Part 1: How to Wear Multiple Hats as an Entrepreneur

Amber Olson Rourke is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Neora — an award-winning skincare and wellness solutions company with headquarters in Addison, Texas. Amber is responsible for Neora’s branding, creative services, communications, public relations, events, digital marketing and social media.

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What Makes an Entrepreneur

It takes courage and confidence to make it work as an entrepreneur. Not only are you working to improve your own quality of life, but you’re also helping others do the same, often while juggling multiple other roles. For this month’s topic, I’m excited to share with you what I’ve learned from my own experiences as a mom, wife, Co-Founder and CMO of Neora: Tips to help entrepreneurs rock multiple roles.

Multiple Hats

As a wife, mom, and boss, I make every effort to perform, to the best of my ability, in each of my three roles. For this reason, I refuse to feel guilty about prioritizing what matters most to me. Life, especially life as an entrepreneur, can be as much overwhelming as it is rewarding, but as Tom Hanks’ character said in the 1992 movie A League of Their Own, “If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” Let’s get to it.

1. Be All In

Make a conscious effort to be all in. That means deciding how you want others to see you. In my case, I want my employees to see me as a leader but also as a team member with a positive attitude. In my role as a boss, it’s super important to lead by example in work, dedication, and positive attitude. Every morning, when I walk through the doors at our headquarters, my goal is to — 100 percent — exceed in my position as Neora’s Chief Marketing Officer. I’m fully present in the moment and I show up with my CMO hat on – ready to move! For the duration of my work day, I put all of my mental energy, clarity, and focus into my role as CMO.

Once I arrive home, I make a mental break. I don’t take any work calls or answer text messages unless it’s an emergency. At home, I’m a wife and a mother. As a wife, I engage in conversations at home and I’m focused on loving the time I’m afforded with my best friend and partner. It’s important to me to let Damon, my husband, know how much I appreciate and love our time together and I do this by giving him my full attention.

When it comes to my daughter, Hattie, I make sure to be home in time to tuck her into bed. We talk, we sing, and we read bedtime stories, together. I never rush Hattie and I make every effort to spend quality time with my love bug because I know that once I leave the house to go to work the next morning, I’m focused on the task at hand.

There are a time and place for every role you must fulfill and every role requires 100 percent of your effort and mental focus to do it right!

2. Be Intentional With Your Time

Despite what you may have heard, multitasking is extremely ineffective. In an article in Psychology Today, I learned that neuroscience research revealed that the brain isn’t really capable of doing tasks simultaneously. In an NPR podcast on The Myth of Multitasking, Stanford University Psychology Professor Clifford Nass explains that constant multitasking actually wastes more time than saves it. Nass says, “People who chronically multitask show an enormous range of deficits.” In other words, you may think you’re more productive but you’re fooling yourself! If you’re intentional with your time, you shouldn’t have to multitask and, therefore, you’ll be more instead of less productive.

Here are a couple of tips to help you be intentional with your time:

1. Non-negotiable Dates
   Here’s a quote (or, the version I remember at least!) that has stuck with me over the years: “The battle of your heart is won on the pages of your calendar.” You see, it’s not about the quantity but the quality of time you spend focused on what matters most to you. For example, my husband and I sit down every year and pre-schedule all of our non-negotiable dates. These include events such as weddings, family birthdays, vacations, and even special date nights. Afterward, we review our calendars every 90 days to make adjustments accordingly. The key here is to schedule all your non-negotiable dates in advance. Those dates are set in stone. All the other dates, meetings, friends’ birthday parties, and more can fill in the cracks. Fill in your non-negotiables first – otherwise, you might miss important dates later.
2. Schedule Quality Time
   I’m not going to lie. It’s impossible to perfectly divide your time. But, you can divide what you choose to spend your time on. For example, Damon and I can spend three hours on a Friday night watching Netflix or we can do other things more meaningful to our relationship. We get up early every Monday morning and enjoy a quiet and calm coffee date. For 30 minutes, we talk about our upcoming week and we pray for one another and what are we stressed about. This is our sacred time – a time we reconnect so we can start the new week on the right foot. Our Mondays may turn chaotic, going from one meeting to another, phone calls, text messages, emails and more and I may not see or hear from Damon the entire day, but that’s ok because we’ve had our quality time.
3. Time Blocks
   Time blocks simply mean you have a system in place where, every week, you look at what you need to accomplish and block time to accomplish those items on your to-do list. Move your highest priority items to the top of your list and get it done without any distractions. This is a great way to manage your time!

That’s a lot of information for just two tips! I’ll share the remaining three tips next week after you’ve had time to submit any questions you may have. I would love to hear from you!