“For me, self-care comes back to our ambition, livelihood and well-being, it starts with probably the relationship that you have with yourself. I think you need to protect time for self-care. So you can time block that and invest in your well being just like any other aspects of your business or life.”
Carrie Kwan | Mums & Co
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I’m a big believer that as a business-owning parent you can have it all, just not at the same time.
We’re constantly twiddling the knobs of being a loving parent, managing our business and trying to find a modicum of time for self-care.
My guest today sees it more like an orchestra, sometimes the drums are too loud, often the violin is out of tune, but every now and again we achieve business parenting harmony, and ain’t that beautiful.
Today’s guest is a huge advocate for women in business, runs a community for mums and shares more statistics about the reality of the parenting business world than you can shake a stick at.
It’s a great episode packed with productivity tips, mindset lessons and how you should always have the confidence to tell your story and ask for help.
Tune in to learn:
Carrie’s family and work-life set up.
How your parenting style is developed
Why so many people start new businesses as they become parents
Why support and planning is key to setting up a new business as a parent
How Carrie manages parent guilt
Carrie’s mindset tips
How Carrie get’s the most out of her day
Carrie’s number one parenting tip
Listen to the podcast
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And big thanks to Angela Pickett for their lovely review:
“Can’t wait! I never expected to be building a business, let alone a 6-figure one. But thanks to Kate, I’m on my way. So I know this podcast is going to be full of real advice, actionable tips and lots of laughs.”
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About Carrie Kwan
Carrie Kwan has been the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mums & Co since 2016. Prior to this, she boot-strapped a start-up in 2007 known as the insider’s guide to what’s new and notable at DailyAddict.com.au.
She is deeply passionate about inspiring women, particularly mums, to realize success in harmonizing their ambition, livelihood and well-being.
She advocates for more investment in women-led ventures and in 2017 commissioned the first Australian Mums in Business Report.
In 2018 she launched an annual national pitch competition to champion more women leaders in business, close the gap in pitching knowledge as well as reduce the challenges of funding a business.
Carrie is mother to two boys, proud wife, sister, daughter and you can catch her weekly as co- host of Mumbition the Podcast by Mums & Co.
Fun fact:Carrie was an Australian Air Force Cadet Warrant Officer and can command a team like the opening sequence of a Few Good Men.
I’m a big believer that as a business owning parent you can have it all, just not at the same time.
We’re constantly twiddling the knobs of being a loving parent, managing our business and trying to find a modicum of time for self-care.
My guest today sees it more like an orchestra, sometimes the drums are too loud, often the violin is out of tune, but every now and again we achieve business parenting harmony, and ain’t that beautiful.
Today’s guest is a huge advocate for women in business, runs a community for mums and shares more statistics about the reality of the parenting business world than you can shake a stick at.
It’s a great episode packed with productivity tips, mindset lessons and how you should always have the confidence to tell your story and ask for help.
Hello, my name is Kate Toon, founder of Stay Tooned, busy business owner and okayish parent, and today I’m talking with Carrie Kwan Hello, Carrie.
Carrie Kwan:
Hello, Kate.
Kate Toon:
It’s good to have you in classic busy working mums style. Carrie’s Zoom crashed, and I completely forgot about the podcast. So we’re doing this half an hour later than we should be. But Carrie was very gracious with me. Let me tell you who Carrie is. Before we go too much further, Carrie has been the co founder and managing director of Mums and Co. since 2016. Prior to this, she bootstrapped a startup in 2007, known as the Insider’s Guide to what’s new and notable at daily addicts.com.au. I didn’t know that that’s very cool. She is deeply passionate about inspiring women, particularly moms to realize success in harmonizing their ambition, livelihood and wellbeing she advocates for more investment in women led business ventures, and in 2017 commissioned the first Australian mums and business report. In 2018, she launched an annual National pitch competition to champion champion more women leaders in business, close the gap in pitching knowledge, as well as reduced the challenges of funding a business. Carrie is the mom of two boys, proud sister, wife, daughter, and you can catch our weekly as co host of my ambition, the podcast by Mums and Co. on which I’d been a guest. Fun fact. Carrie was an Australian Air Force Cadet warrant officer that sounds terrifying. And commander team like the opening sequence of a few good men. So in the classic line of that movie, can you handle the truth? You can’t handle the truth. It’s such a good movie. I can’t I did you have an outfit and everything and a little hat.
