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My oldest, I call him my little Gary Vee, because homeboy only wants to do things that make him money.
He literally only gets motivated when I talk about giving him money for getting good grades at school.
I’ve had a bit of a challenge with finding ways to support him and his entrepreneurial spirit, as well as making sure that he takes care of what he needs to at school.
My guest Sherri is going to share some of her experiences on how we can better support our kids and their entrepreneurial ambition.
Sherri is the mother of Jake and Caroline, who are the creators of Fair Harbor. Fair Harbor is a clothing line that Sherri’s kids created from their home. She has been with them when they first started the clothing line when they were still living at home. Sherri has supported her kids throughout the journey starting back in 2014.
And she has some tips and advice for moms who want to help support their kids but are trying not to be that annoying mom but also give their kids the support that they need with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
About Sheri
Mom of Jake and Caroline Danehy who started Fair Harbor Clothing. Also going to work in the new office as Manager of Office Happiness.
Links Mentioned
Fair Harbor: www.fairharborclothing.com/pages/sheri
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Transcript of this episode
Real Happy Mom 0:05
You are listening to the Real Happy Mom podcast, the weekly podcast or busy working moms to get inspiration, encouragement and practical tips for this journey called motherhood. My name is Tony and in you are listening to Episode 156. Well Hey there and welcome to another episode of the Happy Mom Podcast. I am so excited and happy that you have decided to join me this is your first time tuning in. Thank you for tuning into this episode. And if you are returning Hey, there and welcome back, I know that this episode, episode is gonna be a really good one, especially if you have a child like mine who has that entrepreneurial bug. Now my oldest, I call him my little Gary Vee, because homeboy only wants to do things that make him money. Like literally like doesn’t want to do school, because he’s not making money. He doesn’t want to do like some of the things that I think will incentivize him to do schoolwork, because he doesn’t want to do that he wants to get a job and make money. And I know I’ve had a bit of a challenge with finding ways to support him and his entrepreneurial spirit, as well as making sure that he takes care of what he needs to at school. So I have this guest Sherry, she’s coming on today to talk about how we can better support our kids and their entrepreneurial ambition because I will be honest with them, I need some help with that one. Now Sherry g is the mother of Jake and Caroline, who are the creators of a fair harbor. So fair harbor is the actual clothing line that Sherry’s kids created from their home, she actually was with them when they first started this when they were still living at home and has supported them throughout the journey. This journey started way back in 2014. And she has some tips and advice for moms who want to help support their kids but are trying not to be that annoying mom but also give their kids the support that they need with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. So if this is something that you know that you could use some help with, you definitely want to stay tuned to the full episode because she gives a lot of great advice all the way up until the very very end of this episode. But before we jump in really quick if you haven’t already, make sure you join me inside of the Real Happy Mom Facebook community. There we will have some more discussions about this as well as monthly trainings on Trello which is a project management tool that I will show you how to use so that you can get more organized and just get life a lot more systematic in in a routine that won’t cause you to feel overwhelmed and stressed out so make sure you join me over there Real Happy Mom comm slash community if you’re like Tony and Facebook ain’t my jam. I’m on Instagram too. You can follow me there Real Happy Mom calm. And you’ll find all of the links to all the places But literally, I’m at Real Happy Mom and all the social media platforms. And if you’re like Tony and I still don’t do social media, I just listened to your podcast. If you want to reach out you want to chit chat you can send me a message at Hello at Real Happy Mom. All right. So make sure you join me I really want to hear more from you and just some of your feedback and just what you want to hear more of So join me inside of the Facebook community Real Happy Mom calm slash community and we can have some more fun chit chatting over there. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s go ahead and jump on into this week’s episode with Sherry.
Real Happy Mom 3:33
Alrighty, so Sherry, welcome to the podcast. I am super excited to have you.
