The transition between seasons is deeply symbolic and for many of us the arrival of summer brings an energy, radiance and vibrance that sustains us throughout the rest of the year. The summer sun shines much needed warmth and light on the seeds that we’ve been planting, literally and figuratively, throughout the spring. These months are a time to watch those efforts flourish into abundance and beauty, celebrating all of our hard work and appreciating the bounty.
As a working mom, I (Kellie) have often felt at odds with the natural vitality of summer. In my home, routines shift, priorities change and I take a step back from my professional world to slow down and spend time with my daughter. In the past few years, we’ve created the tradition of a Mum-and-Chloe day. Once a week I clear my calendar completely and we spend the day together. It’s not always easy to make it happen, and I often need to decline meeting invitations scheduled for those days. And yet in all the time I’ve been prioritizing these days, I’ve never had any push-back from clients or colleagues. In fact, it has emboldened me to carve out time for myself at other times of the year, knowing the world won’t fall apart without me!
The experience of summer has evolved for me over the years as Chloe has grown. There were those years when the summer weeks seemed interminable; when there were never enough camps to help pass the time and I was toggling between mom-mode and work-mode multiple times throughout the day, snatching minutes and hours to get things done when I could. This year the weeks are flying by. Summer carpool still chops up my day in a way the school routine doesn’t, but as Chloe prepares to go away to sleep-away camp for almost a month, I am leaning into the luxury of space and time for myself … to work, to play, to nurture myself. And soon, I imagine, these cherished Mum-and-Chloe days may end altogether, so the idea of appreciating this moment, this year, for what it is, is ever present.
For Her Brilliance, the summer is also a period of slowing down. When we first started working together, we deliberately designed the business around our respective schedules, which include a more mom-heavy summer period. This is something we hold sacred and recognize is an enormous privilege. We don’t stop completely, as we don’t want to lose all the momentum that we have built up over the school year. Rather, we do what we can to keep things ticking over, so that we can pick them up and hit the ground running in the Fall.
This summer we are also taking the time to stop and appreciate the bounty and abundance flowing from the work we have done over the first half of the year to increase our reach and visibility. This includes celebrating the release of another guest podcast appearance in which we had the opportunity to speak freely about our work and our philosophy around group coaching for women leaders.
Podcast Highlights:
1:05 What is Her Brilliance?
2:10 Learning through community
3:25 Intimacy of group coaching
6:15 Feeling validated
7:55 Creating a safe space
11:50 Discovering your unique leadership identity
16:40 Women’s workplace burden
18:55 What inspired us to start Her Brilliance?
23:30 Working on Zoom
26:15 Future of work
32:10 What’s at the core of Her Brilliance?
36:50 The mindset for finding community
As you navigate this moment of your summer experiences, whether you maintain pace or slow down too, what abundance and beauty are you celebrating and appreciating?
One of my favorite childhood characters, Anne of Green Gables once said “All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” — L.M. Montgomery.
So, as you may not hear from us for several weeks, we wish you all a never-to-be-forgotten summer creating your rich heritage of beautiful memories. We will be doing the same.