131: Parenting Like an Entrepreneur: Prioritizing Connections and Marketing Success to Your Kids with Rob Hughes

If you’ve ever wished someone would just give you permission to slow down, this interview is for you.

AND if you wonder how to give your kids opportunities to grow in life skills at every age, this interview is for you!

I can’t even believe how many wisdom bombs my guest today shared—you might want a piece of paper to take notes, truly!

Rob Hughes is a serial entrepreneur and awesome dad of 2, and he comes to us today with his entre-skills and how he applies those also to his very important calling as a father, husband, and caretaker of his physical self.

Lots of people strive for “balance,” which is what I see in him that prompted me to request an interview. Rob’s my neighbor, and when I’d see him at the bus stop, prioritizing that 2-minute walk home with his boys, taking them with him to the gym, and having lots of “hard stops” on work to spend time with family, I saw something I admired.

I knew he would be able to break down why balance isn’t what he seeks but priorities, and his coaching is for everyone, from household managers who don’t pull a paycheck to WAHMs to career parents.

We talk about:

• Why making priorities is about stewardship, not compartmentalization
• Why the decisions we make about our schedules need to be intentional and the deeper story behind “yes” and “no”
• An incredible question that all of us should ask, looking into the future—this one will knock you off your feet if you’ve had struggles lately, guaranteed.
• Two tips about what we must insert into our schedule to avoid distress and a habit we must avoid, especially when on social media
• A mind-blowing perspective on setting goals, why yours in the past might have failed, and how we can teach our kids to set appropriate goals that they can control
• Rob’s perspective on self-care as parents and why he exercises 5x/week and starts each day in Scripture
• How Rob’s experience helping small businesses clarify their marketing can help us be more effective parents
• Why 5% is a number that comes up every year at his house (and what happened with the kids’ budget at Disney!)

I can’t recommend this interview enough for those who want to raise healthy, independent adults and set doable goals.

And if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, track down Rob here.

Can’t see the video? Watch Parenting Like An Entrepreneur here on YouTube!

No time for the video? Here are the notes!

Parenting Like An Entrepreneur with Rob Hughes

• 0:13: Today we’re taking a bit of a different spin on our focus on connection, confidence, and creativity. I’m talking to a friend of mine who is an entrepreneur and dad about prioritizing connection with our kids.
• 1:12: Rob has a podcast, The Thrive Collective, to help small business owners and leaders thrive at work and home. 

• 2:23: Rob shares with us his path to entrepreneurship. He says being an entrepreneur is in his DNA. Even as a kid, he had that business mindset and started his first side hustle in 3rd grade. 

Setting Intentional Priorities

• 4:26: I’ve always admired how Rob can turn off work and prioritize family. I’ve heard it said that men are better able to compartmentalize, but that doesn’t mean that his tips won’t apply to us moms!

What leads to a balanced life today is not trying to seek balance, but trying to fit the top priorities in each area of life. -Rob Hughes. 

• 5:35: Work is not the whole pie of life, it’s only part of it. We have other roles to fill in life and need to consider how we can steward each aspect of life best. You can’t have 100s of priorities. 

• 7:09: Whenever you say “yes” to something you’re saying “no” to something else. The average person can’t sustain all the demands our society places on us. Before you commit to anything you should have a clear sense of what you’ll have to give up to make it happen.
• 8:46: How can we start identifying our priorities? We need to look at our preferred future and dream about what that would look like. What do you want your kids, friends, or spouse to think about you when they look back in 30 years? What do you want your legacy to look like? If you find yourself struggling with yelling and you don’t want that to be part of your legacy, check out these interviews with Tosha Schore and Amy McCready.

• 10:32: Once you’ve identified where you want to go, look at what needs to change in your life to get you there. What needs to come off your plate? What needs to go on? Are there books you can read, people you can talk to for advice? This crafts your priority list as you move towards your preferred future. 

• 10:54: Rob has a few rules of thumb to consider as you work through this. 

How often does your to-do list get derailed from an unexpected event? Give yourself a buffer to accommodate this. -Rob Hughes

• 12:34: I’ve heard this type of activity recommended for business owners before, but not often applied to people’s personal lives. 
• 13:13: Watch out for comparison as you go through these questions. Don’t think you need to emulate someone else or live up to someone else’s expectations. Seek the Lord and ask what His plans for you are. 

Setting Realistic Parenting Goals

• 14:58: We talk about setting goals. Rob discusses lead and lag measures. Listen in here for an explanation. He recommends focusing on lead measures to reach your goals.
• 17:46: For kids, focus on the effort versus the outcome. Here is the Carol Dweck book Mindset that Rob mentions. 
• 18:35: Rob shares some of his habits and routines that help him reduce stress and be an intentional parent.
• 19:23: When you’re overtired, eating poorly, and not getting the movement your body needs, it’s hard to be the best parent you can be. Taking care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health sets you up for success in all areas of life including parenting. Here’s the interview I mentioned about the mom who always put herself last. 

Applying Marketing to Parenting

• 21:40: I introduced Rob as a story-brand guide. He explains what that means and how he helps small businesses with marketing. He helps business owners develop their brand and apply it very clearly to everything they do.
• 24:10: We can apply story branding to parenting as well! Once our kids are entering their teens, we transition from being in control to being a guiding presence to help them learn how to make good decisions and be responsible adults. The interview I mentioned with Lenore Skenazy is right here.

• 26:52: Rob explains the idea of “affordable loss” to us and why we need to teach it to our kids when they’re little and we can guide them through the learning experience.
• 28:32: It can be frustrating to watch our kids learn about money by making poor financial decisions, but not nearly as painful to watch them learning those lessons when they’re 30.

Kids don’t need money, but learning how to manage money is an important life lesson. -Rob Hughes

• 29:52: I approach desserts in a similar way to how Rob approaches money. We have a “budget” of one dessert a day, our kids get to decide what and when that dessert is, and as they grow older I gradually give them more control. Learn more about how we do our dessert rules here.
• 31:08: Rob has had so many positive messages today, but he distills it down to one piece of advice that you can take today.

• 32:12: I encourage you to talk with your spouse about what you want your legacy to be and how you can reach those goals.

Resources We Mention to Parent Like an Entrepreneur

• Take care of mom to take care of the whole family
• Connecting with aggressive kids
• Discipline with no rewards or punishments
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Tips to manage stress
• Self-care tips during the pandemic
• Raising free-range, confident children
• Our dessert rules
• Here’s my course in Tuttle Twins Academy on How to Think Like an Entrepreneur!
• Rob’s website
• Rob’s podcast
• Connect with Rob on social media: FaceBook, Linkedin

As an entrepreneur, small business owner, and (most importantly) follower of Christ, Rob deeply believes John 10:10b, that you were meant to live “fully” in every area of your life God has given you. Through his podcast The Thrive Collective, Rob is dedicated to helping small business owners and leaders thrive at work and at home.

Rob is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and Business Made Simple Certified Coach, which means he knows a thing or two about how to build your business… But most importantly… do it without burning out.

And he’s my neighbor, bus stop buddy, and father of two boys who Gabe likes to wander down the street to play with!