“In the end, I’ve realised that legacy is not important except to your children and family and friends. When I am on my deathbed, I just want to feel as if I have loved and been loved, done some good in the world, and made a difference here and there.” – Sir Richard Branson

Let’s be completely honest for a moment. When you’re living in a military world, standard corporate career advice doesn’t just fall short, it flat-out fails. Add children to the mix, and trying to grow a business as a military spouse can feel less like entrepreneurship and more like a high-stakes survival sport.

Because our support networks can vanish overnight with a sudden military posting or a surprise deployment, our businesses simply cannot be built like civilian companies. 

I am a massive believer that you should never take business advice from someone who hasn’t actually built a company from scratch. But when it comes to the parenting side of things? I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit I am still figuring it out in real-time. 

Right now, my little boy is four. We are right in the thick of the chaotic preschool years, and the world of school gates, uniform prep, and primary school schedules is something galloping towards me at pace, from this September (already?!! Send help!).

Since we are smack-bang in the middle of a half-term week, I know many of you are currently trying to type emails with one hand while hiding snacks with the other. To give you some battle-tested, practical growth strategies, I found the tips from some of my absolute favourite Milspo business leaders to share exactly how they master the ultimate juggle.

I hope this helps this week’s juggle.

1. Reverse-Engineer Your Routine Around Their Reality

First up is the wonderful Nadine from Forces Family Finance. Nadine built an exceptional, financial business when her children were tiny – the kind of sustainable enterprise that pays a proper salary and actively secures a post-military family future.

“A lot of the time when you’ve got young children, you pretty much plan around their routine, such as nap times and the bedtime routine,” Nadine says.

“My start point was always: okay so these are the needs of my children and the things that I have to do for that, and then I added my work tasks and the things that I needed to do around that, rather than trying to do it the other way around. Because ultimately, you’re almost setting yourself up for failure if you don’t pick your children’s needs first. Things don’t always go to plan but you have to be alright with it and not beat yourself up about it too much.”

Her biggest growth strategy? She stopped trying to force a rigid corporate blueprint into a fluid military routine.

• Prioritise the baseline: Map out the non-negotiable needs of your children first (naps, meals, school runs).
• Layer on the business tasks: Fit your high-focus work into those natural gaps, rather than trying to force your kids around a strict workflow.
• Ditch the guilt: Accept that things will go wrong, deployments will disrupt the plan, and bouncing back is part of the process.

The Strategy: Stop fighting the natural rhythm of your household. Map your highest-value, deep-focus business tasks directly to your family’s predictable quiet zones. When you stop trying to draft client proposals while entertaining a toddler, the default parenting guilt drops, and the quality of your output shoots up.

2. Protect Your Mindset (and Your Headspace)

When a posting or an unexpected deployment flips your household upside down, your time isn’t the only thing that takes a hit – your mental well-being does too.

Dr Rosie Gilderthorp, a clinical psychologist and Navy wife. She points out that when our immediate support network disappears, our brains naturally enter a basic survival state, making business strategy feel completely overwhelming.

“What you really need is just somebody to listen to you, be kind towards you… and all of that stuff communicates safety to the brain,” Rosie explains.

“Then you’ll get a bit of head space and you can work on the rest of the stuff that’s going to help you. One of the reasons people really struggle in pregnancy and the postnatal period is that the whole world has an opinion… If you feel supported, you can activate the soothing system—the part that does all of the resting, digesting, and connecting with other people.”

To combat this overwhelm, you have to actively trigger your brain’s soothing system:

• Seek out genuine connection: Speak openly with people who actually understand.
• Focus on meaningful activity: Ensure your business feels like a purposeful choice, not an extra chore.
• Accept basic support: Let people help you with the small stuff—whether that’s a cup of tea, a biscuit, a listening ear, or if this is the time you decide to start outsourcing.

The Strategy: You cannot build an epic, scalable business if your brain is constantly trapped in fight-or-flight mode. Lean heavily into virtual spaces like our community. Find a pal who genuinely gets it, protect your working headspace, and give yourself permission to lower the operational tempo when things get intense at home.

3. Treat Your Content Like a Military Operation

If you think the UK Armed Forces are disciplined, wait until you see a solo entrepreneur handling a childcare gap. Chris Keen, a freelance radio presenter, RAF Reservist, and husband to an Army officer, managed a broadcasting schedule while being the primary carer for his six children at home.

“I know between 9 and 10am and midday, I can whack in an interview or record the radio show,” Chris says.

“I’m doing four radio shows a week—all pre-recorded—but I know that I can record two in one day and then the other two on the next. So, they’re all out (of) the way at the start of the week and then I can concentrate on other interviews or going into soft play areas and such.”

His growth strategy comes down to radical time-blocking and hyper-efficient batch-working:

• Identify the golden hours: Pinpoint the exact 1- or 2-hour windows where your focus is entirely uninterrupted.
• Group similar tasks: Write multiple emails, or batch create content all in one focused block.
• Protect your downtime: Use the remaining time to fully focus on your family without the constant urge to check your phone.

The Strategic Action: Batching your work is the absolute lifeline for business growth during half-terms and summer holidays. When your working windows are small, you cannot afford to waste time wondering what to post or how to say it. You need to walk into your working hours with an exact plan.

The Secret to Making Every Single Work Hour Count

To help you map out your words so you can create high-impact content in a fraction of the time, you need a crystal-clear framework.

👉 Download the free guide: Mastering Your Marketing Messaging. Get the exact step-by-step roadmap to capture your dream clients’ attention and drive sales, even if you’re writing your copy during a 20-minute naptime window.

4. Remember the Ultimate Legacy

Juggling business and family isn’t just a logistical puzzle to solve – it’s an incredible opportunity to change the narrative for the next generation.

On Series 3 of The InDependent Spouse podcast, military artist Dr Gillian Jones shared how her flexible business allowed her to navigate chronic illness while remaining visible, providing for her family.

“I think about the example that I’m setting for my children as well. I’ve asked them so many times ‘Would you prefer it if Mummy worked for somebody else but then I wouldn’t be there on the school run…? Or do you want me to do this?’ and every time they say, ‘No Mum, you do your business.’ I see myself inspiring them, which is amazing.”

I too watched my own mum run her own business from home while managing Multiple Sclerosis. Seeing her achieve big things despite massive personal hurdles gave me a deep understanding of hard work, independence, and resilience. And if I am honest It is entirely her fault that I am an entrepreneur today. It’s a gift I will be forever grateful for.

Our children see our drive, our resilience, and our ambition. We are proving to them that while military life is unpredictable, our personal career goals don’t have to be put on hold. And even though our serving people are really impressive ‘Mummy can do it too’!

Juggling a business with preschool chaos, upcoming school gate schedules, or a house full of moving boxes isn’t about achieving flawless balance—because let’s face it, this week, that’s completely impossible. It’s simply about making the tiny pockets of time you do have count, claiming your own agency, and building a portable career that belongs entirely to you. 

Our children don’t need us to be perfect; they just need to see our drive, our resilience, and our ambition. 

We are proving to them daily that while the modern military world is beautifully unpredictable, our personal career goals don’t have to be sacrificed for love. Our serving people do some pretty impressive things, but this half-term, it’s time to show exactly what their partners can achieve. Good luck gang!