As a mom of two little humans, I know I speak for SO MANY of us when I say that we will do ANYTHING to get more sleep (both for us and our kids)! Sleep is so essential to our lives, our health and our relationships– that’s why I’m so pumped to have Brittney Stefanic from Sleeper Teachers on today’s episode! Brittney walks me through her career path, from an education teacher to sleep consultant and how she was able to make the transition quicker than she thought. She also breaks down how she grew her niche business in a small mining town, including how she has built out her team (she is 7 consultants deep now)!
Brittney then breaks down her personal mindset shift and how that has helped her to change the way that she tackles things, both personally and professionally — side note, I am LOVING how so many of my guests have discussed this shift in their mindset and how it’s impacted them! We end our chat talking about the relationship and role her husband plays with her business, which sounded eerily familiar to my bonus episode chat with Sean last week ha!!
We didn’t have enough time to dive into everything I wanted, especially the fact that Sleeper Teachers helps ALL ages, not just little ones! I know you will enjoy this episode as much as I did, so make sure to give them a follow on instagram, and head to their site for some more information and tips!
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Sleeper Teachers is a whole-family sleep consulting agency that educates and supports families around the world in finding sleep solutions. As Sleeper Teachers we know that sleep can be one of the biggest hurdles in parenting, and we also know it is one of the most important skills that we can teach our little ones. We support families of all ages (from newborn through adult) in learning the skill of health, safe and high quality sleep.
Full Transcript
Dana: Are you dying at the thought of missing a single one of your baby’s first would have no idea how you’d give up the security that your nine to five job brings.
My name is Dana Graham and I had no clue how to escape that vicious 40 Hour Workweek cycle either until I did, as the wife of a traveling husband and mom of two tiny humans, I made the terrifying and totally bizarre leap from health insurance broker to successful newborn and family photographer, all with the amazing craziness of a two year old and the newborn in tow. But I’m not the only one. I’m so glad you’re joining me as I chat with other moms who took the leap into entrepreneurship and created the ultimate best of both worlds life doing it all amidst the chaos.
Okay, well Brittney thank you so much for coming on. I’m so excited to talk to you as I mentioned in your intro I have been following you for quite a while and in fact just had a whole sleep incident with my son last night so it’s ironic that we’re talking here today when I’m a little bit sleep deprived. But I wanted to thank you for coming on and we’re so excited to have you.
Brittney: Yeah, thanks so much for reaching out and I’m sorry to hear about his woes, it’s not uncommon for things to magically fall apart. Before I talk with someone I have like this weird.
Dana: Oh my gosh that is too funny. Well, give us kind of an intro of just real quickly of your current business so we know where, where the end goal is here on our conversation.
Brittney: Yeah so, I founded sleeper teachers sleep consulting so we’re a whole family certified sleep consulting business we support families virtually around the world, in getting better sleep from prenatal through infancy toddlerhood school age kiddos teenagers and adults. Yeah, and we’ll talk about this too but I want to if I don’t circle back make sure I do on how I feel that’s different from a lot of the sweeper teacher type accounts that I follow and you know, businesses that I follow, because you do it all like you do the whole age range, which I think is really cool. We’ll get back to that though. So talk to me first about where you were. Prior to forming the sleeper teachers very very far back, your first job and how you started to kind of come into this business and how you realize that you wanted to start working for yourself. Yeah. So I was actually a classroom teacher, I was teaching high school science and then we relocated in our rural community I was teaching alternative and Adult Education and loved my teaching job loved my time in the classroom, but after having our son, I realized, wait a minute someone else is hanging out with him all day while I’m here teaching, and it just didn’t feel like it was very aligned anymore. So, he was about four months old when I sort of realized, wait a minute this sleep thing, there’s something to it, not all infants are sleeping like Lincoln is. And I had worked really hard thanks to his pediatrician and some books that I read, actually it was like 13 infant and pediatric sleep books it was, I can’t just say,
Dana: Oh my gosh.
Brittney: So read some books and my backgrounds in biology and education so sort of the, the natural tendency for me to be drawn towards the sleep science, and once I felt like I cracked the code on his sleep. Then I was just getting like science from the universe that I wasn’t the only one who had had a infant that wasn’t sleeping well, you know friends would reach out like oh my gosh, how are you doing this and so then I got certified. From there, which at that point Lincoln was one, and launch the business that was August of 2017. And so really from the classroom teaching science to my home office teaching sleep. Amid it’s just been a journey in between and, I would say that my bio background really was, what I’m rooted in.
