I didn’t have time to be the father I wanted when I was working in-person. I give my employees the same flexibility I needed.

My own roles as father and husband are vital to me, and with in-person work, I didn’t have enough hours in the day to play these roles well. For this reason, and with my mother’s example in mind, I went full time with my small online business in 2023.

My employees want the same flexibility

Very quickly, I recognized that the people who work for me want the same flexibility to fulfill the roles they play outside work. Some have children and spouses, others hold community organizing roles, others are active in religious communities, and all of them have jobs other than their work for my company. They started working from home because they wanted to live a more balanced life.

Another reason people choose remote work — especially in small businesses with friendly, familiar work environments — is for the freedom to show up for work as their full, authentic selves. I am a Black man who has worked and lived in majority-white spaces. To make workdays smoother, I have had to evaluate which parts of my culture, appearance, and personality to express and which parts to hide or augment. In my own company, however, I get to be myself.

As an employer, I intentionally set the tone for my team that they should prioritize their families and community roles. I also actively encourage my team to be authentic and express themselves through their work. My team appreciates this, and their work doesn’t suffer for it. In fact, these freedoms improve the quality of my business’s output. Out of appreciation for these freedoms, my team feels motivated to go above and beyond for the company.

For small business owners who offer remote work, it’s OK to let our employees’ babies babble during team meetings. If we intentionally create a work atmosphere that is family-friendly and encourages people to show up authentically, we will have a better rapport with the folks who work for us. We’ll also get better work and more longevity from them. And, most importantly, working for us will contribute to — rather than detract from — our staff’s holistic well-being.