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Honestly, if you think this is an April fools message I wouldn’t blame you.

2020 is just full of surprises, mama.

Here in my home, we’ve had actual conversations about:

• Buying some land so that we can raise goats and chickens
• Selling eggs from the chickens to buy a horse (Daphne, showing her entrepreneurial skills #sofreakingproud)
• Homeschooling, but for real, because we CHOOSE to

Never in a million years would I have believed these things about myself. 

I’m still not sure that I believe these things about myself, but here we are. 

Let me back up. 

If you’ve ever heard me talk about my why, you’ve heard me talk about walking my daughter to school. We picked THIS HOUSE on THIS STREET so that I could literally walk Daphne to school, and when our world was falling apart and Justin suggested that maybe I should go back to work, I dug in my heels and gave a powerful, stirring speech about why that wasn’t going to happen. 

(Okay. It may have been more like a yelling match, but the FEELING was DEFINITELY there.)

I love Daphne’s school. It has a phenomenal bilingual program that I wholeheartedly support and believe in passionately. 

It is in an incredible district with teachers who do amazing work every day.

And also, I work from home and actually need uninterrupted time to DO MY WORK, so school is kind of an awesome thing.

Except…

You might not know this about me, mama, but some people think I’m a little bit of a control freak and I like to just do things versus going to ask for help.

I know, I know, it’s hard to believe. 

But it’s true — I like to make decisions from a place of strength, and right now, taking control of the situation and deciding to homeschool our kids puts us in a place to make smart decisions for our family. 

And yes, I’m extremely aware that we’re wonderfully fortunate to be in a place to make this decision. It’s not something we could have done even just five years ago.

What will homeschooling look like for our family? Well, in an ideal world, we’ll co-teach the kids in the mornings and then have play and rest time in the afternoons while we work. I’m envisioning Daphne making daisy chains while she milks the goats and Henry tilling the land, even though I don’t know what that really means. I realize that the reality may be slightly less idyllic.

I do know that as a family, we’re investing in ourselves — setting ourselves up with the right resources and tools, learning more about how we learn and teach. Justin and I know that we need to ask for help, so we enrolled in a parenting course this summer (it’s amaaaaaaaazing, and you can bet that I’m bringing our coach in to teach our community some of the incredible strategies we’ve learned!).

I do know that there’s a learning curve, and that we’ll make plenty of mistakes along the way.

I do know that what’s right for my family isn’t right for every family.

Most of all, I know that I can ask for help when I need it — and believe me, I’m going to need it. 

Stay tuned. It’s going to be a bumpy ride for all of us — but we’re here for each other.

Also — if you feel like you’re on the edge of burnout, I want to help you avoid that and my last episode of FreeMamaTV was all about that. You can check it out here!

P.S. Thinking of ditching the 9-5 and joining me on this work-from-home + homeschool + goats adventure? Even if you’re not into goats, there’s one thing you DO need if you want to work from home, and I’m talking allllllll about it on this week’s episode of Free Mama Radio, with special guest Ryann Dowdy. Don’t miss it! 

Have you ever been so exhausted that even the idea of watching Netflix doesn’t appeal to you, mama?

Real burnout is more than just procrastinating in front of the television or having a bad day. If you’ve ever felt the kind of bone-deep physical and mental exhaustion I mean, then you already know that It’s a pretty serious thing. 

You can’t even find meaning in your work, and you certainly don’t feel any joy. 

This is not a good way to be, Mama, and I don’t want it to happen to you. So get yourself over to YouTube so that you can learn to recognize the signs of burnout — and take steps to learn how to avoid burnout WAHM style.

There are real ways to take care of yourself — beyond a mani-pedi and a Bachelor binge — and make sure that you don’t burnout, and we’ll cover them in today’s episode of FreeMamaTV. It’s just what the doctor ordered! So, ready to learn how to avoid burnout WAHM edition? Tune in now!

Be sure & to subscribe to FreeMamaTV so you can be the first to know when a new episode airs!

