December 22, 2024
Watching Jacinta create her hand-decorated Christmas cookies for her child’s elementary school party, I thought I may have the perfect expert to help explain her secrets for avoiding burnout in retail operations. So, I asked her about the secret to balancing work and family life.
She responded quickly, “Admittedly, I was a people pleaser in my past. I was working in town as a social worker. Helping those with mental health and drug addiction challenges. During the Covid pandemic it became so hard for my clients. This population was very vulnerable to the challenges of home-bound living. These challenges became overwhelming for lots of my clients. As a result, I was missing my kid’s big events, and I seemed to have no control over my schedule. After some time, a friend told me that my selfless service could be considered selfish to my family. I knew I had to make a change.”
Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Obviously, a big change was needed, but how? She found that she had to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. The discomfort mostly came from the desire to please her customers and those around her. She further explained: “In the past, I always tried to please everyone. I thought I was being generous, but a friend let me know that it was actually selfish in a way. She told me that I was doing everything for everybody else but ended up missing the important part of my life. I failed and had to hit a really low point of missing big events and never feeling at-ease in order to make a change.”
She started in small but important ways. “I started setting my limits, I realized I couldn’t always please everyone that walked through the door. I learned to say no. Boundaries are everything. Today, accepting that I may not have exactly what a customer expects every visit, helps me to keep my time and priorities on track.” Communicating with the customers about sold-out items while keeping the food delicious and fresh helps customer remain loyal and feel a part of the Sugar Momma’s special guests.
My Wheel of Life
Jacinta considers her wheel of life to be an on-going effort to utilize her values and goals to establish her evolving boundaries. Clearly, her family will grow, and the jobs of mother, wife, daughter and friend will change with time. Her ability to prioritize is the guiding force that makes the wheel work fun and rewarding. Most of the items in her wheel are currently in the acceptable range. She does admit that she wants to make a bit more time for her health and fitness in the coming year.
Wheel of life check points include things like:
- Finance
- Career & Work
- Health & Fitness
- Fun & Recreation
- Community
- Family & Friends
- Spirituality
Business partners, Melissa and Jacinta, with their priorities
Living My Priorities
The proof is in the pudding. During the hectic Christmas season, her business has a rush of special orders. Nonetheless, Jacinta makes time to create beautiful hand-decorated Christmas cookies {with King icing!} for her child’s school party. She creates memories and prioritizes her family. She works hard to market and grow her business, while always remembering that it is not the only part of her life.
Business Consequences and Dealing with Conflicts
She accepts that she may not always have exactly the desired items for every customer. It means that some things must be accepted that they are not perfect for every aspect of her life. For example, the shop is closed for major holidays, and vacations. One critical part of her priorities is growing the business. The expansion of the business, however, is done within the budget and timeframe that she and her business partner can accomplish while also staying active with the children, their spouses, extended family and friends.
She describes how it works in real life. “It was hard at first when a customer wanted something that we did not have, but we cannot meet every possible situation. We offer alternatives and make it easy for the customers to order ahead. Most of the time, they tell us when big orders need to be prepared.” Of course, having so many wonderful treats means that no one suffers much when their favorite is not available. Finding another wonderful treat, along with the big smiles and friendly service make even a trip without any of my favorite cinnamon bagels a special event.
Fun facts of St Mary’s, PA Life
Fun facts of St Mary’s, PA LifeBeing a town named St Mary’s, there may be a higher per capita awareness of the famous Christian saint than in any other city in the world (source – proud local folklore). Jacinta explains her name, which can be bit difficult for the German/Irish city residents to pronounce, was given to her by her mother in honor of the youngest child that was visited by Saint Mary at Fatima in Mexico.