The number one question we received during our epic—30 state road trip earlier this spring was, "How are you doing this with your kids?"
I think the underlying {unspoken} question might have been, "Why are you doing this with your kids?"
The older I get, the less I feel I need to explain "the why's" of my choices—but this is a "why" I want to share. I'm telling the "why" with the hope that it inspires, even one of you, to step out of your comfort zone and take the journey of a lifetime with your kiddos. {Whatever that journey may be...}
As a working mom, I find that there is no separation of church and state. When it comes to my roles as a mom, a wife and a business owner—everything is tangled together. I take conference calls with Schafer on the boob, I talk "shop" with Brett on our dates, I plan my workday around my childrens' schedules, and I use them as models with Brett behind the lens so we can all be together.
Perhaps it sounds a little nutty or more likely, inefficient. I actually don't disagree. It would be far more efficient for me to ship the children off to the grandparents or to hire full time help, but that is simply not my path. As Kate, founder of Babies4Babies puts it, I am "Owning My Motherhood".
Brett and I have bootstrapped BURU from day one. Self-funding is tough and stressful in its own right, but it gives us the freedom to create the life we want to live. That life is one with each other—with our kiddos in tow for as long as they will let us tote them along. The truth is, they are only little for so long. And then, they will have their own lives—their own events. Taking them out of school will no longer be an option and they will not want to miss their activities for our "grand family plans".
How many times do we have to hear "life is short" before we actually do something about it?
God kicked our bums in gear at the end of 2016 when Brett was unexpectedly fired, and it has been the greatest gift. Granted, it's also been scary as hell, and I'm not trying to sugar coat anything here, mamas—but sometimes what you think you want and need is just not the Big Man's plans. {Insert whomever your Big Man or Woman is here}.
So...Pourquoi le Part Deux?
Here are trois honest reasons:
UN
When handed lemons, make lemonade, right?
Our house hasn't sold in Utah. {Thanks for the 3 months of solid snow SLC!} Staging this home would cost a fortune and seeing as I am not in the position to go out and buy an entire new furniture wardrobe, we are living like squatters in our LA Loft.
Why would we live like that when we can hit the open road?
DEUX
The summertime scramble is real. I'm referring to childcare here.
Last year Olive participated in a myriad of camps and activities. The scheduling of it all was a job in itself. This season, she will "summer" in a van—with air conditioning, with her family, with stops in top US destinations (think Nantucket, The Hamptons, Sun Valley Idaho...)
I love macaroni necklaces and all, but why not show her the country?
TROIS
BURU mamas are bad mamajamas! Seriously, you reading this—you're amazing. And guess what, I don't get to experience that first hand when you order from a screen. Now don't misunderstand me here, please keep ordering from your screen, but let us come to you too!
I learn so much being on the road. I learn what you like and how you like it to fit. I also learn what you don't like. I get to see the clothes on you, and I get to hear your motherhood stories and see your #momstyle close-up.
It's invaluable and it's fun!
As a small business owner, why would I pay for customer profile analytics when I can actually meet my mamas face-to-face?
We know we can't cruise around in the BURU Bus forever, but so long as are kids are happy, we're having fun, and it's good for business—then pourquois pas?
We learned a lot from our first cross country excursion so we hope to be even more prepared and on top of things the second time around.
For starters, we created a separate Instagram account solely for BURU-to-You events with all of our stops listed. We will use this space to make updates, share addresses and details. Please follow along by clicking here
Additionally, you can Réserver Les Dates by checking out the complete list (as of today) here
And finally, we kept the schedule a bit more open in case you want a BURU-to-Me! Please comment here or email info@shopburu.com if you would like to request a BURU Bus Stop during the Part Deux tour!
