For me . . . flexibility is FREEDOM!

For me. . . flexibility is freedom.

Time may be money but flexibility is freedom. I have three kids, a dog, and husband. All of which need my attention on a daily basis. That is not counting my mom, dad, sisters, in-laws, and friends. I love them all and love being the one they call. I love helping others and being depended upon. I hate having to say no, even though after the third child was born I got much, much better at it. However, even with a few no’s, and a lot of helping hands in my life I am still always running.
Family is priority one for me. I want to be there when the kids get off the bus, I want to eat dinner around the table, and I want to spend long, lazy days with them riding bikes, having picnics, and really immersing myself in their world. I am so lucky to have such an incredible partner in life that loves immersing himself into our family as much as I do.
I know I have made my own decisions and have not done so lightly. My husband and I have both chosen career paths that keep us home more than away. Our goals in life are to raise happy kids in a loving home. To have dinner together, weekends together, to really enjoy being a part of our family. They grow so fast and we are having so much fun. We just want to soak up this really incredible season in our life. This is the way it has always been with us. We tried to get pregnant on our honeymoon. We had no list of things we wanted to do before kids. A family was our list. So truly we are on cloud nine right now. Sure our 7, 5, and 2 year olds keep us busy but we would not have it any other way.
That being said, we still need for me to have some type of income. Bike rides may be free but the bikes are not, nor is the fee to park at our favorite trail, the food for the picnic, and so on and so on. That is why I have chosen to work with Golden Sol. I work when I want and as much or little as I want. This kind of freedom allows me to volunteer in my child’s classroom, go on field trips, and meet the bus everyday without completely giving up my ability to contribute to the household budget and have my own adult life outside of the home.
Flexibility is the keyword for me. With all the people in my life that depend on me I need to be able to re-arrange my schedule every single week. But really, I would not have it any other way. . .

Career Woman, Working Mom, and Preggars

Wow, where do I start? I've taken on this new journey of being a "Career Woman" in June 2009. I fell in love with Golden Sol's natural and organic solution so much that I started my own company, SHADE and, just recently, became part owner in Golden Sol. Through support of my family, a little bit of marketing, and "good-ole" word of mouth, I've got over 100 regular clients in the 7 months SHADE's been up and running. A few of which I've actually helped to start their own mobile airbrush companies and now send client leads to them through my marketing. With 2 young children, Katie 3yrs, Tyler 10mos, and 1 on the way, I feel pretty good about what I've accomplished in such a short period of time. It has taken A LOT of support and patience from my family for me to get my business off the ground. Many times I've left my house, kissing my kiddos goodbye, and my heart has wrenched with guilt on leaving them. Then I quickly remind myself of the lesson I'm teaching them about being able to have a career but keeping your family #1. I feel the spray tanning industry is in the baby stages still and is about to explode, taking place over tanning beds. I actually got started doing this business because I had a very deep skin cancerous spot removed from my breast back in May. My dermatologist told me the reason I had that spot, with how deep it was and it's delicate location, was most likely due to the tanning bed. I haven't used a tanning bed in years. My mission is to educate people on how dangerous tanning bed use is. I'm all for hanging outside in the sun, just use sunscreen and under NO circumstance use the tanning bed. Regardless if you only end up with wrinkles and sun spots or worse, you get skin cancer, it takes on average 5-10 years for these skin issues to appear. That's really scary! Since May, I've had 5 spots removed, all of which have been really deep. With the legislature passing the 10% tax on tanning beds that should at least open peoples eyes to how dangerous these things are.
So far, I couldn't be happier with how I've managed my career and family life. The mobile airbrush industry allows me to do so and I couldn't be more thankful for this coming into my life. Do I need to even mention how great it is to be able to contribute to our household income?! Now I have to be honest, since I am expecting another little one soon, I do get a little concerned on how I will handle everything. Again, I remind myself that my family comes first and nothing matters other than that. The clients, who I've helped start their own mobile airbrush business, will be getting a lot more referrals from me until I get back in to my day to day groove. I don't know how long that will take, but I do know it will be on my terms and what feels right for my family.