P.S. Last week, I shared something super important about anti-racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. I am highlighting some incredible Free Mamas in our community who are Black and who have given us the privilege of sharing their stories. This is also a great place to find resources to learn how you can do better too!

It’s late at night, mama. You’re standing with your husband in the dark, looking down at your sleeping child.

You’ve been there, right?

What are the thoughts that go through your mind at that moment?

Are you reliving something funny that happened earlier in the day? Are you laughing quietly as you recall the mispronunciation or the amazingly cute antics? Are you relieved that the tantrum is over? Or a little nostalgic at the last day of preschool?

Here’s what’s probably not going through your head:

Today, I told my child how to behave when he’s pulled over by a policeman. 

Today I talked to my daughter about what she felt like when someone called her the n-word.

Today, I was terrified about my baby’s future. 

If you’re white, these probably aren’t thoughts and fears you have, because you don’t have to.

But if you’re Black, you know that just as you learned from a very young age that there are people on this planet who will always see you as less than, as not worthy of sharing space with them, that you have to teach your children these terrible, difficult truths. This is why anti-racism is still important.

When I listened to Black mamas from our community, I was struck again and again by tiny, telling details. 

All of them told me that they’ve taught their kids — just as their own parents taught them — “When you’re pulled over…”

When.

Not if. 

When. 

It’s a given — it will happen. 

I’m so grateful to be able to count these women not just among my students, but among my friends — and friends who care about me and this country enough to share their stories, openly, so that we can start to understand a little bit of what life looks like every day for Black people. 

Driving is more dangerous for Black people than for white people. 

Nearly all the women I spoke to talked about being followed in a store because someone thought they were going to steal something.

When you’re Black, you have to think about what you’re wearing before you dash into the bank.

And you have to have hard conversations with your kids. You have to teach them how and when to submit to a police officer, and that people will assume they’re guilty of things they’ve never dreamed of doing, and that their actions can be the difference between life and death.

You don’t have to do that when you’re white.

If you’re white like me, you might not love it when people say you’re privileged. That’s probably because you’re not understanding the word. I didn’t. Four or five years ago, people would talk about privilege, and I’d feel triggered. 

I thought it meant that I didn’t work hard, or I didn’t suffer, or I hadn’t struggled, or I didn’t earn what I have, but that’s not what privilege means. 

I’ve worked my tush off, and struggled — just like you. And no one is saying that we didn’t. But never, in all our years of hard work, never once did we have to consider what we’re wearing when we walk into the bank. 

Never once did we have to talk to our kids about how to act when they are pulled over.

We’ve never stood in a dark room and prayed, “Make him be short and look less intimidating.”

And that’s privilege.

—

The exceptionally talented and wonderful Brittany Johnson, a longtime member of The Free Mama community, has graciously offered to host an open, non-judgemental Q&A in the Free Mama Facebook group. I’m so grateful to Brittany, for her friendship and support, for her guidance, and for her willingness to help all of us build better versions of ourselves as we understand why anti-racism is still important to talk about.

I’ll see you in the Facebook group.

How great would it be if you had more than 24 hours in a day? Maybe not every single day, but if once in a while you could get an extra 5-6 hours to finish a project, catch up on sleep, or just hang out with a girlfriend — and somehow not have that time count against you? How cool would that be?

Well, how about the next best thing, mama?

In today’s episode of FreeMamaTV, I’m going to show you how to make the very most of the 24 hours you do have — by leveraging your time effectively.  I’m showing you how to multiply your time for wahms.

You’ll learn why DROP is one of my favorite acronyms, and how you can put it to work for you starting right now. 

So, quit talking about how busy you are, start thinking about what you’d do with just one extra hour in your day, learn how to multiply your time for wahms, and get yourself over to YouTube to watch FreeMamaTV.

Be sure & to subscribe to FreeMamaTV so you can be the first to know when a new episode airs!

Now that you know what a Social Media Manager can do…make sure you’re not making THESE social media mistakes!

