Gratitude for a Business Built on Flexibility with Jayne Havens
This week on the podcast, I’m reflecting on the quieter parts of entrepreneurship — the moments that don’t make the highlight reel, but absolutely shape the way I live and work.
The ability to shift my schedule when life calls for it…
To be present for my family without sacrificing momentum…
To rest when my body needs it…
And to run a thriving business from anywhere.
These are the freedoms I’m most grateful for — and they’re the reason I built my business the way I did.
Inside this episode, I’m sharing:
- What true flexibility looks like as an entrepreneur
- How to build a business that bends around your life
- The small, everyday moments that matter most
- And real stories of CPSM grads who have created this same freedom for themselves
If you’re craving more control over your time, your energy, or your day-to-day life… I hope this episode gives you the encouragement you need to go after it.
Links:
If you would like to learn more about the Becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our free Facebook Group or check out our CPSM Website.
Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here.
Transcript:
Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.
On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.
Jayne Havens: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast.
Today, I want to reflect on something that’s been at the forefront of my mind lately—gratitude. Not in a cliché or overly sentimental type of way, but in a more practical and grounded way. Lately, I’m feeling an immense sense of gratitude for the flexibility this business has created in my life. I’m recording this podcast before Thanksgiving, but you’re hearing it after the holiday weekend has come and gone. Honestly, the timing feels perfect. Because gratitude often hits hardest after a moment has passed—when you’re looking back and realizing, “Wow, I really get to live my life the way I wanted to.” That’s exactly how these past couple of weeks have felt for me.
Recently, my husband and I were in Mexico with two other couples celebrating our 15-year wedding anniversary. It was a much-needed chance to relax, disconnect, and recharge. We spent each morning on the pickleball court, followed by a leisurely breakfast. After a quick shower, we rode our bikes to the beach. I even read two books while we were away, which never happens. Then we’d get massages and enjoy delicious dinners each evening.
The craziest part is that I was supporting 10 families while away on vacation. Normally, that would sound super chaotic, but because of the way that I structured my business, it actually wasn’t. I purposely stopped taking on new clients a week before I left for my trip, which meant everybody was already a week in. These families had found their stride, and they were needing less from me by the time I was ready to disconnect a bit. Being available for them didn’t require me sitting at a desk or being tied to a schedule. I could check in from my phone, send a voice note from the beach, answer a question before heading out to dinner, and it all felt easy, manageable, and, frankly, kind of amazing.
These moments always remind me why I built this business in the first place—not just to support families with sleep, not just to create something of my own, but to build a life that works. A life that bends around what matters most, instead of forcing me to squeeze everything in around work.
Shortly after returning home, I caught a cold. You can probably still hear it in my voice as I’m recording today. I’m feeling better. But last week, I was definitely not myself. I was feeling run down. I was lacking in energy, and I just didn’t have the motivation to kick it back into high gear the way I normally would after a relaxing trip.
I was reflecting on this yesterday, and I just kept thinking how grateful I am to have the flexibility to really let my body rest when that’s what’s needed. I didn’t have to push through the way that I would have if I was working a traditional nine to five. I reminded myself that this is exactly what I love most about the business I’ve built. If I’m not feeling it, I can give myself permission to rest. My work will be here for me when I’m feeling back to my normal self. With Thanksgiving around the corner, my top priority was to get better before the holiday weekend, and I gave myself permission to do exactly what was necessary to make that happen.
My clearest moment of gratitude came just this week. My kids have a half day of school the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I made sure to clear my schedule. My plan is to pick them up around noon, take them out to lunch with their cousins, and spend the entire afternoon with them. I bought a few cookie decorating kits on my Target run this morning. After lunch, we’ll all come back to the house and make ninja bread cookies together. Yep, you heard me right. Instead of gingerbread cookies, they’re little ninjas—ninja bread cookies. My kids are so excited. My call calendar is closed. No phone calls and no Zooms. I am totally free and clear for the rest of the week. I literally could not be more excited.
When you run your own business, these are the decisions you’re allowed to make unilaterally. I don’t seek permission to close my calendar. I am 100 % in control of my schedule, my workflow, and the time I get to spend with those who matter most. This luxury is one that I’ve earned, and I will never take that for granted. I want to be clear. This isn’t about working less. I actually kind of work a ton. This is about working on my terms. It’s about having the freedom to redirect my time and my energy when life calls for it—whether that’s celebrating a milestone anniversary, getting over a cold, or spending a spontaneous afternoon with my family.
People talk a lot about entrepreneurship offering freedom. For a long time, that word felt kind of cliche to me, but now I know exactly what freedom looks like. Freedom is earning money from my kitchen table, wearing leggings and a hoodie. It’s running to a tennis lesson in the middle of the day. It’s taking a trip to Mexico for a long weekend and still supporting families while I’m gone. It’s picking my kids up from school on a Wednesday at noon—simply because I want to. This is what true flexibility looks like. It’s ownership of your time, ownership of your day-to-day life, ownership of how you show up for your business and your family.
When I think about gratitude, it’s not the big, shiny moments that come to mind first. And trust me, I’m running a very successful business. There are plenty of big, shiny moments. But when I really pause and reflect, the gratitude that hits the deepest comes from the moments that look ordinary from the outside but feel extraordinary when I realize I wouldn’t have experienced them in any other type of career. This business has changed my life in the most practical yet meaningful ways.
What’s really special is that I get to watch it change other people’s lives, too. Alana was working as an occupational therapist. When COVID struck, she decided she wanted to be home with her littles. She grew her business slow and steady over the years. She never put pressure on herself to gun it, as her top priority was really to be present with her family. A few years later, she’s earning some seriously good money. While it’s not my place to share the financials of her business, let’s just say she is really rocking and rolling.
Sarah is a seasoned health care professional who decided to leave her nursing job to stay home with her children. She decided to become a sleep consultant because of her own passion for establishing healthy sleep habits for children. She’s now running a wildly successful business, while also acting as the primary caregiver for her four kids. Sierra is a birth and postpartum doula, as well as an agency owner. She’s successfully integrated sleep consulting into her doula work, which has given her the flexibility to support families remotely. Shifting some of her workload from in-person support to virtual consulting has helped her avoid burnout, support clients through new seasons of parenthood, and increase her income without adding more hours to her schedule.
If you’re listening today and hoping for this level of flexibility in your life, I want you to know that it’s possible. Sleep consulting has been that vehicle for me and for so many others, and it absolutely can be that for you as well. I really hope everyone listening had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a restful and relaxing long weekend. I’ll be back next week.
Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.
If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode