Be Real & Mindful – Reimagining Hustle with Amy Schweizer

My big takeaway:

Be real with yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Amy Schweizer is a mom, military spouse, author, and founder of Tiny Troops Soccer & Tiny Tots Soccer. 

In this episode, Amy is super honest with us about what it’s like to not show up perfectly, but giving good effort anyway. She gives great advice on dealing with the difficulty that is motherhood and entrepreneurship. And she also shares one of the most practical pep talks yet!

Links from the show:

Website – Tiny Troops Soccer
Website – Tiny Tot Soccer
Connect with Amy on LinkedIn

Show Notes:

[00:00:00] Roxanne: Podcasting from my closet in Northern Japan. This is Reimagining Hustle, a podcast for entrepreneurial parents, creating a life where business and parenthood live peacefully in the same space. I’m your host Roxanne Merket, a mom of two micro-business coach and serial entrepreneur on a journey to prove that it is possible to do what you love without sacrificing all your precious time.

[00:00:31] Let’s do this.

[00:00:34] Welcome back to Reimagining Hustle. I cannot wait for you to meet my guest today. I have Amy Schweizer with me. Amy, how are you?

[00:00:43] Amy Schweizer: Hey Roxanne. I am good. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:46] Roxanne: Yeah, I’m, this is gonna be really, really fun for me. It’s always a treat to interview other military spouses and, uh, you know, that just adds like this extra layer of goodness and wonderfulness.

[00:00:55] So I’m thrilled to have you. Will you just jump right in? Tell us about you, tell us about the work you do, your journey to get there. The whole she-bang.

[00:01:04] Amy Schweizer: Oh man. Stop me if you need to.

[00:01:06] Okay

[00:01:06] Roxanne: You got it. You got it

[00:01:08] Amy Schweizer: Okay. So I am a mom to three little boys. They’re 10, seven, and five. Um, I’m a Marine Corps spouse of about 12 years and. Fun. Not so fun. Fact, my husband just, uh, disclosed that he’s retiring, so we decided that. So we will have a whole new adventure coming up sometime soon.

[00:01:27] Um, we are currently stationed in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune, but we’ll be moving back home to the Midwest, so we’re excited about that. Um, I am an avid sports enthusiast and big, um, proponent of physical activity, especially with little ones. So I’ve been playing soccer since I was 16. Which, um, actually it’s kind of late in life considering how young kids start now.

[00:01:51] Um, but in my hometown they didn’t have soccer for girls, so it was not a thing around where we lived. And, um, the first time. We, the first time I literally ever touched a soccer ball was simply because they said, Hey, we’re gonna start a soccer team. You guys play basketball, so at least you’re athletic. Do you wanna play And we’re all like, sure, why not? So literally, that was the first time I’d ever touched a soccer ball. But it happened to be the sport I loved the most and was the best at, so, Um, I played then the couple years of high school, I went on to college. I got to play in the W U S L, uh, with the Cincinnati Lady Hawks for a season after that.

[00:02:31] Um, Fast forward. I had got my master’s degree in sport management and my goal was to work in professional sports. I always wanted to work in the community relations department, um, of professional sports because giving back to me, is it, serving others is a real big part of just who I am in general. So that was like the epitome of it.

[00:02:53] I was working towards that. Um, I had interned with the Philadelphia 76 ERs and I had gone to talk with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Um, and then I met my now husband so that leads up to now.

[00:03:09] Roxanne: Wow. Wow. Okay, so then you met your husband, which, you know, for anybody who’s listened to the podcast before we’ve talked, you know, to military spouses, we know that that throws a fun wrench in everything. Because you get to make a decision of, okay, how is this going to affect me as a person? So talk to me about that.

[00:03:30] What was that? You know, you’re on this path, this trajectory, interviewing with these big teams, like doing all this. You meet your husband. That’s a big decision. That’s a, for me, , it’s mimics a little bit of my own story where it was, okay, I guess I will give up these dreams and follow you around the world. So what did that look like for you?

[00:03:55] Amy Schweizer: Well, so you said decision and that actually, uh, caught me off guard because for me, I don’t feel like it was a decision of giving up my career because I didn’t know that. So I, my knowledge of the military was like, yay, you support the troops. Like, you know, that was my knowledge of the military. So, I, and I always say, I knew I was giving up a job.

[00:04:18] I did not know I was giving up my career. And so I didn’t decide that.