Dana: Yeah, and so what, obviously you were meant to do this right you you know you had the the bio background and you have the teaching background so it perfectly melded together. But, I mean in a million years did you ever think that you’d be teaching sleep to families I mean was that ever even something you knew was a thing, prior to, you know, Lincoln being born and reading those 13 books?
Brittney: No, no, period. Not at all. And it’s so funny because you know as we do as as business owners and also as moms like so much reflection right and I think back to, it was about four years ago right about now it was like March April of 17, and I had done some googling we were in the middle of like a nap transition with link and I remember I was at school and in between periods or had a break, maybe it was my prep period so I was Googling like how do I tell my like our nanny to help Lincoln transition from three to naps and apcom these blogs and I’ve come, you know, then I’m in the throes of Google which as we all know are both a blessing and a curse. And anyway, I ended up like watching some video blogs found Dana Oberman who is the founder and creator of the sleep sense program. And so then it was through her that I ended up getting my certification and I’m so part of the sleep sense sort of community, but no I never expected you know I remember like having these conversations with my husband and then, you know, a week later with my mom and then I sort of told my sister, and the look on their face was exactly what you would think it would have been like, you’re gonna watch, teach sleep. What do you mean you’re gonna like, we’re gonna pay you to get their kids to sleep I’m like yeah I think so. I think this is real.
Dana: Yeah and it’s funny, you’re in one of those really awesome niches where like, people are desperate. I mean they will pay you to help get some sleep because, for me that was the hardest thing about becoming a parent was learning how to function on, you know, and obviously when they’re a newborn, they have to eat every so many out right so obviously there is an aspect of it that, of course, you know you’re not going to get a lot of sleep, but after that, Like, you can teach them, they can learn, and of course you’re going to pay money to save yourself, you know that sleep and that mental health that you’re working on because if you can’t sleep, you can’t function, I mean especially for people that are more sleep dependent than others. I know my husband can run on very little sleep and I can’t, that’s not a reality for me. And so I think you’ve definitely found a great niche here where people need this, they need your service but at the same time like you feel great about what you’re doing, I can only imagine how amazing it feels and after all the feedback I’ve seen from your clients, you know how great it feels to really help them I mean you’re helping them in such an incredible way. And I think, you know, the fact that you found this business that does that and then also gives you the life that you want to lead is just so incredible. So, I want to hear more about that time when you started doing the research, and then you started to see how you could make it a business, you were a teacher right did you ever have a dream of starting your own company because that in and of itself is kind of a big week, so what kind of drove you and made you think that you could really do that.
Brittney: It was a huge, huge unknown and no I had zero business background zero marketing background, I, at the time didn’t have an Instagram I had this little bitty personal Facebook page, which I really only use because we had moved from Colorado to Nevada so it was like you know, the way we used to use Facebook is your life right right your people by went and got certified in August came home at the time I was Brittany Stefanik sleep consulting so like I had no idea, like, what’s the brand, like what do you mean, I need, you know, by me and we are we and we’re Britney Stefan and Cliff consulting, and it transformed into sleeper teachers after expanding a team and some further growth which we can talk about if you want but in terms of like the Did I ever envision this absolutely not, did I have any idea where it would go, No, truly, when my husband and I were chatting about like the initial investment and me flying to Florida for the certification and paying for that initial certs, and you know like the website and just like the typical startup costs is very, very, very vividly remember the conversation where I was so held back by like this money piece like oh my gosh, right. Are we really gonna pay this. And I remember JJ saying and he’s been the number one cheerleader of this thing from the start, like what if half of this money came from savings and half of it came from, you know like checking and. And what if it was only half, like what if we just pretended that it was half and we worried about the second half later of course we still have to pay all of it at once, but in our mind, we just sort of treated as like two different things from two different accounts, he said would you do if it if it was half, and I said well yeah, and he’s like okay well just consider it done. So that was like a very interesting from like a money mindset productive even yeah I love that. Yeah, I was really held back by the full, but it half it was a no brainer, which was fascinating, and honestly going into it. We knew that worst case would be I would keep teaching, which was my plan. And I would do this on the side, you know evenings and weekends help people, friends and family mostly as they needed it. And I would just work the business in till I had made back the investment if it took a couple years, totally fine, you know, if it took longer than that totally fine, and we would just wait and see kind of where it went. That was not what happened.
