How to Balance Busy Work Life and Family During Your Education

At the young age of 14, Kelsey Ramsden worked as a flag girl on a highway in Alaska, where she slowed and stopped as construction crews did their work.

More than 20 years later, she developed cancer, but it did little to slow her down in her quest for business success.

Ramsden currently is the president of three small businesses, including one that is a multi-million dollar construction firm that runs across Canada. The name of that company is Belvedere Place Development. The others are Sparkplay Inc, which is a monthly toy subscription business for parents. She also is a business coach at Kelsey Ramsden Consulting.

She also has been named Profit magazine’s top Canadian female entrepreneur for the last two years, and ranks as one of the most powerful women in Canada.

But she has never been one to let her ego get in the way because she still has to take care of her children and do all of the things that mothers must do.

For the last two years, life has been even better for Ramsden, as she spends most of the day making business decisions, and then following them up with dance parties with her children at home. She is alway having music playing, and there are toys on the kitchen counter.

But cancer almost took those experiences away when her son was only a few years old. She said in an interview recently that waking from surgery was almost like being born again. Ramsden says that she does not waste too much of her time overthinking business decisions, and people that she is not able to serve.

Along the way during her busy personal life and business career, Ramsden improved her business skills when she earned her online MBA. For someone as busy as she is, an online MBA was a godsend. She was able to take several business classes per semester on her own schedule, while also attending to business as well as the needs of her children.

Online MBA Popularity Soaring

According to US News and World Report, online MBA’s have soared in popularity in the last five years. The magazine has found three major reasons why many students are choosing an online MBA to meet their career goals.

• Earn your MBA without moving – Obviously, the major benefit of getting an online MBA is that you do not have to be on campus. You can choose your MBA program based upon not where the university is, but how it fits your educational needs. Many students have found that getting an online MBA from a distant location has allowed them to be able to switch jobs and then relocate, without falling behind in class work.
• Better work and education balance – For professionals such as Ramsden, being able to take classes on her own schedule is very important. Some students have first enrolled in a regular, campus-based program, and then discovered after a few weeks that they are not able to keep up with their classes, plus keep on top of work and personal needs.
• Gain more business and managerial skills – Many experienced business professionals such as Ramsden go back to school after many years in the workforce. With the online MBA program, they are able to greatly improve their skillset. After earning their MBA students online are able to get a better position at their current company. Or, in the case of Ramsden, they are better able to apply the latest business theories and practices to their companies.

With an online MBA program, you also are able to choose the program with the best specialization for your career growth, regardless of where it is located. One of the hottest specializations is health care. Many aspiring MBAs get an online MBA in health care administration and then are able to find a top health care business job in their town.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there also are many many MBA scholarships available that can be applied towards an online MBA program. So no matter where you go to school for your MBA, you can get the financial help you need.