[00:04:24] Roxanne: Got it.

[00:04:25] Amy Schweizer: honestly, I dunno if I would’ve made that decision if I’m being quite frank because we got married. Later in life, we were both 28. And so like, you know, I was already had my stuff down, like my trajectory, what I’ve worked towards, where I was headed.

[00:04:38] And so, um, yeah, if I had have known that, I don’t know, , I mean that sounds terrible.

[00:04:43] Roxanne: No, no, no. It’s, it’s real, it’s honest. And that’s, that’s the truth of it. Right. And I appreciate being so honest with us

[00:04:50] Amy Schweizer: yeah. And so I, you know, uh, but I didn’t know that and I did make the decision. Of course, I don’t regret it now by any means. Um, . So that really, and the. So it, it was within a year that we met and got married, which was also never my plan in life. So in how we met, I just have to throw this in.

[00:05:10] It’s pretty funny. So we were both working a job fair. So I was the program director at the Boys and Girls Club at the time, and he was recruiting for the Marine Corps and we were at job fair and our booths were next to each other.

[00:05:23] Roxanne: Oh my word

[00:05:24] Amy Schweizer: that’s literally how we, we met. And he said, uh, he always teases.

[00:05:28] Now, if I wasn’t in my dress blues, you would’ve never talked That’s possible. That’s highly, highly possible. Um,

[00:05:35] Roxanne: Marines do have the best dress uniform, let’s

[00:05:37] Amy Schweizer: I, I

[00:05:38] Roxanne: here.

[00:05:38] Amy Schweizer: have

[00:05:38] to say,

[00:05:39] Yeah.

[00:05:40] so, so we got married and then our first date we still talk about, because I said, well, just so you know, in about a year I’m moving down to Jacksonville. Like I’ve already started the talks.

[00:05:49] I’ve been down there looking at houses and stuff, and he said, well, I’m PCSing, which I didn’t really know what that meant, right. But, but moving, I’m moving to California and we’re like, And friends would ask like, so what do you do? Like, you know, you’re going to Florida, he, you know, he’s going to California.

[00:06:04] So what? I’m like, well, I guess we’ll either be broken up or married in a couple months, I guess. We’ll see. I dunno. So that was literally how it worked, how I, added you towards it. So obviously we got married and I ended up in California, not in Florida.

[00:06:19] Roxanne: Yep

[00:06:20] Amy Schweizer: We were there, had our first kiddo, Roman, um, and then moved to Okinawa.

[00:06:26] And so that just kind of made, as, you know, living overseas, uh, your job opportunities are even more limited, especially if you want to be in a specific industry. So professional sports, it’s not really gonna happen over there, um, overseas. And so, um, that was just a lot of internal work I had to do to. Say, okay, I gave up my life and I don’t have what I want.

[00:06:53] And I am, and, and gosh, I hate to sound whiny Roxanne. I hate, I, I don’t regret it. I don’t regret it. But that’s just how I felt, right? And so I’m like, I don’t even have a job, let alone the job I wanted. And I’m very career oriented. So like that was a big deal to me. And then I’m home with a little one, uh, which we all know how isolating that can be as well.

[00:07:15] And so, um, Pairing and then pregnant with my second one. So just pairing all that together is kind of how, um, Tiny Troops was even born because I needed to do something out of the house. I needed to work, my little guy, needed some people to, uh, interact with. And our program is designed for ages two to five, and that’s strategic because at least.

[00:07:35] Seven years ago, most things started at age five. So there was truly nothing for us at home with little ones to do for the whole day or for months when our spouse was gone. So I needed it. He needed it, and clearly everyone else needed it too because we, uh, are where we are today. So, um, yeah, that was a long, long answer for my

[00:07:58] how I

[00:07:59] Roxanne: Love it though. I love it. So I want to ask you more about, uh, about Tiny Troops. So tell us what is it? So it’s, it’s four kids, two to five. We know that. But tell us, I mean, tell us what it is. Tell us about it.

[00:08:12] Amy Schweizer: Yeah, so, uh, we started in Okinawa and actually another spouse was just doing some like soccer lessons for something to do too. And then somehow she and I connected and then I. Was like, yeah, okay, I’ll do this. And then I turned it into a pretty bonafide program and then that really spurred me having to hire other peop, other military spouses.