Sheri 3:39
I’m so excited to be here. Like I was saying to this is my very first podcast. So I’m excited slash nervous but happy to talk about my kids and fareharbor
Real Happy Mom 3:50
Yes, they are super pumped to talk about fareharbor because that is a very fun story I want to jump into but before we get into our topic as far as how we can support our entrepreneur, child’s ambition, can you just share a little bit about you and what you do?
Sheri 4:06
Sure. So basically, um, I defined myself as being a mom, I was in publishing prior to having kids. And for the last 28 years or so I’ve really been a stay at home mom. I have three kids. Like I said, well Jake is my eldest and Caroline, and they’re the ones who do fareharbor and then I have a third page and she’s going to be a teacher. So really up until my kids started fair Harbor, I was just you know, and they were in college and high school I was just kind of doing the mom thing is going to all the sporting events and going back to school night and whatever needed to be done during that and then when my kids started this business, just because they were home at the time, I got a great opportunity to be part of it and in every part Have it which was really just such an amazing and special thing that added to our relationship. Most recently, and probably the best part so far was I did a collaboration with my kids, which was fair Harbor, Tom’s, our mom that came out on Mother’s Day, and I designed two bathing suits with them. And it was just a blast. And actually, we traveled to California to do a photo shoot, which is so fun because it was me and three gorgeous models, mu and alpha doing that. And we got some great footage, some great photographs, my suits launched on Mother’s Day, and they sold out probably within 12 to 24 hours, which was really exciting.
Real Happy Mom 5:46
That is awesome. That is awesome. And fair harbor is something that your kids actually created and started in the home when they were with you. So I was just wondering what steps did you take to support them early on with their career and actually starting fareharbor.
Sheri 6:04
So at the time, Caroline was actually in high school, she was a senior in high school. Jake was in college, and they came up with this idea. Well, Jake, it’s funny first, when Jake was in college, very entrepreneurial from the beginning, as was Caroline but Jake decided he and his friends wanted to have a hotdog stand at Colgate, which is where they went to college. So I can tell it from then on. Like, he really wanted to do something on his own something entrepreneurial. And that kind of never really worked out. And he was a geography major in college, and wanted to do something that involves sustainability. Plus, he loves surfing, we spent our summers in Fire Island with the kids. And so I think the two of them had this entrepreneurial drive pretty much early on. So when they decided to do fair Harbor, I just knew that, you know, they were going to give it their all.
Real Happy Mom 7:03
Alright, so that is really, really awesome. And one of the things that I have found is that there’s highs and lows with entrepreneurship. And I was just wondering what tips and tricks Do you have when it comes to supporting your kids and, and in particular, for the mothers who are wanting to support their kids through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship?
Sheri 7:25
So my one little bit of advice is patience. Because there were so many times where, I mean, I remember one time in particular, I drove into my driveway, and I am not kidding. toniann there’s maybe 500 boxes in my driveway. And I thought, is this my house? Is this a shipping warehouse, like where is all of this merchandise gonna go? It was in my driveway, it was in my garage. It was in my living room, it was actually in every corner of my house, except our bedroom. And I think that that is a huge part of it is just to say, you know, like, be patient be supportive. Because in my mind, it’s like, okay, where’s it gonna go? Who’s gonna buy all of these bathing suits? You know, it’s just there’s so many unknowns. And all you could do is take a breath, and be supportive and be patient because it’s, it’s overwhelming, especially if it’s being run out of your own house like ours was. And also another little piece of advice was I decided was I was just gonna say yes to help my kids. So if it was 10 o’clock at night, and Jay came in, you know, into the den, he’s like, man, do you have a minute, I’m like, for what he goes, we got to get these packages out, like right now. So we had no heat in our garage. And Jake and I were in there packing boxes till all hours the night. And I was I could have been so annoyed. But you know what I decided like, this is kind of my time to help him. And it was like a little bit of bonding experience a lot of bonding for us. And, you know, it’s, it’s been great. And I kind of had the same experience with Caroline when she and Paige and I went to Charleston and we did a business trip to sell fair harbor. And it was the same thing. We just kind of had the best time and sold what we could and it was just you know, just saying yes. And being patient and doing what you can in any way to support your kids.
