Latest / All Figured Out with Andrea Barr: Figuring Out Work, Life and Parenting / 113. TBT: Loving work, losing yourself, and launching a business as a TWIN mom with Mackenzie Forge

Transcript

113. TBT: Loving work, losing yourself, and launching a business as a TWIN mom with Mackenzie Forge · All Figured Out with Andrea Barr: Figuring Out Work, Life and Parenting

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the All figured out podcast.
• 0:02
  My name is Andrea Barr. Thank you so much for joining
• 0:04
  this week. And if it's been a couple weeks,
• 0:07
  we are currently rerunning some of your favorite episodes that
• 0:09
  have ever aired as we take a little break over the holidays.
• 0:13
  And today is an episode with a dear friend of mine, Mackenzie
• 0:17
  Forge. She is the founder of Forge
• 0:20
  Magnetics, which makes those beautiful.
• 0:22
  If you haven't seen them, go check them out on Instagram.
• 0:24
  She makes these beautiful magnet bibs, rompers, dresses and a
• 0:28
  pair of full children. It's made in Canada, designed by
• 0:31
  her. Her products are amazing.
• 0:34
  And in this conversation that we had about 50 episodes ago,
• 0:38
  Mackenzie and I talked about her leaving a career that she
• 0:41
  absolutely loved, when she became a mother and then
• 0:45
  eventually a mother not only to her older daughter, but to twin
• 0:49
  boys. And she talks all about twin
• 0:52
  momming, her career journey, the decision to leave, what went
• 0:55
  into that and how she decided and got the courage to start a
• 1:00
  business. So this is an awesome episode.
• 1:03
  We have since having Mackenzie on, had quite a few twin moms
• 1:07
  on, which is crazy now that I think about it.
• 1:09
  But this conversation is so real, It's so honest.
• 1:12
  And it's really for all of you out there who I know there's
• 1:15
  many of who are high performing moms, but who also want to
• 1:18
  balance your family values and and actually raise your
• 1:22
  children. And so I hope you enjoy and I
• 1:24
  hope you're having a wonderful holiday season.
• 1:28
  You're listening to the All Figured Out podcast.
• 1:31
  I'm your host, Andrea Barr. I'm a career coach for parents,
• 1:36
  mom of two, and a self-proclaimed expert at
• 1:39
  winging it. I've learned one thing, No
• 1:42
  parent has it all figured out and that's OK.
• 1:45
  So grab a coffee or hide in your car for some knee time.
• 1:48
  We're about to figure out this work, life and parenting stuff
• 1:51
  out together. Before we dive into today's
• 1:56
  episode, I've got something very exciting for you to celebrate
• 1:59
  the holidays and to thank you for being a part of this
• 2:01
  community. I am running a special giveaway.
• 2:04
  Here's how it works. Leave me a written review on
• 2:06
  Apple Podcasts. Tell me what you're loving about
• 2:09
  the show. What is resonating or your
• 2:11
  favorite episode or guest or solo episode.
• 2:14
  And then before you hit submit, this part is really important.
• 2:17
  Screenshot it. Head over to
• 2:19
  andreabarr.com/giveaway and fill out a very quick form.
• 2:24
  You will immediately that my 5 Steps to Career Clarity guide
• 2:28
  sent straight to your inbox for free and you'll be entered to
• 2:32
  win a 90 minute strategy session with me that you can use in
• 2:36
  January New Year New me vets. If you want a second entry,
• 2:40
  leave a comment on Spotify and upload that screenshot to the
• 2:44
  forum as well. If you do both of these things,
• 2:47
  you've got two chances to win. I will be announcing the winner
• 2:51
  on the episode coming out on January 8th.
• 2:53
  I am so excited to hear what is resonating with you and I want
• 2:58
  to thank you in advance. Alright, let's get into the
• 3:00
  show. McKenzie Forge, thank you so
• 3:05
  much for joining me on the All Figured Out podcast today.
• 3:08
  It's such a pleasure to have you here.
• 3:10
  Thank you so much, Andrea. I felt so honored when you
• 3:12
  reached out to me for the first time.
• 3:14
  And then we spoke and I said, Are you sure you still want me
• 3:17
  here? And man, thank you.
• 3:20
  I'm really excited. Yay.
• 3:23
  Yeah, you were like, let's chat 1st and then you can decide.
• 3:26
  I was like, oh, honey, I already, I already decided
• 3:28
  you're you're in for this whether you like it or not.
• 3:31
  So thank you. And what I want to say for
• 3:33
  everybody listening how we know each other because it's kind of
• 3:35
  cool and perhaps inspiring somebody else to like, you know,
• 3:39
  get out in their community. Mackenzie and I met at a
• 3:41
  parenthood meet up at our local coffee shop and we kind of just
• 3:45
  met through this amazing network and community that is, you know,
• 3:49
  just around the corner for both of our houses.
• 3:51
  And it yeah, I wouldn't say that I'm somebody that often
• 3:54
  gravitates towards quote UN quote, mom groups or parent
• 3:57
  parenting groups or those types of things.
• 3:59
  But yeah, it's just cool. It's very cool to just make
• 4:03
  friends in your neighborhood and just feel like you have this
• 4:06
  quote UN quote community that everybody talks about that kind
• 4:08
  of sometimes feels other. Absolutely.
• 4:12
  It's nice to just find people who are going through similar
• 4:16
  experiences in their lives right now and trying to, as you would
• 4:19
  say, figure it out. So totally OK, so let's talk
• 4:23
  about your figuring out journey. I you have such a cool story
• 4:27
  from and I'm not going to give the spoiler alert, but the high
• 4:29
  level going from being a varsity athlete growing up, having some
• 4:36
  really hard, you know, personal experiences mixed in there,
• 4:39
  having a beautiful family, including spoiler alert.
• 4:42
  I mean, so having three kids, having an unbelievable career,
• 4:47
  an awesome marriage and starting your own business.
• 4:50
  I mean, that's a one heck of an arc.
