The Remote Working Reality for Business Moms

The Remote Working Reality for Business Moms

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When work meets life in the most literal sense, it's not just about conference calls interrupted by cries for snacks—it's about redefining professionalism. Welcome to episode 4 of the C-Suite Chicks Podcast, where Ashlie Marshall and Whitney Ramirez peel back the curtain on the gritty reality of working remotely while weaving through the daily chaos of family life. Their candid conversation offers a front-row seat to the trials, triumphs, and the unexpected comedy of managing a career from the home office.

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Ashlie kicks off the discussion with a memorable anecdote that every working parent will recognize: the struggle of delivering a polished company-wide presentation while tending to the immediate needs of a toddler and a baby. This real-life scenario shatters the idealized vision of remote work as a serene and always-productive oasis. Instead, it reveals a multifaceted challenge that requires patience, flexibility, and a healthy dose of humor.

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Founded with the freedom of location independence, the company's initial lack of a physical office space allowed for a lean operational model. However, as Whitney recounts, the evolution towards a brick-and-mortar office in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, brought on unanticipated financial strain and a shift in dynamics that challenged the remote work ethos they had cultivated.

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Ashlie and Whitney navigate these changes with a reflective tone, considering the impact of high-salary but low-performance hires, and the pressure to pivot strategies when productivity seemed to wane. They highlight the critical balance of providing autonomy while maintaining accountability—a tightrope that became even more delicate when a sales team member's lack of results triggered a cascade of doubt about the efficacy of remote work.

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The heart of the episode lies in their discussion of leadership in a virtual office space. When trust became a casualty to one employee's shortcomings, Ashlie and Whitney took a stance to rebuild it. They share how they transformed a monitoring system, which could have been oppressive, into a tool for connection and collaboration. The virtual office became a hub for real-time problem-solving and social engagement, proving that oversight didn't have to mean overbearing.

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As the world pivoted to remote work in response to the pandemic, their previously established virtual practices paid off. Yet, this global shift also brought a new level of understanding and empathy to client interactions. The unexpected sounds of children in the background of business calls became a shared experience rather than a professional faux pas.

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Beyond recounting their journey, the hosts delve into the philosophy of leadership that prioritizes empathy. They share stories of accommodating employees' personal needs, such as anxiety over travel or family commitments, and discuss how these gestures of understanding forge a stronger, more loyal team.

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In episode 4 of the C-Suite Chicks Podcast, the takeaway is clear: whether you're considering a shift to remote operations or seeking to enhance your current setup, leading with compassion and clear communication can transform the work-from-home experience from a mere necessity to a thriving ecosystem of productivity and satisfaction. 

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Whitney Ramirez (00:00):

Working from home must be so nice.

Ashlie Marshall (00:02):

Every time I hear that comment, I think back to when I was working from home with a two and a half year old and a three month old and giving a presentation in a meeting to the entire company and one child screaming that he needs to poop and one screaming because she ran out of snacks. And I am walking through a PowerPoint presentation while taking one to the bathroom, filling up some snacks, and I never stopped talking. Hey y'all, the C-suite chicks, we're so excited to be back talking to you today about working from home, remote work, our experience with remote work and the challenges and maybe some non remote work challenges that kind of were a part of that, but definitely interesting, interesting information today. Hey Whitney.

Whitney Ramirez (01:15):

Hello. Welcome. I've heard so many times, oh, I wish I could work from home. Oh, working from home must be so nice.

Ashlie Marshall (01:25):

Every time I hear that comment, I think back to when I was working from home with a two and a half year old and a three month old and giving a presentation in a meeting to the entire company and one child screaming that he needs to poop and one screaming because she ran out of snacks and I am walking through a PowerPoint presentation while taking one to the bathroom, filling up some snacks, and I never stopped talking.

Whitney Ramirez (01:57):

Yep.

Ashlie Marshall (01:59):

So let's talk about that again. Work from home has its perks. Yes. I was home with my kids. They saw me, I saw them. I was taking care of them. It was stressful.