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, we had to polish our shoes. And we were wearing we’re like the mini version of the Air Force. So we were sponsored by the Air Force and you were saying uniform. You just have a different sort of identification.
Kate Toon
Oh well you’re obviously the ideal guest to get on the show or the book is obviously written for parents mums and dads but you’re a huge advocate for making working mums life’s easier and women’s life easier. You know, pay gap getting funding all the things that you do. And then obviously Mums and Co. it’s very kind of ethos is about kind of helping mums who have businesses kind of do the do and feel a sense of community and you talk there about your family setup. So you’ve got two sons, how old are they?
Carrie Kwan:
They’re six and 8.
Kate Toon:
Oh, wow. still quite young. Gosh.
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, I’m not quite on my belly crawling through the trenches anymore. But they, they’re a great age, you know, there’s still I can still coerce them into doing things without too much back chat. And, you know, I still get beautiful cuddles from the youngest. It’s gorgeous age.
Kate Toon:
It’s absolutely every age, you know, because they’re post five they’ve gone to school. You’re not doing all that real hardcore, as you said the trenches mumming have been right been wiping and potty training and, you know, stopping them stick their fingers in electrical sockets, but equally you’re not dealing with the tween sarcasm yet, and you still get the cuddles. It’s fantastic. I’m jealous, jealous and jealous.
Carrie Kwan:
It’s a phase, isn’t it? There’s gonna be different phases.
Kate Toon:
And, you know, without being too rude and intrusive. Do you have a partner I did as your partner helpful with the raising your children? Or Is he busy out working? Or she busy out working?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, um, yes, I have a partner, Michael and I have been married since 2011. But fun fact, another I keep I keep forgetting our anniversary.
Kate Toon:
Oh, good on you.
Carrie Kwan:
It’s, yeah, anyway, it’s becoming a thing with that. And we Yeah, he’s a great really involved, there’s a lot of equal sharing of the domestic load. In fact, he probably does a little bit more. Sometimes, we’ve made a decision as a family and, you know, we contribute in different ways to, you know, try and raise these good human beings. And also the, you know, the hubbub of the of the day of domestic life, and and, you know, we’re both full time workers. But we have lots of variety in how we, how we work, which is something that, you know, allows us to do all the things that we need to do.
Kate Toon:
And do you mainly work at home or do you have an office space? Or how does that work?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, I worked on two days, about two days in the city. And the rest is based from the home office, and he’s fully from the home office as well, but he’s on the road a bit.
Kate Toon:
That’s a nice combination. You get to kind of dress up and put a bra on and leave the house for a few days. And then the other days, you can work in your pants, which I love. That’s a good cover. Not that you ever word carries a very sophisticated lady. I’m just gonna say that right now. So, you know, again, I think we all parent in in different ways and it sounds like you’ve got a great collaborative thing going on with your partner, but do you think you have a parenting style? You know, do you think yeah, a helicopter or a tiger parent or your what do you think?
Carrie Kwan:
I’m a blend. I, you know, I’m sort of, I think I’m something like 2020 first generation. My parents in Malaysia and Chinese, I grew up in Australia. So, you know, dad’s side of the family is quite traditionalist, you know, in some ways. And, you know, that sort of tradition is the Hakka women, which is, we’re characterized by this sort of strong personalities sharing the heavy labor, we’re not afraid of hard work. Pretty strict in some ways.
