Exciting news! Our founder Kym Insana was recently invited to participate in AMAfeed's #startupama, where users are asking questions about tech, markeitng, being a woman entrepreneur and business owner and more. We are including some of Kym's answers below. To see the full list of questions and answers and to ask a questions yourself, visit Kym's AMA here.
On how Kym manages her time while being a mother
Time management and organization are key. I plan out my day the night before, and try to have a to-do list created in advance. I can wake up to check a few emails and potentially knock a few items off the list before getting my kids out the door. Without a commute, I am sitting down working earlier than I would normally. Being home has allowed for little distractions, so I am more efficient with my time.
Having kids come home at a certain time requires my full attention elsewhere. I generally am offline for two hours during dinner and bedtime, and then pick up at night what is critical for today and assign the rest for tomorrow. It’s important to take a minute for yourself just as you would at work during the day. Lunch break, walk around the block or anything to keep yourself moving.
On the unique difficulties being a woman in business
Being a woman in business in general has its challenges because there always tends to be stereotypes. If you are a mother, are you going to be fully here mentally and physically? If you are not a mother, does that make it harder for women to work for you? Getting people to understand that just because you have other priorities doesn’t make you less of a hard worker. If someone is committing to do a job, trust them before making assumptions.
Over the past decade there has been a major improvement in the workplace. Personally, I have been fortunate to have some amazing male bosses that were very supportive of my personal career growth and family life. I have also been at the other end of it as well which just drove me to be a better manager for my team. Women that support each other help bring everyone up. If we could lose the competition between women in the workplace, and help each other be successful I think we will continue to see positive change.
On overall challenges of being a start-up
The biggest challenge being a startup is the many hats that you have to wear. It’s important to understand the value of your time. Will hiring someone part-time to do invoices be more efficient than you doing them yourself? What is the opportunity cost if I don’t hire someone, how many less reach outs, or other projects get put aside for that cost? It’s a lot easier to do some things on my own, but wouldn’t always be the smartest.