Whitney Ramirez (02:14):

And I got my first dose of work from home. I had a pandemic baby, and Rome was born 2021 March. And so yeah, 2021. And so I got to do the work from home with a newborn thing, which is way easier than work from home with a toddler.

Ashlie Marshall (02:37):

Well, and there's also some key things to discuss here too, because our company originally was founded as a remote company. The founder worked out of his home. He didn't have an office space. He built it from nothing and no overhead and then started to need help. And so he started hiring people, but he didn't really care where they were, what they doing, or even when they got the work done, there was no time constraint.

Whitney Ramirez (03:05):

And that was the foundation of the company. It's like, I don't care when you work or where you work, I just want the work to get done. And that's what everyone wants to hear. That's great. Until,

Ashlie Marshall (03:19):

I mean, that's why I came onto the team because I could do it with my kids and I was pregnant. So that was how we started. And then I do recall the founder got very excited about an office space in Broken Arrow and decided to move forward and

Whitney Ramirez (03:34):

An expensive office space because it was on Main Street and it was so nice.

Ashlie Marshall (03:40):

It was. It was nice. It was nice. But I didn't live there.

Whitney Ramirez (03:46):

Nope.

Ashlie Marshall (03:46):

You lived right next door to BA in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, but I was still seven and a half hours away down south here in Texas. And so as was half the team in different states,

Whitney Ramirez (03:57):

Yeah, there's only a few of us, literally four of us maybe. And yeah, I had to be there 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.

Ashlie Marshall (04:08):

And we had people in Utah, Tennessee, Florida, California, Florida. So we had multiple state employees. So we started off that way. But then when the founder decided to get the office space, and it was a nice office space, but that opened a door to more expenses, new expenses, and he had recognized that he wasn't having the opportunity to bring in as much new business as he had originally been doing over the course of the two years prior, three years prior.

Whitney Ramirez (04:45):

Well, when it was a new company. So it's like things moved quick in terms of I am going to have this person do sales now. So now, I mean,

Ashlie Marshall (04:58):

He hired somebody. I remember right before I had Harley, he hired a very high salary underperforming individual, and then he got a brick and mortar, and then the cost for his business drastically skyrocketed. And he immediately decided that remote work just wasn't going to work.

Whitney Ramirez (05:21):

But I mean, the sales guy we're in an office space, but he's like, oh, I work better at home. I work better at home. But no, he just wasn't doing sales. So no one would know if he wasn't doing sales if he worked at home.

Ashlie Marshall (05:39):

Exactly.

Whitney Ramirez (05:39):

And that led to distrust in terms of the other people that work from home. So if the sales guy not getting his work done at home are the other people who work from home doing their work. They were, but the sales guy was just a shitty sales guy,

Ashlie Marshall (05:57):

And he was really good at deflecting too. So that led to, oh, well, we need to babysit everybody. Let's have a virtual office eight to five, and everybody has to sit on it. And it was fine at first until I say it was fine. Everybody kind of knew at that time the toxicity surrounding that was very apparent, I guess you could say. And Whitney and I, instead of fighting against it, we turned it positive. We were like, no, this is going to be great. Let's turn this into social time right now. We don't have to call each other all day long and ask questions because we're all in different parts of the country. If you have a question, just turn your mic on and talk to the person right there. So we were able to take some of these frustrating situations and turn 'em around having half of our company in office and half of our company remote.

(06:59):

So there were challenges. There was challenges for those who worked remotely. There were challenges for those who worked in the office because at the time that office, it had a toxic environment going on for multiple reasons with multiple different factors that kind of led to that. But then the pandemic hit, and we had just a few months left on that lease, I believe. And because of the pandemic and because of the cost, we were still floating a very high salaried underperforming individual. And so the founder decided not to renew lease, which was a positive thing because we got that money back in our pocket for the company. And now we had new challenges. Now everybody was remote. We didn't have a choice in the matter. And so the fact that we were all used to the virtual office was a good thing. And we started to turn it into something fun and it ended up being a positive thing. But now we've jumped into a whole unknown realm of, yeah, we started remote, but now we're remote because we have no choice because of a pandemic. And it kind of shifted

Whitney Ramirez (08:15):

Things a little bit. So we learned how to function, we learned how to function with each other, and I think that was my first dose of like, okay, you have to be a leader because as COO, I'm being told, okay, I want this, this, and this to happen, and I'm taking that. I'm saying, okay, how am I going to make this happen

Ashlie Marshall (08:35):

And keep the positivity going?

