KALEN CLARK: Pure Romance Moms Who Do It All!

In honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday, I am featuring Consultants who have done an amazing job balancing motherhood and their careers with Pure Romance. Each day of the week leading up to Mother’s Day, I will be spotlighting a Consultant’s point of view on the three questions below. On Mother’s Day, I will share my own thoughts on maintaining balance – because when it comes to family and work, I do believe it’s possible to have it all!

1. What quote do you live by?
2. What three to four tips you can share on how to keep your business and family life balanced?
3. Do you have a special story about being a mother and a businesswoman that is funny, inspirational or both?

Kalen Clark (Lexington, KY) – I selected this young Mom because she exhibits the passion and energy it takes to be successful in this business. On top of taking care of two little ones, she earned her stripes within her first year by signing and activating 29 Consultants between July 2012 and June 2013. She hit Executive Director this April, less than three years in this business and she just had a baby three months ago! What I truly admire about Kalen is that she doesn’t use her family as an excuse. She is a loving mother to three children under the age of five, and a truly successful owner and operator of her Pure Romance enterprise. Kalen is teaching her children the value of strong work ethic and time management and defining success for her Downline.

A quote I live by:
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” -Nora Ephron

That quote gets me every time because it reminds me that no matter what I’m going through, what circumstances or obstacles surround me, or what the future holds, I want my children and others to look at me as someone who owned her reactions and honored her responsibilities. I used to often play the victim when something bad would happen or I’d hit a road bump, or things got hard, and I was never happy until I changed my way of thinking.

Tips to keep a balanced life:
A balanced life, hah! No such thing, in my opinion. I go for harmony over balance. But here’s how I stay sane and healthy and enjoy my crazy life.

Self-care – I am not one of the women that you’ll catch saying I haven’t taken a bubble bath in a decade or gone shopping alone in forever. I do what I need to do to make sure I have time to myself and have no guilt over it. I love getting pedicures, eating chocolate without a little one trying to take it away from me, or just reading a magazine in another room with a romantic comedy on in the background. If my tank gets empty, I have nothing to give to others. So I fill it up by recharging.

Multiple Planners – I use Google Calendar and share it with my husband for everything! From physician appointments to our children’s school activities, to my parties and team meetings, each activity has a color and notes so we have a quick visual reference of every day and feel prepared. I also use a paper planner by Erin Condren. It’s expensive but worth every penny! I use that for meal planning, To-Do and grocery lists, reminder notes, and follow-up with my team and customers. It has little organization pockets in the back that I store monthly receipts for expense tracking, and my Connection Cards for following up when I’m waiting for my older two to get out of school.

Outsource what you can – Getting a housecleaner was one of the best things I’ve ever done. She comes and scrubs the house down every two weeks and gives it a deep clean. I haven’t cleaned a bathtub or appliance in a year! Get childcare if you’re a stay at home mom and utilize it for a few hours at least once a week to unwind or get work done. Have newer Consultants shadow you at parties, and help you carry inventory or demo items on guests to make the show go faster. Trade services or products with people you trust if your budget is tight, or start partying more and up your income so you can afford the help. We can’t do it all, and trying to do it all will burn us out.

Treat Yourself with Kindness – There will be days when you go to bed feeling like you yelled too much, or slacked on your customer follow-up, or left a To-Do list a mile long. There will times where you’ll question yourself or other people will criticize your parenting or your devotion to work. Take a deep breath and have a good cry (or a cocktail). Remember that your children look at you like a superhero even on your worst days. You are doing your best job, even though it doesn’t always feel like enough. Life is not about this perfect balance. It is about laughing, quality time, hard work, and enjoying this abundant chaos you’ve been given. Be quick to forgive yourself and others and move forward with your mission, Sister!

A story about motherhood and business:
I had a really important conference call coming up about a panel I was doing at Pure Romance National Training. Both of my older children were home from school and my infant was eating. I plopped the bigger ones down with a sucker and TV show (I could pretend I give them puzzles on these occasions, but let’s all be honest with ourselves here). My baby finished eating and spit up all over me during the first 10 minutes of the call! Without missing a beat I stripped my clothes off with one hand, holding the phone against one shoulder while putting baby over the other for a burp. I walked around during the rest of the call in my underwear, bouncing my littlest one and occasionally doing the stern “Mom-face” to my older two when they would start to bicker or get loud. Important business call in my undies? No big deal! Mamas are creative and quick to adapt. We do what we gotta do, and we get it done!’

Kalen has been happily married for six years and is the mother to Everly, 4 years old, Beckett, 3 years old, and Forrest, 3 months old.

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8 Comments

  1. Kalen

    Thanks, Patty! From one badass mama to another 😉

  2. Jesica Overholts

    Kalen, you are a rockstar! Definitely looking into the house cleaning

  3. Sarah Barnett

    Patty couldn’t have picked a better mom to shine the spotlight on! You are amazing Kalen! ❤️

  4. Jessica

    Love your story, Kalen. You’re an inspiration to do many women!

  5. Serena

    Thank you! This is wonderful and Kalen…Superhero indeed 🙂

  6. Melissa Messenger

    Happy Mothers Day to you all! Great article Kalen! You get things done and are a role model to many including those three lucky kids that have you for a mom!

  7. Amber lynn

    So inspiring!! Thank you for another great article!! Amazing…and congratulations!

  8. zara zay

    Absolutely adore Kalen Clark–you have the best heart and the brightest spirit sweet darling!!!

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