When Business Collides With Parenting: The Capacity Tradeoffs Founders Don’t Plan For | Erin Brite | Part 3

This episode isn’t about parenting hacks or work-life balance. It’s about what it actually takes to run a service business inside a hard capacity constraint - while raising a family at the same time.

In Part 3 of this conversation, Erin Brite - co-owner of LiteHouse Services Group - breaks down the operational decisions that kept the business growing without letting the rest of life collapse.

This was not a mindset challenge. It was a systems challenge.

We cover:
Why “doing it all” becomes a failure mode once capacity is capped

How delegation, simplification, and boundaries function as operating rules - not preferences

The tradeoff Erin accepted early - and why it was the only sustainable option

The decision most founders get wrong when everything feels urgent

What actually prevented system failure as both the business and family demands increased

If you’re a founder, operator, or investor working inside finite capacity, competing obligations, or service-business constraints, this conversation will feel familiar.

This isn’t inspirational. It’s a practical breakdown of how real operators keep systems intact - under pressure, not in hindsight.

Chief Milestones is a video podcast featuring honest conversations with founders, parents, and investors about building real businesses, staying healthy, and raising families.

New episodes release Tuesdays and Fridays.

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Transcript

The Efficiency Move That Protects Time (Without Changing Your Values)

Reshma Vadlamudi 0:00

How do you handle mom guilt when business takes up your time?

Erin Brite 0:04

Giving up some of that responsibility so that he could go out and represent us, which is scary because it's hard to trust that someone else is gonna represent who you are, and and our company is so much a part of who we are. This doesn't sound very entrepreneurial, but it's the truth. I do less. Like I stop.

Reshma Vadlamudi 0:26

What's the wildest thing that's happened while you were on a work call? The biggest mom hack that saves you time and sanity.

Erin Brite 0:41

This seems so silly, but um ordering groceries that I actually enjoy grocery shopping. I like to go to the grocery store and walk around and look at the produce and the meat and and pick things out myself. I really do enjoy that process, but it's so much more efficient to go to my order and click on things and then have a specific time where I can just pull in, pick it up, you know. It's really been critical because when I don't do that and plan it out, then my kids are like, Mom, we haven't had milk for two days and we're a heavy milk drinking house. So that has been, and then also I would say pre-made or partially made

The Compromise Founders Don’t Admit They’re Making

Erin Brite 1:33

food. I'm not a we're not a big drive-thru house. We don't um typically eat, you know, some kind sometimes, but it's not part of our regular routine to get drive-through. Again, I actually really love to cook. I love to cook from scratch. I it's um it's an act of love for me, honestly. So I love to cook for my family, but it's something I had to compromise on because I can either take the hours to do that or or we can own a business. And so at this point, compromising on that feels okay.

“Dropping The Ball” vs Redefining What Success Actually Is

Reshma Vadlamudi 2:11

Have you ever completely dropped the ball on something important? And how did you recover?

Erin Brite 2:17

I wouldn't say I've completely dropped the ball, but there are certainly times where I've not shown up the way I wanted to, or with um the level of involvement that I wanted to. Like I certainly was a Pinterest-y kind of mom as a stay-at-home mom. And so I set these expectations from our kids early on, even say for for birthdays. So early on, when we just had two children, I made these elaborate birthdays and I loved it. Like it wasn't a it wasn't a hardship. I really enjoyed it. Yes. And then we had four children, and I was like, okay, this feels a little bit overwhelming, but I'm a stay-at-home mom. Okay, I can do it. And then we're now to the point where I'm like, who can I pay to do these things? Where can I buy this? Yes. It feels like dropping the ball a little bit, but um, again, it's like what is most important is that I'm present with the kids, that they feel valued and celebrated. And we can do that in different ways and still accomplish.

Reshma Vadlamudi 3:28

Yes.

Mom Guilt: What’s Real vs What You Manufactured

Reshma Vadlamudi 3:29

Yes. Oh gosh. Okay, so how do you handle mom guilt when business takes up your time?

