Welcome to CafeMom's new monthly series, Work It, Mama, where powerful moms detail how they navigate their professions and home life.
In March, we kicked off the series by featuring a chat with Nekesa Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director. Now, in April, we're excited to talk to multi-hyphenate Chriselle Lim.
Chriselle Lim is the ultimate multitasker. Not only is the former stylist a major influencer (she has more than 3 million followers across her various social channels), leading YouTube star, and founder of The Chriselle Factor, but this Korean American mama of two is also a seasoned entrepreneur.
Pre-pandemic, Chriselle, along with good friend and co-founder Joan Ngyuen, saw how difficult it was for parents with really young kids to actually work from home, so they decided to do something about it and opened BumoWork at an outdoor mall in Los Angeles. As Chriselle explains, "BumoWork is a co-working space for parents with fully licensed child care which allows me to thrive and continue my career but still be co-located with my child. So, if I wanted to do a little lunch with her midday and/or do a little mommy & me class with her, now I can!"
When COVID-19 hit the world and most people’s work ground to a halt, the pair saw — and personally experienced — a big need for parents who were struggling to virtually school their young children: an actually engaging and workable virtual preschool.
Fast forward a few months, and BumoBrain Virtual School was born. Bumo — which means “parent” in Korean — is a virtual school with certified instructors who teach curated curriculums to kids 2 to 6 years old in small group settings, including lessons and activities that actually engage young kids, even through a screen. BumoBrain launched on April 2020 with a waitlist of 1,000 people. As schools have started reopening, they’ve pivoted to also providing enriching virtual after-school activities. As we all know, when a mom sees a need, she fills it.
So, how does this mom of two daughters, ages 6 and 3, and stealth TikTok star manage to do it all? Lucky for us, Chriselle shares exactly how she works it all out.
Her Efficient Morning Routine
"I'm usually up by 6:30 a.m. and I always start off the day with a meditation to set the tone of my day," shares Lim. "I go straight into mom mode by making them breakfast and getting them ready for the day. I've been drinking my hot lemon water first thing on an empty stomach as it allows me to detox my body first thing in the morning. I usually won’t eat anything until about 11 a.m. as I allow my body to detox and flush out all the toxins! If I’m really hungry I will usually do Greek yogurt with honey.
"As the kids eat their breakfast, I usually then am finally getting dressed for the day and doing my skin care. I've learned to be really fast and effective. I usually can get dressed and do my skin care within seven to 10 minutes."
A Typical Work Day
Thanks to her own ingenious brainchild and hard work, Chriselle has figured out an ideal remote working scenario. "I have a separate office in my house, which is where I spent the majority of my quarantine work life," she explains. "But now that BumoWork is open at [a nearby mall] I've been working out of there with my youngest one.
"After getting the kids ready, I will drop off Chloe, my oldest, at her kindergarten, and I will commute with my youngest daughter to BumoWork. We sing songs in the car together on our commute and once we get to BumoWork, I drop her off on the child care side and then I walk on over to the other side where the work lounge is. Here I will get plugged in with my day, usually starting off with all business-related tasks.
"I try to get through all of my emails, business calls and work meetings first, and by midday, I’ll usually jump on over to grab lunch with Colette and have some fun with her before I have to get back to work. These little moments are so special as I feel like I’m still getting my 'mommy moments' with her without missing a beat. Usually after our lunch I will switch gears to all things creative — whether it be shooting content or conceptualizing our next ad assets. Usually at around 5 p.m. I’ll check out for the day."
The Work-Life Balance Struggle Is Real
Chriselle expresses a sentiment that many working moms have about how "the biggest challenge is being 100% present at whatever you are doing," she says. Add in a worldwide pandemic, and Chriselle found "it’s almost impossible to get uninterrupted time. I would continuously start something and have to switch gears to mom mode and then by the time I get back to what I was working on, it's hard to switch it back on, so it ends up taking five times longer to get something done."
Downtime Is "So Important"
For Chriselle, the routine of unwinding at the end of a chaotic day is just as essential as all of the work and motherhood stuff. After all, a happy mom means a happy family, so she makes sure to take even just a few minutes for a little me time.
Her Secret Weapons for Getting It All Done
"Obviously BumoWork as my working situation right now and the BumoBrain virtual classes my kids and so many kids love taking! But besides Bumo I would say my Instant Pot. I never cooked before the pandemic and now I can whip up a whole meal within minutes thanks to my Instant Pot."
It's Not Easy, But It's So Worth It
Despite all the challenges of being a mother, a kick-ass entrepreneur, and a self-made brand, Chriselle always encourages other women to keep going.
"You can do both!" she exclaims. "You can thrive and go for your career and be an AMAZING parent at the same time. Don't let society or anyone make you think you can't do both. It's not easy, but with the right support system in place you absolutely can do both!"