Working Mom- Balancing it all.

Thirty-one years old and still battling to find a balance between family and being a business owner. For so many years I’ve questioned my self-worth. Not that I didn’t think I was clever enough or capable, just whether I was sacrificing one thing to achieve another. Was it possible to become a successful business owner and to be a great mother?
I remember that my mother once told me, “You can only ever be GREAT at one thing, good at two, fair at three, and then it goes downhill.” It that was true, I was prepared to just be “good” at both career and being a mother.
Already blessed with an amazing daughter, who now is five, my husband and I wanted more. We suffered with two miscarriages after my daughter was born. It was hard and painful to say the least, but we managed through. We always considered how fortunate we are to have our daughter.
Three years since our last pregnancy and much time to forget, we found out a few weeks back that we were pregnant. The surprising thing was that we weren’t even trying. I was so excited and hopeful. A few very short days later we found out that it just didn’t work out.
I felt broken. It wasn’t this miscarriage that broke me, but the forgotten hopes and dreams of another child from three years back that came bubbling to the surface. However, through every heartache, something profound can be learned.
I realized that I’m truly happy with who I am as a person and more importantly who I am as a mother. My husband and I have picked ourselves back up and are now on a mission to get on the baby bus.
As for my career – well, can you ever have it all? I think so. I feel like I’ve found a balance between maintaining the career-driven aspects that help to fulfill me in my life while at the same time being able to pick up my daughter when school gets out. To me, it doesn’t get better than that.

Krista Bixler- Business Owner and Working Mom

Balancing my life between being a working mother and raising my family is the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to tackle…emotionally and physically. I wonder if you ever completely decide which is best for you? One week I love being a business owner and actually having goals to reach for and the next week I’m daydreaming about being that stay at home mom that dedicates her entire day to her family’s health and well-being. It doesn’t help that I’m an emotional rollercoaster right now, being 5 months pregnant with our second child and wondering how in the world I’ll ever fit it all in. My 3 year-old is so excited about becoming a big sister but also needs more attention these days to cope with the idea of a new member being added to our family. I have found it very difficult with this pregnancy to find any extra down time and I’m wondering if there will ever be such a thing again! I have always been one to put a lot on my plate and then laugh at myself later and wonder “what were you thinking?” Somehow, I always pull through and vow never to take on too much again. And then the very next day I do it again. Is this a woman thing…or a mom thing…or a personality flaw?? Do I secretly enjoy the chaos or am I just a people pleaser who doesn’t know how to say no? My goal in this life on earth is to figure out why I do the things I do and what path I should be on. Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life really is? I am on a constant journey to find mine and feel that I’m one step closer with each day that passes. So, about being a pregnant, working mother….. I started a business roughly 2 years ago and was fortunate enough to join forces with two very powerful women this last year. We are all mothers and have had quite a journey together. We have laughed together, cried together, completed milestones together and truly found a bond with one another. No matter how different we are, we are all dealing with the same thoughts of being business women who want to make a difference, but trying desperately to find a healthy balance between work and family. We’re at a crucial point in our business where we are introducing new products and ideas and we’ve also decided to share who we are with the rest of the world…which means photo shoots!! Yikes! If photo shoots aren’t hard enough, try adding some extra weight and a bunch of clothes that don’t fit and it becomes a very scary adventure. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love being pregnant and know that I am truly blessed; it’s just so hard to let go and embrace the crazy changes that pregnancy will take your body through. Isn’t big supposed to be beautiful?? Why can’t we see that? In our business, we primarily work with women and we are just astonished at the way most women feel about themselves. We’ve yet to find a woman that is truly happy with the way she looks and feels. Why is that?? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Back in the day, a bigger woman was more desirable than a smaller woman and why does size matter anyway? We were all made to be perfect individuals…no two people alike. Will we ever get back to thinking like that? So, as I say I’m trying to find my purpose, I feel a pull towards helping women feel beautiful again…just the way they are, naturally. That’s where I’ll head for now.