Real Happy Mom 9:40
Yeah, I love that advice because I will tell you, my oldest He is my entrepreneurial child that is the child that I think is going to end up having multiple businesses throughout his life. And I just like sometimes I’m just like, oh my goodness, like son like no one wants to buy your old broken toys. Like, same time, like I kind of want him to, like, try it out and see for himself. So I love the the patience and saying
Sheri 10:07
Yeah, cuz it’s a trial and error, you know, I mean, I remember their first iteration of fareharbor, they had a bathing suit made in the garment center of New York City and I remember going with them, we drove in, we picked it up, we come home, Jake puts it on, he gets in the shower, it is totally see through, I mean, and the Velcro, it was made with velcro, and it was sticky, good, like all the wrong places. So I think it’s just a lot of trial and error. And like I said, just a lot of support and a lot of patience. And then, you know, it’s been just amazing to see it grow and to see it evolve from that first iteration of their harbor to where they are now with all these amazing styles and designs and the fit and you know, the boxer brief lining I mean, it really has evolved from the first like you said, you know, your kid wants to sell like old toys on the internet. I mean, it’s just amazing how you see their creativity and their passion evolve.
Real Happy Mom 11:13
Yes, definitely. And one part of your story that I don’t think we talked about yet is how you had interns working out of the home too.
Sheri 11:21
Oh, my goodness. That was a big part of our story. So it was probably two or three summers, the kids hired interns to work out of the house. And at first you’re like, Oh, Mom, you know a few interns coming on my go right. Next thing I know, there was one summer I would say there was eight or 10 interns who came every single day to our house. And they were such nice kids. I mean, so nice. It’s so respectful, but they’re still you know, 1920 year old kids coming to your house so it was kind of funny at some I was home in the middle of the day one time and all of a sudden I see my grill is going there cooking lunch on the grill, we have a hot tub outside after lunch, they were in the hot tub. It was just in every part of our room, you know of our house rather and but they were such nice kids, it was overwhelming to have so many of them here. But when I look back on it, it was so fun because the energy was amazing. And I could just see them all feeding off of each other. And it’s just that’s a great thing to be part of also, considering Yeah,
Real Happy Mom 12:34
I could definitely see how like having all those people in your house could be like I need some space. Where are you in my hot tub like what’s going on?
Sheri 12:43
Exactly. But they were such good kids and like I said you know when I was helping Jake pack packages in the middle of the winter in the garage, we had no key well in the summer we no air conditioning so it was like 100 degrees in the garage. And that’s where they did the pick in the pack was everything was done out of our garage. So to see these four kids like sweltering in the garage, and they did such a good job and it was just great to see the whole process. You know from we did everything right out of our house.
Real Happy Mom 13:14
Yes, yes. And I love how everything kind of started this home base and and like I was talking about before the highs and the lows, so I know you got to see them when they were like really doing good. So I’m I’m just curious, like how you’re feeling? I’m sure you’re probably super proud. But were there any other things that you weren’t expecting? Like when things started going good that you’re like, oh, man, like, yeah, I’m here to support you. But I wasn’t expecting this kind of thing.
