258: Balancing Work and Family: A Conversation with My Daughter

Camille: 0:00

But I found that these one-on-one times with my kids have been invaluable for understanding where they are, what they need help with and ways that we can talk about something if there is correction that is needed. So you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family and still chase after those dreams? We'll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know this is Call Me CEO. Welcome back everyone to Call Me CEO.

Camille: 0:43

This is your host, camille Walker, and today is going to be a little different. We have Jayne, my daughter, with us. Jayne is 14 years old and going into the ninth grade, and she wanted to be on the podcast and I said yes, because how fun is that? And we're going to be talking a little bit about how it was for her to grow up, with me being a stay-at-home working mom and Jayne pretty much.

Camille: 1:10

I think when I started my blog, it was in the year 2011, and she was born at the very, very end of 2010. So she's known nothing different. She's seen me go through many different iterations of what it meant for me to be working from home, having a live cooking show to a YouTube series, to blogging, to working with sponsors, doing travel together as a family, and now as a podcast host and business coach for women. So she's seen me do a lot of different things. I don't know what she's going to say, so this should be pretty fun and I'm really proud of her and excited that she's on the show. So thanks for being here today, jane.

Jayne: 1:49

You're welcome.

Camille: 1:51

Now, this was your idea, so we're going to expect you to be really excited to talk. Okay, so the first question and I will admit I got these questions from ChatGPT because I didn't know exactly what to ask, but these are themes that Jane wanted to share about. So what is your earliest memory of me working from home?

Jayne: 2:13

Um, when you made us, we we did like the sponsor deal for lasagna and and we me and Jackson had to like eat it at the table and it tasted really bad because we don't like lasagna.

Camille: 2:29

Okay, that's really funny because that is like one of the last big sponsored posts that I did. That was a sponsored event, so that is like I don't know. Seven years in, that's really your earliest.

Jayne: 2:43

Well, I just remember you taking pictures.

Camille: 2:47

Taking pictures A lot, a lot. Okay, well, a lot of my kids' experience with sponsored content was pictures, because back in the day of strictly blogging and not doing as much video, it was pictures, which was nice because there wasn't a whole lot of scripted video. The one she's referring to is actually a post I did for Stouffer's Lasagna, and the media company that was partnered between myself and Stouffer's Lasagna was very picky about exactly what the kids said, exactly how they held their forks, exactly how they did this, that and the other. That was actually one of the reasons why I shifted my online career was that sponsored post, because it was so painful.

Camille: 3:37

Yeah, we had to redo it like five times, yes, and there had been times in the past where they sent a crew to our house to film things, but never to the point where they were saying you have to say this and you have to act this way and your kids have to say these words, and that was actually what was a big shift in me wanting to do something different. So it's funny that you remember that, because that was actually, I think, maybe seven or eight years in of me doing that kind of work that I shifted it. So, number two what's the weirdest or funniest thing you've overheard while I was on a work call?

Jayne: 4:19

I don't really listen to your calls.

Camille: 4:23

Or doing a podcast interview, I guess.

Jayne: 4:26

Podcast interview. Well, I think it's just funny how you just change your voice every time you talk.

Camille: 4:32

Yeah, she makes fun of me when I'm filming, whether it's like a video for stories or a podcast episode. She's like your voice sounds different and it's hard not to do that because it is. It's more of like a presentation, like a higher energy level voice, and without meaning to, we kind of change our voices sometimes, which I am guilty. Okay, do you think having a mom who works from home is different from your friends' moms who work outside the house, and how?

Jayne: 5:12

the house, and how? Yes, because you get to pick your schedule and my friend's moms don't get to pick their schedule and sometimes they're alone at home.

Camille: 5:17

Yeah, that has been a benefit, for sure, of being able to pick and choose my time. If you had to describe my job to a stranger in one sentence, what would you say? She has seven jobs, seven jobs, what? But what would it? What do I do Like? How would you describe it?

Jayne: 5:38

In one word podcast.

Camille: 5:41

In one sentence oh, one sentence she does, she records podcasts okay, how did my job affect the way you see your own future career?

Jayne: 6:00

uh, well, you could do whatever you want Like with your life.

Camille: 6:11

you don't have to do what your degree says yeah, do you know what you want to do? No, james, right at ninth grade. So it's getting to that phase of career exploration, and what is it that you want to do, or what do you want to study, or what do you want to study, or what do you want to to devote your time? So it's an exciting time because you're right at the stage of kind of figuring it out. All right, do you think watching me work's made me more motivated in school?

Jayne: 6:40

because it helps me have a good work. Ethic.