Whitney Ramirez (08:39):

And so that was really

Ashlie Marshall (08:40):

When we became that shield, I feel like, and I created that shield at that crossing.

Whitney Ramirez (08:49):

It's like I didn't want to implement. I knew I had to implement it. That was my job, but it's like I didn't want to implement it and for the team to be like, oh, she really wants to micromanage me, or she really doesn't trust that I'm doing my work. I did not want that to be the case. And so I was like, how can I introduce this and implement this and make it consistent and make it effective while also still having the team trust in what I'm trying to do? So that was hard, but

Ashlie Marshall (09:25):

It was a lot of conversations though, you and I figuring out, okay, this is what was said was ideal, but what pieces of that are the actual true desire of why that was brought up? And then let's figure a way to implement that positively so that the team understands the need and they understand this is a need and this is how we're going to implement it to fit that need, and this is how it's going to help us move forward. I feel like every time we implemented something new that came down from the founder, it was, let's try to create value for the team. It's a value proposition. We have to get them to understand the value for the company, and when they understand that, they'll know why they are valued by the company as they implement this. And so it's just, that's was the challenge for us. I feel like

Whitney Ramirez (10:30):

It was, but it also kind of worked to our benefit because everyone kind of knew, okay, well, sales is kind of a pain point and retention's kind of a pain point and we have to do this, this, this, and this now. But it led to a place where it's like, okay, we're on virtual and our calls are being recorded and everything is being documented. But that was a great thing because we had proof we're doing this for our clients, and it led to, oh, I forgot about the call recording. It led to better service. It led to weeding out people that should not be on the team. It all because we turned it into a positive thing and because we did what we needed to do and transformed the tasks or projects into something that was useful and valuable for the team, it led to good success in terms of the team still had trust in us and the team knew what they needed to be doing and they knew how to document and prove their work. And then that led to the clients knew what we were doing

Ashlie Marshall (11:45):

Well, it shifted how we communicated to our clients on the weekly emails. Remember all of that right? In of all of that was when we started making sure that we were communicating the same message across the board for our Friday emails. And like you said, we found the value, we learned how to implement it in a manner that moved everything forward. And then in hindsight, all of the things that we saw as being our biggest challenges and our biggest roadblocks turned into growth for us and growth for the company, growth for the team. So that was kind of our shift from, we started off remote and then it kind of was half remote, half not, and the challenges we faced there, then we hit the pandemic and we didn't have a choice and we took some toxic ideas and spun 'em on their end and made 'em positive and made 'em work and implemented them in a manner that created a really good culture.

(12:47):

I think we're working into that and what it was like to lead people from a completely different city had its challenges, but again, we learned. And then now when I was first remote talking to clients and worried about my kids making noise and oh my God, they're going to hear my baby cry and oh, my son's asking for snacks. I need to go wipe his butt. Stuff like that till the pandemic hit and now everybody's working from home and everybody had a completely different perspective in terms of client vendor relationship now to where they were expecting your kids to be loud in the background. Nobody was in school, nobody was working in an office. Everybody was stuck at home together. Everybody was losing their minds where I had already lost my mind two years ago. So I'm now in this position. For me personally, it was like I totally understood what everybody was going through because when I went from working in an office and my mom taking care of my son to working from home with two children, that was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. And I completely understood what everybody was going through, and I deeply felt for people who had multiple children of all ages that go to school and these people were still required to get all of their work done and be in these meetings and evolution of Zoom, man, it was like a huge perspective shift.

