Stephanie de Montigny

Boss Mama Diaries
About Stephanie
Work With Me

Stephanie de Montigny

Boss Mama Diaries
About Stephanie
Work With Me

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December 12, 2016

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WELCOME TO THE BOSS MAMA DIARIES

Discussing the daily wins and struggles of being a work-from-home boss trying to raise a business and a baby at the same time, amidst the family adventures, while also trying to feed a household full of allergies.

ps: learn business-behind-the-scenes for small biz owners & bloggers

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🖤 Wins & Struggles of a Work-From-Home Boss Raising Babies & Businesses at the Same Time
💻 Educator at @bossmama.collective
📷 at @purenaturalnewborn

This spot has pretty much become my “office” t

This spot has pretty much become my “office” these past few months since I’m often stuck under a sleeping baby while I respond to emails and draft social media content.

It’s not ideal, but it gets the job done, and the humour or educational content of my videos outweighs the downside of similarity in outfits and background.

The behind the scenes of being a work from home raising babies and businesses at the same time isn’t always glamorous—but showing the wins AND the struggles is so important for transparency and avoiding toxic positivity.

What’s YOUR office these days?

#bossmamadiaries #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #mamasofficespace #mombosslife #workfromhomemom #thisismyofficetoday #ontarionmom #ottawamom #canadiancontentcreator #bossmamacollective

Look how much he has changed in just a few short m

Look how much he has changed in just a few short months 🤍

The warmer weather has meant we’ve been getting outdoors more and I am so much more mentally at peace when we do. I am so grateful everything is within walking distance—trails, park, beach, food truck!

FOLLOW for more wins & struggles of being a work from home boss and boss mama humour ✌🏻

#bossmamadiaries #1000hoursoutside #babyplaydate #babymademelate #blamethebaby #workfromhomemom #newmomlife #lifewithanewborn #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #hikingwithababy #adventurereport #thedemontignyadventures

📷 --> For reposts or use of copyrighted images, please DM or email collabs@bossmamadiaries.com

This is a normal night feed, which requires me to

This is a normal night feed, which requires me to be actively collecting all day with my haakaa (hand expression while baby eats on the other side).

I’ve been lucky to have a hospital grade pump on loan until now, but its owner needs it back (for a NICU baby so duh!) so I’m hoping the sleep fairies will help little man start sleeping through the night soon so I’m not a slave to the silicone pump.

Any recommendations for a regular pump? I still need to collect for while I’m working with clients.

#bossmamadiaries #haakaalife #breastfeedingmom #pumpingmom #relatablemom #thisisrealmotherhood #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #workfromhomemom #domesticlabour #householdengineer #canadianmom

📷 —> For reposts or use of copyrighted images, please DM or email collabs@bossmamadiaries.com

I’ve been working hard to reorganize the studio

I’ve been working hard to reorganize the studio these past few months as I transition back to “normal business setup” (so excited to ditch the ugly plastic storage bins!), and it really triggers my productivity crash: work really hard and really efficiently for about an hour and then burnout for the rest of the day…

It’s especially frustrating when hubby brings the baby to me in the middle of my “in the zone” and immediately kills any productivity. Ugh! [we’ve since talked about this terrible habit and rectified it—so far]

So I wanted to take the opportunity to let you in on the inner workings of how I do my best to combat that aspect of my neurodivergence.

LISTS! I have a running to do list for every part of my life: kids, shopping, cleaning, appointments, business BTS, business clients appointments, husband follow through checks (WHY is that on MY list!?—a topic for another post), you name it! This helps me avoid constantly needing to focus on executive function and junior straight into the next task on the list.

And because I like to feel better about myself by crossing things off the list, it’s not vague items like “clean bathroom”; it’s got everything itemized: vacuum, dust, clean (sink/toilet/tub), declutter storage shelf, empty garbage, get new bag, replenish diaper station, dirty towels to laundry, etc. Doing that also allows for me to identify the priority of those tasks so if I inevitably get distracted by the baby or some other task, I know I’ve tackled the important ones before I leave the room (that laundry task was last on purpose—because while it would be more efficient for the towels to be washing while I clean, it requires me to leave the room and exponentially more likely to get pulled away for something else and not clean the bathroom).

Do YOU use lists to manage your days?