[00:08:33] So then, so I’m really proud of that. To date, I thi I think we’re at least over 200 that we’ve hired I maybe more to date. So that’s that. I’m super proud of that because, I know how it feels to let go of your career and a job. And so I always say, I can’t give you the like $80,000 a year you were making before, right?

[00:08:52] But at least you can get out of the house, have a sense of autonomy, be back outside and moving, contribute monetarily to your family again. So that spurred that. And so, um, one of my first coaches, Michelle, who’s actually now my assistant director, so she’s been with me through the. Um, she was PCSing to California and I, I thought, do you have a job yet?

[00:09:14] I asked her and she’s like, no. And I’m like, don’t get a job. I have an idea. So that’s how Tiny Troops really got started. Um, and then it’s just taken off from there.

[00:09:24] Roxanne: That’s amazing. So tell me, is this it, it’s focused on soccer alone, is that correct?

[00:09:30] Amy Schweizer: Yeah, so it is, but I probably confused you with the names I give you. So I have a couple different businesses. So, Tiny Tot Sports is a business I have that actually started as a grad school project. I created this program for my hometown soccer association, which they’ve been running ever since. Um, you know, Years ago, and so they’ve been running it for a long time.

[00:09:54] So that was actually my first business idea. I thought, oh, I could turn this into something for other soccer associations. Well then Tiny Troops came along and just took off. So I’ve just recently been started back with Tiny Tots, and it’s tiny tot sports, but I did just focus on soccer for right now.

[00:10:12] So it’s still just soccer. Um, Tiny Troop Soccer is my in-person sessions where you sign your kid up, you go in like your traditional soccer league per se. Tiny tot soccer is more something that the soccer associations like the rec leagues would buy this program and then present it for their

[00:10:31] Roxanne: Got it.

[00:10:32] Amy Schweizer: So yeah. So is soccer, but that’s probably where you kind of got

[00:10:35] Roxanne: That. No, I appreciate the clarification. Yeah. Cause I was looking, I, I mean, obviously I, I do a little bit of, you know, Snoop work before our podcast and so that, I appreciate you clarifying. All right, so you’ve got all of this, right? So you’ve had this huge shift in your career trajectory.

[00:10:50] You’ve got three boys, you’re a military spouse moving all over the place. Now you’ve got this nice little retirement wrench thrown into you, right? You’re running multiple businesses at this point in the game. What does success look like to you?

[00:11:04] What does success look like?

[00:11:04] Amy Schweizer: So it’s evolved so much my definition of success the years. So, you know, 10 years ago I would’ve said me working for a pro team like that was the goal that would make me successful. Um, and. It’s kind of funny because growing up, uh, we always, my parents just had high expectations of my brother and I, um, like right now, my brother’s the mayor of our hometown, , you know, we have, we have high expectations, or they had high expectations and not in a bad way, but I think that caused us to have high expectations of ourselves.

[00:11:35] So there’s a lot of things that we do and people are like, oh my gosh, this is great. And we’re like, yeah, you know, it’s okay. So I’ve really been trying to. And not, and not saying that to toot my own horn by any way, shape, or form, but just to say like, um, I’ve been trying to be more mindful of the small things that I do get to accomplish and how, you know, how those are important to me.

[00:11:55] And you know, they really are successful in the traditional sense. So it’s evolved to that. But then, I would say I’ve finally landed on the balance that I have now with being an entrepreneur and being a mom. Because, you know, if I’m honest, the first years there’s not a balance. And I’m sure my kids did suffer a bit, you know, from that.

[00:12:17] Um, And that’s just how it is. So, um, now that I’ve had, I have a great team, an awesome, awesome team that pretty much can handle most of it without me now then, and I get to do fun stuff like talk to you. Um, and so now I can be, you know, I don’t have to have my phone on me constantly, and I’m not answering emails constantly and I’m not taking payments and having my son strapped to me.

[00:12:42] Coaching soccer because that has happened before. So, uh, I think, I ha I would say I’m successful now in the sense that I’m able to have, truly have a balance.

[00:12:52] Roxanne: That’s, I love that definition too. It’s interesting to find. You know, I ask this question to every person that I interview, and, and every different definition of success is so nuanced and so specific, and so I appreciate you sharing that definition, and it’s fun to kind of learn of the progression, you know, of, of how, how that has changed over the years.

[00:13:13] I, I’m curious, how do you teach your kids about success at this point? Because you mentioned your parents raised you with really high expectations. Are you passing that along? Are you tweaking that a little bit? What does that look like for you now as a parent.

