How I Run a Business, Build Apps, and Parent 4 Kids Under 7

I get this question a lot: “How do you do it all?”

Short answer: I don’t. Not all at once, anyway.

I run a music studio. I build software. I have four kids, all under seven. Some days I crush it. Some days I’m eating cold chicken nuggets off a toddler’s plate at 3pm and calling it lunch.

This is not a “how to balance it all” post. Balance is a myth sold by people who don’t have real constraints. This is about clarity.

There Is No Balance

Let me kill this idea right now. Balance implies equal distribution. Equal time for work, family, health, hobbies, sleep. That math doesn’t work when you have a business that needs you, kids who need you, and exactly 24 hours.

What actually works is prioritization. Not everything matters equally, and not everything matters right now.

Some weeks, the business gets 60 hours because we’re launching something. Some weeks, I barely open my laptop because a kid is sick and the others are in full chaos mode. Neither week is a failure. They’re just different priorities.

The guilt comes from thinking you should be everywhere at once. The freedom comes from accepting you can’t be.

Systems Handle the Repeatable Stuff

This is where Buddy - my AI agent - earns its keep.

Every task that’s repeatable, predictable, or research-heavy gets handed to Buddy. Email triage, content drafts, market research, event scouting, code reviews. If a human doesn’t need to touch it until the final step, it’s automated.

That’s not laziness. That’s leverage. Every hour Buddy saves me is an hour I can spend on things only I can do - teaching, parenting, making decisions that require judgment and empathy.

Automate the machine work. Protect the human work.

Ruthless About What Matters

I used to say yes to everything. Every meeting, every opportunity, every “quick favor.” Then I did the math on my available hours and realized I was spending half of them on things that didn’t move the needle.

Now I’m ruthless. Not mean - just clear.

Does this grow the business? Does this help my kids? Does this make me better at my craft? If the answer is no to all three, it’s a no. Doesn’t matter how cool it sounds or who’s asking.

Urgency is not importance. The loud thing in your inbox is rarely the thing that matters most. The thing that matters most is usually quiet - it’s the kid who wants to show you their drawing, or the product idea that needs two focused hours to think through.

Katherine Is the Real MVP

I need to be honest about something. None of this works without my wife Katherine.

She holds down the household when I’m deep in a build. She handles the logistics of four tiny humans with a level of calm I genuinely don’t understand. She gives me the space to work on crazy ideas and only occasionally asks “but why though?” - which, honestly, is a fair question most of the time.

When people ask how I do it all, the real answer is: I don’t do it alone. Not even close.

If you’re building something ambitious, the people around you matter more than your systems, your tools, or your talent. Full stop.

The Hard Days Are Real

I’m not going to pretend this is all figured out. There are days where the business feels stuck, the code won’t work, the kids are melting down, and I’m running on four hours of sleep.

Those days suck. And no amount of productivity advice fixes them. You just survive them, get some sleep, and try again tomorrow.

What I’ve learned is that the hard days don’t mean the system is broken. They mean you’re doing something hard. There’s a difference.

You Don’t Need Balance

You need clarity on what matters most. Right now, not in general. Today - what’s the most important thing?

Answer that question every morning. Protect that thing. Let the rest flex around it.

Some days the answer is “ship this feature.” Some days it’s “be present with my kids.” Some days it’s “sleep.” All of those are valid.

Balance is a destination that doesn’t exist. Clarity is a practice you can do every single day.

That’s how I manage the chaos. Not by controlling it - by knowing what matters inside of it.