The Goal-Setting Tip I Rely On As a Mom & Flexible Business Owner

Floral designer Anna Le Pley Taylor shares the key to scheduling her days as a mom of four young kids—and a business owner

When it comes to raising a family and nurturing a growing business, floral designer Anna Le Pley Taylor has a few tried-and-true tricks up her sleeve. Featured in big-name publications like Vogue, InStyle, and Martha Stewart Living, Anna’s eponymous company is fast becoming a go-to for weddings and special events. Add to this the fact that she’s found success while constantly recalibrating for motherhood—and well, we’re taking notes.

Recently, Anna closed up her commercial space and brought her business home, allowing her to blur the boundary between work and family in a way that works for her. Below, she opens up about this flexibility, the freedom she found in delegating, and the magic of bringing work home.

Q: What’s the secret to meeting your family’s needs and growing your business?

A: I think that balance in family and personal life is an ever-changing tide. I have to be willing to alter routines, flex during unusual circumstances, and as the mother, "hold down the ship" while seasons of life change. What has helped me most is to let go of ambitious expectations both personally and professionally, and instead set realistic smaller goals for different seasons. For example, plant an entire vegetable garden? Or plant some tomato plants? This season it’s plant some tomato plants.

The world of my small children changes seasonally, if not monthly. And their seasonal changes directly affect my work life. So it was a much better plan to set goals for each season.

I used to be a very ambitious New Year's goal setter, and then I realized that setting year-long goals was unrealistic in my season of life. The world of my small children changes seasonally, if not monthly. And their seasonal changes directly affect my work life. So it was a much better plan to set goals for each season. Does one child need a slower start in the mornings right now? Then I don't schedule any childcare until later in the morning. Does one child consistently meltdown after a weekend I've been working? Then I adjust my calendar to have Mondays be free from work.

One goal I set this season is to hold more space than usual for my children. Before the pandemic, they would be with a sitter three days a week. Now I have scaled back to 1.5 days.

I want to create a beautiful life for my children while building a strong, successful company.

Interestingly, in the wedding industry, everything has picked up steam, and suddenly we are swamped. But I still wanted to hold to my goal of more time with my children. So I decided I needed to let go of control of some aspects of running my business and hire others to handle them. Knowing this was only for a season (or two, or three) made it much easier to step away.

The bottom line is that I want to create a beautiful life for my children while building a strong, successful company. This means I need to listen to their cues and alter my working space to accommodate their changing seasons.

In this season, I’m bringing work home

One significant change I made last year was to move my floral studio into a separate building on our property (it used to be in a commercial property in a town nearby). This has really blurred the lines between "work" and "home," but it also allows me the flow of creating florals while they're taking their afternoon nap. Or process new incoming flowers on a Wednesday after I pick up from preschool. It also means that they are in my work space almost all the time, which is challenging and beautiful for them.

They are in my work space almost all the time, which is challenging and beautiful for them…

I let them play with extra flowers or color on the boxes that come in with our supplies. I hope their memories of growing up include "working" alongside their mother. I do have a couple of days a week that they are not here, and I can be fully present in my work, and because that time is so limited, I am focused and excited to get my job done. I also find myself refreshed as a mother these days. I feel excited to see them and put work aside to be with them.

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3 Entrepreneurs Share Their Secret To Launching a Business While Raising Kids

Editor’s note: A version of this story first appeared in 2021.