Being a Wifepreneur and Mompreneur - Interview with La'Vista Jones
So, this week, we're talking to the Boss Babes who are doing everything humanly possible to juggle their many roles in life. Many of us are wives, moms, working 9 to 5 and trying to run a business.
In business and in life, balance is critical. However, perfection is not realistic, nor is it necessary. Let's talk more about that in this exclusive interview with Boss Babe La'Vista Jones.
La'Vista is is an Operations Strategist & Certified Life Coach. She successfully guides others in finding the solutions to achieve their goals. She supports her clients with building infrastructure and increasing efficiency and productivity.
La’Vista is a master at combining her passions to partner with others to fulfill their vision. Her unique magic formula includes excellence, goal digging, encouragement, creativity and extreme self-care.
Getting to the place she is now in her life took time, hard work and patience from her family. While the journey was not easy, she found her footing when she grabbed hold to a better way of functioning and a freeing philosophy from her First Lady.
Who are you and what kind of business do you run?
My name is La'Vista (like, Hasta La'Vista) and I'm the owner of 31 Marketplace. 31 Marketplace is a business consultancy, specializing in business operations. We support solopreneurs and small businesses, positioned for growth with conquering overwhelm. We focus on task prioritization, streamlining processes and identifying gaps and outsourcing opportunities.
What’s your family dynamic? How long have you been married? How many children, if any?
My Husband and I are college sweethearts. We've known each other for 18 years, and we've been married for 7. We currently have a three-year-old son, affectionately known in public as, The Cub. We also share our home with our fur baby, Bull Dozer (a Bull Mastiff).
Before you started this business, what were you doing?
My previous corporate life before entrepreneurship was in banking. Until 2014, I served as an Assistant Vice President at the nation's third largest financial institution. In that role I managed controls, wrote procedures and facilitated compliance testing. I maintained oversight for 50+ stand alone sites across the country.
What was your husband’s initial response to you starting your business?
Cautiously optimistic and supportive. When I first launched my business in 2005, he was scared $h!tless! He thought his, then girlfriend had lost her mind walking away from a corporate position. But when I was ready to re-launch in 2014, he was totally on-board. Having already experienced my entrepreneurial hustle, he was confident that his wife would make it work.
How did the start of your business impact your household? What challenges did you have to overcome?
When I relaunched my business in 2014, we said goodbye to 60% of our monthly income. That's a BIG impact! But we had budgeted for years to live off of just one income, so it wasn't a devastating one. A pretty significant challenge I had to overcome was prioritizing my time. My desire was to be an attentive housewife and a successful business owner. It took a lot of tears, hard conversations and trial and error to figure out a schedule that allowed me to do both. Prioritizing my schedule became a bit more complicated when I found out I'd soon be a first time mommy. The news of that blessing came just 3 months after leaving my corporate position. Together, we've made the adjustments needed to prioritize our time. As a couple, we run two businesses - my Husband is an amazing photographer and owns his own business as well. And we're also committed to being present with each other as a family.
Many Boss Babes feel that men are easily intimidated by them. What would you say to that?
That's an interesting perception. My reality doesn't reflect that at all. In fact, the men I'm connected with are amazingly supportive of my Boss Babe journey. And the men I meet through networking are very interested in what I do and eager to connect me to other resources. The essences of intimidation and supportiveness are tangible. Both can be projected and felt by men and women. If you approach an engagement in a supportive manner, it will be reciprocated. But use wisdom with this - being supportive doesn't mea