Whitney Ramirez (14:16):

And so it's like we can talk a little bit about how we lead now. Our company is a hundred percent remote now, and now it's me getting to say, okay, here's what we're going to do. And we still have the virtual

Ashlie Marshall (14:35):

And we love it

Whitney Ramirez (14:37):

And it's not a burden. And people don't have to be there at eight o'clock on the dot.

Ashlie Marshall (14:43):

No,

Whitney Ramirez (14:43):

And they don't have to stay until 5:00 PM and

Ashlie Marshall (14:46):

They don't have to be on it.

Whitney Ramirez (14:49):

Nope. It's a crazy thing because we know how it can work. We know every function that the virtual, how it can serve our team, but because we've used it so long, we know how to lead different personalities remotely better. And the virtual is not for some people. And some people had their volume down because there was frequent conversations here and there, or someone wanted to play their music for everyone and be the office dj. It's like you can't cater to everyone when you're forcing everyone to be on a meeting eight to five. But it's an opportunity for those that want to be there. They can be there. Or it's like I'll text someone and be like, Hey, meet me on the virtual. I just have a couple of questions. It's just a standing meeting link for everyone to use for anything.

Ashlie Marshall (15:51):

Yep.

Whitney Ramirez (15:54):

It's funny.

Ashlie Marshall (15:54):

Actually forgot to hit mute and you get to hear me yelling at my kids.

Whitney Ramirez (15:57):

Yeah, definitely.

Ashlie Marshall (16:01):

That would be the main reason why certain people leave their volume down. It's all my fault, but that's okay.

Whitney Ramirez (16:10):

Funny virtual moments for sure.

Ashlie Marshall (16:12):

Yeah, major bloopers, major mess ups being in a different meeting and not hitting mute on the virtual and then the entire team, here's your meeting.

Whitney Ramirez (16:23):

Yeah, that's humanizing though.

Ashlie Marshall (16:25):

It is. And humbling

Whitney Ramirez (16:27):

It is. I remember one time, I won't name the person I know that, I don't think she's embarrassed about this anymore, but she was on a phone call with a friend and she's like, today sucks so bad, I just can't do it today. Just saying everything that was going wrong. But it's like we're at a point now with our team where it's like, it's okay to have a bad day. Everyone has bad days, but that speaks

Ashlie Marshall (17:00):

To the culture shift that we

Whitney Ramirez (17:02):

Created. It does, but it's just funny. Looking back now, she was just so embarrassed. I didn't mean it. I really like my job. I promise I'm happy working here. And it's like, girl, it's okay. We all have bad days.

Ashlie Marshall (17:17):

I felt that way yesterday. Okay.

Whitney Ramirez (17:20):

Yeah,

Ashlie Marshall (17:21):

Man. Yeah.

Whitney Ramirez (17:25):

And now because we have things so streamlined, it is, there's so much trust and we have the right people on our team now to where we're like, yeah, we know what needs to get done. We're always learning together and from each other and we figure it out and we make sure that we're doing things that we need to doing.

Ashlie Marshall (17:50):

I think the biggest part of that though is we tell our team all the time that we trust them, but we show them that we trust them through the lack of required attendance in our virtual, the lack of required, tell us when you're not there, what you're doing. I don't care if you are not on virtual because you picked up a side gig and you're working in the morning from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM or we had an employee one summer who was like, I already had dedicated time to go to a Bible study and I didn't know I was going to have this job at the time. Is it a problem? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. You have standing doctor's appointments every week, go to them, sign off and be gone. And if we need you and we text you, just say, Hey, I'm here. And we'll be like, okay, hit me later.

(18:40):

And we have shown the trust through our actions and through the way we treat our team. And I think that's the biggest part, leading through a remote work culture is not only saying, I trust you to get your work done before it needs to be done by that deadline, but actually showing it through the way that you treat them through your actions, the way that you respond, the way that you react, and the way you encourage them to take the time that they need. I think that's the biggest part of leadership remotely is not just saying it, but showing it.

Whitney Ramirez (19:16):

When someone comes to a problem and you have an understanding reaction and you're not blaming or that goes such a long way, it builds so much open communication to where no one's afraid to tell you if something went wrong.

