Ice Cream with My Mom đĽ°
đ Tampa, Florida, Monday, October 13
This isnât a âlook at me, I can take Mondays offâ post.
Itâs simply a reminder that our time with the people we love is finite, especially our parents.
If our businesses arenât designed to make space for moments like this, then whatâs the point of it all?
Iâm deeply grateful for a team that allows not only me, but everyone on the team, to enjoy these moments.
Every person at Staff4Half has the same freedom and flexibility to design their work around what matters most in life, and that could very well be an ice cream on a Monday afternoon with mom and the nieces.
Three things that help us:
1ď¸âŁ Design for redundancy. Cross-training and clear SOPs ensure that no single person becomes a bottleneck, myself included.
2ď¸âŁ Protect moments that matter. We encourage teammates to block time for important family moments, no questions asked.
3ď¸âŁ Lead with trust and clarity. When I take time off for moments like these, it sends a message that everyone can too.
Business is a vehicle, but the destination is a life youâre proud to live with the people you love. â¤ď¸
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The Real Burnout: Why Leadership Isnât About Hardening Your Heart
I cried the first time I had to fire someone. I felt it was my fault. As a founder, Iâve always believed we donât just hire people, we invite them into our vision. We hope theyâll care as much as we do. And when they donât, or when it doesnât work, it feels like a personal failure.
For a long time, I kept people too long because I wanted to avoid admitting that failure. Instead, I twisted myself trying to make things work that clearly werenât. I thought being a âgood leaderâ meant being endlessly patient.
It took me years to understand that being a good leader actually means telling the truth kindly, clearly, and as soon as things become clear.
Thatâs why I believe most of us donât burn out from overworking. We burn out from emotional entanglement, from holding the entire relationship on our shoulders, without anyone saying, âHey, this isnât working and hereâs why.â
It took me years to learn that leadership isnât about hardening your heart. Itâs about keeping it open and acting anyway.
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Women Lead Differently And Itâs Time We Talk About It
A couple of weeks ago, I announced that Iâm relaunching my podcastâthis time focusing on female entrepreneurs: how they lead, how they grow their teams, and how they build businesses that last. Because I truly believe that we women lead differently.
This week, I finally sat down with Merlijn Mazairac to record the first episode, and I left feeling absolutely energized. From the start of our conversation, the connection was there. She spoke with such openness about living abroad, building her consulting company, and leading her team through growth and change.
Here are three ideas from her leadership journey that inspired me most:
1ď¸âŁ Colleagues sitting side by side for years without really knowing each other. Merlijn has seen it happen, and now uses intentional exercises to help people open up and truly connect.
2ď¸âŁ Team fails are leadership lessons. She reminded me that struggles, mismatched hires, disconnection, and even tough exits all carry value. Talking about them openly makes us better leadersâand helps others avoid the same mistakes.
3ď¸âŁ Salary conversations in times of inflation. She doesnât shy away from the tough talksâthe ones that test not just your budget, but your leadership itself.For me, this first recording is about growing as a leader by listening to the honest stories of others. Iâm deeply grateful to Merlijn for sharing her journey so openlyâand excited for all the conversations ahead.
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