nashville geek
As Featured on Pathway Women’s Business Center:
Most successful entrepreneurs are no strangers to chaos and stress, and Andrea Farr is no exception. Andrea and her husband, Scott, co-founded Nashville Geek several years ago and have successfully navigated a growing portfolio, new employees, and having two children!
That’s a lot for anyone to manage, so we recently sat down with Andrea to hear more about how she manages two full-time jobs, mother & entrepreneur.
PWBC: Running your own business is no piece of cake. Neither is raising a family. How do manage these two full-time jobs?
AF: I’m a third generation entrepreneur, so I learned a lot from my father. In this respect, I’ve had great mentors who’ve taught me a lot about running a successful business. I also received good advice from my mother-in-law, who told me to know my limits, start saying no, and don’t overcommit.
In general, I try to be aware of what “season” my life is in. By that I mean, when you have young children they will need more time and attention. And when you’re trying to grow a business, it will need more of your time. So you have to be aware of where you are in the grand scheme of things, you have to see what needs attention, and you have to schedule accordingly.
PWBC: It sounds like self-awareness played a big part in your success as an entrepreneur. How did you develop that skill? Or did it come naturally?
AF: I decided that I needed to make time for education and personal development as a small business owner. I was part of a program that gave me time and space to think about my business, to work on it rather than in it. I learned to focus on the important, not just the urgent. The idea of keeping long-term goals front of mind, while learning how to manage short-term issues is challenging for many entrepreneurs. But not having that focus can keep you from achieving success.
So, I learned how to be more aware of these scheduling needs – particularly after having my first child – and I learned to be a better delegator. If I wanted to successfully grow my business, I couldn’t do everything. I needed to be strategic about how I delegated the work load and I had to be smart about building the right team.
Read the full article on Pathway Women’s Business Center.org
