‘I Want to Empower My Daughter to Stand on Her Own Two Feet’

Christina Russell, president of Camp Bow Wow, a very successful dog daycare and boarding franchise, follows a key business principle instilled from a young age: Personal responsibility is fundamental for growth.

Her mother was a single mom and supported two kids as a secretary for the Orlando Transit Authority — making roughly $7,000 a year. Yet despite numerous challenges, she set a very high bar for her daughter and conveyed the notion that strength and hard work go a long way toward success.

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With her mom’s moral support, Russell entered the franchise world nearly 20 years ago at Curves International and today is running Camp Bow Wow. The company, based in Westminster, Colorado, just outside Denver, recently announced that 2016 was one of its most successful years, as it increased its annual year-over-year revenue by 9 percent. The brand expects strong momentum to continue throughout 2017 and is projecting 30 or more franchise sales this year, a record-breaking number.

“It’s OK sometimes to not necessarily be 100 percent successful at every thing at every hour of every day.”

In addition to her business success, Russell talks openly about being a later-in-life mom, describing her pregnancy at age 45 as a “happy surprise” for her and her husband. She also says she wants her daughter to grow up with the same sense of purpose she’s had in spades, thanks to her own mother.

“I want to empower her to stand on her own two feet. I also want to be there for her just like my mom was for me, and that’s tricky with a career. It’s a challenge, but I know I can do it if I’m willing to do the hard work, just like my mother taught me,” said Russell.

LifeZette talked with this working mom about the dual role of hands-on parent and business executive — and how to surmount the challenges that come with those roles.

Question: You’re running a business while raising your two-year-old daughter. That’s a juggling act many American women know well. What have you learned about it so far?
Answer: It’s an absolute delight being a mom at this age. There is nothing like it. All my life I’ve been a planner in terms of my career and moving forward, and I did not plan for this — so you try to find your own traction with it. I’ve relished finding the ability to wear different hats, and I know that it’s OK sometimes to not necessarily be 100 percent successful at every single thing at every hour of every day.

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Each day, I try to get out of the office by 5:30 p.m. so that I can get home by 6 p.m. and have a couple of hours with my daughter each evening. It doesn’t always work out. But the days that I can do it, I really value that, and when I can’t, I still try to enjoy every moment with her.

Q: Are you able to shut the rest of the world out and truly be with her?
A: Yes, that is the one thing that has really helped. In this day and age, to disconnect from your technology — I think it’s really hard for all of us but for women in particular. You’re trying to run your company, and you know you need to be there for those who work for you and with you, but you’re also trying to be a mom. Between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., I disconnect and my team knows that. They know to re-engage me in the evening, after 8:30 p.m., when she’s in bed and I pop back on.

But at the time when I’m off — I’m off. And I really let myself do that. This is really important. My husband is a stay-at-home dad, which takes away a lot of the mom guilt. I never felt guilty about anything until I had a child [laughing].

You’re balancing four types of guilt: the work guilt, mom guilt, spouse guilt, and “me” guilt, which is something as simple as getting out and taking a walk now and then. It’s really important, on that last point, to keep yourself on the list of priorities, because if you don’t — you may not succeed in other areas.

Q: In your view, how does a working mom take care of herself without being selfish?
A: In the best-case scenario, my husband and I work as a team, and that helps tremendously. He is super-supportive and helpful. But it’s really up to each mom, each woman, to take care of herself and the things she need to, even when her baby is young — it’s not anyone else’s responsibility. You have got to recognize your importance in this scenario.

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Obviously as children get older it becomes a little easier, but my encouragement to other new moms is to be sure you take care of yourself. You can get to the gym, for example, with planning and juggling — you don’t have to give up those things.

As your child grows, he or she begins having experiences without you — enjoyable experiences. She also has to make decisions without you: Do I share this toy or don’t I? Do I do something first on my own or ask permission? Even as a tiny toddler, she’s standing on her own. As a parent of even very young kids, you’re trying to help them make their own good decisions and stand up for themselves. It’s an intriguing thing to experience as a parent. And the more I see my daughter making good decisions, the more confident I feel in her and her growth — and that frees me up in some little ways, too.

“You can’t lose your cool with people in the office and you shouldn’t do it with your children, either.”

Q: You say you’ve learned a lot from other women who have long been balancing full-time work with motherhood. How so?
A: When I found out I was pregnant the first thing I did was ask a lot of women I know, “Tell me what I need to know.” Learning from others and hearing their experiences and best advice has been great.

Q: Share one key lesson from the business world that you’ve been able to apply to your role as a mom thus far.
A: Interesting question. Probably in the same way that I lead the company in terms of its values, as a parent I’m trying to do the same thing. The other piece of this is about partnership. As a leader at work, I may set the pace, but we all work together to accomplish our goals, and people have their own styles and ways of accomplishing their goals and tasks. At home, with my husband as we raise our daughter, it’s a partnership. My husband is the leader at home and I step back and become the learner. So we divide and conquer and get things done that way.

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Communication is also very important. You can’t lose your cool with people in the office and you shouldn’t do it with your children, either. And I think that’s helped my young daughter to keep her cool, too — though we’re in the early days of the terrible twos, so I may change my story on that in the near future!