Hello to all of my beautiful friends! I am so excited for today’s interview because it is with my longtime friend, Dani! We have known each other since high school and even though we live states apart, we have always maintained our friendship and I am so thankful to have had a friend like her in my life for so long! I wanted to interview Dani because she is a boss mom! She has a beautiful daughter Lincoln with her wife Rachael and she manages to take care of her sweet girl, work from home and can offer all of us moms some great advice! In today’s interview, Dani will share a lot of great mom info and also some career advice through her job with VIPKid! Dani was kind enough to write some responses for this interview and I will be sharing her direct responses she sent me back so that you can get all the good info! I could go on and on with this intro but let’s jump into the good stuff and see what Dani has to say about balancing being a mom and working from home all at the same time!
For those of you who may not know Dani personally I wanted her to introduce her family a little bit to you all so that you could get to know her:
I am Dani! I am married to my amazing wife, Rachael. We have an almost 3-year-old daughter named Lincoln. I teach from home and stay home with our active daughter. Rachael works as an entertainment manager at Disney. We live in Florida and love enjoying the amazing weather. We adore our little family and love spending time together. We all love to sing and dance and have many dance parties. Rachael and I love watching Lincoln grow into a little adult. It happens so fast and we enjoy every second. I feel like the luckiest woman to have such wonderful wife and daughter who inspire me every day. We are just enjoying every second of life and trying to make the most of every day that we have together!
For those of you who do not know about VIPKid, Dani works for this company and I wanted her to share about this company because it is a great option for mom’s or dad’s who would like the opportunity to work from home and also help other children at the same time! I know during the current pandemic and the current state of the world, that a lot of people are looking for jobs and if you end up being interested in this company, Dani is your girl to turn to! I asked her to explain what VIPKid is to give all of you readers a better understanding of this company and also to give us some insight on why she loves this company so much:
VIPKid is an online teaching and education company. It allows people to educate and teach children to speak English. These children live in China and this company is so amazing because it allows us to communicate and work with children across the world. I adore this job because it combines my love of teaching and children! I love seeing these wonderful students embrace learning. They make me smile daily and they even teach me a few things! I love that I am teaching these children to speak English and see their progression as they learn and grow. It truly is incredible, and I love being connected with children in a different country and different culture.
I asked Dani to give readers some advice if you are interested in working with VIPKid:
For anyone that wants to apply, you must have a bachelor’s degree. It does not have to be in the education field, but you do need a bachelor’s degree. I would suggest getting a mentor and make sure you prepare for every stage during the hiring process. The hiring process can be overwhelming, but if you have someone that teaches with VIPKid already, they can help you with every step of they way. Once hired, you will get into a groove and learn the company. Each student is different, so you need to be ready to adapt and adjust to them. My best advice is to be yourself. Some days are hard and long, but a smile goes a long way! These kids are thriving and wanting to learn. They look to us for support and encouragement, so all you need to do is be yourself and show them how to have fun while learning.
Any parent knows that sometimes parenting can feel like quite the balancing act! It is so hard to work, be a parent and make time for all the other daily life duties. We always feel guilty like we are neglecting some part of our life. I wanted Dani to give us some insight on how she balances working from home and still attending to all of her mom duties at the same time:
Balancing life (in general) can be hard, but with VIPKid, I get to make my own schedule. I get to choose the times I want to open for my students to book class with me. China is 13 hours different so the hours for teaching are very early mornings. I teach before my daughter wakes up. There are days she wakes earlier, and I have to set her up with activities and food to keep her busy while I finish my teaching. Those days are more stressful, because I need to be focused on my student, but also, need to make sure Lincoln is okay. I guess with this job, it is easier to balance since I can teach when she is asleep, and I have the luxury of making my own schedule a bit. I make sure I wake up even earlier to prepare for class and just get myself ready for the day. I am usually up by 6am the latest every day. I also teach on Friday and Saturday nights (since those are the weekend mornings for my students). Those nights, I make sure Lincoln is bathed and ready for bed so I can prep for a night of classes. Luckily, I have the most amazing and supportive wife to help me when she is home. It is so important that people have a balanced life with work, parenthood, and social life. The main thing I do is stay organized and ahead of everything as best as I can so that the balance comes easily!
A lot of us may never think about working from home, but I know from many friends that this thought changes when we have a child. Even though my son is always with family, I still feel guilty leaving him every single day and always think that I would love the opportunity to work from home. I asked Dani to explain some of the pros from working at home:
I love that I can contribute financially, but still be home to see my daughter and watch her grow. She does go to school part-time, but the biggest pro is that I am home and can spend time with her. She loves my office and knows that I teach children and that my office is my workspace. I love that she gets to watch me work and see that she can be anything she wants to be when she grows up! She sees me teaching and working, but also, she sees me being her mom. She gets to see it all with me being home and I love it!
Sometimes deciding to make the switch from working in an office setting to working from home for moms can be a stressful one because us moms a lot of time feel like we do not want to lose ourselves and our identity at the same time. Dani shares some advice with us if we are scared to take the jump to working from home:
Take the leap! If you are wanting that opportunity to be home more, just do it! There are many jobs that you can find working from home. If you stay organized and do your best to stay ahead of things, it is easy to balance working and being home. I stated above that I love that I am still contributing financially, so it is the best of both worlds. Sometimes in life, you just need to take that next step to do what is best. If you are thinking of making the switch, that means deep down it is something you want to do. Just take a breath and do it!
For all of my Mom Monday posts I want my friends to share their advice with first time expecting moms because we are all looking for as much advice as possible:
I would say to savor every moment, even pregnancy. The first months can be exhausting and overwhelming, but remember, you are not alone. There are so many other women feeling the same as you and I promise, it gets better. You created a human and that human will look to you for everything. You are their hero and always will be. Whatever you decide to do with your child, is what is best for your child. You will know your child better than anyone and any decision you make, you should make with confidence. Do not let anyone influence what you do with your child. Just remember how strong you are and enjoy your new bundle of joy in every single aspect!
In closing, I hope that you enjoyed reading about my friend Dani! She is such a hard working mom and someone I have received advice from when I was a new mom. I feel that all of us moms have some beautiful advice we can share with the world and be there to support one another! I feel like being a working mom is always a popular discussion that moms have with each other. I knew that Dani would be perfect for this interview because I knew that she could share helpful advice with all of us. Dani shares these final thoughts with us:
The most important thing to remember is that you stay true to who you are. Enjoy your career and take pride in that. Enjoy being a mom and take pride in that. BUT, do not forget who you truly are and always take time for yourself! You can’t be the best at your career and the best mom without loving yourself and being the best version of you.
If anyone is interested in VIPKid, you can click the link below and use my code to apply. Once you apply, you can always feel free to reach out to me on facebook (Dani DeMarco) or Instagram (danidemarco5) and I would be happy to help you every step of the way!
You can follow Dani on Facebook @Dani DeMarco
or on Instagram @danidemarco5 or follow their family adventures @dani_and_rachael
xoxo, Bri
Faith it does not make things easy, it makes them possible Luke 1:37
If you or someone you know is interested in taking part of a Mom Mondays interview, please reach out to me @briannaesantoro@gmail.com.
Brianna Santoro 