• 4:52
  Where do you want to start? Where does your story begin?
• 4:55
  That's a big question. Well, thank you.
• 4:57
  My goodness. When you say it all out, it's
• 5:01
  makes me feel old too, because that's a lot.
• 5:02
  We've done a lot in my life. No, proud to be proud.
• 5:06
  Thank you. Thank you again.
• 5:10
  Well, I mean, yes, I was a varsity athlete and I think that
• 5:13
  really has helped shape who I am today in terms of my
• 5:16
  competitiveness and my drive and teamwork too, my ability to get
• 5:19
  along with other people. I love people.
• 5:22
  I really am a people person and maybe that's why the mom group
• 5:26
  thing was attracting to me. I wanted to get out and meet
• 5:30
  other people and I didn't like being alone at home with my
• 5:32
  kids, which I love my kids. I think a lot of people are in
• 5:35
  the same boat. So I went to school out east at
• 5:38
  Dalhousie and I played with Tigers like volleyball there.
• 5:42
  It was awesome. But I stopped playing volleyball
• 5:45
  about halfway through. So after my second year and I
• 5:49
  really struggled. I actually went into depression
• 5:51
  because I was going. I'd worked my whole life to be
• 5:57
  an athlete and that's what everybody knew me as.
• 6:00
  And now I'm not an athlete, so who am I, right?
• 6:06
  And I was able to get some help and I switched my major into
• 6:11
  business. And I still don't really know
• 6:12
  what I was going to do, but felt like at least I can devote some
• 6:16
  time to that. And I joined our business
• 6:20
  society and became president and got super involved using my time
• 6:24
  that I was using on the court now socially.
• 6:28
  And just getting involved in the university is great.
• 6:33
  So it's a hard time, but I really surrounded myself with
• 6:38
  some awesome people and I would get some help.
• 6:41
  And yeah, a few years later I graduated and came back West to
• 6:46
  Vancouver, which was where I was born and raised.
• 6:50
  And I thought, I think I want to get into real estate.
• 6:54
  So let me question was do I want to sell houses or do I want to
• 6:58
  sell commercial property? So I started chatting with some
• 7:01
  people and I think I think commercial is more me.
• 7:04
  It's more Monday to Friday. I can have weekends off and
• 7:08
  going into the office, the corporate world.
• 7:10
  So I eventually got a gig working in industrial sales and
• 7:16
  leasing. So selling warehouses, leasing
• 7:18
  warehouses, industrial zoned land, working for a big company
• 7:22
  in downtown Vancouver. And I got my license and I was
• 7:26
  essentially kind of a glorified licensed assistant working for a
• 7:31
  big shop broker. And I learned so much not just
• 7:35
  in real estate, but also to be an EA, an executive system.
• 7:40
  So that was great. And then 2014 hit and it was a
• 7:45
  big year. I switched companies and I lost
• 7:48
  my mom. So my mom had thank you and my
• 7:52
  mom had been battling cancer and I'm her only.
• 7:56
  We were really close. It was it was not a surprise.
• 8:01
  We knew it was coming but it doesn't make it any easier.
• 8:05
  So 2014 she passed away and within a month I left my company
• 8:11
  and went to work with the new company with a young group of
• 8:16
  group of guys. It was four of us, three guys
• 8:19
  and myself and and I saw it as a really good opportunity.
• 8:23
  I feel like I needed a change in my life at that point.
• 8:28
  I also actually bought a condo within a month of that as well.
• 8:32
  It's a lot happening and and then I met my now husband.
• 8:36
  So 2014 was a year of super big highs and super big lows.
• 8:41
  Wow, what? Doesn't it always work that way?
• 8:45
  It's weird when I think about it.
• 8:46
  That was a big year. And I wonder like, you know,
• 8:49
  your mom's guiding hand towards your husband.
• 8:51
  I want you never know what's. Absolutely, yeah.
• 8:54
  I'm totally a firm believer of that.
• 8:56
  I really do. You know, I may not, you may not
• 8:59
  see it when you're in the thick of of those hard times, but I
• 9:02
  think that every everything that comes out you in life, there's a
• 9:07
  you can learn from it. Something good good may come
• 9:10
  from it. Maybe not instantaneously, but.
• 9:13
  And you know, the person telling you like, oh, everything, you
• 9:16
  know, your mom passes away. Everything happens for a reason.
• 9:18
  You want to punch them in the face in that moment.
• 9:20
  But then maybe later on you're like, yeah, yeah, you might
• 9:23
  think it. Don't say it to the person in
• 9:24
  the moment, but you know, then in with hindsight, 10 years
• 9:27
  later, you're like, oh wow, I can see the beauty in all this.
• 9:30
  Absolute crap, really. Yeah.
• 9:33
  Yeah. And so I started.
• 9:34
  I started my career and I loved it.
• 9:36
  And when you and I chatted earlier you, one of the first
• 9:40
  questions you asked me is if you were to sit down and chat with
• 9:42
  someone, what's the one thing you really love to talk about?
• 9:45
  It took me awhile to think about it and it went it's real estate.
• 9:49
  Like Ohe Mackenzie, it was a beat.
• 9:51
  You responded so fast in real estate.
• 9:54
  You sound real estate. But then I said he said, is that
• 9:59
  OK? Because like I left it.
• 10:01
  Yes. What did you love about it?
• 10:04
  I I loved that every day was different and such a challenge.
• 10:14
  It was a good kind of stress for the most part.
• 10:18
  There was so much collaboration with my team, with other teams,
• 10:22
  with clients. It was awesome.
• 10:27
  I mean, I genuinely liked waking up on Monday morning.
• 10:33
  Wow, I loved it. I loved it.
• 10:37
  It was also a very different time in my life.
• 10:39
  You know more before kids, I did it before I met my husband.
• 10:44
  I did it while we were together. We had a condo downtown and
• 10:47
  lived a block from both of our offices.
• 10:49
  And that was, that was great. You know I could work 10/12/13
• 10:54
  hour days and I was happy doing that.
