Summer break.
As a child there was no sweeter words in the English language. With its promises of long, warm, lazy, school-free days, summer was essentially synonymous with freedom.
But now that the vast majority of households include two working parents, summer means something very different: the end of the public school year, gaps in childcare, expensive camps, and impossibly long waitlists for affordable care options.
Today, Sarah digs into her own family’s experience with summertime care gaps (hint: it involves lots and lots of logistics) as well as her personal and professional goals to take a true summer break. She also pulls back the curtain on Startup Pregnant’s two year history (!) and shares the advice she’d give someone starting out on their own business building venture (hint: take a break).
IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT
- The existential summer break question of the modern era of two working parents: what actually does happen to the children? Have we solved for that yet and what does it look like?
- How there are 81 days every single year when kids are out of public school but parents are supposed to be working and what solutions people come up with to make conflicting schedules work.
- Sarah reflects on where this podcast started and shares some of her process for why she decided to take a summer break and why she’s so excited about it.
- Sarah shares that taking an August break is a decision she made for herself as a person and as a business owner, but also because she believes deeply in the power of rest for all people, including her audience.
- The benefits of taking maternity leave as an experiment in stepping back from the day-to-day of running a business.
- What the pace and intensity of Startup Pregnant interviews and podcast will look like beginning in September and moving forward into 2020.
- How Sarah noticed her attachment to consistency and doing things the way they’ve always been done and how that worked in the beginning but how it now possibly holds her back.
- What she’s looking forward to in this time away and hoping for the audience during the break (hint: if there is someone in your life in the thick of parenting or entrepreneurship, share this podcast with them)!
The Startup Pregnant Podcast Episode #124
SOME QUOTES FROM THE EPISODE
- “You think of summer time like: summer vacations, summer break, remember when we went to school and we got summers off. All of that is well and fine, until you are a person with a job and the job is full-time.”
- “When [my partner and I] communicate to each other and we just talk about logistics, it’s not really an interesting, soul-satisfying, deep need of a conversation. And it’s not about the ideas that we want to be talking about. It is a whole lot of like, “Did you register the kids for this particular program? Did the paperwork get filled out? Does the school know that this is happening?” I can’t live a life that’s just logistics, because I don’t feel that’s fully living.”
- “My original goal when I started this podcast was to start conversations around motherhood and parenting and working, conversations that I didn’t see happening. We’ve now had over a 100 of these conversations and we’ve gotten so much amazing feedback about the episodes. I have a hunch that we’re still playing small.”
- “You can’t add new projects to your plate in a vacuum. Something has to shift and come off of your plate first. This is one of the biggest pieces of being a business owner and being an entrepreneur, especially a solopreneur, but also leading any size company that I constantly see people trip up on.”
- “‘Well, it’s working so why not stick with it?’ That’s a safety trap in a lot of small businesses. Just because you’ve done it one way, does not mean that’s the way you need to keep doing it.”
- “The truth is a car has brakes not because the car needs to stop, I mean, that’s true, but what is stopping for? The ability to push the brake means that you can accelerate, because you have the safety of the brake. Brakes allow us to go fast.”
- “If you know somebody that needs something like the Startup Pregnant Podcast—a parent or an entrepreneur that is in the thick of it who needs other entrepreneurs to talk to—do me a favor and tell them about this show. I have heard so many wonderful things about what the show is doing for people and I would love for it to reach more people.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, CHECK OUT
- The Future of Work (and Feminism) Is Flexible — Episode #002 With Annie Dean
- Overthrowing the Patriarchy — Episode #023 With Sarah Lacy of Chairman Mom
- Race, Social Justice and Political Branding — Episode #036 With Tepsii
- Planning Ahead for Maternity Leave as an Entrepreneur — Episode #065 With Arianna Taboada
- Transitioning Back to Work After a Career Break — Episode #075 With Rita Kakati Shah
EPISODE SPONSOR & SPECIAL OFFER
We are launching the first course in our Startup Pregnant School, The Art of Asking. It’s all about asking for what you want and getting more of it. You can find it at www.startuppregnant.com/ask or go to www.startuppregnant.com/courses to see what we are building. If you struggle with asking or you want to become a better negotiator, either in your business life or in your personal life or both, go check it out.
NEW OFFERING FOR OUR PATREON SUPPORTERS
If you’re a fan of this podcast, you’ll love the private, ask-me-anything fireside chat with Sarah. For Patreon supporters only, get access to a new podcast episode every month AND the chance to ask Sarah any question you want about life, business, and parenting. She will honor everything honestly. Patreon supporters who become sponsors at $7 a month get exclusive access to these episodes that aren’t published anywhere else. Head to www.patreon.com/startuppregnant to become a back and get immediate access to the episodes.
THE STARTUP PREGNANT PODCAST & HOST
- Sign up for the Weekly Startup Pregnant Newsletter with insights, strategies, and new ideas for working parents.
- Email us at hello@startuppregnant.com and tell us what you think!
- Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
- Want to sponsor the podcast? We’ve got great sponsors and only one shout-out per episode. We don’t shove tons of ads into our podcast. We only work with awesome.
- Still here? Definitely leave us a review on iTunes. It’s really helpful for the show!
[…] Podcast Episode #124: Summer break: the backstory […]