So I verge on sometimes I have to sort of, you know, I, like University for my kids is a non-negotiable. And so parenting wise, I think we’re pretty communicative. Like we actually do a lot of talking, and we try to explain things or we try to listen, which is sometimes hard when you’re trying to just get kids out the door.
But I would, I would say, I’m, I’m pretty, pretty inclusive in the parenting. And, you know, we do talk a lot, we sort of explain why we do certain things, or why we’re approaching things, or we try to always impart that sort of wisdom.
But it’s sometimes it’s just, you know, lots of cuddles embracing my little ones got lots of big emotions. So you get all the great Cuddles, but you also get the big drama. And, you know, he’s different. My other older child’s a bit more, he’s been more logical. He’s a thinker, and he’s a bit more, you know, the bigger picture. And he doesn’t explain, it doesn’t talk as much. But so, you know, I think you just have to adapt it to each kid sometimes.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I did a whole chapter in the book about, you know, parenting styles, and, you know, the four different types and realize, as I was writing it, that I was a blend, you know, I’m the same as you like, I’m like, you can do whatever you want to be whatever you want to be, but I really want you to go to university, you know, and it’s like, okay, well, I can, and also, you know, the influence of my parents who weren’t particularly strict, but I can hear the lines coming out of their mouth, my mouth, which were theirs, you know, and I’m like, Oh, hang on, where did that come from, and communication and love. And I try not to put too much pressure on my son, but also to guide him in the right way and give him good values and make him understand empathy and consequences. It’s a big deal. And you’ve obviously got two children, I’ve only got one and a dog who obviously is my favorite, because he was first and you know, he doesn’t talk back. The difference between two children in the same family who are essentially being parented. In a similar way, obviously, you’re a bit more confident with the second one, maybe it really goes to show that a lot of it has got nothing to do with our parenting style, but just who they were, when they popped out, you know, so it, can you see that, the nature and nurture flow between your two different kids?
Carrie Kwan:
Definitely, and I think we have to remember that, you know, your parenting style comes predominantly from your parents. And they only got, you know, their predominant parenting stuff from their parents. But when you say blending, I think I love, you know, we’re really lucky, we have lots of friends, I have lots of nephews and nieces. So we see other parents also parent.
Kate Toon:
Yes.
Carrie Kwan:
And we, I like to just take the best bits of everything about everybody, you know, you’re just a bit over the top, I don’t think I’m gonna go that way. Or I love how you worked through that problem, you know, and the level and so I think it’s, you know, it’s a reminder not to be too harsh on ourselves, because we were only parented by one set of parents that there are a lot of parents in the world, and to try and take, you know, the best pick and choose what you like.
Kate Toon:
Absolutely. And also you’re parenting usually with another parent, you know, whether you’re still together or not, you’re blending your two styles, and you’re their parents, how their parents treated them. And, you know, it can be hard sometimes I think if you’re not on the same page, I often think that, you know, often people think they’re on the same page before they have kids. And then when you have kids, you’re like, wow, we are actually quite different. You know, I thought my partner, my son’s dad would be much more authoritarian than he is. And he’s actually quite sort of permissive and you know, really chill and very laid back and it’s made me have to be slightly more the authoritarian, you know, I don’t like the term Good cop, bad cop, but you know what I mean, someone has to be, yeah, someone has to be the one that says Actually, no, and it’s more more often me, and I’m like, god dammit, I don’t want to play that role. But if you have to adapt to each other as well, don’t you?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, that’s so true. And I’m reminded my mum always said, you only, you know, any sort of argue about two things, its financials, and its parenting,
Kate Toon:
And sometimes sex, but we won’t talk about sex on this podcast. And we argue quite a lot about Netflix, but maybe that’s just us, I don’t know. So, you know, obviously, being a parent is a challenge. And running a business is a challenge. And it sounds like this has all happened at the same time, you know, looking back at your bio, starting your company in 2007. And then moving on to working with, you know, Mums and Co. since 2016. So you’ve, you know, nurtured children and your business at the same time, what have been some of the challenges of that?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah. So I typically have four kids, I guess.
