To celebrate Mother’s Day we’re featuring the designer and founder of MARIDA JEWELRY, Marida Adan. She shares the challenges and rewards of motherhood. Most importantly why she’s feels being a Mama boss is the best!
1. Moms often put themselves last and you end up forgetting to take care of yourself. Do you have anything you must do or any ritual to make yourself feel good?
As a mom of a 5 month old and 2 year old, it is definitely hard to and even remember to take care of yourself. So there are lots of days where I feel unattractive, which is too bad because I always feel less productive on those days too! The past few months I started to pick up a few things that I notice really help my energy and mood for the better. They are simple things like spicing up my usual outfit with a cool belt, adding a pair of statement earrings to brighten my face, or taking a small moment to apply my favorite facial oil. I found that sprinkling in these little thoughtful things for myself lifts my mood and gives me more confidence. It leads to a more productive day too. Small steps, right? Hopefully, one day I’ll have my spa day!
2. As an entrepreneurial mom, being efficient or meeting goals at work can be difficult. Do you have any tips for other moms out there trying to juggle mom and work?
Honestly, this is something I am still figuring out but I’m totally fine that it may never be perfect. These days I often go with the flow. Everyday children go through lots of changes and feeling different emotions that requires your attention so maximizing my time at work as I did before is a lot tougher.
I try to make realistic day to day goals and roughly plan for when I can do them. When one of my son needs my attention, I either shut work down for a bit or if possible, I multi task. For example, I would have him sit on my lap with a toy while I answer my emails or breastfeed while I write up an invoice. It may not be ideal but it doesn’t bother me.
Not only are my kids unpredictable, but my work also can be quite unpredictable. I can have my day set up but a retail client can request a long list of samples to be overnight shipped out and it will throw me off a bit. For me, I learned to be efficient means I need to multitask and to go harder at it when your the little ones are napping.
3. What have been your biggest challenge as a mother?
Hmm, besides syncing my 2 kids nap time? I think my biggest challenge is time management. As soon as I think I have a system down, one of the kids will throws me a curve ball and I need to figure this thing out all over again. But again, I try not to give myself a hard time. I know right now my schedule isn’t perfectly planned out but I still meet deadlines and do my best to grow my this little baby of mines, the jewelry line.
4. What is your favorite aspect of parenthood?
There are lots of favorites. One is definitely knowing that my kids are forever mines. I have this nice, warm feeling when I think about this. I am so grateful to have a chance to feel this strong love and feel it back in return.
Another favorite is seeing my husband and I grow together as parents. I enjoy watching him being a dad and seeing how he challenges himself with this new role. Children are something we knew we always wanted and we are truly trying to enjoy every bit of it together. We both would always rather have our babies when we are out together rather than having a babysitter. It’s hard to think that we will miss any moment of theirs. Or course, it can be challenging but we always have a lot of laughs through it.
5. What do you think is the best thing about being your own mama boss?
I like that I am accessible to the boys. If there is an emergency, I don’t need to report to anyone to take care of them. Also the flexibility is nice. I can take my kids out to places when it isn’t crowded and can choose to work during other times. I can plan how to meet my deadlines around my ‘mom life’ and not the other way around.
Shop Marida Jewelry earrings on www.maridajewelry.com