Balance(Week 26)
This is a powerful realization—you’re shifting from being a hands-on operator to a strategic leader, and that requires redefining what success looks like at every level. Here’s a cleaned-up version while keeping your tone and message intact:
I’ve been in the hospitality industry for about 13 years. It can be a thankless job, especially in management. You’re the backbone of the restaurant—any call-off or mistake ultimately falls on your shoulders. Holidays are your busiest days, and in the quick-service industry, you’re often leading a team with a median age in the early 20s. At 38, that age gap naturally creates some distance between me and the team.
As I embark on this journey of building 100 stores, I’ve realized that I’ll never have balance in the traditional “50/50” sense of work-life balance. Ambition doesn’t lend itself to a clean, 40-hour workweek with weekends off.
That led me to a realization—this happens for most people who work independently. You have to know your metrics. Your value-added contribution needs to be clear, and you should always be assessing the ROI of whatever task you’re doing.
For example, if you’re cleaning the floor, your metric for success is how clean the floor is—is the grease gone? Are the stains removed? If you’re a cashier, your metrics might include upselling, transaction volume per hour, guest satisfaction, product knowledge, and whether guests are ordering based on your suggestions.
But when there’s a mismatch between how you perceive your task and what your actual metrics of productivity are, that’s where confusion sets in. For instance, if you were a director of marketing before becoming a CEO, your previous metrics were likely user acquisition, brand recognition, and market penetration. But as a CEO, your success isn’t measured by just marketing—now you’re responsible for aligning operations, financials, management, and marketing under a singular vision.
That’s the shift I’m experiencing now. I used to be blue-collar—I did everything, from cleaning the floors to closing the shop. My old metric of success was how well I executed those tasks myself. But at this stage, my value-added contribution isn’t in making sure the floor is clean—it’s in hiring someone to handle that so I can focus on getting more people into the store, refining our brand strategy, and driving long-term growth.
If your mindset is stuck in old metrics of success, you’ll subconsciously chase tasks that are no longer your responsibility. That might give you a short-term sense of accomplishment because you’re operating in a familiar area. But in your new role, the real success metrics have changed, and until you align with them, you’ll feel like you’re failing.
That’s why I’m taking time to sit down and reassess my daily actions—making sure they align with my new role and the bigger vision. This realization about aligning success metrics also reshapes how I think about work-life balance. In entrepreneurship, balance isn’t about a perfect 50/50 split of time—it’s about the quality of time spent in both work and family. True balance comes from high-focus work, where efficiency and intentionality create the space for meaningful moments in both areas of life. My biggest take away in week 26 is that I have to clearly define my role as well as those around me . I am here to optimize operations , marketing , finances and management. As the COO, optimizing everyone’s role and clarity on what they are supposed to do is my focus.
Peace.