Kate Toon:
Yeah.
Carrie Kwan:
If you count the two real and the two digital ones. And I think, look, interestingly, motherhood coincides with the average age of the most successful founder. Alright, when you’re starting a family, you typically also, you know, your your careers kind of in that sort of mode. But in terms of challenges? Well, I guess they’re, you know, firstly, the challenges, and only by the fact that I’m not alone, there are about 690 680,000, business owning women in Australia. And 345,000 of those, you know, have dependent children. And I think, you know, certainly a force to be reckoned with, but I think it’s, you know, the sort of, it’s the part and parcel of blending the two and the constant competing priorities when you guys,
Kate Toon:
I’m fascinated by what you said there, because I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me, it should have done, but you’re right, that so many women I know started their business, just as they had their children, same for me. So I left a full time job in advertising, because I got pregnant, I didn’t want to have a full time job. So I had to start a business to support myself and my family, at the exact time, same time as I was pregnant with my son. And so they have totally growing up. And when I talked to most of the not just the women, but also the men, children, or having children was a key factor in them deciding to start their own small business because they wanted freedom. They wanted flexibility. They want to be able to fit their work in around their kids. But then all of a sudden, you’re faced with the absolute horror of trying to fit your work in around your kids. So how do you manage that? You know, you say you’ve got like clear days in the city. childcare options? Do you have a lot of support from friends and family? Or, you know, is it just you and your partner kind of juggling the day?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, and we’re same-same, you’re gonna not learn. So one in nine, we did a big survey.
Kate Toon:
Yeah, I love these stats, man.
Carrie Kwan:
You know, and there’s not that many around, which is why we’re really passionate about sharing them as well. So when we interviewed almost 850 women, only women who are moms or considering being moms, we found that one in which their business whilst they’re pregnant, and three in 10 of them launch their business whilst they’re on maternity leave.
Kate Toon:
Wow. Okay.
Carrie Kwan:
So and I’m not sure, you know, there could be so many levels, but yes, definitely trying to get the flexibility to do what they need to do on their own terms. Some are pushed into doing it, some are doing it by choice. And I think that’s, you know, one of the main reasons why, you know, you go through this period of motherhood, lots of changes going on physically, mentally, spiritually, everything. So you are going to go through a period of sort of that, that, you know, making things work on your own terms.
Kate Toon:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, I wrote in the book that, you know, the first year of having a kid is pretty awful. People don’t admit that. It’s lovely, it’s beautiful. It’s all those things, but it’s also really hard. And the first year of having a business is beautiful, and lovely, but it’s also really, really hard. And often we don’t see that really icky beginning bit, we just see fast forward three or four years in, everything’s starting to be smooth. And, you know, I think it’s good to, so I love this statistic. So that’s really four out of nine people who are starting right when they’re having their baby or on maternity leave, which is kind of the worst time in the world to start a business. But then equally, is there ever a good time to have a child? Is there ever a good time to start a business? All the preparation in the world does not prepare you right?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, and you – So I guess the thing is, you know, to do it, you know, have your child and have you start your business, but also planned for it, you know, it might take you six months, or you can start working on a business idea for a year before you even launch it, because you’re trying to always get those validation points, that it’s going to be a success. So you can do many tests all the time, like, dive into it, we have women who are thinking about starting families, so we’re actually looking at options to have that flexible working. So they might do that, you know, start side of the business off before they get full pelt into it. And that’s the thing, when you’re working on your own terms, you can work four hours a day, you can work 14 hours a day, if you’ve got good help, and you can get, you know, childcare, affordable and accessible childcare. So I think, you know, and when you said, how do we do that, I think you have to enlist your, you know, the co of people around you. And that might be family, it might be friends, it might be business partners, it might be clients, it might be your therapist, you know, could be, you know, you really have to enlist the help of your co because you’ll be going through this very, you know, challenging journey. That’s, there’s no, we’re not going to sugarcoat it, there are amazing, amazing moments, but you know, you’re stepping into the known unknown, and you need you need some help.
