Name: Lauren Stone
Location: Colorado
Company: Fit4Mom
Professional Industry: Fitness
Job Title: Stroller Strides Franchise Owner and Instructor
WIXII-ISM™ FROM LAUREN STONE:
“You never know what is going to happen or what opportunities will unfold. Keep an open mind. Life does not always go the way we planned. Just take it one day at a time and find the joy.”
“Through owning Stroller Strides, I have met hundreds of moms and each one has inspired me in a different way as she shares the struggle and successes of navigating through the work-life-motherhood mix.”
LAUREN’S STORY:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Lauren Stone. She is in her late 20s and mother to two toddlers: a daughter (3yo) and a son (2yo). She has her Bachelors of Communication and Masters of Professional Studies in Organizational Development and Training from The University of Denver. She currently teaches fitness and is a Fit4Mom, Stroller Strides franchise owner. Lauren is passionate about exercise, fitness, and helping others create a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families.
LAUREN’S CAREER PATH:
Out of college, I started in an entry-level position as a sales training coordinator. I then transitioned into HR and found a passion for training, leadership development, and employee engagement. People who love their jobs versus people who do not and how to create a culture of employees who are engaged and love their place of work fascinated me.
I loved my job and pursued a masters’ degree to enhance my professional skillset—I had many career aspirations. To my surprise, halfway through my masters program, I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter. It was not my perfect timeline. Initially, I was determined to juggle it all and did not see myself as a stay-at-home mom. I paid a large daycare deposit and planned to go back to work, but after spending 12 wonderful weeks on maternity leave with my daughter, I could not settle the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach when I thought about dropping her off at daycare for 12 hours and only seeing her a couple of hours a day before bed time. I wanted to explore other options so I took a short-term contract position to finish up some of the projects I was working on before my leave. In the meantime, I became a certified group fitness instructor and started teaching Stroller Strides classes in Highlands Ranch. About the same time my contract ended, the prior franchise owner approached with the opportunity to buy the Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree Stroller Strides franchise. I said “no” at first with out giving it a lot of thought—I never thought I would be a business owner, that was not what I was continuing to go to grad school for and that was not part of my long-term plan, but the opportunity came back around a couple of weeks later and that time all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place so I bought the franchise.
I have now owned the business for almost three years and loved every minute of it. I have always been passionate about health and fitness, and I have the opportunity to share that with others. Through owning the business, I have gained experiences in accounting, entrepreneurship, event planning, community outreach, coaching, and marketing. It may not be on the career plan I originally planned, but I love what I do. Through setting and achieving fitness goals, I get to help people accomplish what they never thought was possible. I have taken my passion for employee engagement and poured it into moms, and I help to engage and equip them in what I believe to be one of the most important jobs of all, motherhood.
LAUREN’S MINDSET AND WORK-LIFE MIX:
I would describe myself as optimistic yet unsure of the future. I love to have a plan, and I do not do well with the unknown. Stroller Strides has been the perfect fit for me right now, but as my kids grow up, I am always on the lookout for potential opportunities that would allow me to use my skills and passions in a flexible capacity
My current work-life mix includes:
- Daily grind: making breakfast, cleaning-up breakfast, packing lunches, packing bags for the day, preparing snacks, nap, prepping dinner, laundry, cleaning, etc.
- Work: teaching classes, preparing for classes, email, marketing, client relationships, billing, etc.
- Personal Fitness: almost every day, I like to find time to work out for myself. This is my time to push myself to new limits and to clear my head.
- Friends: daily, I connect with at least one friend, generally in person or over the phone. Friendships are such a huge part of who I am. They are my support and make me a better mom.
- Family: when my husband gets home, I try to make sure we all connect as a family. Once the kids are in bed, we will often watch a TV show together for “our time.”
If anything gets sacrificed, it is the cleaning and the laundry. It stresses me out when these tasks are not done, but sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day.
Describe a “day in your life” from waketime to bedtime:
5:30- 6:30am: Teach an early morning boot camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
6:00-6:30am: Kids wake. Prepare and pack breakfast.
7:00am: Gym. Home to get ready for Stroller Strides and/or a school day.
9:00-11:00am: On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, teach class then let the kids play at playground. Run to the grocery store for a few items on the list (usually those I forgot the last time). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my kids are in school from 9:00am-1:00pm, which gives me time for MOPS and the leadership role that I have there and some “me time.”
12:00-3:00pm: Home for lunch and nap. During nap, I shower, email, prep dinner, write work out for next day, do laundry, and clean.
3:00pm: After nap, we generally do a play date or I take the kids to an activity, i.e., gymnastics.
5:30pm: Home to get dinner ready, baths, playtime.
7:30pm: Bedtime for kids.
7:30-9:30pm: I clean up dinner, finish anything that did not get done during nap time, relax, and watch TV with my husband.
10:00pm Bedtime for adults.
Please share specific tips for effectively managing your time and schedule.
I do not think I have any particularly effective systems. I just do the best that I can to get it done everyday, and I ALWAYS have an incomplete To Do list. I have found that if I give myself one afternoon a week with no plans, then I can get more done.
Please share your favorite efficiencies and timesavers.
Meal planning (e.g., emeals.com), prepping meals in advance, and online shopping with free shipping. I love Amazon.com and get free shipping with their Prime membership; Target also has free shipping for REDcard holders. I also save time by shopping online with Melaleuca for various wellness and household products.
What do you currently find most challenging/concerning about your work-life mix? What areas do you most needs support?
I would love to learn more about Wixii-friendly companies, their profiles and, as an employer, why they choose to invest in Wixii employees.
Are there changes your workplace or you could make to better manage your work-life mix?
Stroller Strides is a franchise model designed for moms, and they do a fabulous job of empowering us to be moms and business owners and to find a work-life mix that works for us individually.
What advice would you give an earlier version of yourself?
You never know what is going to happen or what opportunities will unfold. Keep an open mind. Life does not always go the way we planned. Just take it one day at a time and find the joy.
Is there anything you would like to share about work-life mix?
Through owning Stroller Strides, I have met hundreds of moms and each one has inspired me in a different way as she shares the struggle and successes of navigating through the work-life-motherhood mix.
