Rexy Rolle: On running the largest black-owned private airline and finding time to create music.
Rexy Rolle is a Musician, an Aviation & Business Lawyer, and the Vice President of Operations and General Counsel at Western Air. The most successful, black-owned and private airline (outside of predominantly Black countries which have mostly government run airlines). The fleet operates out of the Bahamas.
Rexy's parents started Western Air in 2001 and she has helped grow the company since she was a child. Rexy oversees the day-to-day operations of the busy airline and all legal affairs. On the show Rexy talks about balancing her music with her business, operating an airline, and the safety protocols airlines have to take during Covid.
Rolle is also the Founder of Gyal On A Mission which provides mentorship and career help to girls. Helping develop the next generation of women in leadership positions. We didn’t get to talk about it on the show but I wanted to mention it so people know that it is there. It’s a great resource for girls living in the Bahamas.
Transcript:
Julia Laricheva 0:04 How are you? How's everything with you?
Rexy Rolle 0:31 I'm doing pretty well. doing pretty well. Good. I'm having a hard time hearing you one second. Why? Well, that's up. Can we test again?
Julia Laricheva 0:50 Yeah, yeah. Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Hello. Hello. Hello.
Rexy Rolle 0:54 I have old school headset on right now. Maybe that's why.
Julia Laricheva 0:57 But really good. your mic. sounds really good. That's all good. Well, you know what, maybe just move your hair away from the mic. So so so there's no rustling. Okay, that's perfect. Because then it rustles because because all of mine is like this. I'm so excited. Um, I'll just dive into the podcast because I know you only have like 30 minutes. And I this is the quickest podcast I've ever recorded. And like, I'm like, let's do a to, like 15 minutes. So I'm so excited to have you on the show. You do such amazing work. And we've been trying to make this happen for such a long time. And I asked all of my guests, what was your dream as a kid?
Rexy Rolle 1:40 What was my dream as a kid? Okay, so I definitely as a kid, I had multiple dreams, I definitely thought I was gonna be a pop star part of Destiny's Child was tell everybody that. And, but I also always wanted to be an Attorney. I mean, I have pictures of me maybe eight or nine years old with a briefcase for career day. And I said I was a lawyer. And I don't even think I fully understood what exactly that meant. But I would always hear “Oh, it means that you express your what you believe.” And you know, you can argue well, so I was like “Oh, I could do that.”
Julia Laricheva 2:24 I love it. And well, you're a pop star, you're living your dream. You're doing everything all at once. And you're an Attorney. And you're also the VP of Operations, and you're doing an amazing, amazing life thing at Western Air.
Rexy Rolle 2:39 Thank you.
Julia Laricheva 2:40 You're just I'm just really in awe of you. I've been following you for like a few years. And you're just like showing up as yourself.
Rexy Rolle 2:47 Yeah we’ve connected over a bit of time.
Julia Laricheva 2:50 Yeah. Yeah, you're just fabulous. And you're doing your thing. And you're just knocking it out of the ballpark. And I wanted to talk to you about work and life and how you how you do it, like, you know, from having that dream of being a pop star to going on to run an amazing, successful — I think it's the largest black-owned airline. Am I correct?
Rexy Rolle 3:11 Yes, yes.
Julia Laricheva 3:13 It's amazing.
Rexy Rolle 3:15 Well, as far as we know, particularly in the region, of course, when we get into technicalities, we're talking about black-owned because obviously countries that are predominantly black have airlines, right?
Julia Laricheva 3:28 Right.