Sheri 13:42
Yeah, well, I mean, all I can say is just how incredibly proud I am of them and how they persevered the entire time. And yes, there were highs and lows and especially, you know, I would say one of their big high periods was during the pandemic during COVID. So everybody moved back home. And it could have been a really scary time, right? It’s like boy who’s going to, you know, buy bathing suits now. Anyway, these guys it was unbelievable, and I actually got to be part of it and to watch it day in and day out. They all lived home for eight months, which is all of us moms no silver lining of pandemic, right like you get your kids home under your roof again. At least for me, that’s how I felt and I could you know, be part of this whole thing and just watch it and they used to get so annoyed with me because they would be on all these zoom calls and I was just so interested so I’d be sitting here kind of listening and poke my head in and do a photo bomb and all that it was so fun to be part of it but they really didn’t know what was going to go on during the pandemic. It was kind of like a scary time. So thank goodness for, you know, all of their great social media advertising and people wanting to Be outside and be athletic and be healthy and their business boomed during COVID, which was just an incredible thing to watch and be a part of, it really was. So that could have been a scary time that they really, they just put their heads down. And every morning, they were down here 637. And they worked all night long, just to kind of make the best of that whole time. Yeah,
Real Happy Mom 15:25
I love that. And that that is, I’m sitting here like, wow, because I know the pandemic was a very scary time, even for myself, because it was a couple of times, I was like, I don’t know how we’re gonna pay our bills as my
Sheri 15:37
dad. Really scary, really scary and had everybody working out of the house. You know, my husband was living room, Caroline and Jake were in the den, my daughter’s in the dining room. And it was kind of just a crazy time, but to watch their business take off so much during this time was just so impressive. They were just, you know, put their heads down and just like, what can we do? And they’ve figured out like, what their little niche was? I mean, not that it wasn’t figured out before, but I think their business really took off during that time.
Real Happy Mom 16:10
Yeah, definitely. Now I’m just wondering it was there any period during that from the beginning, up until this point now that you kind of look back and be like, man, I probably could have handled that better? Or I wish I would have said this. To them when they were working on the business or had challenges whatever it was, is there anything like looking back that you’re like, if I could do it over again, I would do this?
Sheri 16:31
That’s a good question. And sometimes I, they were so nice. And they always ask my opinion. And sometimes I feel like I should have maybe taken a deep breath. Because you know, US moms, we just want to help we want to roll up our sleeves, we always want to do you know the right thing. And sometimes I think I spoke too quickly. Make them like a little neurotic when I was like, Oh, I just know that that just seems to be like a little too tight. Or, you know, I think that’s too short or whatever. And I think sometimes, you know, I would make them like a little crazy. And I think for me, I needed to learn to like, take a breath and give them help and advice when they needed versus just kind of say too much, if that makes sense.
Real Happy Mom 17:25
Yeah, definitely, definitely, I can see that for sure. Cuz I even do that. Now. My kids are only eight and five. So totally get it.
Sheri 17:33
Yes, that’s what we want to do. We want to just like roll up our sleeves and do everything we can to help them and, and you know, they’re the ones who have more, much more experienced than we do, because this is what they’re doing day in and day out. But, you know, as moms, we want to fix everything. And we want to just like give our advice to everything. And sometimes that’s, you know, that could probably be annoying. I think I enjoyed that sometimes by doing that. So I mean, if that’s kind of what you’re asking. Yeah,
Real Happy Mom 18:03
yeah, no, totally, totally can see that. Because I know a lot of times we’re like, so excited, and we want to help but at the same time, like we can be a little too humble. So I could definitely see how that could be like, okay, mom, like get away.
Sheri 18:20
I remember I’d be the expression that I used to hear was, Mom, you’re a lot like we’d love you, but you’re a lot. So just learning to kind of like dial that back a little bit and give my opinion when it was asked instead of like the second they opened up a sample package.
Real Happy Mom 18:38
Yes, got it. Yeah, no, definitely. Now I’m just wondering, like, if there are any moms that are listening that are like, okay, like I’m feeling a little bit better, and I hear the advice that she’s given, you know, I’m just wondering if there is any, like real essential piece of advice that you would really want to impart on the moms that are listening, when it comes to the best way to help their kids when they’re on their entrepreneurial journey.
