3 truths about the surge of mumprenuers

I’m not just a busy mum. Like you, I’m a busy wife-friend-businesswoman and more recently blogger. I thrive on keeping busy and I love working. I remember my first job when I was 14 years old! I worked part time after school in a Chinese takeaway and restaurant.  It was my first real taste of being a responsible employed person. I later moved on from serving Egg Fu Yung to making Reality TV! I worked long hours and loved every minute. Fast forward a few years, I also love spending quality time with my family and our boys. I want to inhale them all as much as possible. We often say how quickly the weeks and years after flying by now.

So once Charlie and Cooper arrived, naturally pretty much everything changed. For one, there is a hell of a lot more logistics to emotionally and physically manage. Our wine bill seemed to climb somewhat too. HA! The truth is though, I thought I could return to the same work structure as if I didn’t have kids, and when I was home I thought I could spend quality time with our boys as if I didn’t have a job. Seemed logical. Doh. Reality check. And actually, I’m discovering this is a common misconception and expectation out there.

More recently, I felt compelled look for another way of working and being there for my family. After being employed for 20 years, the idea of becoming entrepreneurial was very foreign, not to mention seemed impossible ( already busy with babies! ) and terrifying, but I had to explore my options, if anything to rule it out.

I read an article online recently and it helped change the perception I had of myself and what I could offer the world. The writer goes on to say.... “As a mother and entrepreneur myself, I’m here to tell you this: Being a mother actually qualifies you more to become a successful entrepreneur. Raising your own startup is hard, and so is being a mom, and I believe that as mothers we acquire many of the skills that are essential as we become entrepreneurs.”

Since leaving my old role at MTV of 10 years, I’ve had a desire to help people in some way. I’ve always loved health & wellbeing but wasn’t entirely sure how I might make a business out of it. I had finally identified my passion but financially I needed to bring in my share of household income, even more so now as kids are expensive human beings!

While I started to research my options, I set about looking for flexible employment in my field. I bit my lip and sucked up the reality of going back to work. But I was full of hope that there would be flexible work as I feared I would still have a long commute, probably wouldn’t see much of my kids during the week, and our childcare costs would sky rocket. Familiar story?

Let's get real though. True “Flexible work” solutions across the board just isn’t happening fast enough. Some of us are terrified to ask for “flexi” working for the fear of either being judged as not committed enough or have our pay significantly reduced, to name a few. Flexible solutions and mindsets are slowly changing in some companies ( yeehaa! ), but generally speaking ( in my experience ) the pace of change is not only too slow, we’re still battling with the stress of childcare costs and logistics, long commutes, travel costs, clock-in-clock-out mindsets and horrid parental guilt. And then the additional obstacle to ‘ask’ for true work-life balance is also hindered by our own fears and conditioning too. But once I did my homework and mapped out a new way, I got over my fears, and this changed everything. I stopped looking for conventional employment, and instead got serious about building a business to help people with their health goals.

Entrepreneurialsm isn't for everyone! But anyone can do it. There are all sorts of platforms for us to launch businesses that enable us to look after our kids, manage our life commitments, work on our own terms and get paid well for it. We don't have to invent something miraculous during our maternity leave either. ( yes that was me, I was convinced I'd dream up the next new-mum-must-have-thing ) Enter the Mumpreneurs! Many people, who just happen to be mums, are flipping the old corporate structure the bird and looking for another way. Because there is another way.

So with this slow change, comes some surprising positives. If we can't find a flexible employment solution to suit our situation, and if we're open to giving something new and exciting a go, then...

1. We’re driven to be creative, brave and move outside our comfort zones. It’s 2017! There is so much we can do from our laptops and smart phones now that allow us to build home based or location free businesses. We can literally work from anywhere. The digital age is allowing anyone to build businesses online through things like blogging, vlogging, webinars, affiliate and network marketing, to name a few. There are over 3.5 billion people online at any given time! We can grasp new skills quickly ( all from the comfort of your laptop ) and take a path off a whole new career faster than ever before.

2. We start to realise our true self worth! Inflexible working has brought women and parents together to stand up and make some noise! We don’t have to continue to work the way it’s always been done. Not to mention mums are super multi-taskers and can build businesses in the micro-moments between bottles and bath time.

3. The surge in technology and entrepreneurial mindsets is fostering a completely new way of working. The 9 to 5 job is likely to look very different 5-10 years from now. There is real truth in living a laptop lifestyle, being location-free and living life by our own design.

I’m intrigued to see what the working lifestyle might look like for my boys when they’re old enough!

What do you think? If you're curious and would like more details on how I earn an income through what I do, then I'd love to hear from you. Please message me or comment in the yellow comment box below.