Still CEO of the Wilson household

About four years ago I took a step back and started to think about what life was going to look like as my kids started their exit strategy from our house.  Also they were at the age where I wasn't picking them up from school and I didn't need to move them from location to location because we live in the city.  I figured about 70% of my time was being spent on them and family stuff.  I began to plan my strategy for filling up that 70% with other things and figured it would take me some time get there. 

Like most everything else I do, nothing happens in long stretches.  Once I pivot or come up with a plan it usually is like jumping on a rocket ship as I like to get things done.  My first move since I had been blogging for 3 1/2 years at that point was to invest in Curbed Media.  I had been watching Lockhart from afar and loved what he was doing.  I knew he was starting to look for funding and so I reached out to him.  That move was the first pivot in the direction of regaining my own identity and life back.  It wasn't that I didn't love running the WIlson household which consisted of anything from baking cookies, having dinner parties, doing construction projects to buying a car, doing a project with one of the kids, helping them clean out their closet or researching our next dog but it was time to make it a little bit more about me. 

It has been four years since I made that investment and a lot has happened since then.  One investment turned into about eighteen different projects that I am involved with at different levels.  Shocking right?  I have to admit that I am a little blown away by that myself when I started counting.  I do manage to think about all these projects and give them my time, energy and anything I can to help each and every one of them and still meet new people.  Some are investments, some are non-profits and some are in the works so each take up different commitments at different times.  On top of that I am blogging daily. 

But the point of this post isn't to pat myself on the back or to show what I can do but to write about the issues of being a Mom.  I made a conscious decision to work again at a level that I enjoy because I am just happier when I am busy using my brain.  For most people this would be an insane amount of projects. Even though I have put a lot of effort into reposistioning myself I have not left my old job which is CEO of the Wilson house. 

I still make sure the refrigerator is filled, I still have dinner parties (I do adore them), I still bake, I still make dinner most nights, I still make sure the kids are getting what they need and I do have 2 still at home, I am still planning our travel vacations, I am working on two huge construction projects as well as a few smaller ones, I am still making sure that the windows are getting cleaned when they need to be, I am still making sure the trains run on time in our house.

Although the 70% of my time spent on family is no longer 70% it is much less but it is far from zero.  I have just figured out how to do it all within the 24 hours of the day and of course taking time out to sleep.  Bottom line, as more and more women leave the workplace or re-enter the workplace, the reality is that whatever they choose to do for themselves or even if they never left work, their day job as CEO of the household will always continue to exist.  So when VC's or investors are concerned that pregnant entrepreneurs or women with families make them take pause to invest the reality is most women are doing a helluva lot more than anyone realizes and they thrive on it. 

No offense guys, I'd love to see any of you do this.