[00:13:26] Amy Schweizer: That’s a, that’s a great question, aan. Um, it’s, it’s crazy to see because for certain, so like for instance with school, that was something that always came easily to me. I was a fast reader, all this stuff, but it’s not coming easily to one of my sons. So it truly was, I had to go to the teacher and say, okay.

[00:13:44] Like, how can I help him? Because I don’t understand where he’s coming from with this. So it’s been a lot of learning. Um, my course parenting

[00:13:53] Roxanne: right?

[00:13:54] Amy Schweizer: a, a lot of learning for sure. Um, but the business side of things, it’s really funny because my kids have seen, you know, as much as I say, That they got the short end of the stick.

[00:14:07] So at some points, they’ve also gained a lot by seeing that mommy runs her own business and, and she has people who work for her and there’s tiny troops everywhere. And, you know, just seeing them realize, wait, how’s their tiny troops everywhere? You’re only here. And so they’re starting to understand business a little bit.

[00:14:25] Um, and they have a ki they have the entrepreneur gene. So one, one, uh, my seven year old, one day wanted to take cupcakes around. And I said, I was like, oh, so you wanna bake them and sell them? You know, like set up a table? He’s like, no, I’m gonna just go take them door to door, . And I’m like, okay. And then, and then he said, and I’m going to buy them.

[00:14:48] I’m like, so you’re not even gonna make homemade ones, you’re just gonna take ones from the store. And he’s like, yeah, well that’s faster. And they don’t cost that much. So I think I would make more money. So like just stuff that he was saying. So I was so embarrassed, Roxanne, and I don’t know why like I should, but I was like, All right.

[00:15:04] So I’m like, well, you have to go up there. Like you have to ring the doorbell. You need to look them in the eye and speak clearly and tell them what you’re selling and why you’re selling it and how much you want. And so, of course, no one’s gonna turn them down, right? So, He sells these stores door to door in our neighborhood.

[00:15:21] And then he’s like, he started, my husband talked to him about like reinvesting the profits and I was alright. Like great concept, but we’re not gonna hit up the neighbors like every day, so let’s just chill out. So anyway, yes they have, they have caught on to like, Hey, we can make money outta things.

[00:15:37] Like how

[00:15:38] could

[00:15:38] Roxanne: yeah

[00:15:39] I love it. It, you know, it reminds me, um, when I was very first a parent, I was working with a coach who I was stressing about the same thing. Right. You know what the, the. I’m not giving my daughter my full attention. I’m not, you know, kind of that stress that we go through as entrepreneurs. And she reminded me of the gift that I was giving to my daughter.

[00:15:59] And it sounds like the gift you’ve given to your sons, right, of showing them that you are a full human being, right? You’re not existing in this role of mother only for them, right? You have this whole world as well, and what a gift that is to remind them from a very young age that we are whole human beings.

[00:16:19] So I love hearing , love hearing

[00:16:21] Amy Schweizer: Yeah, and I love showing them, Roxanne, that there’s a woman who owns her own business, who is in charge, who is also a mom. So it’s just they see that, you know, because even because I don’t want them. To have a limited thought of like, oh, well moms only stay home. Of course, that’s amazing if you need to do, right?

[00:16:42] But I want them to know that we can also do anything we want to do.

[00:16:46] And so

[00:16:46] I think that’s cool.

[00:16:47] Roxanne: Absolutely. And I love what you said too, it’s, it’s about the choice, right? We wanna make sure that this. That it’s what you’re choosing to do. So, Amy, I wanna ask a little bit about you personally, so we know what you do. You know, we, we understand like how parenting has changed your entrepreneurship journey, but how has doing all of this changed you as a person?

[00:17:09] How has this changed you as a person?

[00:17:09] Amy Schweizer: I, I, um, , it’s made me realize, but not until recently that I have limitations because, uh, before, uh, especially before kids, you know, I would work, work, work, I could do whatever, like put on a, you know, take on all these tasks and all these projects and helping in the community and this and that. Um, but there came a point and not like a breakdown or anything, but just the point where I was.

[00:17:36] My mind, I just literally felt like my mind was saying, you cannot consume one more piece of information or make one more decision. Like, you’ve got to slow down. And then it made me think like, but no, you know, like, I can do anything. I’m woman, hear me, roar, roar. I can do anything. But then I, it made me realize there’s not, there’s nothing wrong with that slowing down, like, you know, get out.

