Let me start with a disclaimer: I definitely don't have anything fully figured out. I'm not an expert on balancing work and family—I'm just a working mom with a lot of balls in the air. Most of that juggling act comes from personal choices I've made, though some is simply the result of environment and circumstances. I'm constantly trying new things to improve and evolve, and I hope sharing my experiences might help others or spark some ideas for progress.
When I started ROAM in 2013, my biggest concerns were landing clients and figuring out how to run a business from a beachside home office in SoCal. Fast forward twelve years, and I'm writing this while managing a household that has grown to include three kids, four dogs, and recently, my 16-year-old brother—all while running a consultancy that's evolved alongside every family change.
The evolution of ROAM has been completely tied to my personal life, and honestly, that's made both more interesting and more complicated than I ever expected.
Those first few years in LA, I could pretend my business and personal life were separate. I worked from a home office, kept regular hours, and treated ROAM like the traditional job I'd left—just with more flexibility and way more stress about the next paycheck.
My now-husband and I weren’t even engaged yet, living in a city where we knew almost no one, with two dogs who were happy to serve as my office companions. Work felt contained and manageable. I could take calls anytime, work late, and say yes to everything because I needed to.
Then life started happening.
Our first child arrived in 2017, and suddenly every assumption I'd made about running a business went out the window. No more unlimited work hours. Taking calls became a complex negotiation involving nap schedules and childcare logistics.
But here's the challenge nobody talks about: as a business of one, there's no maternity leave policy. No colleagues to hand things off to. No paid time off. I had to figure out exceptional client coverage while recovering and bonding with my baby, knowing I'd need to return quickly since family leave for small business owners is basically non-existent.
This led to ROAM's most important evolution: an informal network of seasoned PR professionals who could step in when needed. Instead of formal partnerships, I built relationships with trusted colleagues who understood ROAM's approach and could support client work during my absence.
This network became crucial during maternity leaves—I needed strong backup who could maintain relationships and project momentum. Colleagues could choose their involvement based on availability, while clients got seamless service.
Preparing for maternity leave forced me to document processes and build communication systems I should have created years earlier. I had to trust other professionals to represent ROAM's standards when I wasn't managing every detail.
Surprise: becoming a mother made me better at business.
I became ruthlessly efficient. No more three-hour tasks that needed thirty minutes. No endless email chains when a phone call would work. Motherhood taught me to prioritize relentlessly and communicate with crystal clarity.
It also changed my perspective on clients. Operating on four hours of sleep, I quickly learned which clients respected my expertise and which ones drained my energy. The 24/7 availability crowd became exhausting. The ones who trusted me to deliver results on my timeline became partnerships I treasured.
By mid-2019, we’d moved back to the Bay Area and welcomed our second child. We'd also added a third Boston Terrier to our family (because apparently, we like chaos). Then came the big change—moving to my hometown of Tulsa in May 2020, right as the world dealt with a pandemic.
Suddenly I was running a consultancy from another new home office, navigating a new city during lockdown, managing three dogs, and maintaining professional relationships I'd built across two previous cities.
Our third child arrived in 2021, along with our fourth dog. Because apparently we believe in chaos.
Each addition taught me something:
Child #2 taught me systems matter. Managing multiple kids while coordinating a cross-country move? Everything needs a process. This translated to ROAM—better project management, templates for deliverables, workflows that functioned even during pediatrician appointments.
Dogs #3 and #4 taught me capacity planning. There's a limit to attention before quality suffers. Perfect lesson for client work—too many projects means none get your best thinking.
Child #3 taught me adaptability. Three kids and four dogs means plans are suggestions and flexibility is survival. This mindset was invaluable during 2020's uncertainty.
Managing multiple kids and dogs is excellent training for running a consultancy:
Crisis management transfers directly. Toddler meltdown at Target while your oldest has a school emergency? You learn to triage and communicate under pressure—exactly what you need when client launches go sideways.
Resource allocation becomes natural. You can't give every child full attention simultaneously. You learn what needs immediate intervention versus what can wait. Perfect for client work where everything feels urgent but isn't.
Stakeholder management gets easier. Negotiate bedtime with a stubborn four-year-old while explaining why dogs can't sleep in beds? Managing client expectations feels straightforward by comparison.
Moving back to my hometown of Tulsa in May 2020 felt like the biggest professional leap yet. Taking a business built in SF and LA tech ecosystems to a city where I'd rebuild my network from scratch, during a pandemic that changed everything.
But coming home during uncertainty provided unexpected clarity. Without big-city networking events (that weren't happening anyway), I focused on what mattered—delivering exceptional value regardless of location.
The move coincided with remote work normalization. Clients who might have hesitated to work with a Tulsa consultant in 2019 were suddenly comfortable with virtual relationships.
Moving back to Tulsa felt like coming home to myself—personally and professionally. And this stability would become even more important as our family continued evolving in unexpected ways.
Next up: how ROAM has adapted to even more recent changes, including lessons from integrating different routines and finding strength through both loss and unexpected family additions.