Dana: So, so what did happen.
Brittney: So I launched let’s call it like timber one of 17. By January, so four or five months and I knew that I was going to need to quit my teaching job in order to make this thing happen just because I found myself, as many people with the side hustle do, like I’m working full time I have a one year old, and then I’m coming home and while he’s sleeping and I want to be hanging out with my husband or on weekends I’m now running this huge business on the side, in pockets of time, and it became abundantly clear that in order for me to actually have more time with Lincoln, something had to give right I got into it so I could have time with him, but by January six months in the biz, I had the opposite. So by, I don’t know, March, about this time spring break, ish, I reached out and told my principal and let them know, you know, it looks like this is heading in the direction that it’s going to be become my full time gig. So, I’m happy to obviously honor my contract through June, and then you’ll need to fill my position, and that was scary. That was yeah, that was, but I feel like when I made that leap. When I made that commitment and took the jump. Then I opened up in my mind, in my soul really, and in my time, the opportunity to really make it what it is now. Yeah and I think it’s so different for each person that juggle of hey yes I’ve started this business and I really really wanted to work, but at the same time I have this other job, but at the same time, I am a mom and that’s the whole reason for starting the side hustle, quote unquote side hustle in the first place. Right. And so I think finding that balance is something that people really have a hard time with and I think the important thing to note is that everybody does it differently, financially, there are only so many options for some people and some people will take more risk than others and some people would prefer not to. And so it’s interesting to see the kind of line that everybody takes in terms of making that jump and having that shift go down but I think for you it’s cool because you were a teacher so you had kind of a sense to an end right that made sense for you to stop in June, you know when your school year was over and it kind of gave you a nice little timeline, but for somebody who doesn’t have a kind of end date to their job like that, deciding when to make that big call, you know, to their boss or let them know that they’re going to be done is, is really tough. And so before you made that call to your principal and obviously you know the time was a big factor of it. How did you and JJ feel financially like Did you know okay like by then if I can keep building by the time we’re done and stop collecting, you know, not collecting a paycheck from school anymore. Is it going to be the right time financially with the business to be able to make that leap and be comfortable.
Dana: Yeah that’s a great question.
Brittney: So, keep in mind, he’s an engineer, so we had like all the spreadsheets we had all of the. Everything was very very clear, you know, from a money and income perspective and what it came down to for us was, I had already matched what I was making teaching as a sleep coach, but I was having to do it on evenings and weekends, and so our desire was okay wait if I really want more time for the family. I could mix the teaching gig. Take this business full time or as full time as you know I want. And then, in that way. If I want to grow up beyond that I absolutely can, but we had evidence, already, which made us both feel much more comfortable right like by by March about six months into business we already knew that there was potential we already knew that the money was coming in. So in that sense, there was a lot of comfort in the evidence. Yeah and that’s a fast turnaround, I mean to start a business and replace your income in six months is incredible. So what, what are some secrets like what, what did you do that made that happen because first off it’s it’s really quick and Second off, that’s a lot of money to make that happen in six months, I mean you, if anybody if you don’t follow her first off on Instagram you should because she clearly hustles. You work really really hard but were there any, you know people that you ran into that helped you grow your business did it really start with family and friends like you thought it would like what really made the difference and got it going on to that big of a skill that quickly. So, I think, a few things. One, locally, we’re in a small mining community in rural Nevada, so sleep consulting is not a thing here. We don’t even have a target, let alone. Oh my gosh. So, one of the high school counselors that I was teaching with or alongside had a baby who was about the same ages link so one year old ish by the time I got certified, and I offered to help her, and it worked great. I was also helping another local family with their her baby was a little younger, and then a colleague of mine that I had met through teaching when I was in Colorado, so I had three kinds of art in September.
Dana: So did you charge them to start did you charge them to start or did you okay you did so when you for your very first client you were like hey, here’s what I’m doing, I’m going to go ahead and charge you XML, like Was this your normal pricing, how did that work.