[00:18:00] We don’t have to have that so much. And, um, also ch I’ve, I’ve changed in the fact of. I hope my staff would agree. I’m less controlling now, so I’m able to delegate more. Whereas because I’m always so used to being in the leader position, it’s easy for me to say, this is what we’re doing. Here’s what we do.

[00:18:21] I need you to do this and you do this. And so I’ve really had to, um, let go of that, that control and trust others to help, like, you know, carry out the vision I have, which has been a really good thing.

[00:18:34] Roxanne: Yeah. That’s a hard thing to learn too, though, that. Uh, you know, from one recovering perfectionist to another, that’s a hard thing to learn. .That’s, but that makes a lot of sense. That’s really cool. Um, do you ever experience guilt around any of it around parenting and entrepreneurship? Trying to live in the same space?

[00:18:55] Guilt?

[00:18:55] Amy Schweizer: So I, I did when I first started my company, because you know, when you first start out, it’s literally you, you are everything. You are the marketing. You are the person at the field taking money in person, like whoever thought that that’s a thing nowadays, right? You’re, you’re the one coaching, you’re the one making the policies and making the waivers and doing this, and getting the t-shirts and passing ’em out.

[00:19:18] So, I mean, even just doing all that, you’re exhausted. You know, those are their, those times you’re up until two and then up again at six with the kids, and you just can’t, you know, you don’t have it all in you to give to them. So I’ve definitely felt guilty. Um, I, I think about that often. That, um, And this may not be a popular opinion, but I kind of feel like to build a business with our lifestyle where we have partners that we can’t rely on for support on the home front.

[00:19:51] Uh, like there’s gonna be some, some times where you’re not super mom and you’re just barely like keeping people alive, right. Um, And then I, I would feel guilty because that’s what I wanted to do. Like working, came, comes, comes, I’ll say it comes more natural to me than parenting. Um, and. . So yeah, definitely I felt guilty.

[00:20:18] Um, I do always like, and this may be completely like not the correct child psychology, but like I felt like those hours were when they were younger, so maybe they don’t remember as much. And so now I’ve had a good spot and can spend that time with them. Um, yeah, so definitely some guilt in there, but I don’t regret it.

[00:20:43] Roxanne: It’s refreshing to talk to you. I have to say it’s, you know, to hear the honesty coming through of. Kind of just owning the, the existence in the life and not trying to sugar coat it or make it something it isn’t. I feel like that’s the whole reason I started this podcast, right, was to get these stories to help kind of normalize the, the reality of the situation rather than this ideal that we paint this picture of.

[00:21:10] So on that note, what do you wish people knew about being a parent and an entrepreneur at the same time? Or what do you wish you had known going into it?.

[00:21:21] Amy Schweizer: Um, I, I’m not sure, but I mean, I know a lot of people always say, well, oh my gosh, how do you do it? And just as military spouses, you’re like, you know, we just do it. Like, I don’t Thank you. We just do it. But, um, I don’t know. It’s kind of like the overnight success term, you know, that people say when truly there’s never ever an overnight success.

[00:21:42] So it’s just, it’s just people don’t know the work that goes behind it. Um, I don’t know. I guess maybe I would wish that the customers understood more,

[00:21:55] Roxanne: Mm.

[00:21:56] Amy Schweizer: so

[00:21:56] if that was something because, um, You know, we like for us, for Tiny Troops specifically, I can’t compete with the base and the fact that they can give you a $60 program where you get the.

[00:22:10] You get the full jersey and the socks and the shoes and this and that, you know, because we don’t have government funds. We’re literally a small military spouse owned business. And so, um, but I mean, as a consumer I get it, you know, like you want the best deal, of course. Um, I would say it’s definitely opened my eyes to shopping small and like giving businesses more grace in certain areas.

[00:22:33] And, um, yeah, I guess that’s it.

[00:22:38] Roxanne: Hot takes from Amy. I love this. I have never had that question answered from the customer perspective, and I love that you brought it up because it really is important to shop small. I feel like that’s, you know, you don’t learn that until you learn that. Right. And so to have that perspective, oh, that’s beautiful.

[00:22:55] Amy Schweizer: I will say though, our instruction is, I would say at least 99% of the time, way better than the bigger, um, things you’ll, so I do wanna say that, but pricewise like all the stuff you actually get, like physical stuff, you get, we can’t you with that as a small business.

