She is many things. She is a mother. A wife. A boss. A sister. An entrepreneur. A woman in business. She is a tree with many branches. And like a tree, she cannot grow and expand unless her root is healthy, happy and focused. So for as many things as Christine Fox is, she also is just that: Christine Fox.
Being a woman in business, Fox has heard the ear-deafening question “How do you manage your personal life and professional life?” But that doesn’t worry Fox, she makes sure all of her branches of life have what they need. Fox’s main focus and biggest advice to all women in business is to carve out time for the one at the root of it all: you.
Since opening Wag N’ Tails at just 28 years old in 1999, Fox has made sure to incorporate “me-time” into her daily work.
“As a business owner, you make a lot of decisions,” Fox said. “You can’t waste time second-guessing yourself, going back over every little thing. You have to go with YOU, and trust your instinct.”
Taking the time to be alone with her thoughts is what keeps Fox in tune with her natural, entrepreneur instinct. Puzzles, reading and her faith keep her balanced.
Fox never imagined that her small doggy-daycare business would transform into what it is today. She reflects on times when her then-infant daughter would nap at the same time as the dogs, and a phone ring could mean disaster for her break time. Fox took her own naps on benches in the daycare, in between walking dogs while pushing her daughter in a stroller. Now, her learning- based business is the forefront of force-free dog training.
So how exactly did she still find time to focus on herself?
“It doesn’t take as long as you think. Each role has a shield, so if I’m coming home from work, I take that shield off in the car, do a breathing exercise for a count of four, and put the next shield on,” Fox explained.
To Fox, her life is filled with many branches. They intertwine, they overlap, and sometimes they’re just downright crazy. But at the end of the day, Christine Fox is more than just a businesswoman or mother, she is a stable fixture; focused, dedicated and ready to continue to take on the world.