Rexy Rolle 3:28 And so… They're government owned and they're technically black, then yes. You know? Well you're operating within the Bahamas? Yes, yeah, certainly, we're a private airline, and certainly within the Bahamas, and many would say within the region. So, for me, what came first was, was obviously education, my family has always been big on on education. And, you know, I certainly wanted to pursue music and do all that great stuff. But my dad would say, you know, you, you can do anything you want. But being a lawyer is going to make you better at whatever it is you decide to do. And, and luckily, I didn't really need much convincing because I knew I wanted to do that. But it was a good reminder at a time when, you know, taking the LSATs and getting prepared to go to law school and that entire process can be so tedious. But really, I had no idea that law was going to evolve into this aviation space. I knew obviously Western Air started when I was only 12 years old and I was intricately involved in the process and was very much aware of the challenges and things that that took place but I just didn't see how it was all going to interconnect. And I would definitely say within law school it started to make a lot of sense as to where I would be of most value. And where I would be of most value is on the legal side off things in terms of protecting the company and really restoring a lot of structure that's necessary and on the operational side. So from that point on, and then after doing that, and feeling comfortable in that space, I felt more freedom to pursue my creative side, which is music and putting out music professionally.
Julia Laricheva 5:22 I love that. And, you know, I just had, I just had Kesha’s mom on the show, Pebe Sebert. And she was talking about how Kesha was thinking about going to school to become a lawyer. It's everything is amazing. Whatever you do, like being the lawyer, you're going to be signing contract as an artist, you're going to be signing contracts.
Rexy Rolle 5:42 Absolutely.
Julia Laricheva 5:43 That's all you do.
Rexy Rolle 5:45 That gives you a good base.
Julia Laricheva 5:48 It's so true. It's so amazing. And I was gonna ask you, like, how do you balance your time during the day, right? Because there's not enough time for everything. So how do you split up all of your responsibilities between Western Air, between making music, and obviously taking time for yourself and everything else? But like, what advice do you have for people? Who are you juggling so many things? So many dreams?
Rexy Rolle 6:16 Yeah, I was, I was just telling a friend of mine that I was on a panel a couple of about two years ago, and somebody asks, so what how to explain your work life balance. And I was like “Oh, I don't have a work life balance. I'm just all work oriented.” And I remember saying that as if it was a cool thing. And all the folks who are a bit older looked at me like “Yeah, that's not gonna last you know” (laughs). And it's true, you do need a work-life balance. So for me it, I'm still fine tuning what that looks like right now, I've been traveling quite a bit, which has been awesome. But at the same time, I've had some of the craziest complex transactions going on all at the same time. So it's really been right off the bat focusing on prioritizing what is most urgent, what is most critical, and then kind of chipping away at everything from there, and then pausing making a conscious effort to pause, live a little, and then come back to the work. But of course, I don't allow certain deadlines or things to lapse that are pertinent to the business. So it really requires juggling, honestly. And being aware that if you are not at optimal speed, there's no way that you can produce optimal work. So I make a conscious effort to you know, try to exercise eat, right, do those things, you know, have my private personal life as well. And then at the same time, go hard when it comes to work.
Julia Laricheva 7:55 And, and it's really hard when you're an workaholic, or when you're in love with your dreams to like you just you just don't want to Yeah. But you know, I have a friend and you know, he always said, I'm like “What's your life like now?” And he's like “Every day is a Sunday.” Because he's like, super successful. And but you know, you make it so every day you love what you do. So it doesn't feel like work.
Rexy Rolle 8:18 Exactly, exactly, exactly. And, and to, there are different aspects of work and what one sees as work because it's so true. Like, if you love what you do, it really isn't work. But then there are some tasks that are even that is related to your work or passion that at the end of the day, it is a practical, tedious thing to complete. And so it does feel like work, even though you realize that the bigger picture means so much more to you. I don't take it lightly that, you know, people depend on us to get them from point A to point B every day. And I have a team that works really hard to do that. And so if I don't find those tasks as much, as much as they may be annoying or repetitive — if I don't find the time to do those. I wouldn't feel good about myself. You know.
Julia Laricheva 9:17 I can't even imagine running a huge airline, like just thinking about it gives me like anxiety, because there's so much. And it's so technical. So I'm just, I'm just in awe and I read your story about how your mom and your dad started the company when you were very little. And I won't go into it like too much now because I think like that story exists on like Forbes, and you can read it on the so many websites.
Rexy Rolle 9:40 Yeah.
Julia Laricheva 9:40 So I won't delve into it. But it's just so inspiring that you were raised in such an entrepreneurial family and you were able to just like dive into business and just just watch them build an airline from the ground up.
