Career after baby
Life is full of expectations.
Let’s start at the beginning:
#1 As soon as you reach the right age, you get a job.
#2 As soon as you find your calling, you’re in school or work hard full time, make some money, buy a car and become independent.
#3 As soon as you meet someone, you either get married or live together, have kids, still work hard, pay for daycare, teach your kids at home, keep them busy, help them with homework, work hard at your job, get kids involved in sports, work hard at your job, worksome more, bedtimes, family time, self care, work again, cook dinner, work, work, work….
If you work too much, you’re burnt out and feel guilty for working too much, if you don’t workenough you feel guilty for not bringing home a paycheque. No matter what, work haunts you.
So let me share the haunting, I mean the work that has always been apart of me.
How I started
For the record, I have always LOVED working. And I mean in general. Especially working at something I cared about and that felt like it could lead to amazing things. I was never lazy or trying to get out of work early. My first part time job was in a salon when I was 16 years old and that’s when I learned how much I could enjoy a job. I was the only one of my friends working while in high school, saving money and learning real life lessons like how to be responsible. Maybe it was the type of job and the people I worked with, those early Saturday mornings opening up the shop, brewing the coffee, checking phone messages, making sure things were in order and ready to start the first client of the day with a smile. I loved the regular faces that I saw weekly and they loved me. I loved dressing up and being presentable. It was social time with grown women while teenage me listened and took part in the chit chat. My job was basic for my skill set, but I gained so much experience and learned a lot of different things, not only about shampooing and applying colour, but about myself and how to communicate with people. It really helped me “break out of my shell” and feel confident in my own skin. That’s a valuable lesson to learn as a teen.
My first job eventually became what I was meant to do, but the actual hair industry didn’t “click” for me right away. It took years to appreciate and understand how things worked. Colours, cuts, technique and mastering the craft wasn’t my main focus until I was already living with Tristan. We were living paycheque to paycheque and I wanted to be good at my job enough to deserve higher pay. Ohh yes, and I should mention how most salons out there don’t pay you over minimum wage. Until you waste years of being the perfect employee and eventually finding somewhere else to work. This happened a couple of times until I found my “forever home” at an Aveda salon. It was like a died and went to salon heaven, seriously.
Finding my “forever” salon
The owners were saints, my coworkers were so welcoming and became sister to me, and the money was great! Not to mention, lots of room to grow and incentives to make more money. Clients were all so sweet and caring and I loved that place. The business itself was running like “a well-oiled machine” which made my job so much easier because you were set up for success everyday. There were always towels, there were always the right colour tubes, and someone was always right there to lend a helping hand.
By the time I found this salon though, I had 15-month-old Jackson, and I was finally able to enjoy my job before racing home to be with him. I found it easy to focus on my career and still be mommy. That’s what it’s like to find a great place to work, and everyone was very forgiving when I had to rush home at the end of the day. But wait. There were downsides too! Like the morning rush, traffic, the calls from school about throwing up or injuries, working until 5pm but daycare let’s out at 5:30pm, there was never enough cushion of time to leave work and pick him up. These are the typical working mom problems we all face, I know. It’s stressful but it’s just the way life is. Right? What could I do about it? Nothing.
Fast forward 5 years later, Isabella was on her way and I had to slow down. Between the COVID pandemic and pregnancy, I was able to be home more. So you better believe that my career took a back seat and I didn’t even know if I cared enough about it at this point. I was taking a much needed break for my baby, who, you may already know from previous posts, I worked so damn hard to have.
Slowly my forever salon was becoming a place I could very well never return to.
I was going to have to re-evaluate what I really wanted my life to be like.
How it’s going
I worked hard and kept up with education even after becoming a mom to Jackson with the help of previous bosses and mentors, and I’m forever grateful that I had those opportunities. I’ll never lose those skills. But I had to take a step back and just learn on my own, thanks to many hair educators on social media. I’m still passionate about my craft and I’ve been working at my own business, now that I’m able to split my focus.
Career after children is super hard. But there are times where you’re able to get the work done and still be the best mom you can be. Plenty of moms work non stop when they have a baby, other moms choose to give that part of them up. And sometimes there are no easy choices. Any choice is completely valid. Your job as a mom takes you away from the choices you made for yourself in a different life, when you were a different version of yourself and however you’re able to juggle both or one is up to you.
Motherhood is a lot at the beginning, it’s hard to imagine life the way it once was. But personally, I’m seeing the light and finding that life with two children is starting to balance itself out. Finally! Jackson is 6 and pretty self sufficient with school, friends, and basic skills. Isabella is so close to being a toddler, and my life is starting to feel normal again. A brand NEW normal, but still. I’m clearly finding time for the things I love, like writing this blog, advertising my new salon business in my town, while still meal planning, caring for the kiddos and getting house work done. It’s all possible, as it turns out. You just have to learn to adjust.
My career now
So with my career now, I made the leap to start my own salon in my basement and I’m slowly getting back into it, on my own terms, my own hours, my own EVERYTHING! Isabella has been going to a babysitter we trust and love on the days I have clients booked. She loves it there and I get to work. The best part is, I’m at home, there’s no commuting, I’m in the same town as my children, and I can use the remainder hours in the day on taking care of my house, meal prepping, and making life organized instead of rushing to a job in a different town while spending precious hours making someone else money. This is where I want to be, right here at home. It’s my dream life and my career has lead me to this point finally.
Home is where the heart is, and now it’s where the salon is!
