In honor of Mother's Day we sat down with mama, wife, and entrepreneur Haley Jo Yap to talk about the adventure and joys of being a mom. Haley shares with complete transparency, giving practical advice and inspiration we can all take away from. 

Photos by Elizabeth Brumley

 

Haley, tell us a little more about you and your family. 

We’re the Yaps! We live in Las Vegas, but we’ve had quite the adventure in our 2 short years of marriage. I met Brandon in Montana where we got married, lived in Salt Lake City right after, moved back to Montana where we welcomed our sweet honeymoon souvenir into the world (Archer Avery) and we moved to Las Vegas just this last year. Random place to live, but it has been SO sweet and just what we needed. We love Jesus, coffee (!!!), and being with our people! Community is so important to us so you’ll usually find us at a coffee shop with friends, or hosting people for dinner.
You're a working mom, tell us about your business.
I am a dreamer at heart. I come up with ideas faster than my mind can execute, so I sometimes give my husband whiplash with all of the “amazing ideas” I have on a weekly basis. Our business is so special to me because it's something we came up with together and its evolved over time into the perfect mix of us. Our big God dream is to open a carefully curated retail/coffee shop in Las Vegas called, Archer (named after our fireball of a son).

We dreamt of all the things we could stock and that led to me getting ahead of myself and drawing up some kids tees which eventually became Archer the Label. It snowballed from there and turned into something I didn’t even think was possible, but it’s been SO much fun in the process. I’ve learned so much and grown waaaaay out of my comfort zone in the best ways.

In addition to that, we just finished building our first ever mobile coffee cart, Archer Coffee, which will be available for events and popup’s around town which we are insanely excited about! Its so fun to watch ‘what-ifs’ become reality and my husband has AMAZED me with his ability to just make things happen. Such a cool thing to watch transpire.

How do you juggle being a wife, mom, and business owner?
Oy, in the spirit of full-transparency I am not always good at this. In fact, I really struggled as I started making my way out of babyland and back into the real world. I was super fortunate to not have to go back to my 9-5 after having Archer so when these businesses started taking off I had to really learn the balancing act.

The best piece of advise that was given to me was this: wherever you are, be fully there. If you’re working, be focused. Work hard. Get as much done as you can. Don’t spend the time worrying about your kids. And when you’re momming, be present. Don’t check your email. Get on the ground and really play. When it's date night, it’s date night! Don’t talk about the baby, don’t gab about work so much, and really try hard to connect and be fully there.

When you give everything in your life its due time, you don’t have to spend all day every day feeling guilty for where you’re not- because you can only do so much. Now, I’m not a pro, but this helped me. Cause mom-guilt is real and feeling inadequate is real and sometimes we all just need to take a breath and say, “I'm doing the best I can and thats ok.”

What is the best part about being a mom?
Such a hard question! It’s not just one thing, it's everything all at once. It has this way of slowing you down, enough to actually enjoy the moments. The days are long but the years are so short. It’s having a hard day where you yelled a bit more than you wanted to, maybe even had to hide in the pantry to cry a little, but then you get to snuggle up next to that little chicken that you love so much it hurts. It’s seeing them light up at the sight of planes and trains, and it’s teaching them how to talk to Jesus. It is by far the greatest privilege I will ever have the honor of being tasked with.

How has your style changed since becoming a mom?
Comfy always wins, and if the neckline can be stretched past my chest for easy “num num” access it’s a WIN. Haha. I am more drawn to looser fitting styles than I was before and I think just overall my style has become more neutral and basic, making it easier to just throw together a simple outfit versus obsessing over what to wear and what matches and what will “stand out”. I think at this point in my life, I just genuinely don’t have time to worry about what is “trendy” anymore so simple and classic is my go-to.

Do you have something special that you plan to pass down to your little one, one day?
I don’t have anything specific, like an heirloom or something sentimental passed down from generation to generation. However, my side of the family is Hawaiian so when Archer was around 8 months he was given his Hawaiian name, Kaleo o Kalani, which means voice of the heavens. It’s a tradition in my family to get a piece of jewelry with your name engraved when you turn 18 and we will definitely continue that tradition with him! 

 

What piece of encouragement and/or advice would you share with new moms?

There is a special grace that comes with it. There will be good days and there will be bad days. There will be days you feel like you were MADE to be a mom and there will be days where you swear, you love your child but you just don’t like them (lol), and that’s ok. Don’t do anything out of fear- remember that the spirit of fear is not from God and anything that isn’t from Him, you don’t have to keep. Embrace the process. Learn in the process. Listen for God’s voice through the process.

What’s the first thing you do every morning to start your day on the right foot?

I am not much of a morning person, so I’m ashamed to say I’m not as disciplined when it comes to my morning routine as I wish I was. However, I usually wake up to my husband making me a flat white with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, and then if I’m lucky enough to have 20-30 minutes before Archie wakes up, I spend time with Jesus. Worship on, bible open, and a journal to just write it all out. More often than not, this time is sprinkled throughout the day when I have a few moments to myself, but I heard a pastor once say, “when you wake up, just say ‘good morning Jesus’ and that’s guaranteed to initiate a conversation between the two of you throughout the day”. Love that, and I do it everyday!

What are some words you live by?
“Who God is making you is so much more important than what God has planned for you.” -Jabin Chavez

 

To see more from Haley, follow her on Instagram

+ Shop Archer The Label | archerthelabel.co

  

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