What Her Daughter Said Changed Her Business - A Bookkeeper's Tale

Shiela was working 16-hour days and felt like her world was falling apart.

While her business was growing and her clients were happy about her always being available, her house felt like a war zone. Piles of laundry, cold dinners, surface level conversations with her children and husband. She was a mom of three, ages 5 to 19, who felt like she knew her clients better than she knew her family.

The worst part? She started her business in order to be MORE PRESENT with her family.

She built it for freedom, for flexibility, and for fun. But somewhere along the way, the status quo hustle (that business owners have to work themselves to the bone) took over, and she started feeling guilty all the time. Guilt for working too much. Guilt for being short with her kids. Guilt for secretly resenting the success at the cost of her life.

The breaking point came when her teenage daughter said, “I never want to own a business. You’re always tired and mean.”

That one sentence broke her open. With tears rolling down her face, she emailed me and asked for a consult. She had been emailing me that someday she wanted a budgeting session - and that someday had just arrived. She was ready to change how she operated her business so she could be there for her family.

We had a great session that turned into monthly sessions. She joined Path to Profit (my weekly coaching calls), learned to set boundaries, and slowly started hiring a team to help her run her business. It took months for her to delegate things off her plate. But eventually, she was working 20-hour weeks, making six figures, and finally showing up to the life she had really wanted to be living. After a year, her daughter started working with her and they had a great relationship.

If you’re missing the moments that matter while serving everyone but yourself, something needs to shift.  You deserve a business that supports your life, not one that makes your family feel less important than your clients.

And yes, there will always be guilt that you are letting someone down - your employees, your clients, your family, or yourself. Finding the balance is hard. When I find myself spiraling, I look 10 years out and visualize who is in my circle. It's my family. And that is when I am reminded that they always come first.

Lub you,
Crystal 🦄