41: Back-to-School, Part 2

Back to School, New Business? What Moms Really Want When They Say They Want to “Own Their Time”

There’s something about back-to-school season that feels like a fresh start. After a summer filled with kids at home, vacations, camps, changing schedules, and trying to keep everyone alive and entertained, there’s something really refreshing about getting back into a routine. And for a lot of moms, that fresh start isn’t just about new school supplies and earlier bedtimes. It can also bring up a desire to do something new for yourself—especially when it comes to work, creativity, or entrepreneurship.

On this episode of You Handled That Perfectly™, Kelly Avalon and Carly Cruickshank are talking about why back-to-school season can create such a strong pull toward entrepreneurship. When the kids head back to school, many moms suddenly have a few predictable hours back in their day, and that space can make them think about the things they’ve been putting off. Maybe there’s a business idea they’ve had for years. Maybe they want to turn a hobby into an income stream. Maybe they’re craving something that feels like theirs again. Or maybe they’re simply looking for a way to make money while having more flexibility around their family.

That desire is completely understandable. In fact, one of the biggest attractions of entrepreneurship for moms is the idea of being able to create your own schedule and have more control over your time. And that’s where the conversation around MLMs often comes in. Multi-level marketing can be especially appealing to moms because of the way it is often presented: work from home, make your own hours, be your own boss, earn extra income, and build something around your family. Those are all things that many women genuinely want. The important thing is to take a step back and look at the actual business opportunity rather than just the lifestyle being promised. Before investing your money or time into any business, it’s worth asking questions about the costs, the time commitment, where the revenue comes from, who your actual customers are, and what the realistic earning potential looks like. You can be excited about entrepreneurship and still be discerning about the opportunities you pursue.

And sometimes, the right entrepreneurial decision is actually not starting something. There is so much pressure these days to monetize everything. Your hobby can become a business. Your passion can become a business. Your creativity can become a business. Your free time can become a business. But just because something could become a business doesn’t mean it should. There may be seasons when your family needs more of you, when you’re already stretched too thin, or when you simply don’t have the capacity to take on something new. There is absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing that. You don’t have to start a business just because your kids went back to school. And you don’t have to turn every interest you have into another responsibility.

This brings us to one of the biggest questions in the episode: What does it really mean to own your time? We hear that phrase constantly in the entrepreneurship world, but what are we actually looking for when we say it? Is it the ability to take a Tuesday morning off for your child’s school event? Is it being able to take a vacation without asking a boss for permission? Is it working from home? Is it making more money? Is it having the flexibility to work when you’re most creative? Or is it simply having more control over the way your days are structured? Entrepreneurship can absolutely create flexibility, but it doesn’t automatically create freedom. In fact, building a business can sometimes require more time and energy than a traditional job, especially in the beginning.

That’s why it’s so important to ask yourself whether you’re building a business or building a life. It’s easy to get caught up in revenue goals, followers, launches, productivity, and the next big milestone. But what if we stopped and asked ourselves what we actually want our everyday life to look like? What time do you want to wake up? How much time do you want with your kids? Do you want to travel? Do you want creative work? Do you want financial independence? Do you want your evenings free? Do you want to work from home, or do you actually enjoy getting out of the house and interacting with people? Once you know what kind of life you want, you can make much more intentional decisions about what kind of work or business belongs in it.

This episode also gives Carly the chance to share something really special: her contribution to the collaboration book Her Next Level. Carly contributed a chapter called “Her Priority,” which is all about identifying what matters most and allowing those priorities to guide the choices we make. And that message fits beautifully into this entire conversation. Building a business isn’t just about deciding what you’re willing to do. It’s also about deciding what you’re not willing to sacrifice. Your priorities can change as your kids grow, your family changes, or you enter a new season of life and your business can change with you.

So as you head into this new school year, maybe your back-to-school reset doesn’t have to begin with the question, “What business should I start?” Instead, start with a bigger question: “What do I want more of in this season of my life?” Maybe it’s more creativity. Maybe it’s more income. Maybe it’s more independence. Maybe it’s more flexibility. Maybe it’s more time with your family—or maybe it’s more time for yourself. Entrepreneurship might be the right way to get there, or it might not be. Either answer is perfectly okay.

Because ultimately, the goal isn’t to become the busiest, most productive, or most successful mom in the room. The goal is to build a life that actually feels like yours. And if a business is part of that picture, we want you to build it intentionally—not because you feel like you’re supposed to, but because it supports the life you truly want to live.

Remember: handling it perfectly isn’t about being perfect. It’s about making the best decision you can for the season you’re in—and sometimes, that means taking the leap. Sometimes, it means waiting. And sometimes, it means realizing that what you really wanted wasn’t a business at all. You just wanted more ownership over your life.