Image: Zeno Group / Gold Peak Real Brewed Tea

Last month, I had the privilege of interviewing HGTV host Egypt Sherrod for MadameNoire about her recent partnership with Coca Cola’s Gold Peak Real Brewed Tea and her latest home improvement venture: the TEA shed. During our chat, the Philadelphia native dropped some priceless gems on how she manages to hold it all together as a wife, mother, and entrepreneur. Check out some of the highlights below.

Plan Meticulously

First and foremost, she never dives into any venture without going through a comprehensive planning process.

“In everything that I do, I try to think it out before I take action,” says Sherrod. “I put support in place before I endeavor. That way, when I fall short, my goals don’t fall short.”

Create Your Own Space

With so many things competing for her attention, Sherrod shared that it’s crucial for wives and mothers to have a space of their own. For the former radio personality, her space of choice is a TEA shed, which is a spin on the She Shed.

“My house phone and cell phone ring all day. I got babies crying. I’ve got my nanny calling for me. It’s just chaos,” the media personality confessed. “Where can you just have a single thought?”

Unplug

Speaking of creating your own space, Sherrod adds that it’s important to unplug from digital devices.

“We’re over telecommunicated. We’re all over social media but we’re not social anymore. We put all of our intimate moments out there but we have no level of intimacy with ourselves. I turn it all off and walk across the lawn to my tea shed, that’s where I can find my very best of everything to bring back home. My best creative thoughts for my business ventures, my very best thoughts of fun things to do with my kids or romantic things to do with my husband. But when you’re in it, sometimes it’s hard to just break out of it. That’s why I say no telecommunication because I just need some place where I can think.”

Maintain Your Identity Outside of Marriage & Motherhood

“You can’t lose yourself while trying to be all things to all people. If you’re not good for you, you’re not good for anybody, especially having girls. Being a mother of girls, you want them to have your core values and morals,” she said. “You want them to be free spirits, but at the same time, you don’t want to lose them. That means you can’t lose yourself because you are the very walking, talking, breathing example for them,” the mother of three explained.

“I’ve been married 10 years and we’ve been together for 15 years. What I’ve learned from my relationships prior to that is to never lose yourself in a man. So going into this relationship with my husband, I think what allowed us to sustain is that we were both able to keep the very essence of ourselves,” Sherrod revealed. “I think that you have healthy relationships with your children and your significant other when you can maintain you as your perfect you.”

Make Date Night A Priority

Lastly, in addition to making time for yourself, the home design expert recommends setting aside time for your spouse – a lesson she admits she learned the hard way.

“For like two years, we (my husband and I) became like roommates. When we found each again, what we vowed to do was to make sure that we put our relationship as a priority as well. Usually, when you start having kids it’s ‘Oh, we’ll just go on date night another time or ‘Oh, we’ll just go to the movies another time’ or ‘Oh, I’ll sleep up here and you sleep down there.’ Then before you know it, that’s what happened. You’re roommates. So we make date night a priority. Every week.”

What are your strategies for balancing mom life with other responsibilities?