Back on Board With a New Baby! Advice Needed...

[cheflorraine]

Hello everyone,
I've been out of the loop for a while, as our baby girl (our first), Kenzie Alexa, was born July 28, by C-section, weighing 8 lb 13 oz. She'll be 4 weeks tomorrow - I can hardly believe how fast these first weeks have flown by!
I wasn't sure back in June how much time off I would need, so my first cooking show is scheduled to happen in just over 3 weeks. And I have 3, maybe 4 others booked for Sept, which is a lot for me.
Anyway, I'm a bit worried as to how I'm going to make this all work, so I thought I'd ask for advice from you experienced PC moms!
I'm breastfeeding and pumping, but she's quite a slow eater (getting better) and has been slow to gain weight, so we supplement her feeds with all the breast milk I pump during the day, which is only 2-4 oz/day. I'm hoping that once she gains more weight and is a stronger eater, I'll be able to pump and store breast milk for my husband to give her.
- Any tips for continuing with breastfeeding while doing evening shows?

- Some of you have mentioned taking your baby with you, which I would consider if it was family or friends, but right now all my shows are with 'strangers'. Also, she cluster feeds for most of the evening, so for now that wouldn't work.

- In another thread, some people mentioned they kept their shows really short in those early weeks. This is a huge challenge for me - I might need to revamp my format and move away from my usual semi-interactive show.

- Also, how do you keep your checkout short, yet still thorough?

 

[bridedream]

Congratulations on your new baby! I'm sure this is an exciting time for you.Maybe you could make the recipe ahead of time. Instead of demonstrating the recipe, have the host supply a few vegetables, and have the guests use the food chopper, mandoline, crinkle cutter, garlic press, etc.

 

[esavvymom]

Basically- what Barb said!I heard an audio training. The speaker does her shows like this (and I'm paraphrasing here):Arrives 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time. Recipe is already prepared. The guests get to visit/eat for the first 30 minutes, while she sets up a small table with just 3-4 products to demo (usually items from her kit, plus maybe one new product). She also said she would have a "30 minute chicken" recipe going in the microwave/DCB. It would be done about the time she was ready to do the demo. At the 30 minute mark (or so), she'd then get everyone to sit down, and they'd start the demo. She made it interactive and gave small prizes to the volunteers who demo'd the product. She spent about 30-40 minutes on her demo and talk/wrap up. Then that was it! The rest of the time was check-out/questions and the guests could socialize/eat more (sample the chicken). SO if the start time was 7pm, she arrived about 6:45-6:50. Quick thank you at 7pm and guests socialize/eat until about 7:30. Demo from 7:30-8:00, wrap up 8:00-8:10. Checkout service after that, and hopefully out the door by 9pm! I love this idea! I'd love to be in and out in 2 hrs!! She didn't take much product, since she wasn't demoing a lot. This helped her sales, bookings, and recruiting because it was short/sweet and easy.

 

[kristina16marie]

yes exactly what the pp's said. i am still exclusively breastfeeding my 4 month old (in fact i'm typing this with one finger as i nurse right now!) and i always take a single hand pump along just in case i get caught up talking and need it. also let the host/guest know that you'll be doing express shows because you just had a baby. everyone will be understanding and mentioning the flexibility of our biz could help you in the recruiting dept.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Basically- what Barb said!

I heard an audio training. The speaker does her shows like this (and I'm paraphrasing here):

Arrives 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time. Recipe is already prepared. The guests get to visit/eat for the first 30 minutes, while she sets up a small table with just 3-4 products to demo (usually items from her kit, plus maybe one new product). She also said she would have a "30 minute chicken" recipe going in the microwave/DCB. It would be done about the time she was ready to do the demo. At the 30 minute mark (or so), she'd then get everyone to sit down, and they'd start the demo. She made it interactive and gave small prizes to the volunteers who demo'd the product. She spent about 30-40 minutes on her demo and talk/wrap up. Then that was it! The rest of the time was check-out/questions and the guests could socialize/eat more (sample the chicken). SO if the start time was 7pm, she arrived about 6:45-6:50. Quick thank you at 7pm and guests socialize/eat until about 7:30. Demo from 7:30-8:00, wrap up 8:00-8:10. Checkout service after that, and hopefully out the door by 9pm!

I love this idea! I'd love to be in and out in 2 hrs!! She didn't take much product, since she wasn't demoing a lot. This helped her sales, bookings, and recruiting because it was short/sweet and easy.

I'd forgotten that I used to do this all the time! I did it with the 30 Minute Chicken and Garlic Parmesan Biscuit Bites. I would have the chicken prepped when everyone got there, and talk about it for just a minute, and then pop it in the microwave. Then, I'd demo the biscuits (took 10-15 minutes to do that) and put those in the oven. While the chicken was finishing, and the biscuits were baking, I'd do the rest of my sales/booking/recruiting talk. Then take both out of the ovens - show the biscuits sliding out of the pan onto the plate, take the chicken out and cut off a few pieces with the scissors, do the DPDS drawing, thank them for coming, and be done.