Brittney: If I remember correctly I did like I did like a half off discount for my first few clients, and I knew that and I had really great guidance from my mentor and trainer Dana.
Dana: That said, it’s really hard in our field and I would I would argue in any field to do work for free because if you don’t have buy in from the client.
Brittney: Yes, your chances of things, you know, especially in this case where we’re making change and we’re altering habits and we’re changing patterns like, you know there’s a lot of work on the family side of teaching sleep. And there’s a lot of work on the consultant side of teaching sleep and we need that buy in, we need that exchange. In order to show commitment so I was happy to discount but I have not and I do not and I will not ever recommend anybody work for free for right wide variety of reasons, but I did charge, I do think those first few were like a half off discount, and they knew I was brand new.
Dana: Right and that’s why I asked that because I think going into any industry being brand new especially when you know that’s not really what you did before you obviously have a great background and you got a fantastic education through Dana and, but at that point, like, the experience was limited, they knew you were brand new and I think a lot of people have a huge problem with that mental hurdle right of hey I just started, how am I going to get people to trust me to do this, and some industries have more of a risk than others, you know, I think, in yours, the risk is, is a lot of mental health, right, they’re not, they’re not moving forward if they don’t do something to help with that sleep so I think that’s, you know, a pretty, a pretty great risk and then to, you know, have that slight discount but have that buy in and have them truly believe okay we’ve invested in this, we need to participate and we need to do it is really important.
Dana: So then where they kind of like your cheerleaders did they go off and like, spread your praises and is that what happened or.
Brittney: Yeah, they did one particularly on social media, on Facebook, she had tagged me they were in Texas at the time I was in Nevada she tagged me, and then the high school counselor that I was working with. I actually sent an email to our local newspaper, and I just said hi I’m a new small business in town, you know, was wondering if you ever do like a business feature or and she wrote back immediately and I think it was because the concept was so novel, especially four years ago, especially in our community. So we did an interview on a Thursday it went to press on Friday. And that was like the middle of October, I went from three clients in September to. I think it was seven in October and 12 in November, so it was like, Oh, yeah, very quick, very, it was great exposure locally and then of course you know I like, took a picture of the newspaper article and I put it on my personal Facebook page and my mom and my aunt and my sisters like then it just started sort of snowballing people still had no idea what I was doing because, again, four years ago sleep teaching wasn’t really a thing or not as popular as it is now. But I had a lot of social proof from working with those clients, and from there I had confidence like, Okay, wait a minute, This is real, like, not only did this work with Lincoln, not only has this worked with friends who have asked for like one off tips, but now I have people who have paid me for this guidance and support their lives are changed, let’s roll, let’s do it.
Dana: Yeah, and that is that is so exciting and that feeling is just the best and it’s so funny you know you said when you posted your, your newspaper article to your personal Facebook and all your family’s like oh my gosh it is so funny to see what friends and family especially who have really no idea what you’re doing, to see what they value and what they deem as success, right, so the fact that a local a local newspaper printed a whole article on you like. First off, that is really cool. But second off like the amount more people like your more ideal audience that you’re reaching online now with your social following is so much more impactful than a newspaper article but they don’t get that right and you know, it’s funny I think for me, you know, people’s opinion means a lot and it shouldn’t, but it does like the people that I care about and, you know, a partner family and my friend group but it’s so hilarious to see what they deem is success, you know, so that’s really funny that, that newspaper article did it for you and your family, so. Okay, so those 13 books you read was Dana’s one of them is that how you found her and found her, her course.
Brittney: Yeah, yeah, particularly she has a newborn component which not all books or programs do. And Lincoln was pretty itty bitty when his pediatrician was like Britney. This is something you can teach him like you’re gonna have a background in biology, this is so your wheelhouse and I was like, Oh my gosh, Dr. Allison, thank you. So yes, kind of took a few different things and merged them together, started definitely with the foundation of Dana’s because there was that newborn component. And then, Baby wise 12 hours by 12 weeks. Yeah, all of the things.
