Joy Cho Opens Up About Life, Work and Babies

Mom.me interviewed mom-on-the-move Joy Cho, a powerhouse designer and founder of the daily destination Oh Joy. She shares secrets of her success and how she finds time to do it all (spoiler alert: don't). Check out her candid answers and see how her personal journey may inspire your own.

Mom.me: It's great to see that you were able to make your dreams come true. How do you keep from getting distracted from your ultimate goal (like other fun dreams that pop up) and silence the noise (including potential negativity) that comes along with it?

Joy: Dreams happen when you least expect it. You might have certain goals that you work towards and of course, hope they come true. But it's funny how your goals and dreams change as you go. I don't allow the negativity to come in. Constructive criticism or feedback is one thing, but negativity doesn't fuel anything.

Mom.me: As we've all come to realize, work-life balance doesn't actually exist but the work-life juggle does. In those moments of focus, time and energy that is being spent on one part of your life versus the other, what do you do to maintain a sense of balance for your kids and your partner?

Joy: I always remind myself and others: You should not do it all, because you can't and no one can! You should do the things that are most important to you. I place priority on the things and the people that I love most. And let everything else come second. At the end of the day, I think back on what happened and if I can say that my family loves me, that I am happy at my job and that I did my best to make a difference in the world in the way that I know how, then I can feel like I had a good day.

Mom.me: How important is it to work and live in a space that you love? Have you always known that about yourself or did it evolve over time?

Joy: For me, home is everything. It's a place of rest, a place to be with my family and a place to find reprieve. So it's important for me to make my home a place that feels like me, that I am inspired by, and that I am excited to be in.

Mom.me: What characteristic do you recognize in other moms that drives you crazy and wish they would stop?

Joy: Comparing yourself to others. I am guilty of it myself! I look at other moms who do things I am not doing and wonder why I am slacking and how they are making it all work. But we all do that. And we need to stop. Because chances are, that other mom is thinking and feeling the same things about you!

Mom.me: What characteristic of your own do you wish would mellow out? Or since becoming a mom, has a part of you changed?

Joy: My ability to worry. I worry about everything—what MIGHT go wrong. That's a quality I had before kids that got even worse after kids. Because usually worrying doesn't make any situation better, so why do it?

Mom.me: What's one mistake you made with the first child that you vowed not to repeat with the second?

Joy: This sounds so silly, but we always shielded her face from the water when washing her hair as a baby. Then, by the time she wasa toddler, she hated when her face would get wet and took a while to warm up to the swimming pool when it came time to start swim lessons. So with our second, when it was time to wash off the shampoo, we just dumped the water over her head (like most people do) and our second has no issues with the water and actually loves it! Sometimes by being so cautious, you don't realize you are shielding your kids from things they need to be exposed to!

Mom.me: What's the best thing you did with the first child that you insist to your friends they must do or consider?

Joy: Sleep schedules! Everyone is different—so no judgment from me if you don't like following a schedule—but for us, getting my kids on a schedule very early on really helped us to be able to plan our days, weekends and vacations so much better and made my kids really great sleepers. And good sleepers make for a happier mama.

Mom.me: Family is obviously important to you. What aspect of motherhood do you strive for and is non-negotiable for you?

Joy: My main thing is being present and enjoying the simple, everyday things. Yes, great big travel adventures are fun. Nothing is better than actually being there with my kids during those simple moments. For example, I have to (and need to) be home for bedtime, and all of my plans are based around that. I say no to 99 percent of things that conflict with bedtime and worry that I might seem lame for saying no. I plan date nights with my husband, dinner with friends or any social events around my kids' bedtime. All of my friends know that once 7 p.m. hits, I am free. But not a minute before.

Mom.me: What's your guiltiest non-kid-related pleasure at the moment?

Joy: My guiltiest pleasure is: ice cream, with or without the kids!

Mom.me: What's the best part of your day, work- and mom-wise?

Joy: The best part of my day is when it comes to a close and I can look back on everything I got done at work, all the little conversations we had with our kids, the laughs I had with my husband. If I can go to bed feeling like most of the day went pretty well and that I hit a few of those sweet spots, then I can lay my head down content and dream of the next day to come.

All images via Casey Brodley