P.S. Last week, I shared my life lessons from the road – if you know anything about me, you may know I am a control freak. So it surprised even my closest family and friends that I wanted to spend the summer touring the country in an RV with my kids. Well, I am letting you in on some of the secrets of my road trip and being completely vulnerable and honest with you – because I have learned some HUGE lessons about what it means to be a go with the flow mom!! Ready to hear from honest Lauren? Come check it out here!

Did you hear who’s coming to FML2020?

A couple of weeks ago, I spilled a whole bunch of details on what Free Mama Live 2020 is going to look like. 

The short version?

Epic.

Oh, did you want a few more details?

Okay, sure. Free Mama Live 2020 is a two-week virtual event with featured speakers, intimate workshops, skills labs, breakout panels, VIP mixers, and more.

You’ll get exactly what you need to move your business forward and smash your goals.  

So who are the Free Mama Live 2020 speakers? We’ll have OL and Sway Buckley — co-creators of MarriedpreneurLife.com and hosts of the Marriedpreneur Life podcast — teach us how couples can scale and create multiple revenue streams WITHOUT sacrificing their marriage (even if they don’t work in business together).

Bonnie Kelly of Rebels For Joy will show you how to radically transform the way you think and feel, end the cycle of self-sabotage and let your truest light shine.

Free Mama favorites (and featured speakers from last year) Kathryn Jones and Abbi Perets are back — and this time they’re running hands-on skills labs so that you can learn straight from them how to add high-paying freelance services to your business. 

And did I mention the Sales Lab? Yeah, we have Ryann Dowdy — yes, the one who works directly with our Inner Circle mamas — plus Violette de Ayala from FemCity and Eileen Wilder of the Confident Closer Formula. These three powerhouse women will show you, step by step, how you go from meeting people to selling your service and creating and selling a high-ticket offer.

Brooke Markevicius of MOMentum Marketplace will be there — and you’ll get the scoop on how we fast-track Free Mamas through approval and vetting in the Marketplace so that you can start getting clients fast. 

And we have SO MANY MORE Free Mama Live 2020 speakers and exciting sessions in the works.

So, yeah. 

Epic. 

And if you don’t have your ticket yet, what exactly are you waiting for?

You can get access to the entire two-week virtual event for as little as $197, so you don’t have to worry about FOMO. 

Want more? The All Access Pass offers massive value at $497 — or treat yourself to the VIP Experience for $997. 

No, I won’t be able to hug you, but Free Mama Live 2020 will still rock your world. 

Will you be there?

Hey mama!

You’ve heard me sing the praises of time blocking a million times. But have I ever told you about time batching — and how I use the two together for a massive productivity powerup?

Let’s fix that right now. It’s going to be our little secret. 

I’m going to show you how to take your time blocks and supercharge them by batching your tasks on today’s episode of FreeMamaTV. It’s a simple concept to understand and implement — and the results will blow you (and your to-do list!) away. 

Go watch this episode, and then take over the world!

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, I want to help you start a successful freelancing business from home so that you can live a totally awesome, guilt-free life. 
Here are 4 ways we can do this together: 

1. Check out The Free Mama Guide – Still not convinced if freelancing is right for you? Stuck on where exactly to get started? Hung up on things like taxes, insurance or fear of failure? I’m going to show you why freelancing is the best option for moms who want to work from home.

2. Quick Start Freelance Success Kit – This 3-module course will give you what you need to assess your existing skills and figure out exactly how YOU can earn money freelancing from home. You’ll quickly understand that you DO have the skills to do this work and you’ll be ready to race out and find your first client!

3. Enroll in The Free Mama Movement – A proven 12-week program that teaches you how to start your new freelance business and replace your 9-5 salary — with plenty of hands-on support and step-by-step guidance.

4. Reserve your spot at Free Mama Live! – You’re invited to an epic, two-week online event for mamas who want MORE — and are ready to take action. Are you ready to take charge of your life, smash through your limiting beliefs, and build the business you’ve been dreaming of? I’m coming to your house (virtually) October 15-30, 2020.