Working from Home as a Mom

Becca Horn joined the To Exceed team four years ago as an Account Manager, and she’s currently transitioning to a new role as Media Coordinator. As a mother of two boys (currently 8 and 10 years old), Becca shares her insights about the challenges and perks of working from home as a mom. Co-Founder Dave Gabbard is Becca’s uncle, and so Becca also knows first-hand about the Gabbard family values and their approach to business.

While some members of the To Exceed team use their remote jobs to live abroad, Becca lives with her husband and two boys in Benton, Louisiana. It’s a good area to raise kids, and it's a short drive to Arkansas for camping trips.

When you work from home, you can start your day with coffee and even outdoor seating—weather and kiddos permitting.

When you started four years ago, To Exceed was smaller and more like a family business. How did the company culture align with Gabbard family values?

“It did have a “family business” feel. Other than Dave being my uncle, To Exceed was still pretty small, but everyone worked closely together. Growing up a Gabbard,' we were always taught to 'Work hard, play hard.'

"Most of the Gabbard family was either in trucking or the horse racing business, and neither of those are too successful without hard work. The Gabbard family mindset has been, 'Do it right the first time, and you won’t have to do it a second time.'"

Before To Exceed, you had experience in logistics. How did brokerage and logistics work experience help with Account Management?

“Before To Exceed, I was with a logistics company for a few years. If you’re familiar with the broker life, you know it’s 24/7 and the pressure never really stops. I think brokering freight and dispatching helped me personally with managing my time and multitasking. There’s still pressure to solve problems quickly, like if a campaign stops generating leads or something changes unexpectedly, then we jump on it quickly, but it’s very different from the pressure of broken-down truck drivers or angry shippers on the phone. Working at To Exceed was a breath of fresh air after logistics."

Between different jobs, you’ve got over ten years of experience working remotely. Can you describe your work routine as a mom working from home?

"I like to wake up before my kids, so I have a few minutes to get a little coffee. It makes my mornings easier if I have a few minutes to collect myself. And then I get them up, get them ready for school, make them breakfast, get them on the bus. And then I like to take a few minutes before work just to sit and have coffee, think about the day, and make a game plan.

“Every morning, I sit down and check leads from yesterday, making sure everything looks normal—I don’t see any big drops or big lifts. Depending on what time of the month, I might be prepping media plans, doing reporting to present to clients, getting the media plans executed at the end of the month. I work with you and Alice Anne to get creative for the upcoming month.

“Because of remote work, I am able to spend a lot more time with my awesome little family. I’ve spent a few Friday afternoons working from the passenger seat, rolling down the interstate on the way to our favorite campsite. That’s huge. My husband and I, we’ve always enjoyed camping, and now bringing the boys with us makes it even more fun. We enjoy a good hike and going rock hounding along the trails, finding cool rocks, it’s a blast."

A lot of women struggle to juggle both work and family. Do you have any tips for anyone else thinking about working from home?

“My biggest tip would be that it’s important to take time for yourself, even if it’s just a few minutes. A lot of people say that "Work from home is so easy! You should have no complaints!” But it comes with its own struggles, I think.

“When you’re in a meeting at work and you get frustrated, you don’t have that commute from the office to home or daycare to listen to some rap music to cool off. Instead of having that time to cool off, I’ve got my kids getting off the bus in the middle of that meeting. And as soon as that meeting’s over, I have to flip to “mom mode,” starting school snacks, homework, dinner. . . the nightly routine. And I’ve found that just taking a few minutes for myself is very, very helpful.

“Remote work is great for anybody. You do have to be good about managing your time. It works out great for some people—and others. . . not so much. But it can go both ways, it’s important to balance work life separately from the personal life. It’s easy to not prioritize the work tasks—but it’s just as easy to work too much and neglect your personal life. It’s definitely a balancing act. You don’t leave your work, so it’s always there."

Thanks for answering these questions, Becca! Are there any other perks of working from home that we haven't already discussed?

“Flexibility. The boys have been sick over and over again, but I don’t have to pawn my sick kids on anyone else or worry about missing too much work.

"Also, I’m super excited for the solar eclipse, we’re going to grab the boys out of school and go spend the day doing solar eclipse stuff. It’s not going to happen for another 20 years, gotta take the opportunity while we can."