Rexy Rolle 9:55 Right. I think there's a bit of a delay. No, I was I was I was just gonna say that. And then even then I didn't realize that it was going to become the airline in such a sense of what it is now. Right? The goal was something so simplistic. But yes, it grew over time.
Julia Laricheva 10:29 Yeah, well, you were solving a problem, right? Initially, that's what you're that's what a good entrepreneur does. They notice that there's not a jet that goes from an island to the island in the Bahamas. And that's how you get around. And your parents decided to solve this problem. And I was gonna ask you, you know, like, what is the most challenging part of running an airline? Like, I can't even imagine what that can be. Because there's the timing, there's the fuel, the fuel costs are going up right now, too. I was reading that, like fuel costs are through the roof right now. And there's like a fuel shortages that American Airlines is having. But I was going to ask you like, what are some challenges, you know, as a VP, you always have to overcome? And, and how do you stay motivated to keep coming up with innovation? Because because you're always on your toes, and you're always innovating.
Rexy Rolle 11:24 Right, and the market is always changing. And I think I wouldn't necessarily consider that a challenge. But it's certainly a consideration. And you mentioned about fuel prices, that's a major thing, right? Because fuel is the by far the largest expense to any airline. Well, let me not say anywhere on but to the majority of of airlines fuel for sure, if they are consistently flying is the major expense, and it certainly is for us. And really, the most challenging is you have to ensure that we are providing a service that people want. And at the same time doing that in a way that is cost effective. And so until it's not always about what you make, it's about what you keep. And, and in balancing or going forward with this operations. You always want to think like a passenger, how do they want this experience, they don't really want, you know, all the frills and whistles as much as they want to get from where they want to go or where they are to where they want to go safely on time and with their bags. But particularly in the Bahamas, where you have these select groups of islands, where some are less populated than all others, it's really about finding the sweet spot in terms of the volume of flights, the timing of the flights, when people want to travel, really kind of keeping your air on the ground as to how to how to curtail or provide a service that people actually want. Because you can say “Hey, we're flying from, you know, Mexico to the Bahamas every day, three times a day.” But if people don't have an interest to fly from Mexico to the Bahamas, three times a day, what are you doing it for? You know, so it's really about the scheduling and understanding what will work and then sometimes those changes happen a day before or a couple of days before and you have to adjust the schedule and dealing with passengers and all of that. So if that's the balancing act, there is is ensuring that you are meeting the demand and understanding the demand.
Julia Laricheva 13:46 Right, and it's so hard to understand it because it's like there's no like, there's no like data site that exists that shows like, here's where people are traveling from, you know, there's no like huge website. So you know, you have to be able to get creative on how you source your data, which becomes a really fun data project. Actually, if you're into data, you know, for data scientists and all that access.
Rexy Rolle 14:08 And, you know, if somebody can figure that out, I would pay big money for that. How often, who wants to travel here, like that? That would be amazing. That would solve so many problems.
Julia Laricheva 14:22 Right? I was like wait, I just came up with an app. That's very interesting. Um, um, I was also gonna ask you about your music too. You know, what I love about you is that like most pop stars pose with jets like “here's my private jet” but you're like “no, this is MY jet. I own all of these jets.” I love that I just love your music too. And I know you look up to Rihanna as well because she's an amazing business woman and it requires a really great business sense to be a good musician. That you can be like -- Mick Jagger went to the London School of Economics. I don't think a lot of people know that. But Mick Jagger...
Rexy Rolle 15:14 Wow, I didn't know that.
Julia Laricheva 15:16 Yeah the history is phenomenal. Like that band was a hot mess. And he just kept everything together like everybody who was on heroin. And he was he's really great at business, and he was making them [unintelligible].
Rexy Rolle 15:27 Wow. Is there any documentary or books about that? I would love to read about that.
Julia Laricheva 15:33 I read a bunch of Keith Richards documentary books. I don't know if there's one on Mick Jagger I'm sure there is. But um, if you start doing deep dives on him, he's really great at business and all they are is like one of the best businesses in the world.