• 10:58
  Oh my goodness. I love seeing deals go from an
• 11:02
  idea all the way to whether it was a transaction, to seeing
• 11:08
  that transaction completed and clients move in to an idea of a
• 11:14
  development. Finding the land, secure a land,
• 11:18
  going through permitting, finding a contractor building
• 11:21
  it, and then leasing or selling it.
• 11:24
  It was awesome. So you were part of all of you
• 11:26
  were part of all that. I always ask, I always ask
• 11:28
  granular questions about these jobs or industries because a lot
• 11:31
  of people listening might be in a bit of a pivot.
• 11:34
  Who knows if they're going to be pivoting into real estate, you
• 11:37
  know, brokerage, I'm not even commercial real estate.
• 11:40
  That's the word. But like when you say it was a
• 11:44
  super collaborative environment, I find a lot of people are
• 11:46
  missing that and you know, they might come to me and say, oh, I
• 11:49
  just feel like I'm in this silo or working in isolation and I
• 11:52
  really would love to work at a company where there's a lot of
• 11:54
  collaboration and that sort of thing.
• 11:55
  Talk me through like, what did that actually look like?
• 11:58
  So you were, I know you're Commission based and you were
• 12:01
  truly working on a team on the same projects together, meeting
• 12:06
  all the time. Like what did that look like?
• 12:09
  So yes, Commission based for sure.
• 12:14
  Flights it's there are some industries that are commissioned
• 12:18
  based where you really are collaborating with other people
• 12:24
  where it's you really try and get as many clients as you can
• 12:27
  and, and you can't share them, right.
• 12:30
  So in our industry, which was it's commercial real estate,
• 12:33
  it's brokerage. So we broke deals.
• 12:35
  We will work on behalf of a buyer or a seller or landlord or
• 12:38
  a tenant. And so let's say for example, I
• 12:45
  have a client in Vancouver who was looking for a property in
• 12:51
  Surrey, but I don't know the Surrey market very well.
• 12:54
  So I have that that relationship with that client.
• 12:57
  I mean, what we would do is we wouldn't go and try and find
• 13:02
  that property necessarily in Surrey.
• 13:03
  We would go and find somebody in our office who specializes in
• 13:07
  Surrey. It's about example because we
• 13:09
  specialize in Surrey. But you know what I mean?
• 13:11
  We want to bring in the people who are right for that job.
• 13:14
  Or maybe, you know, we would do weekly meetings and talk about
• 13:17
  what was going on in the market that we knew about.
• 13:20
  And you might hear a piece of market news that you didn't know
• 13:25
  about from someone else that's going to be really helpful for
• 13:28
  your client. So we split commissions all the
• 13:31
  time, do what we had to do to get the job done and make our
• 13:34
  clients happy. Because if your clients are
• 13:37
  happy, they're going to return to you and you get to keep doing
• 13:40
  business with them. So it was a pretty easy to be
• 13:43
  collaborative in the company that I worked for as well.
• 13:46
  I worked with an awesome group of people.
• 13:48
  That's so cool. That is so cool.
• 13:51
  OK, so Fast forward event. And so you're chugging along in
• 13:53
  this awesome career. I have no doubt you're killing
• 13:55
  it. You're doing really well.
• 13:58
  You're climbing that, you know, quote UN quote, ladder,
• 14:01
  etcetera. What was the pivot point for you
• 14:04
  where things changed in your career?
• 14:08
  Well, so the pivot point was really when I had kids, but
• 14:11
  before that I decided that I wanted to get involved in an
• 14:16
  organization called CREW, which stands for Commercial Real
• 14:19
  Estate Women and a CREW is really about helping advance
• 14:25
  women in the industry, which is very male dominated industry,
• 14:30
  especially on the brokerage side and construction.
• 14:34
  So it was a wonderful organization, a lot of
• 14:37
  mentorship and education opportunities, events for
• 14:44
  networking, you name it, it was great.
• 14:46
  So I decided to apply and I got on to the board of directors for
• 14:55
  CREW and I spent two years on it and I decided to step down after
• 14:59
  two years because I got pregnant and I would be taking a
• 15:05
  maternity leave and I just would not be able to devote my time
• 15:09
  and I wanted to take a full maternity leave.
• 15:11
  So everyone was super supportive.
• 15:13
  I had every intention of coming back after maternity leave and
• 15:16
  also coming back to CREW. It was an amazing organization
• 15:21
  and that's really where the should happened.
• 15:25
  Ain't that always the way? These little babies, we love
• 15:28
  them, but they, they throw all wrenching things, don't they?
• 15:32
  So you had your first born, your daughter, and so she comes into
• 15:38
  the world. And first of all, what was that
• 15:40
  shift like for you, for your experience?
• 15:43
  From Oh my goodness. What was that shift like from
• 15:45
  your experience? Well, first of all, Kennedy, my
• 15:50
  daughter, was born in February 2020.
• 15:54
  So one month later, we were in complete lockdown, which I know
• 16:00
  many moms can relate to. Yeah, first born baby and doing
• 16:05
  it without really any help, even though we've got, you know, lots
• 16:09
  of people here. It was, you know, masking up and
• 16:13
  being super careful about who was allowed to hold her.
• 16:15
  And it was just there so many unknowns, right?
• 16:18
  And then all the unknowns are being a first time parents.
• 16:21
  Great combo. Well, very isolating.
• 16:24
  Very isolating. Which is you and the news?
• 16:27
  Right, Yeah. And I've said to my team before
• 16:31
  I went on maternity leave, I said, I think I'm going to give
• 16:33
  this six months, maybe 9, and then I'll be back.
• 16:36
  And one of them who just had a child said, oh, yeah, right.
• 16:40
  You're not. You're going to be taking 12
• 16:41
  months for sure. So at nine months I kept in
• 16:47
  touch with them, but once I said yeah, I'm not ready, let's do 11
• 16:50
  months so. Good for you.
• 16:53
  So it was a great first year. There were challenges for sure.