[00:23:13] Roxanne: Showing up with quality over quantity.

[00:23:16] Amy Schweizer: Yes, for sure.

[00:23:18] Roxanne: Yeah. Yeah. Which is, I mean, it, it really is a mindset shift that happens there. I think, you know, I, I look up right above my computer, so you can’t see where you are right now. But I have, um, a piece of art from one of my very favorite artists, and it was, Right.

[00:23:34] It’s this investment of, I thought, I’m not gonna buy a print. I’m gonna, you know, buy the original, because that’s, that’s the quality. And it was one of those, um, I work with a lot of artists as well. I coach a lot of artists and , I, and I’m always encouraging ’em. I’m like, listen, raise your prices. Raise your prices.

[00:23:52] Raise your prices, right? Because you are, you’re stuck in this mindset of, you know, cheap, cheap, cheap. . It’s okay. There are people who will pay quality, and it really is, it’s a mindset shift as a consumer as well, right? And so that’s, Ooh, I love that take. I absolutely love that take. All right, so I feel like you answered this a little bit, but I’m gonna ask you a, a little more pointedly.

[00:24:13] I wanna know how you reimagine hustle, and I’m gonna let you know why I ask this question. So if you’ve listened to the podcast before, You’ll know that when I first started my entrepreneur journey, I actually was not a parent. My entrepreneur journey was born, uh, before my kids were, and I loved it. I loved the hustle culture.

[00:24:33] I love, you know, I mean, I see it in you too, Amy. It’s fun to see that, you know, you know the go, go, go, hustle, hustle, hustle, work hard, play hard. But there never was any play hard because it was just work hard so you can work harder.

[00:24:45] And then my daughter was born and my whole world changed. And instantly it was like, oh, this is not sustainable. This is not manageable. I have to do something different. You throw everything else into it and, and realize that I had to change fundamentally at my core. Who I was and what I was seeking. And as I’ve gone on this journey, I’ve realized, okay, this isn’t actually something I’m changing at my core.

[00:25:09] This is something that has been kind of culturally ingrained in me, this hustle culture. And so I would love to know how are you reimagining hustle? And we’ve talked about it a little bit for you personally. So I wanna know, especially as a boss, how are you reimagining hustle for you and your team?

[00:25:23] Amy Schweizer: Yeah, so I had to be very mindful, which I failed at it, and just recently I’ve been mindful of it that. My, my hustle, hustle, go, go, go, then translates to my team and I absolutely love their dedication. Where they would, if I sent them something at 10:00 PM they would probably answer me at 10:00 PM because, just because they don’t wanna disappoint me and they wanna do what they can for the company.

[00:25:48] Um, And, and I hate to say that was our culture for a long time, probably up until like the last two years. Um, and so I finally realized, you know, like, I’m like, no, I don’t want you working all the time. But that’s the example I was setting. And so I had to realize, you know, like just, I was just on a girls trip a couple months ago and I’m mess, I’m scheduling my slacks.

[00:26:10] Like, I was like, I can’t let them know. I’m thinking about work like, Need to know you can take a vacation and actually just take the vacation. Like, don’t take your computer, don’t take your phone. And, um, it, and it was nice just to take a vacation, but then, you know, I, as an entrepreneur, step pops in your head all the time and you, and so I’m like, I typed it all out and I scheduled them all.

[00:26:29] And it’s funny because my assistant director, um, You know, like everyone on like Monday pop like a hundred messages,

[00:26:37] everyone

[00:26:38] Roxanne: Yep.

[00:26:38] Amy Schweizer: And then he’s like, you weren’t supposed to be back today. And I was like, well, I mean, I was just going to the airport today, so I thought, and she’s like, yeah, but on the calendar it says you’re still on vacation.

[00:26:47] So now you told them, you know, you’re supposed to be on vacation, but they got this. So then I had to say, oops, sorry guys, which hopefully they’re not listening. Oops. Sorry guys. Like I was, uh, you know, I. I messed up my calendar. I was actually home a day earlier. Um, but just reimagine in the fact. It doesn’t, it doesn’t have to be all consuming, which, like you said before, for both of us, it was, and we, we were okay with that, you know, until we weren’t.

[00:27:13] And so realizing that, um, that’s actually not what I want. I want to actually work less and still make the same amount of money or more. Um, and so once I just kind of realized like, that’s actually the way to go, that’s actually what the life I want, not the work, work, work. Like I want this life where I’m not working much and still getting reward.