This demo showed the DCB, the 10" skillet, the microplane grater, a cutting board, the utility knife, kitchen shears, Dots (plate for biscuits), bamboo (platter for chicken)and various other small tools. BEST demo I ever did - and so quick and easy. Hmmmm, maybe I need to bring this back out for the Fall!

Let me see if I can find the thread where I have my whole outline of the show...

 

[PCSarah]

Great ideas in the PP's. If you really feel like you need to demo maybe a quick app or a drink, or use your your cool and serve as a demo...
The most important thing is for you to relax, and from someone who did not take it easy for the full time after a c-section, they mean take it easy for 6 + weeks, so watch carrying your kit.

Good luck

 

[NooraK]

My DS2 will be two weeks on Friday, and I hope to be able to get back into the swing of things really soon. One option I'm looking at is having shows in my own home. I would sell the host on all the benefits for her: no cleaning before, no clean up after, just show up, I'll send invites and even pick up ingredients and she can reimburse me. This way I'm at home, which means an even shorter time I'm not available to the baby.

With DS1, we took the "don't give pacifiers or bottles" thing way too seriously, and DS1 never took a bottle, which made being away from him quite difficult. Just keep in mind though, the more you pump, the more you get. So if you pump more often, you'll start producing more milk, which means you'll have more on hand to leave with DH when you go to do shows. Take the times when she sleeps longer stretches, and pump half-way through. For example, DS2 can go 4-5 hours at night between feedings (he makes up for it by nursing hourly during certain times of the day). In the evenings, I'll pump after he's been asleep for about 2 hours, and I'll be able to get quite a bit, but still have enough time for my milk to replenish for his next nursing session.

Also look into a less product intensive demo like mentioned above, or Rae's catalog-walk-through type of show: http://www.chefsuccess.com/f12/questions-rae-about-your-show-16925/

The biggest thing though, is in your host coaching. You have to make sure your Host knows you have a baby at home that's waiting for you. Enlist her as your helper in making sure you get started on time, wrap things up timely, have her help you clean up etc.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

My DS2 will be two weeks on Friday, and I hope to be able to get back into the swing of things really soon. One option I'm looking at is having shows in my own home. I would sell the host on all the benefits for her: no cleaning before, no clean up after, just show up, I'll send invites and even pick up ingredients and she can reimburse me. This way I'm at home, which means an even shorter time I'm not available to the baby.

With DS1, we took the "don't give pacifiers or bottles" thing way too seriously, and DS1 never took a bottle, which made being away from him quite difficult. Just keep in mind though, the more you pump, the more you get. So if you pump more often, you'll start producing more milk, which means you'll have more on hand to leave with DH when you go to do shows. Take the times when she sleeps longer stretches, and pump half-way through. For example, DS2 can go 4-5 hours at night between feedings (he makes up for it by nursing hourly during certain times of the day). In the evenings, I'll pump after he's been asleep for about 2 hours, and I'll be able to get quite a bit, but still have enough time for my milk to replenish for his next nursing session.

Also look into a less product intensive demo like mentioned above, or Rae's catalog-walk-through type of show: http://www.chefsuccess.com/f12/questions-rae-about-your-show-16925/

The biggest thing though, is in your host coaching. You have to make sure your Host knows you have a baby at home that's waiting for you. Enlist her as your helper in making sure you get started on time, wrap things up timely, have her help you clean up etc.

While Rae's show is a good option for people who want a demo-less show, it's not a quicker show. In fact, I believe she says her talk is longer than the average demo.

 

[lcucinella]

I made sure to tell my hosts that I had a newborn at home that I was breast feeding and I had to start the shows on time. I made sure to pump right beofre I left and when I got home. If I had to travel, I brought my pump with me & pumed at the hosts house before the show started.

Comunication with your host is the key.

 

[NooraK]

While Rae's show is a good option for people who want a demo-less show, it's not a quicker show. In fact, I believe she says her talk is longer than the average demo.

Good point. There might be some good pointers in the thread though on how to run a demo-less show.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Found It!

Here is the thread where I explain how I do the 30 Minute Chicken Show. This is a 40 minute demo from beginning to end, with minimal clean-up. It's quick, easy, and great for sales and bookings!

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f6/i-booked-my-first-30min-chicken-show-now-what-28417/

 

[cheflorraine]

You are all awesome - thanks SOOOO much for the advice, and thanks Becky for taking the time to find your 30-minute chicken show thread. I'm going to have to practice that at home and make sure I've got it straight, but it definitely sounds like a very manageable option!