I’ve always considered myself a very driven, determined and business minded person. My husband has the same drive and business savvy, which is why I am very lucky to have him as my business partner. Although, there are ups and downs to working with your husband, I’m glad to say we have figured out our formula to balance personal and business.
On the business side, we acquired First Look Ultrasound in January 2014. We first fell in love with the business as customers in 2011 when I was pregnant with our daughter. The experience of seeing our daughter in 3D/4D before she was even born was amazing. Fast forward to 2014 and we are pregnant with our son. Of course, we went back to First Look to see him in 3D/4D. Again, we had an amazing experience. While there, we realized that this was the business we were interested in. How can you not love a business that provides this type of experience to the customer (expecting moms) and her family and friends? The timing was right and our dream came true – we are now the owners of First Look. Since we had owned other businesses in the past, the transition was not difficult. Thank goodness, since we have a 2 year old daughter and I’m nine months pregnant. Balancing both the business and being a mom of a two year old and also nine months pregnant can be a bit of a challenge to the business side. Ok, maybe a big challenge to the business side at times, but that is where prioritizing and a family support system come into play.
As a business owner, I find myself constantly thinking and brainstorming about the business, goals, things needing to be done, etc. It can be very difficult to turn it off especially when the business is tied to my laptop and emails and social media can be controlled through my cell phone. However, I’m not just a business owner, I’m a mom too and both need to be prioritized. This is why I really try to set specific times and days to handle business for First Look and personal time with my husband and daughter. Don’t get me wrong, this method is not perfect and doesn’t always go as planned, especially when my cell is dinging with social media alerts at the dinner table or a list of emails are still untouched on my laptop, but at least it is a start on how to prioritize my days and weeks.
In addition to prioritizing and scheduling, I think most moms will agree that some kind of support system to help with the kids, whether family, friend, neighbor, paid or unpaid, is key to a mom’s survival! Our family support system is what allowed me and my husband to be able to focus and grow First Look in such a short amount of time from just 3D/4D ultrasounds, to also including a boutique that specializes in infant gifts and apparel. Without our family support system to help with our daughter, life would be mass chaos in my opinion. Quite frankly, not much would get done at all on the business side without them!
I feel truly blessed to be able to be doing what I love in a business that I am passionate about with the ability to still have time for my family. Let’s just hope that my prioritizing and family support system stay strong once a second child is thrown into this crazy mix in about 4 weeks! Happy Mother’s Day to all moms!
First Look Ultrasound has been a loyal sponsor of New Orleans Moms Blog and did not compensate us for this post.
About Lindsay Mahl
Lindsay is an entrepreneur, wife, and mom. She married her husband and best friend, Brian, in 2009, after dating for three years. They welcomed their daughter Olivia in 2011 and will soon welcome their son Andrew in June 2014. Lindsay is a New Orleans native, graduated from St. Mary’s Dominican and Loyola University. She loves food and wine, although is on hiatus from wine these days! During breaks from the business, her and her family love to travel and explore the US in their motorhome. Some of their favorite places to visit are Disney World, Colorado, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. In addition to co-owning First Look Ultrasound with her husband, Lindsay is a part-time Fragrance Consultant for Gold Canyon.