[00:27:35] So I guess that’s how I reimagine it, just like slowing it down, not being all consumed by it.

[00:27:43] Roxanne: I love that. I absolutely love that. It’s a, a great way to reimagine it. And again, I love the honesty that we’re getting from you, right? That we’re watching this progression happen for you. So thank you for, for letting us in and sharing that with us. Before I let you go, will you give us a 30 second pep talk for other parents who are on this entrepreneur journey?

[00:28:07] Pep Talk

[00:28:07] Amy Schweizer: Yeah. Um, I would say like, we know it’s hard, but get your sleep. You’re so needed. It is so critical in your thinking, your ability to parent your ability to run your business, get your sleep, get in help when you can. So get the grocery pickup. I thought that was literally the most life changing thing in my life.

[00:28:26] We came from Hawaii before they had it, and I was like, oh my gosh, I don’t have to take like, what? And now I swear I refuse to go to a grocery store. So I do grocery pickup. And not even gonna lie, I asked for the delivery for Christmas from my parents, so they paid the fee. So I get delivery now, which is, I mean, it’s like down the road, but I don’t even care cause it saves so much time.

[00:28:46] So anyways, grocery delivery. Get a babysitter if you can. Um, try to get them at regular times, even if it’s like two hours once a week, you will feel like you can actually sit and have a thought. And work on that thought without being interrupted. So that’s so critical. Um, and if nothing else, save the good snacks and the good movies for the time you have to be on a meeting and you can’t do anything else with the kids. And you just literally turn on that tv, give ’em the good snacks, and you know what? It has to happen. Don’t feel bad about it.

[00:29:20] Roxanne: Such a practical pep talk that’s like the coach. I feel like the the real coach coming out of you. Let’s be really practical, really actionable. Amy, this has been an absolute treat. Tell us where we can find you online. We need more of you. Where can we find you?

[00:29:33] Amy Schweizer: Yeah, sure. So, um, on LinkedIn you can find me at Amy Tiny Troop Soccer. Um, so I post about like women in sports, women in business, um, just things like that. Sports in general on LinkedIn. Um, I have a book, uh, that I wrote. It’s called I Will Be Okay, adventures of a Military Kid. So you could find that on Amazon.

[00:29:53] Um, We are recently launching a coaching course for parents who were voluntold or guilted into, uh, coaching their child’s team because, you know, with years of research that I’ve put into it, you really can’t just show up, without a plan, they will eat you alive. So we’ve, we’ve made some, a whole course that has videos and trainings and all the practice plans.

[00:30:18] Um, so that’s coming out. You can find on our website, tiny troops soccer.com. That’s coming up. Um, registration, of course, we do registration every month starting on the 15th. So we’d love to have kiddos out. Um, that’s also through our website. if we’re always looking for coaches, if you love kids, um, even if you don’t have a charismatic personality, by nature, we always say, as long as you can turn on your coach personality, which we call it, um, and you, you know, you love kids, you wanna help.

[00:30:46] If you have soccer experience, that’s great. We’d love to have you. There’s a tab on our page, join us. You can learn all about the options. Um, and we have tiny troop soccer, Facebook, Instagram. We do have TikTok, like, but don’t judge it. We’re trying and I feel like I’m 80 and so we’re trying, but we

[00:31:01] do

[00:31:01] Roxanne: a work in progress.

[00:31:02] Amy Schweizer: It’s,

[00:31:04] Roxanne: Awesome, and we’ll make sure that we link everything in the show notes. Uh, Amy, this has been just an absolute treat. Thank you for spending this time with us and, and good luck with the retirement wrench. That’s gonna be a fun one. I look forward to hearing more from you in the future as well, and see how that changes

[00:31:19] things

[00:31:19] Amy Schweizer: yeah, I’ll come back and I’m sure I can do a whole episode. I’m just trying not to, uh, lose your mind or kill your spouse during retirement, so,

[00:31:27] Roxanne: That would probably be a very valuable episode. I’m

[00:31:29] not gonna lie

[00:31:31] Awesome. Amy, thanks so much.

[00:31:34] Amy Schweizer: Thanks, Roxanne.

[00:31:35] Roxanne: Thanks for listening to Reimagining Hustle with Roxanne Merket. If you like the show and want more, check out reimagininghustle.com and please leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back next week with another episode. See you soon.