Erin Brite 3:38

It is real. Mom guilt is very real. Um I I've just tried to focus on what are what is guilt that I'm creating for myself. So checking in with my kids and understanding, are they even impacted by this? Or this is this something that I've created that I feel guilty about that they don't even care about. So checking in to see what are the most important things to them, and then trying to be there for them. Um I think also just recognizing that I heard this quote recently, and it feels so relevant to me as a parent, but it was something like recognizing that it's your parents' first trip around this sun, too. Like it's my first time being a parent. I've never done this before. And so, and I think when you're a child, when I looked at my parents, and if they weren't exactly what I hoped in a certain area, maybe I judged that. And now being an adult and being a parent myself and reflecting back and realizing like that's the first time they'd ever done that, been married, had had a teenager, they were really just doing their best. And that's how I feel now is like I am just doing my best. And actually, it's pretty good considering like I'm doing really well. And so giving myself grace for that and hoping that my kids can understand that, keeping the dialogue open to understand what are the things that are really important to them, and then not sitting in guilt. Cause I think we can get stuck in that like shame spiral where it's like, and that's just not productive, it's not helpful. Um, so for me, I just can't stay in that place. I can be really intentional with everyone in the time I have. So another thing that I've really been doing this year is just trying to really be present in the moment. So if I'm um Sunday, I was at a friend's house and they had the windows open and the breeze was coming through, and I was sitting around with three of my girlfriends talking about life. And I just had this moment of like, this is amazing. Now, can I do that? Not even every week, right? So enjoying that when I can and not feeling guilty when I can't. Um same with the kids. One thing I found with kids post-sports is they have this adrenaline high because of the endorphins from working out. So it's my favorite time to be available to them because often they're a lot more chatty and willing to converse with me than uh if I try to initiate a conversation about a certain topic.

The Operating Rule When Life Feels Chaotic: Do Less

Reshma Vadlamudi 6:55

So what's your go-to strategy when everything feels overwhelming and chaotic?

Erin Brite 7:01

This doesn't sound very entrepreneurial, but it's the truth. I do less. Like I stop and try to evaluate what is necessary here. And sometimes it's saying no to good things. And if I'm overwhelmed, uh I have to say no to work before I say no to my kids. At this point in parenthood, I'm super aware of the fact that they're gonna be leaving, that their friends are more interesting to them right now than I am. So if they want me and if they're interested, and I really try not to say, I really try not to say no to them and and instead to say no to the business, knowing that in general, I can make it up sometime else when they're not around because they don't need me constantly. Um, but I'm just really aware of the fact that they they're gonna leave and that I have just this time left to really be a person that they want to continue to connect with. But if I'm saying no to them or I'm asking them to wait, I feel like they're just gonna stop asking. So I know of myself, I have really high capacity. And if I'm overwhelmed, I can't do it all. And I'm not gonna, I don't want to drop something. And I definitely don't want to disappoint a client. Or is there a system we need to put in place? Do I need somebody else's help here? Am I trying to do too much on my own? Is something that I'm doing, again, unnecessary? So stop, do less, and evaluate what really is important. And then often that overwhelming feeling passes and I can again engage at the level that I need to.

Boundaries: Why “Work Isn’t My Legacy" Changes The Decisions

Reshma Vadlamudi 8:56

Yes. Okay. How do you set boundaries between work and family when both of these things need your time? I always protect our family.

Erin Brite 9:05

I would say that's my bend. I don't know that that's a traditional entrepreneurial bend, but that's my bend. And and giving myself permission to value that because um I think one of the realizations I had over the last year or two was this is great. We're building something amazing here, right? Or in my opinion, you know, it's really exciting what we're building. Um, but if I lose everything else that's important to me in that process, who cares? Someone will find another home inspector, someone will find another fill in the blank. And in in the end, my work is not my legacy and it's not the people who are gonna care about me if all of that went away.

Reshma Vadlamudi 9:55

Okay.

What She Refuses To Stress Over (And Why It Matters Operationally)

Reshma Vadlamudi 9:56

So what's one thing you refuse to stress over anymore as a mom?