• 16:57
  I had a very colicky baby with reflux, which all of my children
• 17:01
  ended up being. But it was, yeah, it was hard,
• 17:07
  but it was good. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:11
  And so at 11 months you were deciding to or you, you made
• 17:14
  that decision. OK, I feel ready you're heading
• 17:17
  back. What was that transition like
• 17:19
  making that decision? Because it's we're so fortunate
• 17:21
  in Canada that we have the decision of, you know, the
• 17:24
  timing of it, finances kind of aside.
• 17:27
  So you made that decision and then what was that transition
• 17:30
  like back to work? Yeah, well, aren't we so lucky
• 17:33
  to have have that? I know too many people who live
• 17:36
  in the States that are putting their kids in daycare at, you
• 17:40
  know, 2-3 months old. So that transition, I had
• 17:45
  chatted with my team and we decided, well, they suggested
• 17:50
  that I could potentially go back to work part time and by part
• 17:53
  time Monday through Thursday. So having Fridays off and my, my
• 17:58
  pay and my Commission would be adjusted accordingly, which is
• 18:01
  fine. But there were a lot of changes
• 18:05
  that I had to make to and boundaries that I had to set,
• 18:07
  which was really interesting. So we hired a nanny because we
• 18:12
  couldn't get Andy into daycare. And it worked better for our,
• 18:17
  the times that I had to be at work.
• 18:20
  And I started going back four days a week.
• 18:25
  And I had to be really strict and set those boundaries about
• 18:30
  how long I was going to be in the office.
• 18:33
  So before I would go in the office at six, 6:30, maybe 7,
• 18:37
  and I'd be staying till at least 6:00.
• 18:40
  So I can't do that anymore. So I would leave at 7:30, be
• 18:44
  there by 8:00 for an 8:00 meeting every day.
• 18:48
  And as soon as that clock hit 5, I had to be out of there and to
• 18:53
  spend, what, an hour and a half with my kid after?
• 18:57
  So it was really hard. I had a lot of parent guilt.
• 19:00
  You know, I felt really guilty about not spending more time
• 19:03
  with Kennedy. But then when I was with her, I
• 19:06
  felt guilty about work, about not giving my job and my work
• 19:13
  and my team as much of my as as much of my time as I otherwise
• 19:20
  would be. So it just felt like I was
• 19:24
  losing no matter what, and it was a big struggle.
• 19:30
  And even though I technically had those Fridays off, always on
• 19:33
  my phone, emailing, calling, answering questions, getting
• 19:38
  stuff done, that was time sensitive because everything in
• 19:41
  brokerage is time sensitive and it just didn't feel great.
• 19:45
  Yeah, that's a really good point that you bring up around certain
• 19:49
  jobs. Having boundaries is super
• 19:52
  important and it's, and it's often, you know, we're our own
• 19:55
  work, we are our own worst enemy when it comes to the boundaries.
• 19:59
  We have to set and hold the boundaries.
• 20:02
  But I think there's a bit of a Gray area that you bring up,
• 20:04
  which is there are some industries that.
• 20:07
  Are actually time sensitive. So if you're if you're like, OK,
• 20:10
  I'm not responding on this Friday and three days go by, but
• 20:14
  a deal I imagine could expire within those three days like
• 20:17
  that's not a thing right. So I do think we need to talk
• 20:21
  about that more. I think we need to talk about
• 20:22
  boundaries, but understanding like understanding what
• 20:25
  boundaries can be held and and what boundaries need to be
• 20:30
  adjusted because of other factors of life.
• 20:34
  Does that does that kind of like, I don't know, does that
• 20:37
  resonate with you? I feel like I'm always in this
• 20:38
  like, weird people are like, hold the boundaries.
• 20:40
  And I'm like, I mean, yes. And there's another piece to it
• 20:45
  that we don't talk about. Exactly, exactly.
• 20:49
  And I think it depends on the industry too, and the job.
• 20:53
  Yeah. And are your employers or your
• 20:57
  clients going to be understanding of that?
• 21:00
  I had to say, look, I'm not going to be responding to emails
• 21:02
  and phone calls between 5:00 and 7:30.
• 21:04
  And when my daughter goes down to bed, I'll get back on my
• 21:07
  computer and respond. And a lot of moms who I've
• 21:10
  talked to have gone back to their their free baby careers or
• 21:15
  even new jobs, but said they've done the same thing.
• 21:18
  Still working us to the bone, right.
• 21:20
  We put our kids to bed. You want to sit, Sit down and
• 21:22
  put your feet up. Sit down and put your feet up
• 21:26
  with your phone and you get back to work.
• 21:28
  Yeah, yeah. So I know it's no surprise given
• 21:31
  we've alluded to this, but you did leave the industry.
• 21:34
  You left a job that you absolutely loved, people that
• 21:36
  you loved that you still keep in touch with today.
• 21:39
  What was how did you make that decision?
• 21:43
  You and your husband and all the factors like I imagine there was
• 21:46
  a lot to it, you know, walk me through that decision making
• 21:49
  process. Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:51
  So I went back with when my daughter was 11 months old and,
• 21:56
  and unfortunately, because I was only going back about 80% of the
• 22:00
  time and I wasn't able to to give my team and my job as much
• 22:07
  extra time as I wanted to and my team wanted to.
• 22:11
  There was, there were some changes made to my kind of
• 22:16
  benefits and compensation and, and I just no, it's funny being
• 22:27
  the person who that happened to you, I thought that wasn't fair.
• 22:30
  That's not fair. But in my industry, I also, I
• 22:37
  kind of get it. Like I know where it's that the
• 22:42
  decision to make those changes is coming from.
• 22:46
  I get it, but it's also not fair.
• 22:49
  Yeah. And you and I could go into a
• 22:52
  whole other podcast about that. Yeah, by its.
• 22:56
  So that was my time back. It was not off to a good start
• 23:02
  with that. And then also having the guilt,
• 23:06
  the guilt of not being with Kennedy, the guilt of not giving
• 23:08
  my job as much of me as I wanted to.
