Working Mom: Naptime Diaries’ Jessi Connolly

Have you seen Naptime Diaries‘ amazing prints?! Or checked out the inspirational blog? Well we caught up with Jessi Connolly, the woman (and mother of 4!) behind it all! This amazing mom is real and honest about what it takes to be a successful business woman and still prioritize time with her beautiful, supportive family! We love Jessi’s purpose-driven attitude and incredible designs and know you’ll love reading her insight!

Name: Jessi Connolly

Company: Naptime Diaries Shop

Location: Charleston, SC

Kids: Elias (7) Gloriana (6) Benjamin (5) Cannon (1)

 

You are a supermom in so many ways!  First, tell us a little bit about your blog, Naptime Diaries.  When and why did you start blogging?

I started blogging a looooong time ago. Back in 2005 after I got married. I literally just wanted to document our newly married life! I started really intentionally blogging in 2009 after I had my 3rd baby and I just genuinely wanted to encourage mamas like me who were isolated at home.

You’re also the co-founder of something called The Influence Network!  Tell us a little about that organization.

The Influence Network is a community of women who are coming together to provide some like-minded encouragement. It’s for writers, bloggers, photographers, or women who just want to make their online life mean something. Our desire is to equip women first with EACH OTHER, since their relationships are so valuable and second – we want to equip them with tools to make them more successful in their real lives and in their creative pursuits.

Not only do you have the blog, The Influence Network, the Naptime Diaries Shop, and multiple motivational speaking engagements, but you’re a mom!  Tell us about your beautiful family.

My family is fun and wild! We’re not quiet and we don’t do calm, but we have a lot, lot, lot of fun. My husband is a church planter and we’re community people so we almost always have extra people in the house and our kids love it that way.

How do you balance it all!? We’re sure there are days that it feels impossible to do it all!

It does feel impossible! But most of all – I always try to be upfront and tell people, I get a lot of help. My husband is super hands on, my friend Jacey is our shop manager and helps me run NTD, I have a nanny 2-3 times a week, and I have someone help clean my house. I am not superwoman in the slightest! To find balance, I work as hard as I can when I’m supposed to be working and try to block out distractions. And then, I’ve learned to be comfortable when it’s not all finished. It will never all be finished, and that’s ok.

You speak a lot about how to use a virtual platform (such as blogging or social media) as an opportunity to encourage.  How do you balance blogging and social media as a parent?  We know a lot of parents struggle with not wanting to take time away from their kids but sometimes it’s a huge part of a business.

My goal is to be totally off my phone from 3-8pm. That’s seriously family time for me. It’s not always perfect, but it works! I also use buffer to schedule tweets and Facebook posts so I’m never on those during the day!

How do you find space and time for yourself to be the best mom and business woman you can be?

Hmmm. I will say I get up fairly early. 5am most days. For me – being present and real and kind and loving starts with spending time reading my Bible and praying, which basically only happens really well for me at 5am.

What is the best business advice you’ve ever received?

Know your why. Know why you’re doing it and keep going back to that.

What is the best parenting advice you’ve ever received?

Every mom is doing the best she can with what she has!

What is one piece of encouragement you want to pass along to other working moms like yourself?

This is something we GET to do, not something we HAVE to do. It may feel the other way around, but getting to use our gifts while also raise a family is a really sweet gift.

 

Favorite activity to do with your kids:
Cuddle, dance, or go to the children’s museum.

Favorite date night spot with your hubby:
the beach! the beach! Or walking the bridge in our city!

Beauty secret:
Sleep and water! And wear what’s comfortable for you, that’s what you look best in.

What you wanted to be when you grew up:
A meteorologist. Too bad I didn’t know I hate science and hate being on camera 🙂

Someone you’d love to work with someday:
Lara Casey

Read about another inspirational supermom here!