Today’s episode is all about transitioning the transition from only business owner – to business owner and mom. Jovana shares her insight into the challenges that came with becoming a mom in the midst of running and operating her business – including what she found most helpful in the early days, advice for finding balance and how to ensure that you are fulfilling both roles without burnout. You can find Jovana HERE.

Tackling The Transition from Business Owner to First Time Mom with Jovana Prica

Jovana Prica is a new mom of 2 (under 2), two-time entrepreneur and so much more. After successfully opening her own boutique, she tackled the ups and downs of infertility and the journey to getting pregnant, becoming a first-time mother and navigating post=partum, which she refers to as the fourth trimester. For Jovana, the pursuit of her biggest passion was born after she became a mother herself – having researched, developed and launched the world’s first 100% mulberry silk and organic cotton fitted bassinet sheet to help other newborns and mothers around the world. And she managed to do this while pregnant with her second child, in the middle of a global pandemic. Now – the mother of two manages two successful businesses while also being a mother of two – the ultimate definition of multitasking.

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Show Notes:

  • What does hustle like a mother mean to you?
    • I learned the hard way, what that means to me. Because I’ve been on the go like nonstop since I had my baby girl in 2020. So I literally gave birth to her when the pandemic started, like when everything went to lockdown, and then I had my son in August 2021. My health declined because I was juggling so many different things. I was hustling so hard in terms of business and taking care of my family. I was really skipping over these big signs and symptoms that were happening to me that I should have been more proactive with. Since April, so basically like a month and a half ago, is when I started to really take charge of my health and take a bit of a step back to listen to my body and know how far I can push it and say “yes” to the creative things that I’m into and “no” to some of these other things that I would’ve previously said “yes” to, but that would’ve just depleted my energy.
    • That’s what it is to me because when I see some of these mom entrepreneurs, I think that a lot of them are working so hard because they’re just trying to keep their head above water as far as taking care of their families, being a good wife in every sense of whatever words. We put so much pressure on ourselves and I did that for so, so long to the point where it was to my detriment and it just wasn’t cute, you know? It was like, nobody’s envying me at this point. 
  • I would love to know more about your story. So tell us a little bit about how you started your business when kids were brought into the equation and kind of what that looked like for you guys, as you were trying to build a business and family plan.
    • I was an assistant buyer at Target Canada and we suddenly kind of closed those offices in 2016 – everybody was laid off and I was kind of in this weird place where I didn’t know what to do anymore. So I moved to a smaller town to be with my now husband. He was my boyfriend at the time. And I remember moving to the town and saying like, where do people shop around here? And he was like “at the mall” and I was like, “oh, and then what?” He was like, that’s it – you just go to the mall.
    • And so I thought, okay, I’m gonna open a store and I’m gonna put all of like my favorite clothing brands and beauty products. In my mind, it was sort of like an Anthropologie vibe, but I wanted it to be a bit more affordable So Unikoncept was born. Then I found a location that was near the universities. It was really accessible by foot for the students who don’t have cars and it was just like a smaller space. I started small because I wanted to like grow and even just to see, I never imagined that people would be so into it the way that they were. And in my mind, I was targeting these university students, but it ended up being all these local women who have lived here their whole lives.
    • (As far as family planning), it took us two years to conceive my daughter, and (we needed) fertility treatments in the end. I ended up conceiving her on our third IUI treatment. It had been 18 months at that time of unsuccessfully trying naturally.
    • My second busniess was born after I had my second baby. She started developing like a bald spot on the back of her head and then it turned into a rash. So I ended up designing a silk bassinet sheet. So the top where baby’s head goes is one hundred percent mulberry silk. It’s one of the highest grades of silk and then the base where the baby’s body goes is a quilted, one hundred percent organic cotton. So it’s kind of cushiony, but not too cushiony. It’s perfect for their backs. Also, if they happen to have a blowout, it’s not blowing out on silk, it’s on the cotton.
  • I know it’s been almost impossible without help to work right now with both little ones. And I don’t know how you manage to balance both your kids and work. I’d love to hear kind of what your setup is for that.
    • My daughter is now in daycare. She’s only two and a half, so she’s in daycare four times a week. And then with my son, we have a nanny three times a week. So I’m only with him alone on Mondays and Thursdays, plus weekends. So three days a week, I can actually go to the store. I can do things like this (podcast). I can go to appointments, buying appointments, and stuff like that. But it just like makes the world of difference.
  • What’s the most helpful thing you’re doing to kind of make sure that you are doing your best to balance your business and your babies?
    • I really try and practice just trying to be present. But I think that the days where I’m at work, like they literally fill my cup. I just feel like I’m a way better mom when I’m working. So why would I take that away from myself to be this pretend mom?
  • I would love to hear what any last minute tips or advice you have for new moms, running businesses who are wanting to feel like they’re thriving, but aren’t right now?
    • Something that people always say to me is “give yourself grace.” I find that expression so annoying. Because like who, even that has kids in the business is like, okay, today I’m gonna give myself grace. It’s impossible.
    • I’m just gonna say, try to do what you love and what you’re good at in your business. Cuz there’s gonna be things you’re not good at and that you don’t love doing (like accounting for me). Do all of the things that you love and just do those, anything you can outsource – outsource it – and don’t feel bad about it because it’s the cost of what you’re paying to outsource. It is not worth your health in the long run.
  • I would love for you to tell everybody where they can find you online, where we can hang out with you where we can get your stuff and um, how they can be a part of your journey too.
    • UniKoncept – UniKoncept is built on the model of experiential shopping. It is a women’s lifestyle boutique located in Kitchener-Waterloo, curating exclusive brands to the Tri-Cities area. The majority of products are from Australia & Los Angeles, with some Canadian brands throughout the shop.
    • Silkzees

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