#bossmamadiaries #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #workfromhomemom #domesticlabour #domesticlabor #domesticengineer #ottawamom #ontariomom #canadianmom #neurodivergent #adhdmom #theonethingmethod #todolistsfordays #m0ndayzzz

I have been a work-from-home boss for as long as I

I have been a work-from-home boss for as long as I can remember. I took on the added challenge of a baby in 2019, the worldly turmoil swept the little control I had from me in early 2020, I had a second baby in late 2021, and now in 2022 my husband just started back at work after the end of his parental leave for our second child and I am back solo parenting while running two businesses from home. All without childcare. And let me be the first to say that I CANNOT DO IT ALL and it is extremely unfair to expect anyone to do so.

[full post on the blog linked in bio]

Domestic labour is a shit tonne of work and I literally do not have the time or energy for it, so it doesn’t get done unless I sacrifice sleep. The same goes for alone time; other than the days where my husband is home and takes both kids (and I don’t have a client booked), I don’t get any. BUT we also need to take a moment and acknowledge that the same goes for him these days: when he is home, he is either doing his assigned must-get-done tasks or taking care of the kids so that I can do mine.

That doesn’t leave any time for our marriage at the moment, and we’ve acknowledged it and gave big (local) plans for our upcoming anniversary to catch up.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you HAVE to do it all, and don’t feel guilty when you can’t (even though we try so hard to!). It’s not possible. One thing always takes priority and that’s OKAY.

#bossmamadiaries #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #workfromhomemom #wecantdoitall #howdoesshedoit #supermom #momsarentsuperheroestheyaretired

I always try to emphasize with myself that there a

I always try to emphasize with myself that there are bad MOMENTS, not days, but when they start like this it is reeeeally hard to keep telling it that way.

Especially when more and more bad moments seem to follow throughout the day (likely because of the mindset, but mindset doesn't control tiny human bowels!).

So I leave you with the "at least I saved an ounce" ending as a reminder that even though you may have to dig for it, there is usually always a silver lining (or at least a brass one).

What's your silver lining of the day?

#badmomentsnotbaddays #bossmamadiaries #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #workfromhomemom #embracethechaos #badmoments #silverlinings #lifestylezlifestylez #dontcryoverspilledmilk #liquidgoldoverboard #liquidgold #pumpingmom #breastfeedingmom #myhaakaafailedme #ilovemyhaakaa

Happy Family Day!

I am always the first to say no

The only thing better than being able to run my ow

The only thing better than being able to run my own business from home is to have the luxury of doing it with a hot cup of coffee and a smiling baby ☕️

FOLLOW for more daily wins and struggles of being a work from home boss raising babies and businesses at the same time ✌🏻

#bossmamadiaries #raisingbabiesandbusinesses #workfromhomemom #coffeemom #ottawamom #ottawaphotographer #PNNPbehindthescenes #mywednesdayys #wednesdaymotivation

Most of you know that I am a professional photogra

And that's a wrap! One very cold month down and we

And that's a wrap! One very cold month down and we enjoyed over 15 hours reveling in the great white northern outdoors.

We are officially on month 2 of the @1000hoursoutside challenge and little miss got to spend a laughable amount of time outside with her daddy today—seriously, she was laughing the entire time!

We may not have spent the full recommended daily hour outside, (because January in Canada!), but we only missed a dozen days all month because -30 ain't fun for anyone...

Anybody else trying to add outdoor time to their daily schedule this year? And if you’re local, I’d love to plan a few hike dates this winter—so easy to do distanced ✌🏻️

#canadianwintergoals #1000hoursoutside #readyforafreshstart #starttheyearoffright #feeling2022 #canadianmom #ontariomom #almontemom #ottawamom #newbornmom #toddlerlife #winterH0ME #FUNintheSNOW #SLEDdingadventures #WINTERhike #funatthePARK #almonteontario #thedemontignyadventures

📷 —> For reposts or use of copyrighted images, please DM or email collabs@bossmamadiaries.com

We officially have smiles and back time!

As a kid, when we would come inside after a long o

As a kid, when we would come inside after a long outdoor play, we loved being able to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate to help warm us up.

Since we’ve been making the extra effort to go outside with little miss, I found a way to make the tradition happen for her too, in spite of her dairy allergy and she loves it!

What’s your favourite hot beverage?

#hotcocoa #toddlerhotchocolate #dairyfreehotchocolate #dairyfreehotcocoa #plantbased #plantbasedhotcocoa #plantbasedhotchocolate #sugarfreehotchocolate #coldmonthz #ontariomom #canadianmom

📷 --> For reposts or use of copyrighted images, please DM or email collabs@bossmamadiaries.com

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