Mompreneur part 1: Ali Hynek of Nena & Co.
I waited a long time to become a mother and now that I am one I treasure every second. Even the hard ones! But before I was a mama, I had started a business and while I was going through infertility treatment my newly started business helped me thrive. I put everything I had into it and the business thrived too! A few years later all our dreams came true when we found out we were pregnant with not our first baby but our first THREE babies!
The idea of easing into motherhood with one baby to start was no longer my reality. I had to rethink how I would manage a growing business and an even faster growing family. I could've never known how hard managing both would be despite my own mothers warnings of figuring out a way to manage my time. I always knew that I would put my family first and I have but I also couldn't neglect a business I had built either. Long story short, I had to accept and arrange for a lot of help at home and I had to hire more capable employees at the office to find a balance of work and family. This month we've reached out to other working mama's to find out what makes them tick at home as a mother and as the head of a company that they created and built.
Throughout the month, we'll be featuring a few other successful business owners/mothers like Ali! And if these entrepreneurs aren't inspiring enough, we'll also be introducing you to some of our "MOMtrepreneurs" in Guatemala as well (here on our blog and on Instagram). We asked them to give us one word that describes them and we are excited to show you what they said!
Name: Ali Hynek
Age: 36
Where do you live? Highland, Utah
How many children and ages? I have 3 one year old babies. Penelope, Ethan, and Alejandra
Name of your business: Nena & Co.
Which came first, your business or kids: My business came a couple years before my babies.
What motivated you to start your company? It was a desire to connect with my Guatemalan heritage but also to create my own work environment that was not dominated by men. When I realized Nena & Co. was growing into something bigger than I ever thought it would be, I saw that it was helping so many families that we employed in Guatemala but also in the US. They really motivated me to create a safe environment work environment in both countries that respects human rights, is not gender biased and celebrates culture.
Tell us what an average week day looks like for you? My day starts with three babies wanting their milk and fast! We play for a couple of hours and get all their morning wiggles out until they go down for their first nap at 9:30am. I work from when they fall asleep to when they wake at noon. I try and get as much work done as I can while they are napping cause when they are awake I'm by their side. I try to fix them a relatively healthy lunch and then maybe a bath after. They are up from noon to 2pm and then go down for the second and final nap of the day. I'm back to emails or in the office which is only a couple miles from my house. My husband Jeremy usually gets home around 4 pm which is when the babies get up. We eat dinner together, play and go for a walk if its a nice day and then the babies are off to bed by 6:30 pm. Sounds early but it's nice for Jeremy and I to have a little quiet time together to relax and reconnect at the end of the day.
How do you strive for balance between family and work? Striving for balance is an everyday thing for me. It doesn't come easy and as a mom there is always guilt if I feel like I'm not figuring out how to make time for everything. But the most important thing for me is to be with my babies when they are awake and need me. I don't want to miss a thing they do, especially right now when they are changing so much! So babies and family comes first and then business.
What do you do to relax? Oh man, naps are always nice but shopping actually helps me relax too! There's nothing like getting away with Jeremy for lunch or an evening out!
Current favorite song? I'm still loving Beyonce's Lemonade Album! It's so empowering!
You've accomplished so much, what are some of your 5 year goals (family and personal). I had a rough pregnancy and my health problems carried over to postpartum and now that I've worked through that, one of my main goals is to make my body strong again. I want to grow Nena & Co. and further its customer reach. As a family we want to be active in the outdoors and teach our kids to love activities that they can enjoy their whole life!
My dream vacation with my kids would be to: A beach vacation sounds so nice! I would want to find a home to rent near the beach and just spend an entire month there.
My dream vacation without my kids would to: Spend a weekend with Jeremy at the Surf and Sand in Laguna
If you could describe yourself with one word what would it be? Determined.
Follow along on Instagram! @ali_hynek and @nenaandco