Camille: 6:58

Well, that's a good good. I'm glad to hear that. It's funny too, because when she says that you don't have to do what you got your degree in, my degree is in family consumer science education. So traditionally speaking, with my degree I would be teaching family consumer science classes in a classroom setting. But with what I did with my career, I took all of those topics and put it online onto a blog called mymommystylecom and ultimately used the skills that I learned in college and what I would be teaching in a classroom, but then brought it online. So it's kind of cool how that came full circle and, through coaching, I feel like that's really brought my teaching degree into practice as well, because that's one of my favorite parts of what I do is coaching women and helping other people to run their businesses more efficiently. All right, so what's something you've seen me do and you think, wow, that's real dedication.

Jayne: 7:56

Sometimes you record a lot of podcast things in one day and it takes a long time. That's a lot of dedication and it takes a long time.

Camille: 8:03

That's a lot of dedication. Bulk content creation that is a good skill.

Jayne: 8:11

Do you do that with your homework sometimes, where you bulk and do things like that, yeah, when I forget to do it at the end of the term.

Camille: 8:17

Yeah, we're working on that. Like doing it ahead of time, huh, when you don't feel like doing your work, what do you remind yourself of to push through?

Jayne: 8:32

I remind myself that I want to do good in school, so I have to work, and if I don't, then I'll have a lot of extra at the end.

Camille: 8:44

That's painful. If you could steal one of my habits or routines to help you in high school, what would it be?

Jayne: 8:51

Working out every day.

Camille: 8:55

I do like to work out every day.

Camille: 8:57

I have found that if I go to the gym in the morning it sets my day for so much more success because I'm more in a forward momentum of getting things done and my head is clear and I feel better.

Camille: 9:11

Just, I have more mental clarity, my body feels better.

Camille: 9:15

So for sure that's been something that's really helped me a lot. So one thing that Jayne has done, and also my older son, Jackson, is doing summer classes that help you get ahead in junior high and high school, and we have made this a practice so that as they go into their high school and junior high years specifically high school that they have more space in their schedule to have a little more cushion for classes that aren't so intense and that they get extra classes out of the way. So because my oldest son has done this for his senior year, he's going to be able to sleep in every day and have a later start, which is a huge boon to him. He's really excited about that because he really needs his sleep. So that's one of the benefits for him that he's able to still get his classwork done and all the credits he needs and sleep in his entire senior year, which is a win. So, Jayne, you're in a summer class right now. What made you say yes to taking summer classes?

Jayne: 10:23

It made me say yes, because Jackson did it and because it makes it so you have an extra elective, so you don't have as much like school classes to do in the year.

Camille: 10:37

Yeah, and you've been able to do a lot of extracurriculars already, like last year, you were doing choir and you did orchestra and you did what are some extras that you were able to do?

Jayne: 10:52

uh, I did facts, family, consumer science, and I did trying to remember. I can't really.

Camille: 11:08

I think, because you did it, you were able to do um choir and orchestra, because usually people don't have enough space that they could do that. But you had extra space, which was nice. So what's the most surprising thing you've learned from doing school in the summer?

Jayne: 11:26

I've learned that you can't like. Right now I'm doing gym and I thought it would just be like exercising, but I've actually learned a lot about like cardiovascular health and stuff like that.

Camille: 11:43

That's awesome. Do you think summer classes are worth it or do you feel like you're missing out? I think they're worth it because they're easy. Yeah, and you know what? This is actually a practice that I did in my college years. I took summer classes when I was in university and it made it so that I was able to graduate ahead of schedule and the summer classes are generally quite a bit easier. So that's a hack for anyone in schooling. I feel like because they have to cut out so much of the fluff, you have less studying to do for less tests, and it's really they trim the fat, so to speak, of all the things that you have to learn, which makes it a lot easier. What would you tell a kid who says summer is for fun, not studying?

Jayne: 12:31

who says summer is for fun, not studying, I would tell him you can do whatever you want, but I just get bored at summer.

Camille: 12:45

So I just do summer school. Hey, my friends, just popping in here really quick to say if you are drowning in a to-do list but never actually getting anything done, I hear you. This is the time to take back control of your day, and I've created a product for you, for free, that will help you to do this. It's called the ultimate time audit and productivity system. It is a free resource to help you pinpoint exactly where your time is going and what you should be delegating. My coaching involves a lot of time spent with business owners who are losing time valuable time on menial tasks that they could either delegate or create a system around, but first needing to understand how their time is being used. So imagine having more time for your family, your business and yourself, without the constant overwhelm. You can grab your free copy in the link below or at camillewalkerco, and start working smarter, not harder.