Dana: And so how did you decide that Dana’s program was the right thing for like the right fit for you because I think, you know people out there when they have an idea of what they want to do and how they want to start a business, and then they Google it right you Googled how to teach your kid to sleep, and then you realize that hey, people are already doing this, so I can learn from them, but also that’s kind of makes it a saturated market so what showed you, obviously, it worked with blank when you went to learn this from Dana but what made her stand out and made that course be something that you thought okay, like, here’s the checklist of things that it provides like what made you decide to invest in a program like this. So basically, my question really is, if someone was in an industry where there was somebody teaching them how to teach something, what were the criteria that you look for that we’ve kind of validated her and validated her program in your mind that you would recommend somebody else to look for.
Brittney: So, the first was actually like what her application process was like. It wasn’t just here’s a landing page, give us your credit card info and you’re in. I had an interview, there were reference checks, there was like a, I would say a brief like questionnaire slash application I hopped on the phone, three times with her team once with her. All before even committing. And that to me is huge because I wanted it to be a good fit and in order for me personally to know it’s a good fit I means I need to talk to a human, it’s not all about the landing page. The second piece, and this has changed slightly, Post COVID But I loved, and wanted to go somewhere in person for the training. Yeah, that’s how I learned best and I also needed my family, so my mom. My mom and stepdad came into town to watch Lincoln because my husband was working for training was during the week, I flew from Nevada to Florida, like I needed to know that the people in my life were going to support me in this. And one way for me to gain that support was for me to physically remove myself from my home, and all of my writing abilities, get my butt down to Florida, stay there for three days and ended up being like a four and a half day trip right with travel on either side. Right. And that to me was a really big piece of it I wanted to be like immersed in the program. And I felt like the in person learning for me was huge. Many of the other programs that I looked at it was very much, you know, similar content, similar modules, but very much like online learning, you know, do it on your own time, do it in these small chunks, and I wanted to go and learn it and be in it. And that felt like the greatest fit for me.
Dana: Yeah, that’s awesome, I think, you know, there’s always something for everybody and everybody learns differently and they have different priorities, maybe if somebody you know truly wanted to do it on the side and not ever turn it into anything bigger yes and online course would be great, but to have that option to go and do it in person, I’m sure was just totally life changing and I, I love those two points because I think so many people are excited to get started with something right and they just go for it and make that, you know, credit card purchase on the landing page but then they realize they’re not the best fit and I think that’s a really, really important thing. So, how have you, you know, use what you’ve learned there and then lose use all the experience that you’ve had, you know building your business to grow your own team because you guys are getting big, right I mean you’re really, you’re branching out so how did you how did you make that shift and what kind of did you use similar tactics when you brought people on, you know, in terms of making sure that they were a good fit for for the sleeper teachers.
Brittney: Yeah, great question. So, we are now a team of eight so it’s me plus seven, and they’re all former clients or former friends, people that I knew. Wow. Yeah, not just like random strangers reaching out to see if they can join the team. Right. And to me, the most important piece in the team component, obviously, is that they’re great fits for the clients, and that they’re a great fit for like teaching the actual skill of sleep and then the second most important is the community that we’re building within sleeper teachers. I had no idea I was going to grow team, not even when I quit my teaching job, it was Brittany’s Stefanic live consulting right You were right. It was a one lady one lady show and that was what it was going to be and I left teaching to give myself more time for the business, and then by March. So business was one and a half years old, I had a waitlist that was six weeks long, so I would have visuals with families and they would mom would be in hysterics on the phone about how her mental health is suffering or her bag is packed and she’s ready to leave the family or dad’s been on the couch for three months, whatever the case like all of these very, very heavy and very very emotional conversations. And then I had to bring myself to say like, I can absolutely help you and I would absolutely love to, and can you wait six weeks, and that felt crummy like so then I stopped taking calls because I’m like okay well this doesn’t feel right. And then through some coaching that I was receiving for my business and for my mindset, it was like wait a minute, there’s something, there’s something here and yes I can, you know, let go, some parts of the business and yes I can delegate and yes I can, can grow this, and here we are. So, you know, and I feel like, so my first few consultants so of the seven, five of seven went to training in person, actually with the date. Okay, and then two who have come on, since last March, since COVID theirs has been virtual, but it is, you know I wanted, I wanted to know that whoever was going to join the team was in it, and I wanted to know that they had the support of their partner and of their family and I needed to know that they could also leave and go immerse themselves, and I needed to know that they were in it just like I was when I first got certified, and we have sent Matt and we had a retreat, and you know we’re planning some other things for fall once travel becomes a little more open, because I think that the, the team building component and the community that we’re building does require some in person interaction right it’s not just in the line of land of Instagram, so.