• 23:12
  And my brain wasn't so, I mean, you know, there's baby brain,
• 23:15
  there's pregnancy brain, there's all that.
• 23:18
  And I was making mistakes. I was letting balls drop.
• 23:22
  And it was not a good place for me, but I also knew that I
• 23:29
  wanted to have more kids and I kind of wanted to have them a
• 23:33
  couple years apart. So with my daughter being about
• 23:36
  1 figure, well let's start trying.
• 23:40
  And to our surprise we got pregnant really fast.
• 23:46
  Luckily, thank the dear Lord with two, we got pregnant with
• 23:52
  twins. Ohm boy.
• 23:57
  Oh, oh, hello. Well, it's funny because this
• 24:02
  was our response when we were at the the the ultrasound.
• 24:06
  We just started laughing. No, you did not what it was
• 24:10
  like. I don't know if you want to
• 24:11
  laugh or cry here. Well, the tech actually
• 24:14
  originally told us that we had three, I had three bubbles, not
• 24:17
  one. And then she she moves the
• 24:20
  little wander around and she goes actually sorry, this is
• 24:22
  just a water, water bubble. You only have two.
• 24:25
  Congrats you having 2 heads. Triplets.
• 24:32
  Oh my goodness. Wow.
• 24:33
  Triple the love. I feel like I triple triplets
• 24:36
  sometimes. So we had we had three under 2
• 24:40
  for four months. So when and it was crazy that
• 24:44
  meant that and I called my team as soon as we found out, because
• 24:48
  that also means that I mean the and they go off work or and my
• 24:56
  team went together for a long time and they were, you know,
• 25:00
  some of the worst people I wanted to tell.
• 25:02
  So I called my team and I told them, and typically you would go
• 25:09
  off work at just before nine months, but I had to go off work
• 25:13
  at 30 weeks, 40 weeks. So I was going to be spending
• 25:17
  only another 4 1/2 months or so with them.
• 25:21
  And so we needed to get planning right.
• 25:25
  Yeah, yeah. So it was a big shock for
• 25:29
  everybody. I was, let's plan this, I'll be
• 25:33
  gone for another year and then I'll be back.
• 25:36
  So I was at the mindset that I was gonna go back to work.
• 25:41
  Um, and so I had my boys, everyone was healthy.
• 25:46
  It was a good delivery. We were very lucky.
• 25:51
  It was, well, I would say the first 18 months a blurb, it was
• 25:56
  extremely hard, extremely challenging.
• 25:58
  My husband would often say we're surviving, not thriving.
• 26:04
  You just take it one day at a time, have an incredibly
• 26:07
  supportive husband and some amazing family and friends.
• 26:11
  And we did it. But coming close to that 12
• 26:15
  month mark, I started thinking, well, what are we going to do?
• 26:18
  Am I going to go back? I can't get these boys into
• 26:20
  daycare. Have fun nanny.
• 26:23
  Look, after three children is extremely expensive.
• 26:28
  When I started, we started weighing all the, you know, the
• 26:33
  benefits and of me staying home with them at least for a few
• 26:38
  years and, and we made the decision and when I called my
• 26:43
  team, they weren't surprised. Probably would have been.
• 26:49
  More than the report of I think so.
• 26:52
  I think so. And you know you'll love real
• 26:57
  estate, Love my career, my hat. But it was the right decision.
• 27:03
  It was, it was for a time like that was its own chapter, that
• 27:07
  was its own season. And did you feel like it was
• 27:10
  stepping into a new season? Yeah, definitely.
• 27:15
  Especially because I had a plan, because I couldn't just stay
• 27:19
  home with my kids. I needed to do something else.
• 27:23
  OK, segue. Here we go.
• 27:26
  Mama entrepreneur. Here she goes.
• 27:28
  Tell the story. So I started my own business and
• 27:31
  I've always wanted to be my own boss.
• 27:34
  So my business is called Forge Magnetic Clothing and it's all
• 27:40
  started from a problem that I needed a solution for.
• 27:44
  So all three of my kids had reflux, which meant after
• 27:48
  they're drinking their milk and they throw up basically or they
• 27:53
  spit up a lot, like a lot. I was doing a load of towels and
• 27:58
  hand towels because burp cloth just did not work and every day.
• 28:03
  OHP My gosh. Because I had two of them were
• 28:08
  while Kennedy was in drill Babs and these boys were refluxed.
• 28:12
  So it was it was wild. Anyways, if any of you, any of
• 28:17
  the listeners have had babies or have babies that wear bibs,
• 28:21
  majority of them have snaps and to hold your baby in one arm and
• 28:25
  try and get those snaps off is really frustrating.
• 28:29
  Oh my gosh, we've got yes, we were in the car yesterday.
• 28:33
  Brodies bib was soaked. He's teething or it's just such
• 28:36
  a big drooly guy and I'm trying to get it off.
• 28:39
  So I'm in the front seat. I'm like reaching behind trying
• 28:41
  to get it off him. He starts screaming because I'm
• 28:43
  basically choking him with this stupid because I the forge bibs
• 28:46
  were in the wash because he's such a drily got on.
• 28:49
  I need to get a whole new set of them.
• 28:51
  So another. But I do have and love my forge
• 28:53
  bibs, but I'm using the one with the stupid snap of course in
• 28:56
  that situation and I'm like yanking and reef.
• 28:58
  It's the worst. These poor little people.
• 29:01
  I know, I know. And that's a great example also,
• 29:04
  if your babies falling asleep and you want to take that dip
• 29:07
  off and you don't want to wake them up, imagine putting the
• 29:09
  baby down and then you have to lift their head up and try and
• 29:11
  take it off. And it's just, you know.
• 29:15
  So yeah, I had an idea, but I didn't know how to sell really.
• 29:19
  I was sewing machine, but I can't sell from a business
• 29:22
  marketing mind. So I went to my friend Kayla
• 29:26
  Dori, who owns Novel Supply. And if you're from North, and
• 29:29
  you've probably seen her too, because they sell them at United
• 29:31
  Strangers, they're awesome, beautiful.
