Hello and welcome!

In today’s episode, I’m sharing a little of my background as a mama and an entrepreneur. I share a little about what led me to start this podcast and my vision for future episodes.

Main Topics included in this Episode

  • A brief introduction
  • My struggles coming into motherhood while blending in work-at-home-life
  • The why behind this podcast and my vision for future episodes

Connect with Alysha

Music Licensing Info

Music by Eli Lev - Dancin' on the Lawn

Link

Episode Transcription

Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Messy Mompreneur podcast. I'm so happy to have you here. My name is Alysha Sanford and I'm your show host. I was born and raised in the beautiful southern Oregon and am still residing here. I've been married to my husband for 14 years in counting. I'm a newer first-time mama to a sweet and sometimes nasty 18-month-old baby girl. I've been a photographer for over 13 years. I have a small studio and baby goods shop and now I'm adding podcaster to the list. It's nerve-wracking and I've already been trying to fight off the feeling of imposter syndrome. But what fun would life be if we didn't embrace trying new things, right? I'm primarily a work at home mom and while it's not easy, I'm extremely grateful to have this opportunity to be home with my daughter while also doing what I love. I've always wanted to be a mom since I was a little girl playing house past the normal age, always hogging the babies in the room, creating my future family in the Sims games, doting on my nieces and nephews and you get the picture. What I didn't know back then was that I'd end up pursuing a handful of creative passions eventually turning them into small business ventures. I also didn't know how challenging it would be coming into motherhood while simultaneously working from home and trying to divide my attention, evenly among the never-ending task lists. I found myself almost questioning if I could pull it off and feeling alone in my state of overwhelm, especially on the days with poor sleep and skipped necks. I saw various platforms and podcasts searching for inspiration, encouragement and real-life stories from fellow moms also trying to find a balance in their work from home life. I was desperate just to feel seen by listening to others experiences. Over time I became a podcast junkie listening to my favorite shows with one earbutton while working in the kitchen at the computer during nap time or while going for walks. Any chance I could. Okay a quick side story. Almost a year ago my husband was interested in us starting a podcast together. We came up with many different topics and concepts that I'd be excited about initially but he'd eventually back out as they never felt right to me. I wanted to feel a true purpose in it. Fast forward to a month ago I commented on a post from an Instagram baby sleep account. I briefly shared my struggles regarding sleep and my daughter not ever following comments sleep patterns for her age even here at 18 min. And for about the next week I continued to receive comments and likes from other moms thinking me for sharing because they felt so seen. I realized then that there are so many parents and guardians out there just wanting to connect with others, especially regarding the challenges in parenting. That's when I had my light bulb moment. I raised downstairs to tell my husband that I finally found the direction I wanted to go with a podcast. It felt right. That day he helped me set up the back end and I worked to collect my thoughts and plans. I want to give a quick shout out to him for making this passion project possible because he jumped into the role of podcast manager without giving it a second thought. I planned to have him on as a guest soon to introduce him and to share a dad's perspective on various topics. So why the name Messy Mompreneur? I want to break that down. We believe that I battle in a tent of ADHD. Many women dealing with it aren't diagnosed until later in life. If at all. While I haven't gone in for the official diagnosis yet, I'm absolutely convinced it's part of my life. In a tent of ADHD explains so much of my tendencies, my struggles and even some of my strengths. The majority of the things that I set out to accomplish involve a very distracted, winding and jequested messy path. Add in working from home while also being the primary caregiver for our toddler and you can imagine the challenges. Now for the second half of the show's title, a Mompreneur is defined as a woman who sets up and runs her own business in addition to caring for her young child or children. Running a business, working full-time, or chasing career dreams in general, while also raising little and maintaining the home can be so challenging. Especially if you don't have a strong local support system or if you're not great about asking for help. I personally struggle with that last one. On this podcast, I planned to touch on all aspects of Mompreneur life, including productivity, time management, tips and hacks, self-care, marketing, home-making, and parenting in general. I want to give a voice to others who might be struggling and as an introvert, I want to get more comfortable with my own voice. This will likely be an audio only show because I know that most of you are likely multitasking while listening. I also want to be able to accommodate any guests on the show who'd prefer to stay a little bit more private. You'll hear from fellow Mompreneur's other inspiring guests and eventually I hope to chat with some industry experts as well. We'll be having candid conversations about the messy, the tough, and the beautiful. I want you to listen, feel seen, and finish each episode feeling a sense of encouragement and community. If you haven't already, I'd be so grateful if you'd take a minute to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. If you'd share this podcast with others that may find it helpful, that would also be incredibly appreciated. I'd really love to connect with you on social media, so if you can shoot me a DM with any specific topics that you want to hear more about, or with questions that you'd like me to ask fellow Mompreneurs during interview guests. Or with questions you'd like me to ask fellow Mompreneur's during guest interviews. You can find me on most platforms with the handle at @messymompreneur. I'll share my contact info in the show notes as well. Oh, before we part ways, May 4th is National Self-Employed Day. So to all of you working hard to achieve your dreams and to those supporting you behind the scenes, keep rocking it. This is really hard and you're doing great. Thank you for spending some of your valuable time with me today. I'm so excited for this next chapter and I look forward to sharing next week's episode with you. Have a great week.