e032 – The Part-Time Jungle Podcast: Finding a Parent Crush with Carmen Mosquera

Carmen Mosquera, a lifelong serial entrepreneur, is the owner of Parent Crush, a baby gear detailing service company. Parent Crush will pick up, clean, and deliver your baby gear back to you! They are also certified car seat technicians so they can install your car seats upon delivery. Knowing how busy life can get as parents and how important your time is, Parent Crush wants to help parents by providing a service that is built on the values of trust, integrity, and commitment to safety. Along with a busy work life, Carmen also homeschools 2 of her 4 children, is a volunteer in her community, and is always looking for ways to empower women & mothers.   In this episode: * Investing time in planning & scheduling can allow your work to better fit with your family rather than have your family fit around your work.  * Your connections, network, & relationships are key to success along with hard work. * Being present for our kids means being both physically & emotionally present.  * Making mistakes is inevitable. What we learn & take from these experiences is what is most important.      Connect with Carmen: * Instagram: @parentcrush https://www.instagram.com/parentcrush/ * Facebook: @parentcrush https://www.facebook.com/parentcrush * Website: https://www.parentcrush.com   On this episode of The Part-Time Jungle Podcast, I had a great conversation with Carmen about her journey as a serial entrepreneur. She shared how planning and scheduling is key to her motherhood and work juggle, the importance of building a network of support, being present for our kids both physically and emotionally, making mistakes and learning from them and so much more! If you prefer to listen, check out Episode 33 of The Part-Time Jungle Podcast.  Carmen is incredibly strong and resilient. She has creatively found ways to juggle motherhood and work as an entrepreneur all the while focusing on building community and connections. Carmen also shares the sacrifices that she made along the way with her own health and her relationship with her kids. She has learned so much from these experiences which have ultimately changed the trajectory of how she prioritizes her time and makes decisions.  PLANNING & SCHEDULING Planning is key to Carmen’s motherhood/work juggle because there are so many things that she needs to do in a day. Some things are hard to plan because of  the nature of her business. She doesn’t know when everything is going to come up. However, she can designate certain days for certain things, especially the important things. Then, she can schedule everything else around those things.    SCHOOL DAZE Carmen’s juggle involves virtual learning for her oldest child, in-person learning for her second oldest, and homeschooling for her younger two. Her kids are 18, 17, 11, and 5 and a half years old. Sometimes, with the homeschooling, she feels like she may have bitten off a bit more than she can chew. Joining a fantastic homeschooling organization, reaching out and getting the support that she needs, has really helped.    HOMESCHOOLING This is Carmen’s first time homeschooling her younger two kids. She previously homeschooled her second oldest when she was being bullied in grade 3. Carmen didn’t feel that she was getting the support that she and her daughter needed so she homeschooled her for almost 2 years. With homeschooling currently,