Camille: 13:37

Camillewalkerco is the website, but go ahead and grab that link below and I would love to help you take back your time right now. Yeah, and this summer I mean, my kids have done like one to two classes a summer. We're not talking like loads and loads of work, but it's enough that it gives them some structure and something that helps them to feel productive and they're getting some things done and, honestly, it gives them more sense of purpose, because I think it does get to a point in summer where it feels like you're not doing a whole lot, which can be boring. So it's been a benefit for us for sure. So what's your favorite memory of us during a workday when we squeezed in some fun?

Jayne: 14:22

um, my favorite memory of us doing a work day where we squeezed in some fun was well, it wasn't really with you, but I was out of sleep over with my cousins and we were all behind on our because we all did summer classes, so we were all behind. So then we just all like just we all went on our homework and we just did like 15 assignments and it was really fun. And then after that we like watched a movie, I think.

Camille: 14:54

Very cool. I actually think that question was referring to like when I'm working from home and then we do something fun together. But that's okay. I like your answer too. If I had a reality show called Mom CEO Live, what would the opening scene look like?

Jayne: 15:15

Mom CEO.

Camille: 15:16

Live. That's just. Chatgpt came up with these questions, so we're just going with it.

Jayne: 15:24

We're just going with it. Mom, ceo, lie. I think the opening scene would be probably my mom would be probably like I don't even know, writing in her Planner Planner, one of her planners.

Camille: 15:45

Why don't you tell them about what we do on Sundays? That kind of relates to that Writing in my planner. On Sundays we have family meetings and we write in our planner and we talk about what we're going to do and how do you like it?

Jayne: 16:09

Do you like it?

Camille: 16:09

They're really boring and I don't like being on a schedule, so what does it look like when we call you in? What is? What are the family meetings look like?

Jayne: 16:16

uh, first you have one of the kids volunteer to go first, and then they get the other kid, and then you go in and I sit on the couch and my mom and dad sit on the bed and they go what do you want to do for the, for the week? And I go hang out with my friends and go to volleyball and they're like, okay, we'll write that in the planner. And they're like, okay, so today, that's the summer version I today we're going to the lake, and then they write in the planner.

Camille: 16:54

All right, so I'm going to help you out with this. When the kids were young, we started this, and a big piece of this was we actually used to host something called a family store. A big piece of this was we actually used to host something called a family store I don't know if you remember this, jane where they would earn stickers or these little like pom-poms, where they could buy things from the store from good behavior and also from accomplishing the tasks that they needed to do for the day, whether that was like getting something done or practicing something that they were working toward done or practicing something that they were working toward. There was actually a time where Jane had a habit of screaming very loudly, and my son gave her the nickname a banshee, because it was like a piercing, piercing scream. She was probably five. Do you remember this, okay?

Jayne: 17:39

In my defense he was chasing me in the house. They all have their reasons and it was my only defense mechanism.

Camille: 17:47

Yeah, I mean, we work with what we can. So the idea was we help the kids come up with a goal for the week and then we try to put a positive spin on it. So our goal for the week during that time in her life was to have a kind voice, or to use your voice with happy sounds, and so rather than saying no screaming or not screaming, we would say let's see how often you can use a kind or a happy voice, and then when I noticed her using a kind or happy voice, I would reward her with these pom-poms. Then at the end of the week they would have a family store where they could get like little treats or toys or things like that. As they've gotten older, the rewards that they're wanting are more like time with friends or screen time, or even they want to earn money for something, or it turns into something like that.

Camille: 18:37

So we still get together and talk about what are your goals for this week? What do you have coming up that we can support you with? Is there anything that you want to talk to us about, one-on-one and that sort of thing? So it's evolved as the years have gone on, but I found that these one-on-one times with my kids have been invaluable for understanding where they are, what they need help with and ways that we can talk about something if there is correction that is needed. So that is all of the content we have today, all the questions we have for you today, except for this one final question, jane if we were to start a business together, what would it be and what would your role be?

Jayne: 19:20

Our business would be to make planners, because you really like planners, and your job would be to sell them and ship them, and my job would be to design them.

Camille: 19:38

It's not a bad idea. She's a great designer. Well, these are our questions and answers we have today. If you have any follow-up of this or you want us to cover topics, I was telling Jayne that maybe in the future we could talk about junior high girls and friends and bullying and how to handle those situations. I don't know if she'd be up for that, but if that is of interest to you or any other topics, please let us know. And, Jayne, thank you for being a guest on Call Me CEO today.

Jayne: 20:08

You're welcome.

Camille: 20:10

All right, we'll see you next time. Bye, hey, ceos. Thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment and a five-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram at callmeCEOPodcast, and remember you are the boss.