Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Mompreneur Life: A Day In The Life of Fancy

Cute but he's laughing so hard in
this pic because he thought it was
funny to pinch my toes.
As I type this, I am 35 weeks gestation with my second child. My first child is 2 years old. He is a boy. All boy. He is definitely 2 years old. With the tantrums. The erratic behavior. My husband works a lot. He really enjoys his career and he prides himself on being a bread winner (I got me a good one). Which means that I pretty much take care of the household.

I used to be able to accomplish monumental tasks while my son is in daycare. Not so much anymore. I'm super slow right now. The laundry has started to pile up. We are eating out more often. The house is a wreck. Well, more of a wreck than it normally is. Like, I need "a week's notice to prep for company" type of wreck. A full day.

My feet March 18, 2016. 34 weeks gestation with my son.
I was very swollen with my son. I gained 85 pounds, most of which was water weight. I know what that feels like, I don't want to go through that again so as soon as I feel the top of my feet tingling or my legs getting tight (indications of swelling) I sit down with my feet up. But I can't sit down for long because I have a 2 year old son who requires undivided attention or he acts out. But my business is growing, so I have to do business stuff. I do as much as I can in the 15-20 minutes I have before my feet start tingling or my back starts hurting, then I sit down again. I have to drink a lot of water to keep the swelling down, so I don't sit down for long before I have to go to the bathroom. 

I am happy that my daughter is growing nicely. My business is also growing which makes it hard for me to sit down and relax like I should or at least how everyone tells me I should cuz I have stuff to do. I have to keep the momentum. I learned from direct sales that once you lose momentum, it's hard to gain it back. Production can't slow down. Shipping can't slow down. Marketing can't slow down.

Here is where it starts getting even more complicated. Read slowly. Maybe some of you can relate to how I have to process my whole life everyday.

I am carrying the weight of 1.25 people, literally. Let me rephrase, I can no longer carry the workload of one full person right now. LOL! I have great help but we can do more if I buy some more equipment to automate some processes. That would increase the efficiency of one person. NOT SO FAST, SISTAH! Real life is happening.

Oh. That property I sold in 2015? As a short sale because no one was paying retail in that neighborhood? When I thought all of the debt was forgiven? Well one of those banks wants their money. All of it. Plus 3 years of interest. Plus attorney fees. Totaling $75,000 and counting cuz the interest is accruing erryday, B. I AIN'T GOT THAT! Maybe they'll negotiate a settlement? Well, $55,000 isn't really a settlement.  I guess I'll have to file bankruptcy cuz I ain't got it. Which means.......I can't use my business lines of credit anymore because they are looking at my personal credit, even though I used Fancy Free Hair & Skin business credit history, and based on what's going on with my personal credit the banks have already started restricting my business credit usage.🙄
Time to get creative. 
Ask me if we've been able to get this working yet.

Anyone interested in investing in Fancy Free? Oh. We aren't big enough yet? Oh. The beauty industry is saturated? Oh. I'm operating out of a residence so I can't be serious about this thing? Ok. Other sources. WHAT?!?! You want me to pay $6600 to borrow $4000? That's like 44% interest. No way, Jose!! That is not industry standard. Ok. Come through Shopify and Quickbooks with the revenue based funding. 

Ordered some equipment. Have some more working capital. Fancy Free is ready for increased production capabilities. Ugh! These renovations for the baby's room! I have to pick paint colors, order the furniture, pick out decor. Can't leave my son out. Gotta change his room up a little too. All of these clothes! Who bought him all of this stuff?!?! Does he need a new coat this winter? Can he still fit these things from last year? No! No! You can't walk around all day with that coat on! We have to try on the other clothes. *sigh*

*door bells rings* Is that a delivery or a customer pick up?! Lordt. I'm all the way upstairs. I'm coming. *waddles down the steps* A delivery. Now all these boxes are in the way. They're too heavy for me to lift or move. My customer is coming to pick up their products and they won't see where I left it because of all the boxes I can't move. Let me text my customer to let them know where to look.

*hears husband walk in the door* OMG! What are we gonna eat for dinner? I didn't have time to go to store to even buy stuff we can heat up. 😢 He works so hard to take care of us and I can't even make sure he has a hot meal when he comes home from work. *Mommy/Wife guilt kicks in* Lord, I forgot to text my customer!

After finally putting the kid to bed, I head up to my bedroom to wind down. And when I open the door, another disaster zone. How can I relax here? Why are there toys all over the floor? Who is gonna put this laundry away? But I'm way too tired to clean up. Imma do it first thing tomorrow. *looks at calendar for next day* 🙍 Ok. The next day. *sigh*
TRYING to do "sit down" work

Yes. My days are this random. Then throw in a couple of self care appointments, business meetings and conference calls and I'm really messed up. I feel like there are one million moving parts with no sign of slowing down. At least not until 2019. I am not complaining. It's just.....a lot. Some times I feel overwhelmed. There are times when I cry. But I make phone calls and send emails in between tears. I asked for this life. I am blessed to have an AH-MAY-ZING support system. But it is a lot to deal with while pregnant. I am used to being superwoman. My family is used to me being superwoman but right now, with a little bowling ball in my belly that pushes my lungs up, so I can't breathe, I just can't be all things to everyone. One day at a time. One task at a time. And when I think I've gone as far as I can go, I don't push myself, I relax. Even if it's only for 5 minutes.



Shameless Plug Alert:
Fancy Free Hair & Skin manufactures quality products for hair and skin, as well as provides natural hair consults for women who would like assistance on their natural hair journey. Our motto is "Keeping you fancy and free of chemicals." Visit our website, www.fancyfreehairandskin.com, to see a full range of our products and services. Sign up for our mailing list to receive natural hair tips and stay up to date on sales and the latest happenings with Fancy Free.