We first met Allison at the MomsTO Wine Festival. It was hard not to spot her... her smile was uber contagious and both her and her little girl were "twinning", looking so chic as they sported matching outfits. After complimented her look, Allison smiled and asked "are you sure it's not too much? I wanted to be fun today!"
Well, fun she is. Allison is a momma of 3, adventure seeker, and seriously rocks the entrepreneurial life. Just like Rome, her life wasn't built in a day. She's having a blast now (check out her Instagram, you'll see!) but it was a long, winding road.
I'll let her tell the tale. It's a bit of a long one (all the good ones are), so I've broken it up into two parts... tune in next week for part two.
Tell our readers a little bit about yourself, and your journey to becoming a mom of 3 in Toronto.
Oh my goodness where to start. A good friend once told me shortly after I had my first son: "The days are long and the weeks are short. Try to spend your days how you hope to remember them". I am a mom of 3 and my oldest kiddo is only 4 years old. My husband and I are both keen adventurers and love to explore new cities, which has allowed us both to embrace new endeavours with an open mind. In the past six years, we have called both Vancouver, Toronto and San Francisco home. I worked in education before I had my children. I completed a Masters in Education and put my learnings to great use teaching in the classroom while also collaborating with other educators, writing and presenting health education programs and initiatives for schools in Ontario through the Ministry of Education and Ophea (Ontario Physical Education Association). My first year of motherhood was rough. We were living in Vancouver at the time, my husband was working long hours in healthcare, our son cried a lot, and I spent most of my days wandering down to the beach with our dog pushing a stroller. I was exhausted, drank a lot of coffee, and didn't know when my life would return to 'normal'. After living in Vancouver for a year, we moved out to San Francisco and it was then that I decided I was 'tired of being tired'. I wanted to be more present as a mom. I wanted to experience more joy in my days. Something needed to change. I started spending my days how I wanted to spend them and stopped worrying about everything else. We explored all that San Francisco and the Silicon Valley had to offer. We did the museums, art galleries, beaches, and parks. We skipped out on library time and mom groups, and went window shopping and rode cable cars. We listened to street musicians and enjoyed their talents with the best pastries in the city. I decided to use blogging as a way to keep track of our travels, while sharing some of the insight (and outfits) that I picked up along the way. I am excited to continue my city exploration now that we are back in Toronto. The city has changed so much since we left - yet their is nothing more comforting than wandering Queen St. West with a cup of coffee in hand and pushing that stroller.
We love keeping up with you and your cuties @citymommastyles. How have you managed to juggle being a Founding member of Beautycounter, a blogger, and a mom of 3?
I've come to realize that everyone I know is busy. Most of the time we are busy doing things that aren't that meaningful to us, but nevertheless, need to be done - like household chores and tedious work tasks. It has taken me a good year to manage my time in an incredibly productive way, where I can still accomplish work tasks at home while still adventuring the city with my kiddos. I am fortunate to have a group of incredibly talented, innovative, and just really savvy women whom I am proud to call my colleagues through my work with Beautycounter. As Founding Members with the company in Canada, we are scattered across the country and rely heavily on social media platforms and Zoom conference calls to ensure our businesses are always moving forward, and that our brand continues to be the leader in safer skin care in Canada. My blog has been a work in progress. I am constantly learning how to write pages and am always looking for new adventures with my kiddos, which often provides me with a few fun stories to share. Juggling entrepreneurship and mom life is really just a fine balance of knowing which balls you can drop. Some are glass and some are rubber.
Follow along with Allison's adventures on Instagram @citymommastyles, and connect with her by email at allison.larouche@gmail.com!
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