Erin Brite 10:02

Other

Values Clarity As a System: Resisting Other People’s Expectations

Erin Brite 10:03

people's expectations. And um, so it's not that I'm not aware of like what everybody else is doing. I can still observe maybe what other parents are doing. And there might be things that they're doing that I like that I want to do for our family. But this idea that I should do X, Y, and Z as a parent, um, I just can't. And and we have the conversation with our kids about, they'll say, well, maybe not in this clear of language, but like, well, my friend's this, or in their family, it looks like this. That's great. That's not our family. And we just again, it goes back to the clarity of like, what are your values? What are the things that um for our business and for our family? Having that kind of clarity has helped us so much because when there's a decision to be made, we already know what's important to us. But I cannot, I can't care that there's an expectation of X, Y, or Z because it might not be right for our family or it might be wonderful, but I still can't do it. And so it's not helpful. We're a family who waits. We do the wait until eight for cell phones. That's very countercultural these days. And and we wait on social media until a certain point, also, which is very countercultural. And and our kids have friends who have a lot more access to that and a lot more time on certain things, or they can have certain devices in their bedrooms and things like that. And so, but I think if you're unclear about who you want to be or what you care about, it's easy to be manipulated by your children and society, right? And then to feel guilty about it. But actually, if you have clarity around that, and it can change, right? Like I can be flexible, I can change, but at least I understand why we're making the choices we do. Even, even I would say it's not even pressure from other kids. Like we find it's pressure from the school district. So our our twins, the seventh graders, they don't have cell phones, but there's expectations from their coaches or the school district that they would have a cell phone to be able to communicate with us about like pickup stuff or um or remind apps that all come through the cell phone, and the kids need to have a phone number to be able to be on the remind app where they're gonna get all this information. And I have to say, like, you actually can go to the office and use the phone in the office to call me if you need to.

unknown 12:51

What?

Erin Brite 12:52

Like, that's appalling.

Reshma Vadlamudi 12:54

Yes, yes, but it's actually not, it's totally fine. Okay, what's something you wish more moms knew about balancing family and business?

Flexibility As a Skill (Not a Personality Trait)

Erin Brite 13:05

I wish they I just knew that like they don't have to be perfect at it, that um it's actually gonna change every year, maybe every quarter, things are gonna change. So, to me, a skill that that I've tried to embrace and I try for our kids to embrace is just flexibility, that things are constantly changing. I'm so comfortable with black and white. I'm so comfortable with my calendar. It has everything in its place. I'm so comfortable there. But being able to embrace that things are changing, that we're adapting, that we're adjusting, and that that's okay.

The Hidden Cost Of Being “Always Available”

Reshma Vadlamudi 13:46

What's the wildest thing that's happened while you were on a work call?

Erin Brite 13:51

So I don't know that it's wild, but I realized I I was starting to burn things. So it was not irregular that if it was dinner time and I was trying to cook something and then I would get a call and walk away from it and think, oh, this can just simmer here. I'm just gonna walk away and take this little quick call and I'll be right back. And of course, in business, sometimes things aren't quick and it takes a lot longer than you expect. And then I would burn the whole pan of whatever I was doing. So luckily now, either I've gotten to the point where I just move it off the burner if I get a call and I have to take it, or my family recognizes now, luckily they've gotten used to this. If mom's on a call and there is something cooking, hey, check

Letting Go Of Control + Why Integration Beats Balance

Erin Brite 14:41

in.

Reshma Vadlamudi 14:41

Yes. Did you have to let go of control and perfectionism hugely?

