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Juggling Motherhood and Career

Here's your checklist: feed the kids, take them to school and/or their activities, do laundry, cook dinner, clean the house, market your photography studio, book portrait sessions and schedule them around when someone is available to watch the kids. We've left out a few other details, but you get the idea. It's a delicate balance which must be struck in order to maintain a semblance of organization and sanity. Welcome to the world of the modern female photographer juggling family and career.

With as many things that could go awry in a schedule such as this one, more and more mothers are joining the ranks of self-employed professional photographers. This is because they have the luxury of tailoring their work schedule around their family schedule. it certainly is not a unique phenomenon when one looks across the board at women in any given career as more companies become "mom friendly". However, a growing number of women are pursuing running their own busineses when they find the options available to them aren't as flexible and forgiving of family obligations as they had hoped. Fortunately, photography is one of those career paths which provides a tremdous amount of flexibility and, for many working mothers, fits perfectly with their lifestyle.

Proof of this trend was evident in a recent survey on NoBS where a staggering 80% of respondents said they were juggling both family and photography careers. The fortunate thing about this trend is that women have more options to aid them in their daily struggle to maintain balance. Resources such as Hybrid Mom provide opportunities for working moms to network with each other and learn what works and what doesn't.

Keeping all the balls up in the air as a working mom is a daily struggle. "The juggling balls get dropped quite often... But they don't get too dirty. Just pick them up, dust them off and continue juggling," said NoBS member AussieGirl (Rebecca). AussieGirl recently shared with us what a typical week in her life entails.

"Asking me what a typical day entails is similar to asking me how long a piece of string is (the answer for that, of course, is "twice then length from the middle to the end").

I'm just starting out and typically only have 1 portrait and 1 wedding shoot each week. (A month ago I did 5 portrait sessions in the week and it nearly killed me, so I'll avoid doing that again!!) Rather than go through a typical day, I thought I'd outline a typical week.

Sunday is our family time and church day. I try not to schedule any work for Sunday. Monday is my learning day. I read the forums, surf the net looking at other photographers work. Take photos of Jessica. This normally gets done in 15-20 min bursts between playing trains, changing nappies and finding lost puzzle pieces. I will also use this day for workflow or TAFE assignments if required. AIPP events are normally held on Mondays and I try to attend as many as possible. Tuesday is my workflow day. This usually gets done in the morning (God Bless "ABC Kids" TV!) and during afternoon nap time.

Monday and Tuesday nights (after dinner, bath and bedtime routines with Jessica) are used for client pre-portrait consultations and portrait viewing. I travel to my client's homes for these. Wednesday and Thursday are my work days. I put Jessica into childcare for the full day. All photo sessions are booked for a Wed or Thurs. For days that I don't have a shoot, I work at my other job at our local RAAF base.

Wednesday night we meet with friends from our church. Thursday night is generally workflow if required, or preparing assignments for the next day.Fridays I attend TAFE (college) all day. I'm in my third and final year. Jessica attends the childcare centre on campus. Friday nights are pizza nights! We have a gourmet pizzeria down the road from us. Saturdays are work days. During the wedding season, I am generally second shooting with a local photographer. If no weddings are booked, I am available for portrait bookings and Mark will take Jess for some daddy-daughter time. If no portraits are booked, its a family day and we go four wheel driving, hiking, anything outdoor particularly now the weather is warming up!

And so ends a week in the Olsen household!"

Is it accurate to say that women are burning both ends of the candle? Perhaps so, but a study cited by US News & World Report found that women who were able to pursue a career as well as have a family were much happier and content in their lives than those not working. Having something to call their own gives them a sense of purpose and well being.

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