• 29:33
  And I said I have an idea, what do I do?
• 29:37
  What do I do next? So she was able to introduce me
• 29:40
  to a local manufacturer and I spent almost a year, ten months
• 29:46
  and building prototypes and product development, trying to
• 29:50
  make the perfect fib with magnets and magnetic clothes,
• 29:55
  but also one that was absorbent on the front, but there was
• 29:58
  moisture wicking and would not soak through on the back.
• 30:02
  And it was also done with sustainable fibers.
• 30:05
  So 9 prototypes, 10 months, a lot of time, you know, nap time
• 30:12
  and after the kids went to bed, getting up early.
• 30:15
  When was this happening? Yeah, holy smokes.
• 30:19
  Whenever I have a minute, yeah. Yeah, and they are, I can
• 30:22
  attest. They're so incredibly soft.
• 30:25
  They are. Oh my gosh.
• 30:27
  They're just the absorbency on them is, is wild.
• 30:31
  Like you, you don't. And they don't feel like it
• 30:33
  takes it away from their cheeks. So they're not getting that
• 30:35
  dryly rash. And on the other side, it's like
• 30:37
  nice and cozy and the magnet is so strong.
• 30:42
  But not too strong. No, but not like dangerous
• 30:44
  strong. Yeah.
• 30:45
  Yeah, and you can still do it with one hand, but it's not like
• 30:48
  this flimsy little thing that you're like, oh, great, this is
• 30:50
  going to just the, the baby's going to pull it off.
• 30:52
  Like Brody's never been able to pull it off.
• 30:54
  He looks like chew on it or whatever.
• 30:55
  They're amazing. They're so good.
• 30:58
  Thank you. I love hearing that, honestly.
• 31:00
  And it's so cool to now have a business and a product.
• 31:05
  Well now more than one product that I'm actually so proud of.
• 31:09
  I think they're pretty awesome. Luckily my two, one of my 2 year
• 31:13
  old twins still drools like crazy, probably because he has a
• 31:16
  soother and so we get to use them all the time and I know
• 31:20
  they're great. It's just it's so exciting.
• 31:23
  You know, you work so hard and I'm, you know, I could have
• 31:26
  after three prototypes could of gone.
• 31:28
  OK, this is it. I went, no, you know, I can make
• 31:31
  it better and I'm open to making it even better.
• 31:33
  So I love hearing from people what works with doesn't work.
• 31:36
  I had a lot of people say it's thick.
• 31:38
  Can you make it thinner? 1 And we're launching A thinner
• 31:41
  one in the spring I'm super excited about.
• 31:43
  That genius, absolutely genius and what a good use of and
• 31:48
  really cool mix of all of your experiences and skills.
• 31:50
  Like even going back to like the competition, the competitive
• 31:54
  side of you as a varsity athlete, going into such a
• 31:58
  competitive and collaborative and very business oriented
• 32:03
  career that you had negotiating, working on deals, understanding
• 32:08
  urgency, understanding customer relationships, client.
• 32:11
  Like there's so much to this product where someone says, Oh,
• 32:14
  cool. And I know you understand what
• 32:17
  I'm saying this like, oh, another baby brand, but it's
• 32:19
  not, it is. And it's not just another person
• 32:22
  creating another baby brand. It's like the right person
• 32:25
  creating the right solution to a problem.
• 32:28
  Like you have all the background and experience to be a really
• 32:32
  successful business owner and you created such a niche product
• 32:35
  within a sea of sameness as well.
• 32:37
  Like this is a very different type of product.
• 32:39
  Like there's so much to it like that.
• 32:41
  What people see on Instagram, for instance, is like the tip of
• 32:43
  the iceberg. And then they get to know you
• 32:44
  and understand where you're coming from.
• 32:45
  And it's like, oh, that's why this is so good.
• 32:48
  Like that's where this comes from.
• 32:51
  Thank you. Gosh, you're bumping my tires.
• 32:54
  Thank you. Very humbling.
• 32:55
  Like it's so nice of you to say all of that.
• 32:58
  I really, really appreciate that.
• 32:59
  I think that I was just, OK, here we go, taking a negative
• 33:03
  and a positive and a negative. All three of my kids had reflux.
• 33:06
  It was awful, but I got an idea. And I mean, I literally, I don't
• 33:12
  know how many episodes of Shark Tanks and Dragons down I have
• 33:14
  watched trying to go, well, that's a good idea.
• 33:17
  I should have thought of that. You should have thought of that
• 33:19
  one. I'm pretty sure a lot of people
• 33:21
  do that or. Or like, really, they made it on
• 33:24
  Shark Tank. I have better ideas.
• 33:26
  There's that too, right? Like there's some products that
• 33:28
  you're like, what? But they're just on there for
• 33:30
  like the comedy or whatever side of it.
• 33:34
  I, I'm sorry, go ahead. I was just going to say, you
• 33:36
  know, I this for me, I did. I started this as a hobby
• 33:42
  because I needed something to do to keep my my mind off of Wheels
• 33:48
  on the Bus and Coco Melon and going to the same playground
• 33:52
  every day. So it started as that.
• 33:56
  But the people that I have met, the things that I have learned,
• 34:00
  like it has been becoming a mom was so humbling.
• 34:03
  And I know every other mom looked great.
• 34:04
  When you go from being in a career where you're really,
• 34:07
  really good at what you do and then you become a mom, you just
• 34:10
  go, well, OK, I thought I knew everything so handling.
• 34:14
  And now here I am again with my my new baby, my business.
• 34:19
  And I am. I may have some expertise from
• 34:24
  my other experiences, but I'm learning so much and I'm meeting
• 34:29
  incredible people. And if this business blows up,
• 34:35
  awesome. What if what I get from this
• 34:37
  business is feeling fulfilled and some amazing relationships
• 34:44
  and then I'm happy? And that I think that a consumer
• 34:48
  can tell when that's the case, like when the person isn't in it
• 34:52
  just for the money. I believe they should also be
• 34:54
  valued for what you do, what you're putting out in the world.
