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by Kathryn Blackwell

My journey started right after college. My husband and I were offered an opportunity to re-open three juice bars inside a large chain of health clubs.

We packed up and moved to Arizona, where we both worked every day at the juice bars. We were young entrepreneurs, full of energy, hopes, and dreams. Two months in, I learned that I was pregnant with my first child. We were ecstatic, and it only brought more energy into our mix of creating our new lives.

I still remember working open-to-close shifts at seven months pregnant. My feet hurt, my back ached, but I was committed to making this venture a success.

With our first son still an infant, and our business in the infancy stage as well, we were committed to growing our company. Our juice bars in Arizona were all located in a nationally recognised health club chain with locations across the country. We began reaching out to other clubs within the chain and other gym owners to operate their juice bars.

Everything was happening quickly. Even with a new baby, we couldn’t put our business on hold. We packed up our four-month-old and drove the coastline of Florida, scouting locations for four to five days. Soon after, we expanded our business into several other states. Setting up these locations meant more travel, and, as mothers do, I adapted.

It was always a balancing act, one that I had to learn as we grew the business and our family. When we began to expand, my role in the company shifted into more of the accounting and marketing side, working outside of the juice bars. I started by working from home but then moved into office space. It was a regular occurrence for our kids to be in our office playing with the filing cabinets, helping in the warehouse, and just being a part of the business.

As we hired employees in the office, it became a natural part of the culture to have kids around. Parents could bring their children to the office when needed, and if something came up with a child, it was not an issue for them to leave. Having kids, I think, made me a better boss and co-worker because it taught me empathy. Family became a core value in our company.

I was dedicated to growing a business that I was so passionate about and creating a new way of parenting that would help to provide more time with my children. I was the mom doing payroll from the hospital bed when my second child was born. One of the hardest times of all was commuting for six weeks back and forth from San Francisco to open new locations. I remember the amount of guilt I felt for not seeing my children every day, but I knew it was only for a short period of time. It was just a part of my balance.

At the time, I did it because it had to be done. When I was raising my children, “work-life balance” wasn’t recognised or something that was talked about. Parents in the workforce didn’t have a lot of the flexibility that I was creating for myself, and I appreciated this lifestyle so much more when seeing what other parents were having to juggle.

I think the true moment that I knew something had to change was when I was pregnant with my third child and was asked to stay off of my feet and stay home from work. The entrepreneur in me didn’t feel like I could do this, so I was still heading to the office every day. When my doctor realised this, she became upset and said, “Is there no one in this world that can take on what you are doing?”

That is when my mindset shifted, and I had to realise that yes, I probably do need to hire someone, and I need to make this decision for myself and let go of some of the things that I felt I could only handle.

I’ve seen people equate the time that they dedicate to different buckets that are societal based. For me, I saw my schedule more like a bowl of water. Sometimes it waved to one side slightly. Other times it shifted quicker and higher. I was beginning to understand where I was most needed at what times and shifting my presence to not spread myself too thin in order to really be effective with my focus and time. 

As the kids became older, there was another shift with extracurricular activities and everyone having different schedules. I found myself leaving the office early when there was a soccer game or taking a day to attend a field trip. But, there was never a time where something didn’t get done; I just had to find a different time to do it. For example, after the kids went to bed, I would finish my work for the day from home. This was a time that I was grateful for not having constant guilt for putting work aside to continue growing the business. I was navigating how to work my schedule to accomplish both.

Time for my marriage was also very important to me. We would find time to take a trip without the kids to have time to ourselves and recharge. This didn’t change our lifestyle. We were always working from somewhere, but we had the chance to really focus on our relationships.

We believed that we didn’t need to be physically in the office to be productive, and that is something that I think we instilled in our children. My husband always said, “work hard and play hard!” We made a point to take family ski trips to recharge with our kids. We would wake up early before heading to the slopes and work, take a break at lunch and work, throw ideas out over dinner for our next menu item or product launch. It was always just a part of the rhythm that we created.

Having our children at the office and seeing this work lifestyle stuck with them at an early age. I remember my daughter at nine years old making candles and setting up a table at the office to sell them all on her own. Both of our sons ended up also becoming entrepreneurs. Balancing their life and work, I think, came more natural to them because they had seen growing up that you don’t have to be working at a desk to be creative and productive.

One of our sons was more ingrained in our business. He was very interested in the financing and logistics side of the business. As we grew into an international company, two of our children participated in the international internship program to learn more about the business.

Our oldest son even taught himself Japanese and accepted a position working internationally for nearly two years at a young age before he came back and began his own company.

Having this experience and growing up around their parents exploring opportunities, sometimes with success and sometimes with failure, I think helped them to take that first leap of faith. Putting resources into a new idea or business can be scary, but we saw them embrace their own ideas, refining them on their own, and embracing the wave of creativity.

It makes me happy that my children had more experience and perspective becoming entrepreneurs and being in my same shoes that I was at such a young age. I wish I had the perspective that I do now, and know that even when I felt the guilt or felt out of balance, I knew that in the end, there is always a solution. I recently began a new business endeavour, The Open Dør.

Instead of time with my own children, I am balancing time with my grandson. I now understand the balance to be able to take him to the park and put work on hold for a few hours. It all came with time. I would tell others to be where you feel you are needed the most.

Sometimes you may have a shift for a day, weeks, or even months, but finding your balance is what is so valuable. Enjoy and embrace the chaos because you will miss it when it is gone.

Kathryn Blackwell is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Open Dør, a national cannabis retail franchise headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With over three decades of experience in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector, Kathryn has built a successful reputation for elevating brands through effective e-commerce development, product innovation, and strategic communications.

Her background in the franchised consumer food industry provided a strong foundation for her transition into the cannabis space. Since establishing The Open Dør in 2020, Kathryn has integrated proven franchise strategies and merchandising practices into the dispensary brand to deliver a modern aesthetic and transform the consumer experience.

Prior to entering the cannabis market, Kathryn co-founded international franchisor Kahala Corp, which owned more than 12 brands, among them Cold Stone Creamery, TacoTime, Samurai Sam’s, and others, with more than 3,500 locations operating in 23 countries.

(This article is published on Our Today courtesy of Swaay)