Dana: Yeah and I think, you know you having built this team, it’s really cool because when people start to expand their business, and I am guilty of this too, you know you’re trying to find somebody that’s able to help you you want them to be the right fit for you personally you want them to be the right fit for your business professionally, but the reason you’re hiring somebody is because you’re slammed right you are so overbooked and so overworked that you need help and that’s why you you’re reaching out to somebody new, but I love love love love that you were able to outsource that teaching, because so many times people think, oh I have to teach, whoever I’m hiring to do whatever I need them to do myself, but you don’t have time to do that because that’s the reason you’re hiring somebody in the first place. So I love that you are able to outsource that and you know send them obviously there’s tons of stuff you have to educate them on, you know, inside of your business on the business side of things but to get them that general foundation from somewhere other than you, and putting that burden on yourself. I think is a great, great tip for anybody that can do anything like that so maybe you know for those of you out there starting to look into hiring, find a way to educate your employees so that they can jump on your team and you’re not kind of missing a beat as you do that, I think that’s, that’s really amazing. So you said that all the people that you hired were either former clients or friends who whomever that may be so they obviously had a personal connection to you. So how do you manage the personal and the business side of hiring somebody that you know,
Brittney: that’s a great question. So we actually have in terms of like the actual onboarding and you know just setting those boundaries and they know, especially as being part of the team that like we might have, you know, you may have been in my wedding. You may be someone who I’ve only known for six months. Whatever the case, as a team, there is a level field here, like right the playing field is level in that we are all here for the same purpose, we are all here for the same reason we are all here with the same values of the business. And then once everybody has gotten in and acclimated, we actually use Voxer, which is a walkie talkie and texting app. And we have a social sleeper teachers boxer, where we share like mom wins, or where we complain about things that are hard in life. We have, like our sleeps, or sleep or client chat where we’re like doing any sort of like client troubleshooting, you know, supporting people in, like, you know, if someone has like a workshop they’re giving and needs ideas or something like that that all goes in the sleep chat. And so we have forms of communication and we’re really, really great about because there’s been a firm boundary that like this is social and this is business and those are separate and that’s okay. And there, of course is going to be some overlap like if one of our kids has a tough night of sleep, where does that go like, that’s a sleep question but also a social question, but I would say that, you know, sort of defining that boundary from the start. We’re all using one form of communication, we’re all on boxer so like one of one of the sleeper teachers Amanda was my call it my freshman year college roommate at University of Colorado, and we use Voxer for business stuff for social business stuff, and then we text for like other friends and things right. Exactly, exactly. So for me it’s like, because we’re using that app to communicate and that’s what we use with clients as well. It’s very clear that like when I’m in boxer, I’m in sleep or teacher Brittany mode. And when I’m on the phone or on text or whatever, then it can kind of stray from that.
Dana: Yeah, I love that, I think, I think that’s a great point and to find a platform that you can use for your business and then keep, you know, texts and phone calls for, for things that are on the more personal side is a great is a great point. Okay, so to rewind just a tiny bit. When you realize you needed to start growing your team and you realize that you were big enough to do this, what, what did your husband think was there, like Did he have any input on this because I feel like, you know, with my husband. He is like a humungous cheerleader I never could have done this without him. Absolutely. But he loves to like give input on the business which I appreciate for sure but like you don’t know anything about newborn photography, that is not helpful. So, but he could see that I needed help, he could see that I needed to start, you know, hiring or change something so was there a point where like, JJ had any input on like, hey, you need to think about what’s best for you here and this is maybe a good idea like Has he had any involvement in your team’s growth or how you’ve kind of shifted and and pivoted into the, you know, servicing the full families like what has been his involvement in elevating your business.