• 34:56
  And it's amazing to know that it's coming from a place of love
• 35:01
  like you, like you love the business, you love the product,
• 35:03
  you love helping other people with their Julie Julie ass
• 35:06
  babies and keeping everyone dry, which is which is incredible.
• 35:11
  OK, here's another question that just came to mind.
• 35:13
  If you didn't have twins, if in that ultrasound it was just one
• 35:16
  baby, do you think that he would have gone back?
• 35:21
  That's such a tough question, Andrea.
• 35:24
  Because I'm just saying, I'm thinking this because it's like,
• 35:26
  is this another situation where the universe is kind of guided
• 35:30
  you in a direction? Like if it wasn't Twins and you
• 35:33
  had gone back, you would have never started Forge, You would
• 35:35
  have never joined this, you know, entrepreneurial community
• 35:38
  that you like. Isn't there?
• 35:41
  I think it's very possible that I would have gone back for many
• 35:44
  reasons. So I would have worked an extra
• 35:48
  2 and a bit months um and getting two kids into daycare so
• 35:55
  my older and one would be a lot easier than getting 3.
• 36:03
  It's a lot cheaper to have an any for two kids instead of
• 36:06
  three. You could do even a nanny share
• 36:08
  with one of them. Yeah, I don't see why I wouldn't
• 36:13
  have. Whoa.
• 36:16
  Absolutely. That's crazy to think about,
• 36:18
  though. Like, it would be interesting to
• 36:20
  think about. What my life would have been
• 36:22
  like. But yeah, everything happens for
• 36:25
  a reason. And Oh my goodness, my twins are
• 36:27
  just hilarious. Like the first year and a half
• 36:30
  was so, so hard. It is twin moms.
• 36:33
  You'll get through it. You got it.
• 36:35
  But. They're so freaking cute little.
• 36:38
  Tanks, they are tanks to watch. Their bond is so special, like
• 36:45
  it really. It's really so sweet.
• 36:48
  And they're identical twins, right?
• 36:50
  They're identical twins, yeah. I don't assume like they look
• 36:53
  identical. I don't think I could tell them
• 36:55
  apart, but I'm like, I don't know.
• 36:56
  It could just be really they could just look really similar.
• 36:59
  McKenzie, what's on the what's on the horizon for you coming
• 37:02
  up? What are the next little like
• 37:03
  you? So you've kind of got your feet
• 37:05
  under you, you've figured out the mom of three thing or you're
• 37:10
  continuing, I'm sure always in the process of figuring it out.
• 37:12
  What's on the horizon for you with the business and your
• 37:15
  career and your relationship with your husband?
• 37:18
  Like what's next? What is 2024 look like for you?
• 37:21
  Oh, I wish I had the answers and a crystal ball.
• 37:24
  I used to be someone who you who I would look, you know, so far
• 37:27
  had all the time and now it's just a one day at a time flat.
• 37:31
  Business wise. I've just launched magnetic
• 37:34
  rompers so sleepers and want to do more.
• 37:39
  Really, really want to do more. So I am leaning into my
• 37:43
  customers and asking them what they want to see.
• 37:45
  I want to stick with magnets and see what else we can do.
• 37:49
  You mean toddlers like 3 year old?
• 37:50
  She's always trying to zip up and her coat on and get dressed
• 37:54
  by yourself. Even my 2 year old are trying to
• 37:55
  get dressed themselves and the magnets make it easier so.
• 37:59
  Booties. That's cute.
• 38:01
  I like. That maybe I should have said
• 38:03
  that on air. Nobody steal that.
• 38:04
  If you steal the booties, we're coming for you.
• 38:07
  Why is you? I like that idea.
• 38:11
  OK OK OK. I have a list of like anytime
• 38:15
  anybody says anything to me, I, I make a left.
• 38:20
  So yeah, I just wanna, I'm gonna grow.
• 38:22
  I wanna get get my name out and get Forge into everybody's hands
• 38:29
  for the kids and my husband. I think this year I'm just
• 38:34
  hoping to get out of the house. More nice.
• 38:37
  It's hard to go places. Well, it's getting easier with
• 38:42
  three kids and two adults when you're outnumbered.
• 38:45
  And I know there's lots of families that have more than
• 38:47
  three kids and it's it's hot, especially when they're all
• 38:50
  toddlers. Yeah, when I was maybe a trip.
• 38:54
  Wow, that would be big. Say it.
• 38:56
  Put it out there. You.
• 38:57
  Got yeah, putting it out there. I think just I think just
• 39:04
  continuing to try and figure it out.
• 39:06
  I mean, I think it's OK to you have to be OK with try like
• 39:14
  constantly trying to figure it out and not having it all figure
• 39:18
  it out. I guess I I got I love the name
• 39:20
  of your podcast. It's so it's so perfect.
• 39:25
  Thanks. I'm curious, like you're such an
• 39:26
  ambitious, driven person in all aspects of your life.
• 39:31
  If you're listening and you're speaking into the living room,
• 39:35
  the phone, the air pods, if somebody listening who's like,
• 39:38
  ah, I'm just grappling with the side, the career side of me and
• 39:42
  the family side of me, and I want to do it all and I want to
• 39:44
  have both sides. What would she say?
• 39:47
  Like what could be a first step? Something even small?
• 39:50
  Like what could somebody think about or what could they do to
• 39:52
  just take a step forward in the direction where they feel like
• 39:57
  they're, they're getting to live the life that they want or like
• 40:01
  build the life that they want? You're talking to a friend.
• 40:08
  I think what they're trying to figure out balance.