Kate Toon:
Yeah, two things I want to pick up on there. I love the idea of planning, I did no planning. And I think that, you know, if you kind of find, suddenly the rug is pulled out from under you, and you have to start now, I think you have to replace planning with patience, that because you didn’t plan that maybe the first year isn’t, you’re not going to launch into fabulous success, you know, it’s gonna take you a bit longer to get there and have a bit of patience with that and not compare yourself with other people’s journey. Because we never know what help other people have their financial setup, they might have no financial pressures, you know, they can have a whole year to see if this little business of theirs kicks off. Whereas other people, we are the breadwinner, you know. So I think, if you haven’t got planning, have patience. And then your second point about community, you know, when I started my business in 2009, Facebook groups were in their infancy, there was nothing really like, like what you offer now with Mums and Co., and what I offer in my memberships, and I didn’t have friends and family to support me at that point. And I heavily relied on the kindness of strangers. And I think, you know, the kind of communities that you bring together, it’s a safe place where other people get it, because often your partner doesn’t get it, your mom doesn’t get it. You know, your friends don’t get it. And people say things like, “oh, you know, you should enjoy every moment, because it’s going to be over before now. You know, why are you working when you should be spending time with your kid?” And it’s like, you need other people that understand that it’s okay to have ambitions and want a life outside of your children and want to feel fulfilled in multiple ways, not just through parenthood. Right? I mean, I think that’s what we want.
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, yeah. And thank you for you know, you are such an inclusivity ambassador, and all forms of diversity and come as you are, like, you know, we’ve been had the good fortune of working with you for a couple of years now. And, you know, we absolutely see that. And we believe that so passionately that we’ve even a term called Mumbition.
Kate Toon:
Yes, I like that.
Carrie Kwan:
And it’s the unapologetic blending of motherhood and ambition, though, we just don’t have time to apologize for how we need to do things, and we don’t have time to spend apologizing even. So however you need to do it. That’s, that’s, that’s what you need to do. And, you know, your ambition counts, your aspiration, you know, you’ve probably invested in yourself, and you’ve, you know, earned your education or you’ve earned your work experience, and you want to actually make impact. So they’re all important parts of your identity. And you also want to be a great parent, you know, an okayish parents. And that’s, we have the two big, big jobs and probably 2.5 full time jobs for one person, so I think we just have to be able to, you know, judgment of other people because, you know, I’m sure we have our own moments where we’re judging ourselves to like we do we care.
Kate Toon: And that’s all day, right? Yeah, I read a I’ve written a great meme, which I’ll share today on social media, which is like, being a parent and having a business is like having two full time jobs with no sick leave. I think that’s pretty, sums it up. The challenge is –
Carrie Kwan:
You’re always on.
Kate Toon:
You’re always, always on. Well, I love that, I love the idea of my ambition. But let’s talk about the flip side of that. You talked about how you know we can be self critical and other people can be critical. How have you personally managed parent guilt? You know, when you do have to take that call and not watch the show with your kid or when you do miss the school cake day, because there’s other priorities when you have, you know, when you sometimes feel that the balance isn’t quite right. How do you manage parent guilt?
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah. Well, I guess I have to acknowledge that. It’s, it’s because we care, right? That that guilt, guilt is there, but I try to treat it a bit like, probably how I treat impostor syndrome. And it’s because I care. And it’s because I want to do well. And I’m thinking about what I should be, you know, maybe what I want to be doing, or what I really, you know, should be doing. And that can be just a trigger to say, hey, you know, maybe something’s not quite right here, and you should take some steps to address it. But I think how I manage, so don’t feel, I probably don’t experience it in full anymore. Because we’ve experienced as well, you kind of go, Oh, I know what to worry about. Or I know, you know, where to waste, where to spend my time and be caught up there.
