Balancing it All with Stella Simona
Last year, I started the Boss Mama series to highlight women that I look up to in the maternal wellness and motherhood communities. In 2020, I had the immense pleasure of speaking with Babba Rivera of Ceremonia and Emily Watson of MyNestwell. I am beyond excited to bring yet another powerhouse of a woman to the Boss Mama series; Stella Simona.
I first heard of Stella when I was searching for beautiful and unique jewelry for styled shoots for Cosmopolitan. After using some of her pieces for styling, I was hooked! I’ve been following along with all of her ventures ever since. Stella was gracious enough to carve out some time to chat with me about motherhood and balancing everything. Follow along below!
With two jewelry lines, your platform as an influencer, not to mention raising two little boys - you have a lot going on. How do you make time for it all?
I definitely have a lot going on. I’ve always been a firm believer in the notion that you can always have everything you want as long as you put your mind to it. Prior to children, through my brands, I proved to myself that if I wanted something bad enough, then I would find a way to make it all work. It’s all about time management and understanding your priorities. Focus on the tasks and projects you MUST do yourself and make sure to delegate everything else.
You should always operate in a way that prioritizes preserving your energy and your sanity. You are the brains of your operation and when your brain is burnt everything around you will fall apart. I work with a team, recently I hired a PA who helps with a ton of personal and career-related tasks, I outsource a lot of projects, and it’s all about creating systems so everything is as structured as possible in a way that you don’t always need to be present for things and aim to allow them to continue in their own flow.
In what way do your family values influence the partnerships & amount of workload you take on?
My family means the most to me. Everything I do - I do for them. Partnerships and family values are definitely intertwined as is how I often I am working. In the long run, when looking back, all my career moves will be small steps towards my big vision. It’s important to really understand what a baby step towards the big picture is in contrast to a bunch of small steps that distract us from where we are looking to go. Time is precious. If something doesn’t serve my long-term goals I do not commit to it. As a parent, I want to set this example of balance; to teach my children to work smart and make time to be there for their loved ones too.
Can you break down how you prioritize your day?
I’m in a season of my life where I’m focused on being present for my family and everything in my routine reiterates this. This is the general structure of my week:
Sundays I set my schedule for the week, and I organize it as hour by hour as possible. Monday through Wednesday I have my nanny come in to give us a hand. Mondays and Tuesdays are my designated workdays of which I only allocate four hours each day for work.
As an entrepreneur and mother, there will always be an endless list of tasks. It’s important to know which ones are priorities, which ones can be left to take care of later, and what can be delegated.
I leave two hours on Mondays for phone calls and conference calls in the early morning. I do not believe in calls later in the day as morning is when people are most refreshed and ready to digest new things and brainstorm strategies, etc. The rest of the day I work on what I have scheduled time for - which could be anything from answering emails to design to shooting new content, etc.
Then Tuesday I do the same routine all over again minus meetings. If something is not complete I work in the evenings after the kids are asleep or Wednesday, which is a day I try not to work. But, if I don’t complete everything for Monday and Tuesday I finish them on Wednesday. The remainder of the week is designated towards my family and home.
I know so many women out there find it hard to balance their careers and family life. Do you have any tips on “juggling it all?”
Things never really go as planned when you’re a mother but I do my best to keep the structure. The middle of every day can be such a blur, but starting the mornings off a specific way and ending it a specific way helps me find some sense of control. My mornings and evenings are dedicated to some form of self-care even if it's 5 quick minutes for me to sip some tea or enjoy a warm bath. I would highly recommend finding pieces of your day where you can commit to a ritual you do day over day.
I keep tabs on the hours I give to everything. It’s really important I make time to be present just as much as I find time for myself and the time I give myself to work. If I have an urge to work I always ask myself if it’s an emergency or if it can wait and if it can then I do not touch anything.
As mothers, we do what we do for the betterment of our families. In order to run the household and career well balance is key. And in order to provide balance, we ourselves must find balance first. Society has convinced many of us that we are doing the right thing when we overwork ourselves and that is absolutely NOT true. I’ve learned the hard way how important it is to make time for a little bit of everything along the way and I recommend to everyone to do the same as well. Be mindful of where you give your energy because it’s very valuable.
I really admire how you seem to make time for self-care. What does your self-care practice look like?
Self-care for me has always been in the form of a good hike, sunbathing and filling myself up with serotonin, or a nice long beauty ritual. How good we live our lives and how we treat those around us is directly related to how we care for ourselves.