The Stay-At-Home CEO

By Agent S1 on May 23, 2012 in Fireside Chats

This post is not about the full-time (no, more than full time!) job of being a stay-at-home parent.

Nope, it’s about running and managing a business from your home — the positives, the negatives, the crazy things people will say to you, and the single hardest thing about it for me.

First, as a stay-at-home CEO, I’ve learned that there are some outrageous ideas out there about what it means to work at home. And to expect questions and comments (from well-meaning folks!) that just don’t make sense to me. Case in point:

“Wow, that’s great that you can work at home and take care of your daughter… you do that, don’t you?”

Really? Hmmm. Either you think my 2-year-old sleeps all day or that I don’t work much. Here’s how I answer that one, among others.

[Of course I never got this question before I had a family, which makes me wonder again what I asked in response to the media frenzy surrounding Sheryl Sandberg’s “I leave at 5:30” announcement: Is having a family a stigma? Does society automatically subtract from our “professional” credibility when we add “mom” or “dad” to our list of qualifications? But that’s a topic for another post…]

OK, so besides the questions you’ll get tired of answering, here’s a list of my pros and cons for working at home:

Pros

No commute!
Convenience of integrating work and life
I’m more productive because there are fewer co-worker distractions. Way more, like nearly 300%.
Environmentally friendly — My carbon footprint is much smaller by spending the bulk of my time in one space versus splitting it in two.
Cost-effective — much cheaper than renting office space

Cons

Some people don’t take me seriously

So, as you can see, for me anyway, the balance is tipped very strongly in favor of the Pros.

But I want to talk about the Con. Because it’s a biggie. And, to be honest, it continues to be a stumbling block for me.

You see, I strongly believe that I should define my own success. For me, that means that I should not follow a model of success simply because it’s what’s presented to me. The models of success that exist may not suit me. I need to consciously think about what I want, and define my own model for success.

But the fact that some people don’t take me or my business seriously because I’m a stay-at-home CEO drives me nuts. It makes me uncomfortable and erodes my confidence. A nagging voice inside my head says “Should I get an office and put the company name on the door?”

And when that happens, I have to summon the Covert Agent in me to ask boldly: WHY? Until I have a reason unrelated to the Con above, I should continue to work at home. I’m hoping this blog post holds me to it.

What about you?

How do you define your own success? And do you have any tricks for staying true to it? I could use them now and then!