Summer Break Doesn't Mean Business Break: Your Survival Guide

If your Google Calendar is starting to look like a splash pad—full of swim lessons, snack runs, and surprise “fun” requests from your kids—you’re not alone 🙋‍♀️

In today’s episode, we’re talking about how to navigate the messy magic of summer without letting your business stall out. Because here’s the truth: school might be out, but your business doesn’t have to be. You can be both a present parent and a profitable real estate agent.

As a mom of three (and someone who’s definitely sent an offer while parked at soccer camp), I’m walking you through exactly how to create a summer business strategy that works with your life right now. No hustle. No guilt. Just real structure, smart strategy, and yes—even sunscreen breaks.

Inside this episode, we’ll cover:

• Why your business actually slows down in the summer (hint: it’s not just the kids)
• How to design your personalized Summer Strategy aligned with your real schedule and energy
• What to include in your “bare minimums” list so your business keeps moving
• How to set summer hours, protect them, and communicate boundaries like a pro
• Ways to market that feel aligned and personal—especially during swim meets and snack breaks
• Creative (and fun!) ways to involve your kids in your business
• A powerful reminder that you’re still the boss—even if you’re working from a pool chair

Whether you're a brand-new real estate agent or a seasoned pro, this episode will help you stay focused, feel aligned, and keep your momentum through the most distraction-filled season of the year.

You’ve got this. Let’s make summer feel like a win in every way.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Summer Break Doesn't Mean Business Break
• 2:13 Identifying What's Really Slowing You Down
• 4:10 Designing Your Effective Summer Strategy
• 6:40 Setting Boundaries for Summer Freedom
• 8:00 Simplified Summer Marketing Approach
• 10:21 Including Kids in Your Business
• 12:56 You're Still the CEO

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:34

Today on the podcast, we are going to dive into something that hits really hard this time of year. More specifically, we are going to talk about summer break and how summer break doesn't necessarily mean business break. If you are a mom in real estate or a caregiver, or just someone whose calendar suddenly explodes with summer fun, swimming lessons, spontaneous pop school requests, this episode's for you, because here is the real deal Just because school is out doesn't mean that your business also has to be. I am a mom of three, so I get it. You want to be present for your kids and your family, you want to make those great summer memories, but you also want to keep your income steady, your systems running and your momentum going, so when you hit the fall market, you are not hearing crickets. Today, we're going to talk about how to do both because spoiler alert you absolutely can. Now let's dive in.

Speaker 1: 1:39

First of all, if you have ever noticed that your business slowdowns in the summer, you are not imagining it. Your routine shifts, your schedule gets interrupted and, let's be honest, sometimes the motivation just isn't there. When it's 90 degrees and everyone is asking you what's for lunch and you're trying to get out the door to yet again another activity. But just because this time of year feels harder doesn't necessarily mean that your business has to suffer. Another thing is, yes, clients, they are busy too, like we are all going through the same thing. But a lot of agents will tell me every summer I lose all my momentum or I'm just trying to survive until September. But no, not this year, not this summer. We are going in with a plan and you still have permission to do it your way, which is obviously something I really believe in. So let's zoom out for a second. What is actually really slowing you down? So let's zoom out for a second. What is actually really slowing you down and I am going to wager that it's probably not just the kids being home for the summer it is potentially your lack of structure with your schedule. It also could be a tinge of mom guilt. You also might just be trying to run your spring market schedule into your summer reality. But we all know you are not a robot. You are not a real estate robot. You are a whole human being with a family, a business and about 47 million things competing for your attention.

Speaker 1: 3:13

So, before you overhaul everything, I want you to ask yourself what is one thing that you can let go of this summer and what are the non-negotiables that you want to protect for the summer? And this can be in your business, it can be in your personal life, but that clarity alone can help you have a more productive summer. So I want to get into designing what I like to call your summer strategy, and this is a strategy that actually fits your real life. You are not working eight to six o'clock every day, but you do need to work smart and with intention. You guys are probably so tired of me saying intention, by the way, but it is one of my favorite words. Here's what that could look like Time blocking based on your real energy. So if mornings are when you are at your best and you're thinking the most clearly, I would find a way to protect them. You might decide I am working from 7 to 10 and then you are unplugging until nap time or when your kids are in soccer camp or whatever works for you.

Speaker 1: 4:25

The next thing to designing your summer strategy is let's define your bare minimums, and this is like what can you do? You do not need 10 hours a day to grow your business, but ask yourself what three actions move the needle most in my business and will set me up for success in fall market. And honestly, I'm going to give you a little cheat sheet. It's really only three things. It's following up, having conversations, marketing, putting yourself out there and taking care of your clients. So it is not complicated, but having good conversations, keeping up with your marketing and your client care that should probably be on your BAM minimum list. And then the third thing, under designing your summer strategy, let's batch your work. So maybe you spend a chunk of time focused one morning writing some handwritten notes to your clients for the summer that then you just mail out little by little. It might be scheduling emails out, follow-up emails out, but you are batching tasked work because that does help with between tasks switching and it also helps you be more efficient. So this isn't about necessarily doing less, it's about doing what matters the most. And really, for your summer strategy, you may not have as many hours, so the hours that you are putting in need to matter and they need to be super, super, super intentional.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Now I would be remiss if we were talking about a summer break that doesn't mean a business break if we did not talk about boundaries, because boundaries equal freedom and if you don't set them, someone else is going to. So this summer, I want you to set your summer hours and stick to them. These can be realistic. You can take time off. You can say I am unavailable for appointments on specific days. Your clients, if they are communicated, will respect them because you communicated them clearly and confidently. And these are my summer hours and the right clients and the clients that you want to get referrals from will understand this and they will respect them.