Brittney: So I would say the first thing our first sort of like, okay Brittany’s running out of time hurdle was the quitting the teaching job, and he was absolutely helpful in that I joked about and alluded to earlier his spreadsheet but it’s actually not a joke like there is a spreadsheet and it is extensive. But, you know that first like he needed some evidence and data and then as soon as he presented it to me I was like okay this is a no brainer, teaching job and moving forward. And then from there, when we started realizing like, there still wasn’t quite enough time for what I needed and there was this waitlist, we had, we had taken care of some like time management, around the house, so we had hired, every other week a cleaner, you know, we started doing some meal prep, we started to like implement every, every Thursday night was takeout like we upped our childcare hours so he really helped me around time management, outside of the business, more than. So that started that year that I was not teaching anymore and then about six months into that it was like okay, now I have this waitlist that keeps growing. And I would say my, my business coach my mindset coach was definitely more than one, I planted the seed and then when I talked to Jay about it, he was like Yeah, I mean, as long as you think there’s enough business, why not. And then as long as you think you have enough time like you were talking about Dana, to actually train them, then fine. And, and, you know, kind of in between there I had gotten my adult sleep certification. And I think that was more of a, that was just a me decision like I knew that I had had enough moms asked me about their own sleep to know like okay I need to expand here not just do pediatrics. So I would say we make decisions together. But there’s also this point that like, I don’t make decisions for his work. Right, he might not tell me what goes on but he’s not like, Oh, what do you know, do you think I should hire Candidate A or Candidate B.
Dana: Right. All right.
Brittney: Thankfully, he doesn’t ask me about that sort of stuff. And so, you know, I of course like want his support, I desire that I’ve had that and that’s part of the way we make decisions like as a couple, but at the same time. I don’t know that he knows enough about what I do and what goes on ATHLE. And so I guess a little of both.
Dana: Yeah, and I feel like you guys, you can see behind the lens of social media is that you guys just have a really good balance and you’ve worked really hard for it, I mean I think it looks as though you guys have really worked hard to make sure that like okay this is work time. This is playtime. This is daytime, you know, this is, this is the time, you know that we have allotted for each of these things and I, I think that’s really interesting because a lot of entrepreneurs who are moms who are women who have husbands and children and priorities have a hard time justifying when they’re, you know, doing all this work and trying to grow their business and work over time to expand what they have going on that’s eventually going to give them the life that they want. I think it’s hard to kind of justify to your spousem Hey, like, this is, this is my nighttime work time right now, like this is the time for the hustle and the grind and I think, you know, having a clear path of schedule for the week of this is what I need to work to get done what I want to get done, and to be on the same page with your husband is really important because you don’t ever want them to resent your business or resent that you, you know left your nine to five job so that you could spend more time with the family, you know, quote unquote, but end up not at the very beginning and so I think, realistic, a realistic outline of how much time you’re going to spend, you know, putting into your business and when you’re going to spend it is a really important conversation to have with your family and I haven’t really talked about this a lot with other podcast guests and I’m sorry to make you the guinea pig, but I just from seeing everything you share on social media you guys have seem to have a really good balance and again if you’re not following Brittany, you should be because it’s really inspiring to see that, you know you’ve, you’ve laid out all that time for your family and for the specific things that, that you want to do in your life so I think that’s, that’s really awesome and it seems like JJ is on board with that for sure so that’s really cool that you guys have that, that balance. So, anyway, congratulations on that. Not that you need oh but it’s very, very cool for me to see. Yeah, so I guess the last thing I kind of want to ask you before, before I let you go. Here is what has been the biggest struggle for you in starting a business at all, you know, was it you know feeling qualified enough was it fear of failure was it you know finding that work life balance like what has been one thing kind of overarching for you that you’ve had to really work on. Since starting your business.
