We recently connected with Brenna Karis and have shared our conversation below.
Brenna, sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Being a sole-proprietor can be a lonely and stressful endeavor! Covid quarantines in particular brought out a lot of mental-health challenges in many people. I myself have struggled with depression and imposter-syndrome throughout my 9 years owning my childcare business. As a solo entrepreneur I have to wear ALL the hats: HR, marketing, administrative, legal, as well as day-to-day hands-on childcare duties. It’s a lot to manage and I can’t say that I always do it gracefully! When you are dealing with all that, plus mental health, the world can feel like a lonely place. I am grateful that I have a very strong support network of friends and family to lean on when I am struggling. Being around children daily has also been a blessing in my life. They have the ability to delight and distract from whatever is going on internally, so at least for a while I can just have fun with them or hold a baby and feel hopeful about the world. Being open about mental health challenges is so important, as most people struggle with them one way or another. It’s easy to want to shut down and hold it all inside, but we need to find ways as a society to talk more openly about things and find common ground and solutions.
In the last year, I have been grateful to find a very supportive network of local business owners. Being able to talk to other like-minded people about the challenges of owning a business has been so encouraging and makes me feel less alone in the madness!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the owner and director of Karis Family Daycare. I currently operate two small facilities and I am now fundraising to complete construction of a brand new infant and toddler center in my city. It’s been a long road trying to get this new center open, but I am staying hopeful and fighting despite the obstacles. We business owners labor for the love of what we do and what we feel we can provide to our communities and the world!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Business definitely takes a high level of self-confidence and perseverance right from the get go. Even if you don’t have a traditional business background, you have to believe in yourself and your services and put in the hours (and hours and hours) of overtime to make it successful. I was lucky that I already had a skill set in working with children and a passion/drive to expand my services so the business side was just something I had to learn. If I could give myself advice when I was starting out, it would be to attend more networking events, meet other business owners, make connections, and remind myself that it’s not easy for anyone and even the most successful business owners deal with stress and fundraising and uncertainty and self-doubt. Having other people to lean on and taking time for yourself is so important when being in business for the long-haul.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
My favorite book is The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt. While it is unrelated to business, I think on a personal level (while we’re on the topic of mental health) it is a great read to understand the resilience of the mind and the things we can do as humans to feel more fulfilled and happy, as well as a reminder to find balance in life.
“Happiness is not something that you can find, acquire, or achieve directly. You have to get the conditions right and then wait…Just as plants need sun, water, and good soil to thrive, people need love, work, and a connection to something larger. It is worth striving to get the right relationships between yourself and others, between yourself and your work, and between yourself and something larger than yourself. If you get these relationships right, a sense of purpose and meaning will emerge.” -Jonathan Haidt
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karisfamilydaycare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karisfamilydaycare
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenna-karis
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/karis-family-daycare-glendale
