It Takes a Village: Support Systems for Mom Marketers

Being a marketer and a mom isn’t a balancing act—it’s a full-blown juggling routine. In this episode of Kids, Chaos, & Killer Campaigns, Eden Reid dives into what it really means to build and rely on your village—at home, at work, and everywhere in between. From yogurt-covered kitchen cabinets to last-minute workday rescues, Eden shares personal stories and actionable tips for identifying lifelines, setting boundaries, and staying connected while traveling for work.

Whether you're working remote with toddlers or navigating office life and school pickups, this episode is your reminder: you're not meant to do it all alone—and your village matters more than any productivity app.

Takeaways:

• How to identify and lean on your support system
• Tips for creating healthy work/family boundaries
• Why your professional network counts as your village
• Rituals to stay connected while traveling for work

Challenge this week: Text someone in your village, thank them, and ask how you can support them too.

Transcript

Eden Reid (00:13)

Welcome back to Kids, Chaos, and Killer Campaigns, the podcast for marketers who are juggling click-through rates and snack time negotiations.

Today's episode is a special one. We're diving in to your village. And no, not the Instagram perfect color-coded calendars and short charts village, but the real life network of support that keeps us as mom marketers afloat.

Whether you're working at home with a toddler crawling under your desk while you try to take calls, commuting to an office, or hopping on a plane to travel for work while FaceTiming your toddler a goodnight song, this episode is for you.

First, let's dive into why you need a village and what that actually means.

Let's be honest, none of us can do this alone and we're not supposed to. I was really reminded of that last week before I had a big internal strategy review I'd been prepping for all month.

30 minutes before my call, my three-year-old, was supposed to be getting ready for school,

decided it would be the perfect time to paint our kitchen cabinets with her yogurt. Spoiler alert, the cabinets were fine, but my stress levels? Not so much.

Whether it's someone watching your kids during a last-minute meeting or a friend simply texting you, you've got this before a work trip. Your support systems matter more than any productivity hack.

Today, we're covering a few quick tips in building this village, both in your work life and your personal life.

tip one is to identify both your work and your personal lifeline.

When you're building these lifelines, think about the people on your SOS list. The people you can call when daycare is closed, or your meeting runs late, or you simply need a sanity walk.

For me, two of these lifelines are two of my closest girlfriends who live less than 10 minutes away. And never hesitate when I text. Any chance you can do a 30 minute playdate with the girls so I can finish up this deck I'm working on?

And we are so lucky because my mom lives equally close and she is always ready to swoop in to help during dinner and teacher work days So I can knock out my emails in peace.

Last month, my girl's school had a teacher work day and I had everything lined up. Activities prepped, snacks stocked, and babysitter booked. But the morning of, our sitter called in sick, so I went into total scramble mode. Thankfully, my mom and my girlfriends came to my rescue. Each stepped in for just a few hours so I could get through my work day, and that right there is your village.

Quick mom marketer hack, make a list of three people you can lean on regularly for emotional, logistical, or professional support.

then don't just let those three into your village. Build your village with that.

Tip two, build work-friendly boundaries with your family.

I know a lot of moms who have to work with their kiddos at home. And for them, these boundaries are absolutely crucial. It's the difference between, yes, you can come in and give mommy a hug, And no, when mommy's office door is closed, she's on an important call, and you can't come in until it's open.

It doesn't matter if you're in an office or if you work remote. Your family needs to understand that your work is real, even if it's able to be done in leggings.

My kids are in preschool now, so my team calls are mostly toddler-free. But that doesn't mean boundaries aren't still a challenge.

The real interruptions for me are the preschool calls about forgotten lunches or scraped knees, early pickups, those days that someone isn't feeling great when they wake up from nap and need to come home. The mental load is constant even when the house is quiet.

I've learned to build in buffer time in my calendar for the unexpected, and I communicate work hours very clearly with my partner and my support system. It's not perfect, but it really helps. Balancing drop-offs, the early pickups, the teacher work days, my village is 100 % here to support me so that I'm able to both be a super present mom and an excellent marketer.

