The ultimate balancing act: ceo & caregiver

‘You can’t work like you don’t have children, and you can’t rear children like you don’t work’

Affirms Claire MacDonald, Creative Director of MacMartin – a marketing agency based in Derbyshire. A simple truth that guided Claire and her sister when founding the agency, both under the impression that being self-employed will give the two caregivers the flexibility they sought from work.

The initial stages of setting the business up gave Claire the extra family time she was looking for, but the honeymoon period did not last long as the business began gaining the kind of traction that requires a team. As Claire and her sister ramped things up three years in, ‘it certainly wasn’t balanced, we had to put our heart, soul and all our time into it’. Suddenly it was not just two freelancers with a clear vision and the kind of bond only sharing a childhood bedroom can build. Managing incoming staff seemed to lead to more work, with the added stress of covering salaries whilst delivering high-quality work to clients. ‘There is no getting around that’ Claire asserts, as a founder you must make that transition to training staff to the point where you can delegate and let go.

Delegate

This was a difficult task for Claire, ‘I was often a bottle neck because I wanted everything to be perfect’ she notes. The turning point that pushed her to learn to balance work, family, and herself was a Christmas miracle. On her way to meet Santa with her two girls, an urgent meeting requested by a new client replaced Claire’s mental gift wish list with anxious thoughts. Then and there she decided to let go of perfectionism and delegate the meeting to a staff member who passed with ‘flying colours’. This ‘made me realise that I’ve got to let go, I can’t do everything, and it is not fair for the team, they don’t want to be micro-managed, they want some accountability and the opportunity to step-up’. This was necessary for Claire’s balance and the team’s development, she realised that looking out for herself is not selfish, it benefits everyone.

Delegation is easier said than done, you must first hire the right people. Claire stresses that the MacMartin team are very protective of their culture, with core values such as resilience, accountability, respect, trust, and team work taking precedent over skills in potential candidates. The brand’s clear mission of changing behaviours for the better helps in attracting employees with the right mindset, so a willingness to step-up and support each other as caregivers is a true sign of being a good fit for the team.

Set boundaries

‘It works both ways, I do expect it back’ emphasises Claire, as she notes that flexible working can be a double-edged sword for caregivers, and leaders must be a positive role-model for their team in setting boundaries. Some key strategies that have worked for Claire include setting distinct home and work time, identifying three main to-do items per day, and taking the time to step back and reflect on her achievements. The biggest mistake Claire made was assuming what other people are thinking, turns out people are more respectful of boundaries than she thought. ‘My advice would be – do it, say no, put boundaries in place and see what reaction you get because I think it will be different from your expectations’.

Empowering her employees to take responsibility for their professional and personal life by passing accountability onto them and focusing on outcome rather than hours has significantly improved productivity, retention, and staff morale at MacMartin.

Align your ecosystem

A key aspect to MacMartin’s flourishing success is that ‘we are as picky with our clients as we are with our staff’. The true meaning of living your brand values is ensuring that everyone in your ecosystem is aligned. As a new founder, it is hard to say no, ‘I’ve been there, probably for three years, taking whatever business came our way’. This led to a few unpleasant experiences with clients that did not respect boundaries and treated Claire differently as a female leader.

The turning point was a mentor who recommended turning down unwanted work and increasing prices, a disastrous combination for a new business that made Claire uncomfortable. However, when the team modelled the price increase and the costs of turning down misaligned clients, the situation was nowhere near as grim. ‘We’d got ourselves stuck in a rut where we were at capacity with work, but it was unprofitable and with people that we did not particularly want to work with’. It is easier said than done, but once the team shed the uninspiring projects, they had the time to go out and seek work that excited them. This scary transformation led to a snowball effect of enjoyable projects flooding in, that in turn exponentially improved staff morale, productivity, and income.

This brave leap of faith restored the balance, Claire reflects that MacMartin’s firm values are able to attract ‘the talent that we would not have otherwise been able to afford’. Catering to the team, especially caregivers, invokes loyalty and retention of productive staff, Claire notes that caregivers are more resilient, are strong problem-solvers, and great jugglers – people you really want on your team.

Mindset

With big projects in the pipeline for MacMartin, Claire knows three things for sure – you must ensure that your staff and clients are aligned with your values, being precious about the type of work that you do pays off, and as a caregiver and female founder she must continue to take the necessary steps to create balance for herself and her employees. It is imperative for the success of the business for Claire to set clear boundaries, focus on her own journey by blocking out the noise, and remembering to reflect on how far she’s come.

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