• 40:15
  Hmm. And you just gotta give yourself
• 40:20
  grace as a parent. And when you're with your kids,
• 40:30
  try to be present. So even if you're not with your
• 40:33
  kids as much as you want to be, because you're working all the
• 40:36
  time, when you have that time, be present because that's what
• 40:39
  they're going to remember, even if it's a short amount every
• 40:43
  day. And know that you can take a
• 40:48
  break from your career. Hmm, like if you can afford to
• 40:52
  do it financially. And that's a big thing that I
• 40:54
  know a lot of people are not able to do that, but if you
• 40:57
  could afford to do it financially, take a step back
• 41:01
  for a couple of years and then and then go back.
• 41:07
  Hmm, that and you know what, it's personal.
• 41:10
  That's my because I haven't closed the door completely and
• 41:17
  your doors open. Yeah, like if you were to
• 41:20
  contact your old, your previous workplace, for instance.
• 41:23
  And you know what? I'm ready.
• 41:24
  Like, you know, the the twins are coming up on two years this
• 41:28
  year or whatever, or wait, how old are they?
• 41:30
  Now? They're two.
• 41:31
  Now they are two. Oh, my goodness.
• 41:33
  And you were like, OK, I'm I'm feeling ready and I would want
• 41:36
  to go back. Would do you think they take you
• 41:38
  back? Yeah.
• 41:40
  And I think that's an that's also something getting so fired
• 41:44
  up here. But like we forget that we think
• 41:46
  that by making decisions, any decision in life that that
• 41:50
  closes all doors or decisions are permanent.
• 41:53
  Sure, some decisions are of course permanent, but in so many
• 41:56
  situations, especially from a career perspective, if you've
• 41:58
  built up that reputation, for sure, what, 151015 years within
• 42:02
  that industry, as long as you haven't burned your bridges,
• 42:05
  like there, you've got options. You can go back.
• 42:08
  No, none of these decisions are permanent.
• 42:10
  And I think that's also something people don't talk
• 42:12
  about. Yeah, absolutely.
• 42:15
  Oh, my goodness. OK, Mackenzie, I have to ask you
• 42:17
  and it's kind of related to what I was asking you before, but
• 42:20
  what would you say is like the thing in 2024 that you are
• 42:23
  trying to figure out, are still figuring out?
• 42:27
  I'm still trying to figure out balance and I think that's OK,
• 42:31
  especially starting a new business because it does require
• 42:33
  a lot from me. So I I am trying to figure out
• 42:39
  balance with my work and my kids and my husband and meal prep and
• 42:46
  grocery shopping. And honestly, I'm trying to
• 42:49
  figure out the same things that most other people are trying to
• 42:52
  figure out, and I think it's OK. And our parents probably tried
• 42:56
  to figure out too. I always think it's like a a
• 42:59
  new, It's not a new thing. We've had to eat since the
• 43:03
  beginning of time and planning the eating is a complicated
• 43:07
  thing. So right, it's quite universal,
• 43:10
  isn't? It and now we have grocery
• 43:11
  delivery, right? Yes, we.
• 43:14
  Do make some things easier. Yes, you just have to then
• 43:17
  schedule the time to sit down. Just get to schedule the
• 43:19
  groceries. But systematizing it.
• 43:23
  There's the, yeah, there's the key, but OK, the balance, I love
• 43:27
  it. And I think that's nice for
• 43:29
  everybody to hear that they're not alone in that feeling of
• 43:31
  just, you know, where's the balance?
• 43:33
  What is the balance? What does it look like?
• 43:35
  And knowing that the balance looks different every week.
• 43:38
  And I think it's so important that we surround ourselves with
• 43:43
  just like minded people, but people who you can learn from
• 43:46
  and maybe get some tips on balance.
• 43:49
  I mean, I did a great workshop of yours a week or two ago and
• 43:52
  it was, we did yoga, it was awesome.
• 43:54
  But we also did managing your, your energy.
• 43:59
  And that is so like something that I really needed to put a
• 44:05
  lot of thought into. And I got some great tips and
• 44:08
  you can get tips that maybe you want to use or maybe you don't
• 44:11
  want to use from all sorts of people that you surround
• 44:15
  yourself with. Go to those parent meetups,
• 44:17
  listen to the podcast, reach out to someone who you know you may
• 44:22
  want to get some advice from or chat with.
• 44:25
  And so true. Didn't figure it out together.
• 44:28
  Yeah. I love that.
• 44:29
  I know people that you're like, oh, they seem like they're.
• 44:32
  I like their vibe, you know, I like the way that they walk into
• 44:34
  a room and they feel and they just, you know, you just for
• 44:37
  some reason there's people that you just feel drawn to.
• 44:39
  And it's true, you know, go ask that person.
• 44:41
  What are you doing to make it all work?
• 44:43
  And. And they might not know either.
• 44:45
  Yeah, they're like, I don't know, I would wash my hair in a
• 44:48
  week, raising my hand, my civic backbone.
• 44:52
  Mackenzie, where can everybody find you, connect with you?
• 44:55
  And I know you have a very generous special offer for the
• 44:58
  listeners here. I do, yeah.
• 45:01
  So I'm offering any listener here 10% off your order.
• 45:06
  And so if if you go to my Instagram, forge my or my
• 45:12
  website www.forgemagnetic.com and you put in the code all
• 45:19
  figured out 10 and I'm sure Andrea will share that you'll
• 45:24
  get 10% off your order. So thank you.
• 45:27
  Yeah, of course. So again, Forge magnetic on
• 45:30
  Instagram, Forge Magnetic Chrome, there's a link there.
• 45:34
  And send me a DM too. Let me know if you listen to
• 45:36
  this. Thank you so much for coming on
• 45:39
  the podcast today. I appreciate your time and you
• 45:41
  and just sharing your with them and story.
• 45:43
  It's it's so. Inspiring.
• 45:46
  Thank you so much, Andrea. I really appreciate it.
• 45:50
  Thank you so much for listening and since you made it this far,
• 45:53
  please share this episode with a fellow parent who you love,
• 45:56
  respect, and want to support. And while you're at it, hit me
• 46:00
  up on Instagram at All Figured Out.
• 46:02
  Andrea, I would love to meet you and hear what you are trying to
• 46:05
  figure out these days.