Meet Carly Howard | Small Business Owner & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carly Howard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carly, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I am a mama of two young kids – ages 1 and 6 and a business owner. This question seems very relevant in my life right now! I think I was always good at balancing work and life before kids but now it’s an absolute priority of mine. I want to give my family the best parts of me, and not just the “leftover me” that is tired from emails, meetings, and bartending.

To start, I have gotten WAY more efficient with my time. When I sit down at my computer, there is no browsing Facebook, online shopping (well, sometimes :), getting stuck in YouTube rabbit holes, or mindless scrolling. Instead of watching TV to wind down after the kids go to sleep, my husband and I will often write and record music in the garage and practice songs for our upcoming gig, because that is our only uninterrupted time. I have noticed with little down time, the important things rise to the surface pretty quickly and priorities get clearer.

As busy as I am, creating intentional space has also been crucial for my mental and physical health. Recharging is vital – going to yoga twice a week, going for walks, taking mini-trips with my husband to the hot springs, taking baths, and sometimes just sitting quietly for 10 minutes in a dark room can help me reset. It also helps me do my job better — I feel refreshed and more creative and ready to take on new challenges when I create a little space and distance from my job.

There is always work to do and if I wanted to, I could spend literally all of my time at my computer or at Enigma. So I have to be mindful of where each and every minute goes. My goal in the coming year is to create more time with community and friends because right now there’s really no time for “hanging out,” unless of course it’s scheduled two months in advance.

I feel good about the work/life balance I have created so far. I am glad my children get to see me working and owning a business because eventually one day they will be working and I hope I am modeling what a good balance can look like.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a singer-songwriter and theatre producer turned business owner, so it’s hard to separate the business side from the art side. I spent 10 years in NYC producing theatre, writing, performing, and teaching. I knew I wanted to continue doing all of these things but I also wanted to be smart about the money side of things. We thought “hey, if we open a performance venue AND sold liquor, we have a chance at making money!”

I love to write music and then turn it into theatre and dance. I am currently working on a show for Enigma that will incorporate my original music. And since I do all the event programming, I am able to book my own shows here at Enigma Bazaar!

Nothing about this path has been easy, I would say. It’s a constant wondering – am I good enough? Do I know what I’m doing? I’ve never owned a bar, or even worked in a bar, so this has been a HUGE learning curve for me. There are successes along the way but sometimes it feels like three steps forward, one step backward. The two biggest things I have learned are: resiliency and follow through. There are lots of ideas floating around in the universe and ideas are relatively easy to have. The hard part is in the follow through and to continue working on something even when you’ve lost the initial excitement. It’s challenging to throw yourself into the fire when you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. But everyday, there’s something new to learn, and I try to remain open to what that will be.

I am most proud of the fact that I can be a mama, a musician, and a business owner. Life is full and busy and I feel out of breath sometimes, but when I am able to ground and center myself, I realize that somewhere under all of the chaos, there is so much joy, light, and beauty in my life. Life currently feels a lot like the Sun card in the Tarot – very hot and a little too bright, too bright to look at sometimes, but full – full of optimism, love, smiles, laughter, cuddles, and baby kisses (they really are the best).

I play music under my name, Carly Howard, and also under my band’s name, Unnamed Moons. We will be playing our first gig in two years on Saturday, June 25th!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would say come to Enigma Bazaar! It’s the only place I ever go! We also have a Guatemalan coffee concept going in next door, called Convivio Cafe – check them out. I would say check out some immersive theatre. I know Control Group Productions, Starry Night Productions, and Immersive Denver are all up to some cool things. Denver’s becoming a hub for immersive events. Honestly, I would say take a walk around Sloan’s Lake and lay under a tree, because that’s what I want to do right now. 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, Jordan deserves a huge shout out. He is currently a stay at home dad as we try to make Enigma successful. He is endlessly supportive with words, kind gestures, acts of service, and I am so grateful for every single day. (Can you tell I read the Five Love Languages?!). Shout out to my business partners (there are four owners total), Autumn, Chad, and Christine, who have worked tirelessly for the last three years getting Enigma opened. Much gratitude for our bar manager, Erika — she has done an amazing job with the bar program and has kept an incredibly positive attitude dealing with all the stress that comes with opening a new space. Shout out to our sound engineer (who also happens to be my brother), who keeps our bands happy and makes sure anyone and everyone who plays at Enigma sounds great. My parents definitely deserve a shout out as they are a huge support system — watching the kids so we can work/play, having us over for family meals, helping with transportation, etc.

Website: www.enigmabazaar.com, www.unnamedmoons.com

Instagram: enigmabazaar

Facebook: Enigma Bazaar

Image Credits
Chad Howard, Carly Howard