Rexy Rolle 15:46 Wow, that is pretty cool. That is really awesome.
Julia Laricheva 15:50 It's really cool. Right? So I think like a lot of people are like ”Oh, the Rolling Stones. I'm like, no little Rolling Stones”. Like, Mick is not like, you know, he's not just like some, you know, some dumb ass. He's, he's really smart.
Rexy Rolle 16:05 Right, but absolutely, that sounds so cool.
Julia Laricheva 16:09 It's, it's amazing. But um, I was also gonna ask you, like, um, what is the one thing that you learned? from your parents? Right, doing this company? And what is the one thing maybe that like, your parents are learning from you? Because I'm sure like, you know, working with family gets really close sometimes, too. And it's really hard to run a family business, because so close you're in, there's no, like, I don't know, I like in my family there. There are no boundaries. So it's really hard.
Rexy Rolle 16:41 There are no, we're trying, we're still trying to establish boundaries, you know, because it's, it's, you know, Sunday here. And, you know, I still get voicemails from them ”So here's what we're thinking.” You know, it doesn't matter what time of the day, if they have an idea, but, or they want to discuss or they want to ask something, they just do it. There's no boundary of time, like ”Oh, I'm off at 5pm.” There's no set hours. But I would say, you know, what I've learned from my parents is, I know it sounds cliche, but perseverance. Many times, you know, when you start a new project, and you get a few hiccups, people tend to just give up and say ”Oh, well, that's not working out.” What I have seen them demonstrate particularly both of them, but particularly my dad is this kind of unexplained, perseverance, he's just determined to do what he says he's going to do. And if people operate with that kind of willpower to keep pushing forward, they will be able to accomplish a lot more. And so for me, it's always, you know, when I, for example, filling out certification forms, and doing such really tedious office work, can just seem daunting, you know, but you just continue to, you find that motivation by looking at the fact that this is bigger than you. And what they've learned for me, they had to implement a lot of structure, because they had a great idea. But, you know, there was a lot of structure necessary. And they love to say ”Leave it the lawyers to make everything more complicated.” And it's it that is true. But at the same time, it provides a good flow, a system that's necessary, even just the way how just establishing protocols internally is just really important. For the business, even if it has nothing to do with the passenger itself. It's internally the structure, which they had to... to the -- you know, standard degree, but we wanted to implement even more to make operations more fine tuned. So I think it's a give and take with us.
Julia Laricheva 19:00 Well, you know, you can't scale without structure, you can get to like a certain point only, like without structure, you can kind of like wing it. But then when it gets to a certain point, when you start really, really growing, you need structure, and you can do anything. Absolutely. I was, I was at my first dinner out in this pandemic, and people are like ”Hey, you got a baby, what are your days like?” And I'm like ”I've got a strict schedule.” And everybody's laughing at me and like ”What's everybody laughing about?” And they're like, ”You can't have a schedule with a baby.”And I'm like “That's the only way. Like, I fed the baby. She slept. Now I’m like “Mom, take her and I'm gonna do a podcast for half an hour.” Because if there was no schedule, I wouldn't be able to book a time and now she's happy and she's full and she's playing and like, you need a schedule for humans and businesses — they're the same thing.
Rexy Rolle 19:53 I completely agree. And I you know, I don't have kids, but when that does happen, I feel like I would be the same way, I believe in setting structure and having a schedule, it just helps to operate. I mean, I'm sure there are great times to be spontaneous and kind of go with the flow. But for the most part, especially kids, I think they should have some sort of structure from early on.
Julia Laricheva 20:17 It's so true. And, you know, I was gonna actually ask you, like, how did your parents scale an airline, because I can't even like, I know they started out with one jet, your father is a private pilot. And that started, you know, you got a jet and you're going, but like, whenever I think of like scaling an airline, I think of Richard Branson. And I was reading the case study on him, because he didn't buy the jet, he made a deal to rent the jet to see if his business would work, which was fascinating. And Richard Branson was like “I wasn't sure if Virgin was gonna work. So I just rented an airplane from somebody else.” And I was like, what, like “You can do that?” So, yeah, brilliant. So I was just interested in hearing, you know, how you did it, how that how that was done.
