The journey to a mum in business…

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2015 - I returned to work after my second child was born, she was nine months old, my eldest was three. It felt so different this time, there was a constant niggle (or loud screaming voice) that I was doing the wrong thing being at work. I just wanted to be back home with my kids. But that would mean putting my career on hold, stepping back from everything I knew and no longer earning. It was a big shift, I’d always earned my own money right from my first job at thirteen. As the year went on the voice didn’t quieten - it just got louder, and after lots of discussions with my husband, we decided I’d leave teaching until both of the kids were in school. I handed in my notice in February 2016 to leave at the end of that school year - a huge weight lifted. 

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But before I’d even left, I was already looking at what I could do alongside being at home. I was so looking forward to being at home with the kids but knew I wanted something to go alongside it and here started my journey to a mum in business. 

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First, I joined a wonderful small book company selling independent authors’ books.  I love books so much and enjoyed sharing all the different books, but it wasn’t long before I decided the work I’d have to put in didn’t fit with what I wanted to do. I just didn’t enjoy going out to loads of groups and fairs, so I signed up with an amazing natural skincare brand. I loved working with the company and I learnt so much about myself in this time. I was surrounded by inspiring women making the business work for them. It was while I was doing this I was introduced to networking. I went on to set up a networking group in my area with what was then Mums in business Association. It was perfect. I brought local women together to support each other and grow our businesses together. The groups became successful and during this time, I took on different roles within the company supporting the growth of the networking groups across the UK, then the globe. As the company transitioned to Mums In Business International, I played a key part in the set up and growth. 

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During this time, I’d met so many amazing women running their own businesses and I slowly became more confident with the idea of totally going alone and doing it myself. I started researching into something that had always fascinated me - Hypnotherapy. At some point in the blur that has been the last 2 years of covid restrictions, I had some hypnotherapy myself, I not only loved how I felt after the sessions but was amazed with all I had learnt about the brain during the process. Probably a year later, I had finally enrolled onto a training course. In April 2021, I started training to become a hypnotherapist. 

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Fast forward to now and I’ve fully qualified, completed hundreds of hours of study and case work and have fully set up my own practice based in a cabin in my garden. Being a mum has influenced everything about how I wanted my business to be. I now have full control of my hours, I can work at times that suit me and my family. It’s constantly changing and evolving and we are always learning but that flexibility is exactly what we want right now. 

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If I said this journey had been an easy one, I would 100% be lying. I’ve gone through every emotion going, felt all the mum guilt. Constantly questioned my decisions. As a family we’ve been through huge loss in that time and then just as it came to the time that both of my children would be in school - COVID hit. So there have absolutely been many challenges along the way. I have constantly reached out to the amazing support network I have around me - family, friends and all the amazing mums in business.

 

If I could give any advice on going into business as a mum, it is to work hard on your network. Go find people who are doing the same as you, join groups, interact with others at events and fairs. Share where you are at, because we all need support, we all need people around us who’ve been there or who are going through it, who can help you keep going when it gets hard. Because without a doubt there will be many times in business when It gets hard. When you want to quit, when you want to hide away from it all. 

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And finally know it’s ok to change.  Life is a journey, it’s not a straight line, there will be lots of twists and turns along the way. The path can change - and that’s ok x