Sheri 19:04
So there is one thing that I think is so important is to have besides passion, and besides enthusiasm and creativity and just be supportive, I think a purpose is really important too. And I think that that’s something that kind of set fareharbor apart was they really did have a purpose. And you know, the sustainability aspect of it is their purpose too is to you know, save the oceans and take plastics out of the ocean. And I think that that’s such an important thing is to find some type of a purpose besides just what is driving them which is amazing, but I think that that also helps them to achieve. And this amazing feeling of satisfaction is when you know that you’re doing something good and good for the world. Also Yeah, so that was something that they created on their own that I think is just a big part of it and just just be supportive and patient. And like I said, Take a deep breath. And don’t always just like, say the first thing that comes to your mind, because that’s what we want to do. As moms, you know what I think it’s just important to let them figure things out for themselves a little bit and kind of help where you’re needed. So that’s kind of my little bit of advice. And like I said, to just say, yes, it because I have had some of the greatest experiences with my kids. By being part of this, and going on this journey with them, and whether it was going with them to sell trade shows, and a result at a trade show, we had so much fun. And I learned so much about the product. And it was just such great experiences like prior, you know, I would say going on college trips. So it’s just like any of these different experiences that will bond you to your kids and make you closer and you know, look, I mean, we’re all passionate about our kids. And yet, when you see your kids building something, it makes you so passionate about what they’re building, and then to be a part of it is even better. So I’m so grateful that they did allow me to be a part of it, and that they do care about how what my opinions are, and that they involve me in it. So to me, it’s been the greatest gift. It really has been. Yeah, so I wish I was with them on a daily basis. But now they have their office and city and they’re kind of doing their thing. But anytime they asked me on there, and I always say yes, Jake just asked me to go to Chicago to do a trade show with him in August. And I just always say yes. Because you don’t get this time back. And it’s such a special thing. And if they want me to be there, I’m there.
Real Happy Mom 22:01
Yes, definitely. Well, I appreciate all the advice and all the the stories that you shared today, because this has definitely been helpful for myself as well as the moms that are listening. So if I was just wondering if there’s someone listening that wants to connect with you learn more about fareharbor, all of that good stuff. Where can we find you online?
Sheri 22:23
So Well, you can’t find me particularly on mine, you could always reach out to me, but fair harbor clothing calm is the website. And when I did my personal vibration with my kids, there’s like a whole q&a and you could look at that. There are us there is one other little piece of advice I was just thinking about if it’s okay, just share one other thing. Really important to urge your kids to use any type of connection. Chin’s or introductions like, don’t be afraid to reach out to people that could possibly help you. And I think that’s something too, that has been so important, like anytime anybody told Jake and Caroline, you should talk to so and so because they’ve been in this business or they’ve done this. I mean, they reached out to them, and they have gotten so many fabulous mentors during this whole thing. And I think that’s another really great piece of advice just to connect your kids with anybody that you know, or your friends know, or anybody in your family. And I think that’s a huge part of starting a business two is don’t be afraid to ask for help. And as us moms, you know, we do know a lot of people we have a lot of connections. So I think that’s like a big, little piece of advice I would give to is just use every contact you possibly have, because some something could really help you.
Real Happy Mom 23:54
Definitely well I appreciate all the advice and definitely we’ll put the links in the show notes to fareharbor into your collection that you help collaborate with. So thank you, Sherry, for coming on. I really appreciate you and all that you’ve shared with us today. Now that does it for this episode of the Real Happy Mom podcast to find the links in the show notes head over to Real Happy Mom comm slash 156. There you’ll find all of the links as well as a cliff notes version of this episode. And do me a favor if you found this podcast episode helpful. Let me know by leaving a five star rating review and Apple podcast. And if you’re like Tony and I don’t listen to your podcast on Apple podcast, totally fine. You can help me out by taking a screenshot of you listening to this episode and posting it to your Insta stories or Facebook stories. This helps me to get the message out to other moms so that we can get the message out to as many months as possible to be a Real Happy Mom. Now that’s it for this episode. Stay tuned for next week for another episode. Take care and with lots of love