Ashlie Marshall (19:35):

And I think a lot of our, well, I would say each one of our employees had a moment and each individual's journey where they were scared to tell us something and then they told us and they didn't expect the reaction that they got. I know that this one won't mind me using it because she's posted about it on social media, but we were going to travel as a team, three of us were going to travel, and we had never asked this individual to travel. And she divulged me two days before we were leaving that she had serious travel anxiety. And I was so upset that I never even thought to ask her. I knew she wanted to take the trip, but I never knew that she had those challenges. And we talked through it and we gave her time off and we said, Hey, just focus and you let us know if you can do it and if you can't, it's okay.

(20:28):

It's fine. We completely understand. And she said, no, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And I went to the store and bought all the medication I could to help her through it, and I brought it in my luggage. And at the time, it was the right thing to do. It was the right way to treat her as a human and as a person. And I didn't think anything of it because that was my natural reaction to her. And then later on, she wrote a whole thank you about it because it touched her that we responded the way that we did. And it was odd to me that she wasn't expecting that human response. And then that made me think in other jobs that I've had and other more corporatized professional positions, she's right. You would never tell that to your employer because you would be very fearful that they wouldn't give you the opportunity next time. And then if you don't get that opportunity next time, how can you move forward because of a personal challenge? And that's horrible. We have got to turn around our corporate world remote or not, let's be human.

Whitney Ramirez (21:37):

Oh, yeah. It is crazy too. Like I don't understand the thought of, no, you get on that plane and I'll see you there and no. Okay, so how do you expect that employee to, because they're working for you during that trip and they're expected to perform and you're really going to treat them poorly right before they are supposed to endure that trip

Ashlie Marshall (22:05):

That's already got them feeling very uneasy.

Whitney Ramirez (22:11):

So they're definitely not going to be comfortable in a high pressure environment knowing that you're already unhappy with them before they even make it there.

Ashlie Marshall (22:22):

And that's just one of many examples, but we've had multiple employees have a very like, wow, really? It's okay. Yes, it's okay. You need a day, take a day, catch you on Tuesday. It's just human leading and remote work and non-REM remote work. It means humans first people first, and that's really whether you're in remote or not, I feel like we kind of segued off there a little bit, but that's okay. It's still relevant, so from our experiences. Okay, so let me ask you, Whitney, from your experience, you started off remote, went to non back to remote, kind of now you're in this limbo because of the two companies that we work for. What do you think our listener can take the most from your experiences in terms of remote work and stay at home mom, remote work and non-REM remote work?

Whitney Ramirez (23:22):

I don't know. So I guess my thought is in terms of remote work or working anywhere, it's like you learn what works for you. Because some companies, they went remote during the pandemic and then now they're in this push of let's people get back into the office. I'm like, why? You

Ashlie Marshall (23:46):

Can't go backwards, man.

Whitney Ramirez (23:48):

What's the thought there? But it also, the

Ashlie Marshall (23:50):

Toothpastes out of the tube,

Whitney Ramirez (23:52):

No. Yeah, but my biggest thought is, okay, after eight, nine years of doing this and seeing how our clients work work and seeing companies with super high turnover leading with empathy and compassion while also being, I think it's authoritarian parenting where it's like you care and you have compassion, but you're still getting your stuff done,

Ashlie Marshall (24:27):

Right?

Whitney Ramirez (24:28):

If you're leading that way, your people will stay and your business will grow. So remote or not, it's like, Hey, let's think about the people that are making our company run

Ashlie Marshall (24:41):

The parenting style. I know what you're talking about, but it's showing you care, but you still have expectations for them to meet, right? Definitely. But you're supportive in giving them everything they need to meet that expectation. So there's absolutely no excuse you ask, we will, we deliver, we support in the way that supports you best. There is not a one size fits all there either. And that is huge. Even remote, non remote, like you just said, the compassion, the understanding, and still setting very real expectations. And that is what pushes people to work harder. And they will, you're right, they will stay. I mean, our retention internally is amazing.