Rexy Rolle 21:09 So they didn't rent, but we did do a lease to own at the initial — at the beginning. And that's a, that's a common structure. Within airlines, you either lease to own or many would just do an operating lease, which I guess somewhat consider a rent. It's an operating lease where, you know, for three, or maybe even two years, you have this aircraft. And sometimes they provide crew maintenance, all that jazz, it's called ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance). Other times, in our situation, for us, it was we wanted to own the aircraft eventually. So it was a lease situation, you put a deposit down and and build from that, but what really, the airline grew organically, because of we were so aggressive in the early days, about providing flight times remember, I mentioned earlier about understanding the demand. And so, it was a smaller aircraft at that time. And so, we would just, you know, act almost like a taxi back and forth back and forth every day and people enjoyed that flexibilities to travel at these various times. And to be on time, we gained a reputation quite quickly about being on time. And then as as you know, things grew. Of course, more structure came into place, more departments came into place. And really, it just takes, I like to think that there are big phases and like I would say that we are kind of in this third phase, we have gone through a point where we were earlier on and we you know, added larger aircraft and then we even larger aircraft from there. And now, I feel like we are preparing for another stage, which will require even more structure and will require more aircrafts, because we do, you know, plan on offering more flight services outside of the Bahamas. And so in terms of in terms of scaling, you kind of go through those hiccups in that initial year, of just finding the scheduling flow, finding the departmental flow. But once that is established, Oh, it's such a good, you know, sweet spot, you know, it's just, it's almost like when you first move to a new city, it's the it's unfamiliar, you're still trying to figure out how to bring your groceries upstairs to the 19th floor or wherever. And you know, you're you're figuring that out the kinks, but maybe two months down the line, you've got this and you know, where the grocery store is, you know where this is. And so that's really what it is for us is taking the time and finding out what we need to operate as effectively as we can.
Julia Laricheva 24:00 And you know, I was gonna ask you how has COVID affected your business too, because — oh and the Bahamas got hit with a hurricane awhile back. And we connected during that time because I tried to because you were flying from Miami to the Bahamas, and I was trying to organize something for ad agencies for relief efforts to the Bahamas. But then I went back to work, like a week later. And I had to like stop trying to ping the ad agencies because I was like in an ad agency and I couldn't like do anything because I was working like 15 hours a day but you were flying. I even totally digressing here, but I just remembered how you were flying supplies to the Bahamas and how amazing that was and how inspiring that was and how your hangar was completely destroyed. And you were posting all of these pictures that are still probably on your Instagram and how you still manage operate the business with a broken hangar and it was just it was incredible.
Rexy Rolle 24:56 Yeah, it's it's in the process now — it's looking really good — it's in the process of reconstruction still. But the hangar is almost — the hangar is pretty much done in the terminal. The passenger terminal is, I would say about 50% there. So we're working along. And, yeah, that COVID. You know, people of Grand Bahama, particularly who were affected by Hurricane Dorian, which was the worst hurricane in the region for the entire century. It was that bad and that catastrophic. They imagine still being on the mend of trying to repair and then COVID hits and shuts down the remaining businesses that you had. So it was tough for us. COVID sorry, Hurricane Dorian afterwards, we actually had a lot of flights, we were flying a lot. And it was, you know, extremely high volume, because there were a lot of people needing to repair and check on their family and friends and businesses. And there was a lot going on. So once COVID hit, it was kind of like a screeching halt. Because we were just moving, like lightning speed. And it did impact the business, obviously, we went through a lockdown period where flights were not allowed to go throughout the Bahamas. And really, it was just kind of a standstill, and we had a few months of lockdown. And we were able to get jump back business and travel has not fully bounced back to where it was pre pandemic, however, we certainly see a significant increase. And then the more the travel requirements — and more importantly — the virus gets more under control in the country. We look forward to even more travel. But we've just we've got to get a handle of this thing, particularly in the Bahamas, everywhere, like people are pretending like the virus is not happening.
