Creating the rules to your own game

As a mother of four young children and a successful career in business, Elle Likopoulos, founder of Absolute Business Brokers, is often asked, ‘How do you manage to do it all?’ The answer is simple, but one that usually has people perplexed at first. "I play by my own rules!" We all know that catchy Dolly Parton song ‘Working 9 to 5’, but the reality is the idea of a primary caregiver trying to do this is as outdated as the song. Recent studies indicate the weight of caring for the children and household are still largely the women’s responsibility in most ‘traditional’ families. As the cost-of-living rises across the globe, more and more households are reliant on two incomes to survive. Mothers are now more than ever feeling the pressure of having to juggle the impossible. You can buy all the self-help books in the world, meditate, goal set and binge-watch Marie Kondo all you like. The fact of the matter is you feel overwhelmed and exhausted because it isn’t sustainable to work fulltime structured hours. Along with being at every sports match, remembering to pick up dry cleaning and prepare Martha Stewart worthy roasts for dinner forever. Instead of trying to change me and my family to fit around work, I realised it would be far more sensible to change my working schedule to weave through my family’s life. By starting your own business, you begin taking control of your life and creating your own rules to play by.