Whitney Ramirez (25:36):

And maybe what people can learn is everyone's different. And I think Ashley really thrives working from home and I need that structure, but I know that for myself and I do it because I know that it works for me, not because I have someone telling me, you need to be here nine to five.

Ashlie Marshall (25:58):

Yeah, I would agree with that. I would agree with that. I know you really did not like working from home. You found every opportunity you could to get into a coffee shop or go somewhere public as soon as things opened up. It was a big thing for you.

Whitney Ramirez (26:12):

It's nice here and there. I know that it demotivates me,

Ashlie Marshall (26:18):

Especially

Whitney Ramirez (26:19):

In a sales and in a role where I'm always thinking about how can we scale and how can we grow? And just being at home doesn't really put me in that mindset.

Ashlie Marshall (26:31):

Oh, I understand that. I feel like that is where we differ. My physical environment does not affect my mental state of progression if I don't even think I said that right. But I

Whitney Ramirez (26:49):

Think it almost helps you because you're so detailed and everything's in front of you that you could ever need.

Ashlie Marshall (26:57):

It's true. That is true. I think I do strive and I am more productive when I have less time. And as right now, personally, my schedule is shifting kid wise and family wise, mom wise, it's allowing me to plan so far ahead in advance that it's helping me with my structure to my day. And you're right, having everything that I need right here where I need it, it does help me move forward. It does help me stay organized and it does help me be productive most days. Let's be real. But I think one really important thing that I really want our listener to understand, whether you work from home or you're looking for work for home opportunities or you're possibly thinking about starting a remote company or starting a team remotely or changing your current company to a remote work from home, opportunity for your people. Work from home does not equal no work done. It does not equal less productivity. It does not equal any of those negative things. That used to be the perspective of people who work from home. Like Whitney said in the beginning, oh, I'd love to work from home. That's so nice that

Whitney Ramirez (28:23):

I was like, maybe for you. Sure.

Ashlie Marshall (28:25):

Maybe for you, this is a good point. But

Whitney Ramirez (28:29):

Everyone's so different.

Ashlie Marshall (28:31):

Work from home does not equal low productivity. It does not equal bad news for the company. It can very much be what you make it. And if you are going to choose to take that remote position or create remote positions in your company, you got to have the culture and the leadership to back it up. And if you are not willing to take that leap and you're not willing to give trust, show trust, compassion and expectations all rolled into one, then don't do it. But if you're ready, do it. It will grow your company very exponentially.

Whitney Ramirez (29:12):

It'll make your people happy.

Ashlie Marshall (29:15):

It will.

Whitney Ramirez (29:17):

It will. And I think the companies doing it are the ones that are offering hybrid roles to That's awesome. Hitting both wants people that want to work from home or people that want that office time.

Ashlie Marshall (29:35):

Yeah.

Whitney Ramirez (29:36):

Yeah.

Ashlie Marshall (29:37):

Yeah. A hundred percent. And I think I'm

Whitney Ramirez (29:39):

Lucky that I get to do that.

Ashlie Marshall (29:41):

Do you are lucky that you get to do that, and I might get to do it one day if I decide to run an office down here or something. But for now, this works. And I think the other piece of this that we didn't dive into, but we're not going to dive into it today, but we should another day, is the whole aspect of what that hybrid role and how that supports moms or parents, right? Yes. Moms and dads. But in the huge scheme of when it comes to children, we know that the mom is the nurturer, she's the homemaker, she's does all of those things. And just because you have a job that's demanding and expecting doesn't mean that you can't perform or you drop the ball on the role you play at home. So hybrid roles and remote work has really supported women in that facet. I really did want to get into that one day, but today's not the day You should. We will. If you guys enjoyed this episode discussing remote work work from home, please do us a solid like this episode and leave us a review. We want to hear your feedback.

Whitney Ramirez (30:51):

Yeah. Tell us what team you're on, team work from home or hybrid or in the office.

Ashlie Marshall (30:59):

Yeah. But as in every episode, thank you for listening to us today. Thank

Whitney Ramirez (31:05):

You.

Ashlie Marshall (31:06):

See you next time on the pod.

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