This story is part of our 1,000 stories campaign. What’s your story?

Name: Patricia Talavera

Business: Save Your Time Biz Solutions, website and marketing solutions for businesses 

Industry: Marketing & PR 

Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

Reason for starting: I started my company because someone once told me, “You can’t be successful here unless you put this job first. ALWAYS”. I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea that the only way I could succeed in my career was to essentially put my family (and sometimes my sanity) on the back burner. I started my business so I could pursue my goal of helping more people, while having the flexibility to prioritize my family. 

How do you define success? To me being successful is all about having choices. One of the biggest perks of working for myself is being able to choose the people that I work with and which projects to take on. 

Related: Read about another Marketing & PR entrepreneur here.

Biggest Success: My biggest success was getting my Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology while trying to start my company. Halfway through the program I found out that I was expecting my daughter, and I was able to finish most of the program as planned because my husband was so supportive of what I was trying to do. 

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Even though working for myself provides a lot of flexibility, there are times when the lack of clear boundaries (such as set hours) can cause their own set of issues. Because it was just me and my sister working together, and because we love what we do, it’s easy to get lost in the work. The problem is that, if you don’t set those boundaries, no one else will. It’s all about setting priorities then making decisions based on what’s more important to you. For me, it’s family, so no matter how busy work gets I try to reserve weekends for family time. 

Related: A Light Look at Serious Stigmas 

Who is your most important role model? My most important role model is Leonie Dawson. Every time I think to myself, maybe I can’t do this, I think of her. She’s created a thriving business without having to compromise who she is, she’s doing work she loves, and she does it without having to put her family on hold constantly. She’s very open about her journey and it’s very reassuring to see that it is possible to make it all work. 
[box_light]Website   www.saveyourtimebizsolutions.com
Twitter   @sytbizsolutions
Facebook   www.facebook.com/saveyourtimebizsolutions
Pinterest   www.pinterest.com/sytbizsolutions[/box_light]

Tell us your story!
Read about another PR & Marketing entrepreneur here

Edited by The Story Exchange