I think it starts with your mindset, as well. So I very much understand the elements of how I’m living. And that’s with my, we call it, harmonizing our ambition, livelihood and wellbeing. So ambition is the career and my business drive. The livelihood component is my family routines and finance. And my wellbeing is my individual health, my physical, mental wellbeing spiritual wellbeing. And I need to constantly harmonize all those bits. And sometimes, if you think like a symphony, if each one that there’s a different instrument, sometimes the drums can be louder than the, you know, the cello or the piano. So sometimes my ambition is, has to take first priority over my wellbeing.
Like, I’m always trying to make them work and sing nicely together. And, but sometimes someone gets sent a stage. And at that time, I’m like, Well, I know I’m here, I’m working a little bit harder, you know, more hours than I should. And I’ll talk to, you know, my boys and my husband, and they’ll say that’s coming up soon. So I’m gonna spend more time this week with them. And I’m, or I’ll spend more time with them on the weekend, you know, where I’m under trapped in that sacred time.
Kate Toon:
So I love that. I love that I love that orchestra analogy. And it’s funny, I talk about sacred time in the book as well, which I think is really important. And, you know, I think my attitude is you can have it all, just not necessarily at the same time. As you said, Sometimes you’ve got your orchestra, I’ve got my knobs, you know, your knobs on like a clicker or something, sometimes the hob at the back is getting all the gas, and sometimes it’s the hob at the front, and you’re constantly adjusting your knobs. So you’re you’re conducting your orchestra, and I’m adjusting my knobs, I think yours is slightly more sophisticated, and elegant. But I like that and it’s just realism, isn’t it? You can’t be awesome at everything all the time, sometimes different things take priority, and that’s okay.
Carrie Kwan:
Also, you know, we get great satisfaction from, from our work. But also realize that whilst you’re working your kids, they observe, they pick up things all the time, and you’re being a great role model for them. So they are I know, I know, some kids who actually know some kids who know about merger and acquisition term sheets, because their parents are in that world. And it took a while for me to, you know, get get my sick my five-year-old the time to say entrepreneur. It was a bit tricky for him. But he knows that, you know, I help mums, you know, run their own businesses. And so they learn and they see how you deal with problems or work with people or you know, and that’s all good influence on how-
Kate Toon:
Great life skills I mean, this is it.
Carrie Kwan:
Yeah, how they also see the domestic division and, and so yeah.
Kate Toon:
Absolutely. I mean, again, a big part of the book, I talk about family involvement, and I’ve always talked to my son about my business right from the get-go. As soon as I could, I took him on speaker gigs, so he would be sitting in the back of the room with his iPad, because it was either that or leave him at home or not do the gig and we had great trips, you know, an amazing trip to Adelaide and other places. And he’s actually coming to Europe with me for a month in May. And he is volunteering as a volunteer at the conference that I’m speaking at. He’s nearly 14 now. But he has his own little spreadsheets for money, he has he works for me now. He’s a full employee, you know, and all of that I think has given him great life skills. Of course, he still thinks I’m ridiculous and embarrassing. He’s like, how many followers have you got on YouTube mom, and I’m like, 1000 and he’s like, but and he was mortified that I’ve now got on TikTok because I’m trying to do TikToks.So, but secretly, deep down, I know that he’s proud of me. I know that he understands what I’m doing. And as you said, I’m teaching him life skills as well. I love that. But let’s talk about skills. I’m going to ask you for two quick tips. Okay. I want to know your top productivity tip. How does Carrie Kwan get the most out of her day?
Carrie Kwan:
I love I love productivity hacks.
Kate Toon:
Me too!
Carrie Kwan:
Oh, gosh, okay, so I’ll probably say I love a good template.
