The 6 Biggest Lessons I’ve Learned About Managing Relationships as a Mom Entrepreneur
- Kelsea Koenreich
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
When you grow, evolve, and add more moving pieces to your life, one of the hardest things to manage is your relationships, especially as a business owner.
As I’ve changed, so have my relationships. Balancing personal connections with the growth of my business (and myself) has been one of the biggest, ongoing lessons of my life.
In this blog, I’m sharing the biggest lessons I’ve learned about navigating relationships through different seasons of growth and how I’ve been able to keep doing what I love with the people I love.
1. Not Every Relationship Is Meant to Last Forever
As somebody who really cares about people — sometimes to a fault — I wanted to hold on to everybody, regardless of how much I had changed or what season I was in or where I was going.
We hold so much guilt around this as women. We are afraid to be honest about the things we have outgrown, whether that’s an intimate relationship, a marriage, a friendship, or even a certain environment, because we don’t want to upset anybody else. We don’t want people to think that we are better than anyone.
But, what I learned is that holding on to relationships simply out of guilt or obligation keeps you stuck. It limits your own growth.
2. Ambition Changes the Way You View Relationships
My ambition has always been fueled by helping others. It showed up early on when I was working in personal training and realized, "My gosh, I have the power and the ability to make people's lives better. This is addicting."
As I grew more ambitious, I started evaluating my relationships differently. I started asking:
What am I giving in this relationship?
What am I receiving?
What are the unmet expectations that maybe I'm not communicating?
I started seeing that relationships aren't just about what you do for others. They’re also about who you become alongside them.
3. You Need Different Relationships to Honor Different Parts of You
There was a time when I prioritized relationships where I felt useful — where I was actively helping or adding value. If I wasn’t “bringing something to the table,” I didn’t feel worthy of the connection.
But I’ve learned that your worth in relationships isn’t based on constant output.
There are parts of me…funny parts, creative parts, tender parts that need space too.
We need different relationships to honor different parts of who we are.
We need:
People who are a safe space
People we can be silly and sarcastic with
People we can have deep growth conversations with
People who challenge us to think differently
One relationship can’t be everything for you and releasing that expectation is freeing. This mindset transfers into this beautiful holistic view of having different people in your life that play different roles and fill different buckets.
4. Different Relationships Bring Different Viewpoints
A lot of times, especially in entrepreneurship, we're fed this message of “Who you interact with determines everything.”
While I do believe the majority of people you spend your time with in the environments you put yourself in are incredibly important, I don’t believe you have to only surround yourself with other entrepreneurs.
Some of the most valuable perspectives have come from friends who aren’t in business at all.
Not everything has to be networking.
Not everything has to be goal-driven.
You can be incredibly ambitious and still hold space for people who live differently than you.
Not everyone will have the same ambition you have and that’s okay. That doesn’t make them less than or more than. It just makes them different.
What matters more is being intentional about who you spend time with and why.
5. Strong Relationships Require Strong Boundaries
If you want healthy relationships and business success that lasts, you have to have strong boundaries.
Having kids has taught me more about boundaries than anything else.
Right now, I'm still in a season where my kids are little — but they won’t be little forever. And while my business is incredibly important to me, if I ever had to choose, I would pick being present with my kids every time.
I once read about a study in a book by Adam Grant where people near the end of their lives were asked what they wished they'd done differently. Nearly everyone said they wished they'd spent more time with family and not one single person said they wished they’d worked more.
That stuck with me.
“Boundaries aren’t about keeping people out. They’re about protecting what matters most.”
You don't have to choose between being a successful entrepreneur and being a present mom. But you do have to choose, moment by moment, where your focus is.
For me, that has looked like:
Longer timelines
Saying no to some opportunities
Prioritizing presence over busyness
If you want lasting success and strong relationships, strong boundaries aren’t optional — they’re essential.
This is why a lot of my clients come to me…
They're moms, they've been in business for a while, they've hustled and grinded, they've built something successful.
But, now they realize they actually want to enjoy their lives. They want to breathe. They want to take vacations and be with their husbands and kids without feeling guilty.
At the end of the day, your time is yours. You're the one saying yes. You're the one filling your calendar. You're the one responsible for how you feel in your life.
So if you want a strong marriage, close relationships with your kids, friendships that last, it’s never too soon to set up boundaries that protect that.
6. Clear, Frequent Communication is Everything
Along with boundaries, one of the biggest things that’s helped me maintain a strong marriage, deep friendships, and a successful business is learning how to communicate clearly and often.
Relationships — marriage, friendship, team dynamics — they all rise and fall on communication.
In my marriage especially, Eric and I have had to work really intentionally to stay best friends, to stay on the same page, and to keep our connection strong while also running businesses and raising three kids. (We actually did a whole marriage series on the podcast if you want to dive into that.)
And when you’re not communicating, it’s usually a sign something else is going on (being burned out, not giving enough to yourself, feeling drained). If you find yourself not communicating, you have to ask:
What am I not saying that needs to be said?
What expectations do I have that I haven't voiced?
Where am I out of alignment with my own priorities?
You have to know what you want your relationships to feel like. Then you need to be willing to put in the work, communication, and time to build that.
For me, that’s looked like:
Making intentional time for each of my kids
Turning down events after heavy travel
Being so clear about my priorities that my friends already know without having to ask
Even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired: communicate.
Success Means Nothing Without Strong Relationships
At the end of the day, your relationships shape the quality of your life just as much as your success does.
You’re the one filling your calendar.
You’re the one choosing where your energy goes.You’re the one responsible for how you feel at the end of the day.
If you want a strong marriage, close relationships with your kids, lasting friendships, and a business you love, you need to learn to build it with intention. And if you need support with this, now’s the time to apply for a thought-partner relationship to help make it happen.
