Location: Centennial, CO
Professional Industry: Marketing, Entrepreneur
Company: With Ease Marketing
Job Title: Founder
WIXII-ISM™ FROM TRISH GIBBONS:
“I created my company to support my ideal lifestyle, and the model I built is succeeding in helping my family and I realize that ideal.”
“One of my biggest surprises in juggling work and family is how important being “present” with my son is. And when I am not, we both suffer.”
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Trish Gibbons. She is in her early 30s and mother to Jack, 19 months and a Baby Boy due in May. She and her husband, Garrett, were married 1 year before they welcomed their son into the world. She studied Child Psychology from the University of Southern Maine. The marketing company she founded focuses on Relationship Marketing, which includes (i) social media strategies, management, training, and auditing and (ii) email and direct mail marketing strategies and management. Her husband is a Vice President of Business Banking at JP Morgan Chase.
As 80% caregiver/homemaker and 20% breadwinner, she devotes 11-15 hours per week to her career. She is passionate about helping people maintain their relationships with their current clients and prospects, and she describes her business as extremely work-life friendly because she created a company to support her ideal lifestyle. She wishes she could have a more organized office and is frustrated when her clients are not sure about the direction they want to take, but overall, she would rate her job satisfaction level as 9 and work-life satisfaction level as 8 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest). In a typical week, she spends the majority of her time caregiving and 8 hours each on cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and her son’s extracurricular activities.
To maintain her own well-being, she exercises and eats well daily. She catches up on sleep and connects with loved ones weekly. On a monthly basis, she spends time with friends and enjoys a pampering. Yearly, she pursues hobbies, travels, and prays/meditates. When she has time, she volunteers with the Adoption Exchange.
WORK-LIFE MIX:
Describe any choices you have made in arriving at your current work-life mix. In what ways did your work-life mix change after having children?
In 2009, when I reestablished my company I knew I wanted to create a business model that would support my ideal lifestyle of being a staying home mom. My model is successful because I was able to hire someone to take on the Marketing Manager role of the business while I focus on new business relationships. I feel very grateful that I knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom. I have always loved children and I knew I would want to spend as much time as possible raising my children. I was a little nervous about making the leap, but my gut told me it was right for me. I am also grateful that I still have my business as an outlet. I think I would have ended up finding another outlet if I didn’t have it. The 80/20 ratio (80% Mom, 20% Business Owner) works great for me and my family. Also, my husband and I have always been on the same page. We talked about how important it was to the both of us for me to stay home before we were married.
Describe your career path to this point and any envisioned future changes.
My career path started as administrative support and morphed into a love for marketing. At 23, I had the opportunity to work for a small real estate company that needed a person who could wear many hats. Those tasks included transaction coordination, office management, and marketing. During my time at that company my love for marketing grew and I had a realization. There was a strong need in the real estate community for marketing management support. With the help of a supportive boss, who let me give a three-month notice, I was able to build my business and replace my income before I ventured out on my own. I was 25 years old when I launched my first business. It has morphed twice, but now it is strong and stable with the model I have today.
There have been bumps in the road but along the way I found tools to help support my dream. And thanks to those tools, I created a mindset journal in 2008 that would help me to stay focused on my dreams and goals. My friends and colleagues love the format and I self-published the journal, F.U.E.L. (Focused, Unlimited, Extraordinary, Life) in 2009. To date I have sold over 800 copies (FUELMyMindset.com). It is very much a side project in my life. One day I hope to give it the time and energy it deserves. My intention when creating it was to help myself and those around me stay focused on what they want in their lives.
My current work-life mix is possible (manageable) because of…
It is manageable because my son goes to a sitter 9 hours a week. During that time I am able to meet with clients and get caught up on work. I added the sitter when Jack was 14 months old. It was extremely necessary. Before I had a sitter who would come randomly, and we desperately needed a set schedule.
Also, my schedule is very flexible. I work from home every day. I also utilize the day care at the gym so I am able to exercise.
On the business side, I hired a Marketing Manager who handles all the day-to-day details, and he has been amazing. The investment has been worth it.
In what ways did your work-life mix change after having children?
My current work-life mix reflects the vision I had growing up, and I am so grateful for it. After having my son, I went from 40 hours/week to a very flexible schedule totaling 11-15 hours/week. Doing so made it difficult to increase revenues so I have had to be patient with slow and steady.
Describe a current “day in your life” from waketime to bedtime:
6:00am: Wake-up get Jack, have our morning routine. If he is happy playing I will take 15 minutes to check my email.
8:00am: Off to the gym. From there we either go to an activity or Jack goes to the sitter from 9:30am-12:30 pm while I work.
1:00pm: In the afternoon, Jack takes a nap. Right now, I am napping too because I am pregnant. The rest of the afternoon is spent at home, at the park, or on a play date. Then I make dinner.
5:30-6:00pm: My husband comes home and Jack is in bed by 7:00pm. My husband and I have our time for a couple of hours.
9:00pm: We head to bed.
WIXII™ WISDOM:
Share your key(s) to maintaining order (“managing it all”) and any tools you highly recommend:
The number one tool that I use to help me manage it all is a service called Microsoft Exchange which was set-up by my IT company. They host my email and calendar through Microsoft Outlook. This program syncs to all my devices (iPhone, iPad, and laptop). It is a life saver.
Also, I am a big believer in time blocking. I have turned my email notifications off on all my devices so no matter what I am doing I can be present. I have specific times of the day when I check my email and that helps tremendously. I time block for work and personal errands two weeks out. I just recently decided not to have my laptop anywhere other than my office. When I am home I am home and the same for work.
We are a very scheduled household and that works for us. I realized early on in my son’s life that he thrives on a schedule and thankfully so do I. We have our open days when we can make up the day as we go along. But for the most part we are always home by 12:45 so I can put him down for his nap at 1:00.
What advice would you give an earlier version of yourself?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Give a stressful situation 5 minutes tops and then figure out how to move forward. Make time for yourself.
You are not a bad mom if you use the gym’s daycare for an hour so you can work out and shower.
Never lose sight of how fortunate you are. Reflect on all that you have to be grateful for everyday.
Don’t be afraid to go after your dreams. Hard work does pay off. So does purposeful intention.
Is there anything else you would like to share regarding your work-life mix?
Not every day is perfect. I definitely have my hard days when business has picked up and I am running around trying to manage it all. Then the next day it is back to normal. As a mom, I have learned I have to take it one day at a time.