Kate Toon:
Oh, me too.
Carrie Kwan:
I love a good template. And with my calendar, I actually am quite precious about time blocking, and I will block time to just think or just, you know, I call it, fancy word is thought leadership, I just kind of think about-
Kate Toon:
Oh you’re so fancy, you’re so fancy.
Carrie Kwan:
What’s coming up ahead. And you know, I love looking at the trends ahead. And future work is a big area that I love, love at the moment, aside from some of the some areas that you’ve mentioned, but future work for women is the choice, right? The choice to work when you want, how you want, and create that sort of life that you want.
Kate Toon:
Time blocking seems to be very common of all the people I’ve spoken to so far, it seems to be the secret. I have a full color coding for mine. And I also, I have a you know, you’ve heard of Profit First? I practice pleasure first with my time blocking. So I put all my personal things in first bright sunshine yellow, and then I plan work around that. So I’m, you know, working to live not living to work. So pleasure. First, you heard it here first, I’m going to copyright it. So number one money tip. You know, I think that’s one of the biggest stresses, you said, we’re going to fight about, what did you say we’re going to fight about kids, finances, and I added in sex and Netflix. So how, what is some advice you have around managing money, especially in the early days of your business, as a mom, when there isn’t much money?
Carrie Kwan:
From a mindset perspective, I was actually thinking always, always, thoroughly understand your customer, and connect with them. So for micro business owners, I think this is very much about getting visibility for your business, and knowing how to make the ask. So you know, don’t don’t think sales is an icky thing, sales is a problem solving thing. And you just have the product and service to help them solve that problem.
Kate Toon:
I love that. It’s like you know, they have the disease, you have the cure, and I guess that ties into your whole pitch forum and what is that pitch forum, explain how that works.
Carrie Kwan:
Ah, I think when I say pitch, it’s basically telling your story.
Kate Toon:
Yeah.
Carrie Kwan:
And really, my objective is to pique their interest, so that they want to know more. They want to continue the conversation with you, they want to actually see how they can help. And it’s a remarkable how you know, that conversation when you pitch yourself properly, with with confidence and with useful information, that then allows them to take that information and do something with it. We have pitch confident pitching courses, we have sessions where you can just practice your pitch. You know, because I’ve been in business since 2008. And I can pretty much say how on heart that every day you are sharing your story your everyday you’re pitching, especially when you’re a sole trader, that you’re the only person who has, you know, a 4% of our business owning communities actually, sole traders, or they don’t have staff.
So you’re the one that has to tell the story all the time. So the practice your pitch sessions allow you to come up and in a very small, intimate group safe space, psychologically safety, you can actually just share what your business is and get it right. And then I’ll actually coach on on that as well. So I’ll give you feedback. And this is what I heard. And then sometimes collectively, other people can actually share that too.
Kate Toon:
Yeah, it’s something we do in our communities as well, because I think people but I love your reframe of, instead of saying pitching, which sounds terrifying and dragons, Danny and high stakes, telling your story. Someone has a problem, you have the solution. I really, really like that. And I can say excitingly that Carrie will be speaking at the Digital Marketing Collective Conference on pitching. She’s doing a lightning-fast pitching session. So if you haven’t looked at that yet, check it, out digital marketing collective conference, at the time of recording, it’s in October 2023. So if you’re listening to this after that, it’s already happened and you missed it. But if you haven’t, you can buy a ticket and come and see Carrie and me and lots of other cool people. Well, that we’ve talked about lots of different things here, haven’t we? We’ve talked about mindset, productivity, money, pitching family involvement, setting a good example. But when it comes to you, at the end of the day, you know, you’re busy human, you’re trying to get these two jobs, as we said, how do you look after yourself? How do you stop yourself burning out? What does self-care look like to you?
