track of them, and never really thought to take the time to make some new ones. I'm sure some PR person out there is thankful we are no longer passing out paper cut hazards like it's our job, but still for a brief period in time they served their informational purpose.

This time around we wanted a card that we would be proud of. We wanted one that conveyed what we actually do, gave all the correct information succinctly, and gave a little nod to our southern blog roots. We reached out to the good people of Basic Invite for their help, and were amazed at how easy it was to create a professional looking business card without breaking the bank.

There are so many easy to use templates we almost had a hard time choosing which option we wanted to go with. Do we use our headshot? Do we use our logo? Go with slightly updated branding? Can we get some of that gorgeous foil pretty please?

We were so impressed with the variety. We were even more impressed with just how easy it was customize a card to exactly what we wanted!

Basic Invite is one few places we found online that you have unlimited color options, and gives you an instant preview of what your design will look like online as you create it. It's also one of the few places you can get a sample of your card sent to you so you can see exactly what it will look like before you purchase a large quantity.

The process from start to finish was super easy, and we are so happy with how our business card turned out! They are on thick sturdy card stock, the colors are flawless, and the back even has a matching graphic on it.

So now when you meet us and request a business card we will proudly hand over one of our gorgeous new ones.

BEYOND THE BUSINESS...CARDS

Now that we have gone through the process, and have seen how easy it is, we definitely will be using Basic Invite for all of our stationery needs! They have stationery that coordinates with our business cards and we can't wait to get our hands on them. Because what kind of southern girls would we be if we didn't write a thank you note or two each day?

We love that we can customize this just as easily as we did with our custom business cards right down to the envelope choices. Basic Invite offers over 40 different colors of custom envelopes.

From custom business cards to real estate agent business cards to custom invitations and photo holiday cards - Basic Invite is kind of a one stop shop of all stationery needs. We loved working with them, and if you need to up your business game or simply order monogrammed stationery or design a shower invite they are a great option to have on hand.

They also are running a promotion right now where you can get 15% any order. Use code 15FF51 at check out and the code will automatically adjust the price!

Thank you all for reading our little blog and making this "business" a fun one! 

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**Thank you to Basic Invite for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are our own.**