Brittney: Oh my gosh, so we get a whole episode for this right like this isn’t just like a one on one, yeah. So, there’s, there’s a lot. There’s a lot of challenges and sticky points, I would say the thing that I’ve worked at most, over the last four years has been my mindset. So, from at the beginning, it was like, fear of judgment of other people, am I really going to make a page where I’m going to be talking about my business like what if people don’t want to see this right you have that fear at the beginning, and then it became like okay so this is a thing and how do I feel about like where am I in my head about quitting my teaching job like I was going to be a teacher for life. That was the plan, like from since fourth grade. That was my plan. And also a lot of mindset work around possibility, and like belief that this is the next right step belief that I don’t need to know exactly what this is going to look like and I can just take this up anyway. A lot of mindset around, like the importance of taking time for yourself, taking time for Spouse like I would just say it’s just like such a work in progress, and honestly like the coaching that I’ve received business coaching mindset coaching. Meditation manifestation courses I’ve taken because for small business owners, the magic is in our minds, right, and so the best thing we can do is develop our mind because that’s where the ideas come from and we have to like protect that investment, because it’s all appear. And the best way that I’ve been able to do that is through a lot of mindset work, And it’s always a challenge right I see myself, even this, this weekend I was like, Oh, next week is so busy like there’s definitely not time for that I’m like wait a minute, Brittany, back it up. This is a mindset thing there’s as much time as you make for it. And so I would say that that’s been like the real game changer, from like the biggest challenge to also the biggest success that I’ve seen is like, all within the thoughts within my own brain. And so where did you start with that, did you, you know, how did you even know that that was what you needed to be working on, like, Were you just like feeling overwhelmed or did you, you know, read a book or see somebody post like what happened to make you realize you needed to get into mindset work. I’ve always been like a big self help book type person so like, years ago, starting with like Rachel Hollis and Brennan Bouchard and anything about like being your best self and like starting your day right and think you know how to have healthy habits, things like that. So I would say it started there and then a couple different like mom groups mom business owner groups that I was in, there were coaches and they were just like, again, sort of universally sprinkled into my life. And after I talked to my, I had my very first free consult call with, who ended up becoming my first coach Danielle, I knew I was like this is a no brainer. She’s gonna help me feel better about all parts of my life like.
Dana: Yeah and that’s great. It’s funny that you say like people are just sprinkled in like, it really does work that way like the amount of people that you meet in different fields that just kind of like, become a part of your Instagram or Facebook life and then you know you realize like hey this is like kind of a life changing thing that they offer and I need to I need to get on on this is, is funny how that works. I feel like social media makes your world just so very small and puts and sometimes puts the exact right people in your path, and you’re what’s funny. Yes, and if it doesn’t, you just unfollow them, like if they’re not the right people to be in your path, you just unfollow them, it’s so easy. There’s something so captivating about social media which can be a very bad thing because you couldn’t spend a lot of time on there, but there is just something so magical about like owning your own space, and making sure that whoever is in it is something that’s benefiting you. And I think that people get sprinkled in and you can just sprinkle them out, or you can keep them and hire them to kind of change your, your life and business like you did so I think that’s, that’s great advice and something that I, I’m like asking you these questions on a very personal level to him like I need to be doing something like this for sure. But I, the fact that I’m thinking it means that I think probably others are as well so I appreciate your insight there. Well, Brittany, give us kind of an idea of where we can find you your website, your social media links all the different things.
Brittney: Okay, so if you want to see me dance around like a fool. That would be Instagram reels, so we, we are at sleeper teachers on Instagram. Same with Pinterest, That’s link to all of our blogs, if you’re looking for like sleep tips, sleep guidance, Pinterest at sleep or teachers. Our website sleeper teachers, calm, is a great space to find out more about what we do and who we serve and what we offer, beyond those i would say would be the three biggest hitters at this point.
Dana: Perfect and we didn’t get a chance we touched on it just a little bit but Bernie is certified to teach, sleep at all of the levels so if your kids are finally through that, you know, sleeping phase that’s just a little bit of a struggle but you need some help now because you’re a super light sleeper, because you have tiny children that might need you at any moment, she can help you with that too. So definitely, definitely check out her pages if you fall into that category, so. Thank you, Brittany so much for coming on this is like such a fangirl moment for me I’ve been with you since you were Britney Stefanik. Gosh, it’s been, I am I know it’s been it’s been a long time, so thank you so much and we will talk to you soon.
Brittney: Thanks Dana bye.
Dana: I am so honored you spent any minutes of your day listening to me babble about living this entrepreneurial life amidst the chaos in any mom’s normal day to day. If you love what you’ve heard and read more snippets of knowledge about this mom Boss Life, head over to our website at amidstthechaospodcast.com for show notes and links to anything mentioned in today’s episode. If you’re really feeling inspired, it would mean the world to me and my family if you take the time to write in with you. Thanks for joining me, amidst the chaos.
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