Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in Houston?
Kelley: I’m originally from The Woodlands area and we returned to Texas in July 2016 after living in Singapore as expats for a couple years.
Child(ren) and Age(s)?
Reagan age 10, Joshua age 7, Annaliese 7
One thing people would be surprised to know about you…
That our family has deep connections to Uganda. What initially started as volunteering with small non-profits, turned into adopting a toddler, which then led to being actively involved with my son’s older sister Sharon who still lives in the Western part of Uganda. We can assist her financially to keep her in a boarding school for not a lot of money by western standards.
Favorite local things to do in Houston?
Houston has such great parks! We love Sunday evenings at Levy Park and the various International cuisine food trucks. After school at Firetruck park. In the Summer the West U pool is our mainstay. The kids can swim and I can catch up on work emails without guilt!
Do you have a favorite family-friendly restaurant in the area?
Our children go to West U Elementary and we often find ourselves across the street at Little Matt’s. The kids love it and I love that all of the profits go to supporting Childhood cancer charities. Which makes me feel better about the amount of sweets and fried things we eat there!
What is your go-to activity for yourself for pampering or for fun?
My go-to is exercise. Being able to move our bodies and keep them healthy is such a gift. I love the endorphin rush after a good workout and my kids can tell when I’m grumpy and suggest that I go workout! O Athletik in the Heights is my gym and has such a great community feel. It has so many different group classes my schedule gets a bit crazy but I can almost always find a time for a group workout there!
Funniest shortcut/routine for helping you through parenthood?
Hypothetically if you let your kids eat cake for breakfast make sure and call it a “Breakfast pastry” so when they go to school to tell people what they ate it sounds a *little* better.
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization, a creative endeavor, or in the corporate world? Please share!
I work as a Real Estate agent with Keller Williams Metropolitan specializing in the Innerloop of Houston specifically West University Place. My team provides Concierge level experiences to every client before, during, and after their real estate transactions with us. We have relocation clients who need settling in help referrals for barbers, pediatricians, orthodontist, or soccer clubs. Whatever it is we can help find it. We try to make a move whether across town or across the world as pain-free as possible. I’m passionate about my work and can’t imagine doing anything else!
How has the West U community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
We absolutely loved living in South East Asia and had such great friends there. When we moved back to the states from Singapore I thought I would never find a community of girlfriends like I had there. Over these last almost two years I have met and built friendships with some amazing West U Moms. So many women here are actively engaged in the marketplace and have been great role models and encouragers to me. My business is 100% based on relationships and referrals. The majority of my clients are referrals from friends and past clients.
What is the best advice for juggling mommyhood and running a business?
My best advice is to just give yourself a big helping of grace. Treat yourself as kindly as you would a dear friend. My husband made a career change last year which meant a move to the West Coast for him. So for most of the month, it’s just me with the kids here in Houston and he comes back as frequently as his schedule allows. Life. Is. Busy. I like it that way!
As long as at the end of the day I can look back and say that my kids felt love and support from me and that my clients got the absolute best level of care and service, I can go to bed knowing it has been a successful day.
A tired stressed out Mom cannot give love and kindness to her kids if she doesn’t have that for herself. A happy healthy balanced Mom means a happy healthy balanced family.
What would you tell the old “You” before you had kids?
Relax. Life changes when you have kids and it will still be amazing, fun, and unexpected. You will still travel all over the world and have adventures. You’ll just have a few little people in tow for the fun.