Another mall marketer hack? Use calendar blocks, autoresponses, and Slack statuses to reinforce these boundaries.

Just because your home may be quiet doesn't mean your brain isn't juggling 50 different tabs, both browser and mental.

grace, boundaries, and a little humor. That's how we make this work.

Tip 3, professional support counts too. Make sure you build a professional village.

I am so lucky on the team that I'm on because my village includes co-workers who really get it because they're living it too. I am so blessed to work alongside fellow parents with kids that are similar ages as mine and lots of shared understandings. That work relationship is priceless.

We get to share stories, share laughs, and really share empathy when one of us is going through a tough time with one of our kiddos just has somebody home sick for a day.

On my team, we've all had those mornings where the preschool is closed for some random teacher work day or the sitter calls in sick or one of our kiddos wakes up with a fever and can't go to school.

And in those moments, having a team that doesn't flinch when you say, I've got my kiddo home from school today, so they may pop in on some of our calls makes all the difference.

I've had my girls make surprise appearances on team calls more than once, and every single time it's met with grace, not judgment.

Sometimes they simply color quietly next to me while I present, and other times it's goldfish and background noise while I take notes.

Either way, it's a reminder for me that work and life aren't meant to be totally separate, especially for working parents.

and should include professional networks too.

I've joined some amazing women-centric local groups where I've met incredible marketers who I now text when I'm stuck on a strategy or stuck on mom guilt.

I also have some really awesome virtual networks like Daniel Murray's Marketingland and they've connected me with people across the country and honestly across the globe

who understand what it means to chase deadlines while also chasing toddlers.

These relationships have become more than just professional network relationships. They're lifeline.

I can't count the number of times another mom marketer has swooped in with a time-saving template or just a simple meme that made me laugh during a really stressful day.

So another mom marketer hack,

Don't wait till you're in a meltdown moment to find your people. Start small.

Say yes to a local meetup. Reply to that LinkedIn DM. Join a Slack group for people in your industry.

or add a fellow parent to your VentBuddy list.

Your village doesn't have to be big. It just has to be there.

Let's stop pretending we're doing this all solo and start building networks that support us personally and professionally.

Tip four, set yourself up for success when traveling.

Business trips with little ones at home is a whole other level.

Before one of my recent trips, I left behind a mommy mission scavenger hunt and every day my girls found a little note and a treat when I was gone.

It didn't stop them from begging me not to go as I left for the airport, but it did help us feel more connected while I was gone.

just as much as your friends, colleagues, and professional network are your village, so is your family. So my mom marketer hack is to prep small connection points before your trips.

It can be something like stickers or notes or video messages.

village feel more connected to you and it makes you feel better too. I've mentioned this before on the podcast but I'll say it again. Whenever I travel, whether it's for personal or professional reasons,

to step away from whatever I'm doing when bedtime rolls around so I can read a bedtime story and sing a quick goodnight song over FaceTime to my girls.

Your village may not look like anyone else's, and that's okay.

Some days your village is your mom. Other days it's a coworker or a friend or even the barista who gives you that I see you nod while your kid has a meltdown when you're trying to get your morning Starbucks.

So let's recap how to build this must have village. One, identify your lifelines. Two, make sure you set family boundaries around work.

Three, build your professional support network.

And four, create rituals that help you keep connected to your village when you're traveling.

Your challenge this week is simple. Text someone in your village and thank them and then ask, what can I do to support you this week?

because when we lift each other up, the chaos feels a little more manageable, and the campaigns? Still killer.

Thank you so much for checking out this podcast. I'd love to hear the topics that you want to hear discussed. So please drop your ideas in the comments or shoot me a line on LinkedIn.

I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast, leave it a review, or share it with a marketer who you think could benefit from a few village building tips this week.

I'd love to connect on LinkedIn to stay in touch through this journey. My LinkedIn will be dropped in the show notes, so you can simply click there and shoot me that connect request.

Next week, we're going to be talking about the power of personalization, crafting messages that resonate with your audience.

In the meantime, enjoy the kids, enjoy the chaos, and I'm wishing you all killer campaigns.