Carrie Kwan:
So yeah, it comes back to our ambition, livelihood, wellbeing, it starts with probably the relationship that you have with yourself. I think you need to protect that time. So if you want to time block that, as well put it in putting that highlight, you said, in a bright yellow color, to invest in your wellbeing just like, you know, any other aspects of your business or life. And for me that planning, that’s plenty. So I have, you know, family time, I have learning time, or curiosity time, I have applied my Korean beauty products time.
And I do my other sort of, so to speak, is I spend a lot of time with two boys at soccer training sessions, you know, some sessions can last for 90 minutes. And yes, be there for you know, watching them play, but I always combined it with my workout as well. So, if they’re going to swim classes, and they’re getting swim instruction, sometimes Michael and I would take team, my husband would take team, so we go for laps while they do their swim class. And I know you’re a fan of swimming as well.
Kate Toon:
I am.
Carrie Kwan:
And yeah, so when I think just combining them, you know, the point is, I guess to do it, like we need to keep active, we need to keep active, something like 75 minutes a week. And just sort of do it in chunks. Whilst the kids are doing their classes as well.
Kate Toon:
You are the stat queen, I’m going to say this. We’ve got 75 minutes, we’ve got 6600 80,000 women, I love it. I love the stats, I make up 99% of my statistics on the spot, but they sound believable. That’s what matters. Whereas yours are real. Yeah, I love that. I think it’s not you have a couple of non-negotiables. For me, I have one thing every week, which is locked in a diary, I have a lady come to my house and give me a massage, which sounds like the most decadent thing in the world. And it is, but that one hour, it’s Thursday nights it’s nearly the end of the week as well. It’s in my house, so I don’t have to go anywhere. And yes, I pay a little bit more for that. But that’s it, it’s not like a matter of getting my nostril hair wax every week or you know, spending a fortune on shoes or whatever that little one thing. It just keeps me sane. It centers me it is time blocked in my diary. And that is the only thing in my diary that is pink. Because it’s completely, it’s Kate love session, you gotta have a bit of love, but a self love. I love that. Well that Carrie, we’ve talked all about what you do. We’ve mentioned Mums and Co. if you want to go and find out more about Mums and Co. will include the links to that, your Instagrams, your LinkedIn, all that good stuff in the show notes. What is your final words for any parents listening who are struggling with the juggle of business and parenting, any final words of advice?
Carrie Kwan:
Be kind to yourself. I think you know, you really are doing your best. And reach out for help reach out to the co. If you need it. Just make the ask. It’s a very refreshing thing to do if you need help. And it might be as you know, maybe think of it like a T shirt. I need I need extra small shirt help today and I need extra-large help another day. But just ask for help. And you know if you need any help, we’re very much welcome you to the Mums and Co. community. We are literally here to help you upskill and network and not have to choose between your family and your career. So
Kate Toon:
See Carrie’s pitching. She’s always pitching. I love it. Make the ask. I think that’s fantastic and find your community wherever you can. Carrie, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. It’s been a pleasure,
Carrie Kwan:
Loved it too, thanks so much, Kate.
Kate Toon:
So thank you to Carrie Kwan. And also thanks to Angela Pickett for her lovely podcast review. Angela was the first person to review the podcast so I’m very grateful. Can’t wait. I’ve never expected to be building a business let alone a six figure one. But thanks to Kate I’m on my way so I know this podcast is good, they’ll be full of real advice, actionable tips and lots of laughs hope so. Thank you to you for listening. If you enjoyed this show, I would super appreciate a rating or review on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you heard it, you’ll get a shout out on the show as well. You can also check out the show notes for the episode at www Kate toon.com and Buy your copy of Six Figures in School Hours on Booktopia. Amazon, wherever you can find it or via my website. Please also take a minute to follow us on Instagram at six figures in school hours. You’re also welcome to come and join my Facebook group. It’s free, the misfit entrepreneurs join us lots of busy business owning parents offering tips advice, very funny memes. Until next time, happy juggling.