Julia Laricheva 26:58 And the Delta variant is not there. Like I'm scrolling through Instagram.
Rexy Rolle 27:02 Yeah.
Julia Laricheva 27:02 I'm looking on concerts (on Instagram). And I'm like, Yeah, I went out the other day, I went out to the to the plaza because I was like, I was like, well, let's just go to the plaza. And I didn't realize how many people were out — like tourists. And I was like, Yeah, my baby doesn't have a mask. And I was like, What am I doing here? Like, I have to get back in.
Rexy Rolle 27:26 Yeah, I would feel uncomfortable with with a baby. Yeah, I mean, with anyone really I obviously have been traveling and going out, I got vaccinated. And you know, as time goes on, and you start to hear more of the data, and you hear about the Delta variant, and I'm just, I remember being mid travel because I'm heading back to the Bahamas tomorrow, mid travel feeling like wait a second, because my mom really had COVID terribly. And thank God, she's great and all of that. But I was speaking to one of her doctors a couple of days ago, they randomly call to you know, check on her and they just said, I know you're traveling. Just a reminder, though, continue to wear your mask, continue to act as if this is really still a threat to you. Because even though you're vaccinated, it doesn't mean obviously that you cannot contract you know, or get COVID particularly the Delta variant which does not care whether or not you are vaccinated, apparently. In fact, I think I heard 60% of the UK hospitalized cases were folks who have been vaccinated. So there it certainly was a good reminder like, Okay, this thing is not gone. By no means and so I'm certainly taking all the precautions personally. And everywhere I go, obviously, we are required to have PCR tests and, and constant testing to ensure that we are you know, being say,
Julia Laricheva 29:01 Yeah, I flew — so we're doing this podcast from Spain for anybody who's listening and
Rexy Rolle 29:07 Yeah.
Julia Laricheva 29:08 It's amazing. And I was really nervous to fly out because because of Delta but the rules were so strict that I was like “Okay, I feel kind of comfortable flying out.” But that was before Delta. So…
Rexy Rolle 29:23 Right.
Julia Laricheva 29:23 You know, I just want to thank all the airlines for taking such amazing precautions for making people feel safe for like getting on the plane. Like you need your ID — your vaccination card — you need a test before you enter it's still nerve racking but I still feel a little bit more comfortable about you know, all the precautions though other airlines are taking.
Rexy Rolle 29:42 It's not easy traveling during COVID you know, cuz I mean going to these different countries we had so many restrictions and requirements and you know, filling out health forms But at the same time it wasn't a complaint of mine because I do feel like it helps. And it certainly helps the curtail during the travel, and if it gives anybody any comfort, I know sometimes people feel claustrophobic being in the aircraft with so many people and they think to themselves “the air, you know, good?” The air is circulated so often, it's much better than your typical office or workspace. So, that is the good thing is that air aircrafts, particularly modern aircrafts, thought about, you know, these sort of viruses that are able to be transferred so easily back in the day. You know, tuberculosis and other transferable diseases like that. So they have these hyper ventilation systems that help to stop that. So that's a good thing that people should be reminded of. And then of course, if you're traveling, you have to take a test the rapid tests, or PCR test, depending on where you're going.
Julia Laricheva 31:00 Yeah, and I know you're really busy, so I'm not going to keep you so I just have two more questions. One, being you know, what's next for your music? And you know, what's happening for your music, because I would love it whenever you publish a video, whenever you publish a new song, and then my last question is “What's your dream as an adult?”
Rexy Rolle 31:36 Well, first with the music, I, I feel like I went on a unintended hiatus, I think I think but I will be getting back, I have music already that is not released. So I want to release it. And just you know, enjoy, and then hopefully do a few videos for it. And my my goal, when when it comes to music will be able to perform live at you know, a few different locations and really enjoy that aspect of music. And then I guess my adult goal is — I'm so big on balance that I want — and I believe that I will be able to continue to grow the company successfully with with the help of my team and God. And then of course, I want I want to have a family. And to do to be able to balance all of that will be great. And maybe even music is definitely still involved in that process as well. So a good well balanced life is my goal as an adult.
