In CafeMom's monthly series, Work It, Mama, powerful moms detail how they navigate their professions and home life.
When Kim Perell was 22 years old, she asked her grandmother for a $10,000 loan to start her own business. After college, she'd wanted to climb the corporate ladder, but after she was laid off from what she calls her first "real job" at a tech startup when the company went bankrupt, she thought "nothing's secure." So she decided instead of working for another company, she'd bet on herself.
But then came another obstacle: "No one wanted to give me a loan because I came from a bankrupt company," says Kim. That's when her grandma stepped in. "I was so fortunate in that someone just believed in me," adds Kim, who went on to become a multi-millionaire by the time she was 30. Her next company sold for $235 million.
Currently, Kim is the CEO of 100.co, which recently launched its first brand, Sama Adaptogenic Tea, as well as beauty and wellness brand Cay Skin with supermodel Winnie Harlow.
Kim's also the proud mama of two sets of twins, which she and her husband welcomed via surrogate after a seven-year IVF journey. Here, the mompreneur chats with CafeMom's editorial director Jessica Herndon about financial freedom, processing failure, and helping other women achieve their goals.
What do your mornings look like these days?
"So as soon I get up, I'm running at full speed," says Kim. "I've got four kids that I'm trying to get out of the house without having four meltdowns. So that's really a huge success for me if I can do that. It honestly starts with getting them ready and off to school. We spend a lot of time just negotiating. Literally this morning, I was negotiating if we're going to wear airplane underwear or not. I have two twin boys. I'm really leveraging my skills, which sounds crazy, but it's a complete truth."
Kim adds that work starts only after the kids are safely on the bus. "There's no email. We're just strictly focused on the kids and making sure everyone is wearing clothes on the way out the door," says Kim laughing.
Next, she jumps on her Peloton bike for a spin class, makes a protein shake, and then gets to work in her home office. "My children only go to school for three hours, but you have no idea what I can get done in three hours. Sometimes it's amazing. I'm a huge list person. I try to check things off as fast as possible."
How do you strike a balance between work life and mom life?
"I am obsessed with a schedule, so I prioritize my time by the minute," says Kim. "And for all the working moms out there — the zoom calls, the school, the naps, the homework, it's so much. And you're just trying to figure it out. It's like my own game of Tetris. Where am I going to fit it in? So I really try to prioritize my time, especially since work at home. So just trying to make sure that I can optimize the time when they're napping or the time when they're not here for phone calls."
Kim is also sure to "schedule time with the family just as I would schedule time for a meeting," she says. "We always have a family dinner and everyone talks about the worst thing that happened to them, the best thing that happened to them, and one thing they're grateful for. It's really a great way to end the day and it just gives you insight into little people's minds."
When it comes to your well-being and mental health, how and when do you make time?
"My weekends really are just focused on spending time with my family. They bring me so much joy." Kim is also a big bookworm. "If I could have my perfect vacation, it would be with a big stack of books," says the entrepreneur, who is the author of The Execution Factor, which offers a straightforward approach to success, and Jump, an inspirational guide to achieving goals in business and life. "I just read Maye Musk's book A Woman Makes a Plan, which is awesome."
There is definitely a sense of, "I have this all covered" that we have when we're bosses. We want to feel that as moms, too. How did it feel to have to surrender to a loss of control when conceiving didn't come easily?
"It was terrible! Having a family was the most important thing to me since I was a kid. But it didn't happen. But I wasn't going to give up." Kim adds that she "had many very terrible experiences for myself and for my children — both near death in trying to have them. I talk about this a lot because otherwise you're just lonely."
Transparency is extremely important. Shifting a bit, having open conversations about stability and our power to secure financial freedom are also key. For that mom who wants to make changes to set up a better financial now and later for herself and family by possibly starting her own business – where would you suggest she start?
"I think the biggest thing is not about where you start but where you end up, because I see a lot of people just get stuck," says Kim. "The more people I see, especially at my age and with kids, they're just stuck and it's scary to change. But likely what you don't know is that growth opportunity that sparks a passion or fire inside you."
Kim adds that acknowledging you may never be "ready" for a change is vital. "I talk about the 'when-then' drop, like, 'When the economy gets better, then I will look for a new job.' Or, 'When I get a promotion, then I'll leave my current job.' These are excuses you're telling yourself. If you're at 70%, it's time to go. It's time to get out of your comfort zone and into your growth zone, because you'll learn the rest. If you think you're 100% ready, you're not dreaming big enough in terms of what you could become or what you could do. At 70% there's room for you to grow and learn and get more experience."
How have you processed failure?
"I've failed many times. And I think that's a sign that you are learning, you're growing. If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough. Again, you're staying in your comfort zone. So in order to really step into your potential greatness, you have to be willing to fail."
You do a lot of investing in companies and start-ups. What gets you excited when you're considering partnerships and collaborations?
"I love female entrepreneurs. I'm for any entrepreneur, but the women entrepreneurs, I see more and more of them, and I love it. So I've invested a lot of great female-founded companies. There's new opportunities which you haven't been able to invest in previously, which is awesome to see, and there's amazing women running them.
"So for me, just continuing to help support and mentor, advise and invest in companies that are innovative and clearly fit a market need, but also have amazing entrepreneurs behind them. It's awesome if you can align your passions with the opportunities. I continue to pay it forward. Someone was gracious enough to make a bet on me. I want to make a bet on other people."