Erin Brite 14:50

I would say that started when I went from two to four kids because when you have twins who are babies, um, yeah, I had a daughter and a son, and they were I had this delusion of control that everything was just perfect. And then we lost a child, and then we had the twins. And so I think in the midst of all that, I was just so thankful for the twins that it was like, okay, well, I guess if it's not perfect, I'm still thankful that they're here. And it was this way that God really pulled control from me because it just wasn't, I couldn't. Like it wasn't possible. And so maybe that was like an earlier precursor to now, like, okay, now you have this career that you're really passionate about and that you really enjoy and love. And you can't have that and do all this perfect mom stuff, which I'd say I'm made for and I really enjoy, and it's a part of me that I love, but I love both of these things. I really like being a business owner. I really like working with our team and our clients. And I love being a mom. Yes. And so if I'm gonna have both of those sides of myself, I can't have it all the way I want it. Yes. Um I think another interesting story was early on when I first joined our company. Um, it's like a little bit tender to me, but my daughter came down one day and she looked at me and I was in business attire, specifically business pants. I think that was the thing that she was like, she just kept looking at me curiously. And I was like, El, what's you know, what's going on? And she was just like, You look like my teacher. Like, that's what my teacher wears. And what I knew about this teacher of hers is she loved her. She was a fantastic teacher, but I think in Ellie's mind, she saw this teacher as this professional woman, and she saw mom as just this mom, right? Who stayed home, who maybe didn't dress up every day. And so then to kind of see these two worlds collide, it was cool because she's a really strong, independent young woman about to be adult, and um to be able to be that role model for her, which I always knew I was. I was always this type A performing, high performing person, but I had stepped back into motherhood to just like kind of be walked over and serve everyone. And so to be able to step back into that part of myself and to see my daughter try to put these two parts of her mom together, um, I think that's why it's worth it to try to push for that integration as opposed to balance. Um and it made me feel like more myself than I had for a while. How important do you think delegation is? Huge. It's huge. So you just can't do all the things. And but again, having a good team, having a support system. So when my husband used to travel all the time, I was I was home base, right? I kept everything in control. Now that I am more often outside of our home, actually, I'm the one who, you know, if they're home for a school break or something like that, I'm out in the field, either at homes or at a networking event or something like that. And more often than not, dad's the one who's home doing different business responsibilities. And the kids would um text me, dad's home, and they would text me, hey mom, can I have this? Hey, mom, it's lunchtime. What should I do? And I so helping them and him to take on more of that. I had to give it up and they had to own it. And then also like carpools are critical. So that's delegation, like sharing different responsibilities, having somebody else shop for my groceries, even though I want to, um, bringing on team members who so we this January we hired a person to do marketing, even though I love it. I really do love it, but I can't do it all. And so I also love working with our team and I also love running operations. And so giving up some of that responsibility so that he could go out and represent us, which is scary. Because it's hard to trust that someone else is going to represent who you are. And our company is so much a part of who we are. But knowing that if we're building something bigger and we have big plans, we have to delegate. We I can't, I can't hold it out. Now, I'll tell you, there was a situation last year. We hired a virtual assistant because I needed help with some phones and administrative stuff. And and so I delegated that and it wasn't the right fit. And and I would have been tempted to say, see, it doesn't work. Delegation doesn't work. I have to do it all by myself. But really, what came out of that was realizing actually, now I understand who I can delegate to. And it wasn't because the virtual assistant was great. It just wasn't great for what I needed. It just wasn't great for the role. Like he himself was very good at things, just not for the role that we had him in. So that's the risk of delegation, but it's also to grow. You cannot hold on to everything. And also, I think going back to the very beginning, what we talked about, like what's the thing that I've learned so much over business? It's not just like who am I partnering with, the who matters. Like the team members matter, knowing who you want to delegate to. It's okay to make a mistake and realize that wasn't the right person and figure out who the right person is, but it matters. I think the who, there's a book about that that I read, like who not why, I think something like that. Who not how? Who not how, yes. And it's so critical. Like there's team members we've brought on and they're so fantastic. We lucked out, really. But um, I think they could be capable of anything in our company because they're such great people. So that matters.

Reshma Vadlamudi 22:08

Yes. Okay. So for someone, uh okay, in particular to business. So who is trying to delegate things? What do you so you're just the first thing that they have to delegate?

The First Thing To Delegate (And The Rule For Choosing It)

Erin Brite 22:24

What's the first thing to delegate? Anything you don't like, but is critical to your business. So if there are pieces of your business that you really don't enjoy or you're not good at, but it's a critical part of your business, you've got to find somebody who's good at that and uh and and let them run with it.

The Parenting/Business Collision Nobody Prepares Kids For

Reshma Vadlamudi 22:45

So what's one thing your kids think you you do all day versus what you actually do?

Erin Brite 22:51

I think they have no idea what I do all day. The fact that sometimes when they're home from school, that I'm not at home, like totally available to them. They it blows their mind because throughout the day, the older two can text me and it'll be like, hey mom, I need this thing that they want me to just like jump on right now. And I'm like, don't you understand that I'm I'm working a whole job here.