Julia Laricheva 32:48 I think that's a beautiful goal, right? And I'm starting to realize there's just no balance, there's just doing, you just do it. That's it. Like because I was like, how do you balance it all? I'm like, women don't — I think men balance it. Because I think it's a little easier for men. But we have we have to do more work. Like we have to carry the baby, we have to feed the baby. You know, you've got bottles and stuff. But like, I don't know, part of me is like — is there a balance? Is there like? I don't know, I don't I don't know yet? I don't know. Yeah, like, I'm only eight months.
Rexy Rolle 33:03 I'm like, I'm curious as to why you think is that? Why do you think it may there may not be a balance? Because here you are, you know, you're a pretty new mom, and you're doing your podcast. And you kind of you know, have your own projects. And so that, to me, that kind of looks like a balance.
Julia Laricheva 33:49 It is but you know what, I usually either work at agencies like 12 hours a day, or I run my own ad agency. So so something had to give because I was like, I can't be somewhere for 12 hours. Like when when she was like four months old. I tried working again and I was like, I am gonna die. I can't do 12 hour days. Because like I need like even with my mom and husband helping like it's just it's just impossible. Unless, unless, like, unless you have more help. My grandma used to say you can't sit on three chairs at once. You have to just like pick a chair and sit on it. Like you got to just sit at a different chair because it on three chairs. She used to talk about dating. That's what it was. She said you can't sit on three chairs.
Rexy Rolle 34:37 That is true. You can’t sit on three chairs.
Julia Laricheva 34:41 So far, I'm just noticing that like, you can have it but you can't do it all at once. You have to be like okay, well I'm taking care of the baby right now. Okay, well, I'm doing the ad agency for like a few months like, you got to separate it because I just it's like being in like 3000 places. Your brain is in another place. Like, that's been my experience, but it's not everything.
Rexy Rolle 35:06 Maybe that is a part of the balance, right? You kind of compartmentalizing on one aspect, I'm going to do this and then I'm going to do that. Maybe it doesn't ,maybe balance is not something that happens every day. Maybe it happens over a period of time.
Julia Laricheva 35:22 Yes, I think that's what it is. I think I was so focused on the daily balance, like I was like “Okay, I have to be at my ad agency for seven hours, and I have to be just doing work for seven hours, then I come home, I play with the baby.” And it just doesn't happen. It just like none of it. Yeah, none of that happens. And none of it happens like this, right? Nothing ever happens the way you plan it to happen. Like it's totally different. You imagine it in your head, you go through scenarios, and then you get there and something happens that you didn’t think of and you're like, I didn't even think about this until I'm doing this.
Rexy Rolle 35:53 So right, exactly.
Julia Laricheva 35:55 When she's like 20. A little human needs to pee ande she can’t feed herself. You know, she can't like she can't do anything. She's a little tiny human. They're just like, not yet. Not yet. So it's hard. I think maybe when they're like able to be like a little human, you get your life back. I hope you kind of get your life back. Yeah, but but man, it's like, just enjoy your time not having babies for like, as long as you can. Yeah, it's a wonderful but what you have right now is so special. It's that time that you're never getting back again until you're like, you know, the kids are retired. And that that that is the ultimate time for women to just be like putting the work into their business because because then like your attention is just pulled away.
Rexy Rolle 36:49 So right.
Julia Laricheva 36:50 It's fine. It's a different life. And I can I can digress. I'm like a mom now. That's all I do. I just talk about mom stuff, because
Rexy Rolle 36:57 I think that that's really awesome.
Julia Laricheva 37:01 You're creating a new consciousness, right? Like I'm teaching her music and all this stuff. So it's fun, but um, I have to come and visit the Bahamas as soon as COVID is over. And, and I can't wait. Yeah, I can't wait to say hi in person and, and meet you. And thank you so much for being on the show.
Rexy Rolle 37:20 Thank you for having me. This is it's been a great conversation.