Raising Children and Creating A Company
Over the years it has become more and more apparent. Raising children and creating a business = same, same.
Our children were 1 and 4 years old when we started to create CTE from scratch. The Boy (1) was a ball of energy – into everything, never wanting to sit still. The Girl (4) a consciences helper, big imagination, great at entertaining herself. As we raised our children and grew the business – we saw so many similarities – some as they were happening in real time – others in hindsight.
Infant/Toddler.
All tactical. Involved in everything. Clothing, feeding, bathing, selling the product, completing the paperwork, sending the invoice, and cashing the check. All us. It is both exhausting and exhilarating. We are running into walls. Falling down, getting back up. Taking a few steps from “the way we did it at ABC Company”, then running back to the way it was for safety. There is no clue what is going to happen tomorrow; sunrise to sunset running on pure heart and adrenaline.
Grade School.
The day we put our firstborn child on the bus driven by a stranger we have met maybe one time if we’re lucky; let’s be real…who thinks about getting to know their bus driver until that moment. Similar feeling the first time you let your bookkeeper run payroll. Even though (hopefully) you know them pretty well – do they ACTUALLY know what they are doing? I mean do they know that ‘xyz’ is always this way? Or that the one client rep always forgets that. This stage is the baby steps of letting go… maybe someone gets it and can kind of do it as good as we can. Starts feeling like we are part of a team, a community – everyone is in it together and the days are getting pretty fun.
Middle School.
Oh Bless. The kids are starting to question themselves, hear the outside noise. He said, she said. How do I look? Am I good enough, smart enough? The changing classes and issues become overwhelming. And the same issues bled into our business; are we as good as the competition? Is our content clear enough to attract the right clients? Wait. Are we even marketing? Where’s the handbook…Is there a handbook? Can someone even say that at the office? The growing pains are REAL – How did everything get so complicated?
Now we have to make some rules… To the kid, discuss positive self-talk. Of course you are beautiful! Tell your story, be authentic and the right people will find you. For the business, set some standards and beliefs. Create a handbook. Implement monthly manager’s meeting. If it is more than three steps, write that down. And then BAM! YES! You are doing it! You are getting your shit together!!! Soccer practice at 5pm. Check. Let’s dress like this at the office/school. Check. We believe in Humanity, there’s no need to be an Asshole. Check. Things are starting to level out a bit – we are deciding and implementing – crushing it – we have solutions left and right! Todd and I are united and we are fixing EVERYTHING!!!!
High School.
All of the sudden the kids want to solve their own problem. Wait. What? We are the master problem solvers. Did you not just witness the last 5 years??? Punch. Full Stop. It creates so much more efficiency for us if we manage the decisions. Life is smoother…less bumpy, cleaner, faster, more efficient. PLUS it keeps our hearts protected from watching you get hurt or make a costly mistake. At work our team could, book the wrong carrier, pay them the wrong amount or even worse – send the wrong message to our audience. Layer in a major office buildout and a pandemic; now we have a real problem. And now, we are not in control.
Thinking about it, we are pretty exhausted and actually a little resentful that everything depends on us. Do we seriously have to decide EVERY SINGLE THING? Can not one person in our lives; work or home, not make a single decision for themselves? Geez. We are making every decision about everything, telling everyone what to do and how to do it. (Ohhhhhhh) Saying that out loud sounds like maybe we might BE the problem. (Ugggh) Now it all makes sense. You CANNOT UNSEE IT. WE ARE THE PROBLEM. This is the moment you finally ask for help. Coaches, counselors, advisors, leadership training and development, learning to delegate. You realize, ahhh yes, maybe you can decide. Actually yes. You can, and you should. How else can you take responsibility for your actions if you don’t decide? How will you ever learn to be independent if you are trained to rely on us for everything? OF COURSE! Empowerment comes from the process, the struggle, the figuring out part.
College.
If you read our last post – the answer is yes. Losing the first million feels very much the same as putting your first-born precious daughter on a plane to go live in another state in a building full of complete strangers! The bouncing baby boy graduates from high school in June. At this point in the game though – we are coolish like a cucumber. Big Feelings – but now we know how to not let them take over the show. Accountability – because we learned to let go early; we are confident smart choices will be made – because we have seen it since High School. We are focused on the good! They are growing – getting their wings; preparing to bring all their awesomeness to the big, beautiful world. Team – we have so much love and support for all of you, thank you for giving us the opportunity to trust and appreciate you. For the kids – they will be okay! And so will Mom and Dad!