Almost everyone uses Julie Cole as an example of someone who pushes life to its limits. It’s not just because she has six kids (yes, six) or is a co-founder of the wildly successful Mabel’s Labels company, it is that her energy and enthusiasm is a constant force whether it is in her family, business or blogs.

Emma: I have to get the most obvious question out of the way. Six kids? Why?

Julie: I didn’t set out to have six kids; we knew we would have more than two. And after each kid came along we thought this is going well, let’s have one more. We both come from biggish-sized families and we enjoy our sibling relationships so it made sense to us.

I tell people that having two kids is the hardest. It doesn’t get twice as hard with each kid. And you have time to adjust—they don’t just appear. In our house we have the philosophy of the “more the merrier”.

Emma: With so many competing interests how do you do family time?

Julie: We do stuff as a family just like any other family, we go to the kids’ hockey games and recitals and the park. We have a family game night on Sundays nights. And even though it can feel like everyone is going in different directions we are strongly connected. The kids have built-in playdates, there is always someone to play road hockey or go for a bike ride.

Our house is very child-centric. We also have a really fun house and an open door policy. Kids like to come to our house to play on the trampoline and pool.

Emma: You have more kids over? The chaos!

Julie: I don’t mind mess or noise so it is okay with me. I always tell people who ask, “don’t sweat the small stuff”. My house may not be the neatest around, but everybody is happy. You have to know what your limits and strengths are. People who care about the state of their home or the noise level probably shouldn’t have six kids.

Emma: What other advice do you give? Because I know everyone is always asking you about how to manage everything.

Julie: You have to know what you are good at and just keep doing what you do well. And outsource whatever you can.

To stay organized we have a giant whiteboard in the kitchen and each kid is colour-coded with activities. It is a ridiculous thing to look at, but it is what I need.

Emma: And with all the moving parts, how do you take time for you?

Julie: Here’s the truth. I don’t need it. When you have a life like this—work is my me time. Or going to watch my kids play hockey by myself is me time. You have to understand what your needs are. I used to think I was doing something wrong but I realized ‘I’m good, I like to be busy getting stuff done’.

When I exercise I take the kids with me, so if I’m going for a 5K walk there are a couple kids with me on their bikes. Family time is integrated into everything.

We have a ski chalet where we go on weekends and the kids ski and love it. And we have a very rustic cottage in the summer. My kids are cottage rugrats—we don’t have electricity, and there are only outhouses. The kids love it.

Emma: OK, how do you feed such a brood?

My secret is that I feed them dinner early, like at 4:30. They are hungry when they get home from school and then they have eaten before all their activities. They can snack after that.

Emma: That is a little bit genius, though I could not pull it off. Are you home from work by then?

Julie: I am home to meet the bus everyday and I only work three or four days a week.

Mabel’s is a family business so everyone is understanding and flexible.

Emma: Why did you start Mabel’s?

Julie: It is just over eight years old, I had three kids when we started: [laughing] what was I thinking? When we started there was a product missing from the market and we wanted to leave the traditional marketplace and more flexibility.

Emma: You blog and Mabels has always been very active in social media? Why?

Julie: A product like ours sells by word of mouth. And social media is the word of mouth online, so we decided that was the right way to market to moms. There are so many moms on Facebook, Twitter and online is a great way to brand awareness and customer service.

I write the Mabelhood blog for the Mabel’s website which is a syndicated blog about balancing a business and family. And I also write the Baby Machine for Yummy Mummy Club which is about life with a big family.

I like the writing and I like connecting with our customers.

Emma: So, is six it?

Julie: Yes. Done. No more kids.