Identity.

It’s a funny thing don’t you think? If someone asked you to describe yourself with 5 things and only one can be work related and one can be “mom”, what else would you say?

This question — I am going to be totally honest with you, sent me for a tailspin.

I couldn’t answer it. I had no idea how to describe myself outside of entrepreneur and mom. I quickly thought “am I having an identity crisis?” 

Here is the thing….those 2 words that describe you (and me) those TWO things are HUGE.

It is always said being a mom is a full time job where the pay is hugs and the hours are LONG and it is the truth!

Being a mom takes up almost all of my time when I am not working (and sometimes when I am too). Raising little humans is HARD…I had no idea just how hard it was going to be until I was already in the trenches. You are responsible for these small people, it is your job to help them learn all they need to learn in order to live in this crazy world, it’s your job to teach them right from wrong, to be kind, to have passion and dreams, to believe in themselves and be proud of who they are, to teach them about beauty on the inside, to give them a strong sense of self-worth and self-esteem. It all lands on you as a parent.

If that doesn’t give you anxiety reading it — please let me know your secrets cause sometimes I just want to curl up into a ball.

Did I mention being a mom is HARD? It is. Is all the hard and pressure worth it — oh like 10000000% but it doesn’t mean that I don’t question myself constantly, it doesn’t mean I’m not worrying about if I am enough for them and it doesn’t mean that I have this parenthood thing figured out…like at all.

When I was on maternity leave with my second babe, I was having a hard time. Harder than I would admit to and harder than a lot of people around me knew but I felt completely lost…I felt like I had no purpose in my life outside of being a mom (and I realize that there are many people in the world who being a mom is their purpose and that is enough for them and I LOVE that — unfortunately it was not me). I felt alone. I felt like being a mom was my only job and quite frankly I felt like I should be fired. I was sad, angry and resentful. I was seeing moms posting images of their families having fun and smiling and honestly it felt like that was never us. I felt like I had ruined my older daughter by giving her a sibling — she was struggling with the change (so was I) and she needed me but I was exhausted mentally and physically. I felt like I was letting everyone in my life down but mostly I felt like I was letting me down. 

I knew I needed more — I LOVED my babies with everything I had but I wanted more. I wanted to feel like I was doing something important outside of being a mom. I wanted something for me.

That something came — I jumped into the business my husband was already running and added my own skill set to it. I became an entrepreneur. I took a leap of faith, hired a business coach and followed my passion for helping other business owners grow and expand. I love helping people. I love feeling like I am making a difference. I LOVE that I often help give them that time back to find their identities outside of being an entrepreneur (or mom or whatever other title they hold).

Time is HUGE when running a business and I’ve come to realize that part of what I do is give time back to the people I work with so that they can explore things that make them who they are. Their joys, their passions and the time they need to focus on the part of their business that truly lights them up!

Connection is HUGE when running a business and I get to help entrepreneurs with content writing. I get to step into their identity and often I see things about them that they aren’t seeing about themselves. This warms my heart because they get to see themselves from the outside. They get to remember who they are and how incredible they are. And my cup is full because I’m helping with that empowerment.

As DrakeCo continues to grow, we will be able to offer more and more online solutions to our clients, which absolutely excites me. I love building these relationships, I love being relied on, I love supporting, growing, connecting and collaborating. I love it all.

AS FOR ME….

Someday — my kids won’t need me every second, someday my business will be less new and have more long term plans.

Someday I will have a list of 5 things that describe me and those 3 things that aren’t work and mom will flow easily out of my mouth. Today is not that day — and that is okay because this is the season of life I am in and although its hard and FAR from perfect, it’s my life and I choose to be grateful for what it is RIGHT now.

Identity is hard sometimes — running a business is hard sometimes but when you have support or you can understand that it is okay to be all mom and all entrepreneur right now, you are able to move forward and take on the world with your head held high.

Because sometimes I need to remind myself, I imagine you could use it too — you are doing amazing, keep going, don’t give up — you are a rockstar and exactly where you are meant to be RIGHT now.