Speaker 1: 6:41

I know that there are real estate things that blow up and it is also important to make sure that you have backup if something totally hits the fan. But having your summer hours and sticking to them as best you can backup if something totally hits the fan, but having your summer hours and sticking to them as best you can again, progress over perfection is super crucial. The other piece is you can use autoresponders and templated replies so you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time someone texts you. And the thing about this is the boundaries don't make you flaky, they make you sustainable. I want you to remember that you control the process. This is your business, and that still applies in July.

Speaker 1: 7:20

Let's chat a little bit about marketing, because marketing does not have to be complicated. In fact, I think summer is the perfect time to make it really personal. You are most likely going to be out and about having conversations, maybe meeting new friends, and that is the perfect time to build relationships. So, first of all, try to have better quality conversations. I think that is a number one thing, and then the other thing is just some quick wins, like if you are at your kids with me and you can post on social and talk about how you're helping clients with move into great neighborhoods that have an amazing swim team. You can also share behind the scenes of your summer schedule and like invite people into your real life.

Speaker 1: 8:10

I like the idea of doing just a visibility hour each week to post, comment, connect online. So if you're not on social media, that's totally fine. You do not need social media, but I feel like during the summer it's a great time to build that personal content. The other thing is you probably have downtime waiting for your kids' activities or like actually waiting for them to be swimming or watching them do the actual activity. So maybe you get a little bit of work done while you are just waiting. I feel like there is a lot of time that we're just kind of sitting around doing nothing, which obviously that's great, like you deserve rest and to relax. But those also can be really great times to just like shoot off a quick text to somebody who maybe closed on their house two months ago and just check on them. So consistency doesn't necessarily mean daily, but it does mean intentional, and the key is that you're still showing up in your business and I don't want it to feel overwhelming because maybe you have a little bit more responsibility at home, but I want it to feel aligned. So try to take advantage of all of the marketing opportunities that summer presents in terms of those conversations that you can have with people in your neighborhood and in your sphere. The weather's nice, enjoy it, get out. It's just the best. I love it so much. In New England, where I'm located, it's just like magic time of year. So I definitely definitely take advantage of being outside, because the winters here are meh.

Speaker 1: 9:40

This next tip might surprise you, or it might not, but you can let your kids into your business sometimes. But you can let your kids into your business sometimes. So I think letting your kids be a part of your business and your process can actually be really fun. So maybe you have them help you stuff mailers or stamp envelopes or, if they have great handwriting address envelopes, you can let them play photographer. So maybe you can work on your B-roll or help you when you're out of listing and record a showing preview for an out-of-state client. I also think you could give them a. This is like a big. I really like this one is you have a work quiet time jar, which are activities that they can like pull out while you return calls or you're working.

Speaker 1: 10:28

I just think like if you have the older kids, it's a little bit easier to kind of like let them go on autopilot, but there's that like sweet spot between like six and probably 12, 13, where you can like get them involved a little bit. And I know my like 10 year old is actually really great at filming video and taking pictures, so I think I'm definitely going to take advantage of her this summer in terms of helping me do some social media content. So, while it won't be necessarily perfect, it can be fun to include your kids and I also think you're modeling what it looks like to be an awesome present parent and a successful entrepreneur. And who doesn't want to support people who are doing that? I mean your sphere wants to see it. Your kids, I mean.

Speaker 1: 11:13

Obviously I want my kids to be able to see that they can create any type of career that they want, and so I don't hide the realities of entrepreneurship from my kids, but I do want to have them see that you get to choose how your business operates in times where maybe you want to have more fun or you're not working as much because it is summer break and I want to end with this, even if your days look a little bit different right now, I know it is peak summer, even if you are juggling sunscreen and follow up with your leads, and you may actually even be running your business from a pool chair with a wet kid yelling mom, mom, mom every five minutes.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Oh my gosh, I have a four-year-old. So yeah, that's definitely happening. I want to remind you you're still the boss and that you are still the CEO and you get to decide what success looks like for this season of your life, and if that includes more rest or more family time or more boundaries, that is not a step back. That is actually a massive win. So summer break doesn't necessarily mean a business break, especially if you're intentional about the hours you do have to invest in your business this summer, and really, what this all comes down to is that you just want to be a happy agent when fall rolls around. So don't let the pipeline run dry. Do what you can and just know that you are doing better than you think, and I hope that you enjoy the summer because you deserve it. Until next time, stay happy.