The business of being a #mum - from SAHM to WAHM

Even before my daughter came along I had an idea that I wanted to be working for myself once I had children. For me, the thought of having to dance to someone else’s tune whilst wanting to be there for my kids wasn’t a tantalising one.

Having spent years working with colleagues who were parents, I knew only too well the amount of juggling they had to do to make things work. There are some amazing women out there doing just that and doing it really well. But it wasn’t and isn’t for me. I never want to fret about potentially missing sport’s days or having the last minute workday panic of a child being ill.

So, when Ma Puce (as she’s referred to on my blog – it’s a French term of endearment pronounced ‘Ma Poose’) came along I headed off on maternity leave never to return to the 9 – 5 of office life. Or rather the 5 – 9 of office life as it often was in the heady world of PR!

Making the break

First I took a couple of years out to be a S-A-H-M. It meant financial sacrifices for us as a family, but I am so glad that I had that time with my daughter, because aside from the fact I feel my daughter really benefited from me being there, one thing you never truly understand until you are a parent is how fast time goes by.

I didn’t always find S-A-H-M life the easiest. Having been used to working at 90 miles per hour in a buzzing office environment it was hard to readjust to the slower, more low-key, but equally labour intensive, world of parenting.

From S-A-H-M to W-A-H-M

Over the last 18 months I’ve started to build up my own business. I’m a marketing bod for hire. I take on copywriting projects, manage radio interview days, write blog posts for brands, provide social media strategy and management, and offer marketing consultancy.

In short, I’ve drawn on the skills I’ve acquired over my working life and combined them with my knowledge of social media through having run a parenting lifestyle blog over the last couple of years.

Fellow Business Mums

One of the brilliant things blogging has provided me with is a way to see into the lives of other mothers and take inspiration from how they do things. This is what led me to recently starting the Business Mums series on Mother.Wife.Me.

Business Mums is an ever-growing showcase of interviews with women who’ve managed to combine setting up and running their own business with parenthood. Each interview gives a delicious snapshot of a different business owner’s life, with details on how and why they started their business, the challenges they’ve faced and the benefits of being the boss

The future’s bright

And being the boss is definitely a massive plus for all of these women because one theme that runs through all the interviews, is that running your own business and bringing up children isn’t any less work than going out to work. But the beauty of it is that you make your own rules.

In a Western World where women and mothers in particular continue to face inequality in the workplace, it’s pretty cool to be able to see all these businesses being set up and run by women who have children. Because the more women there are at the top of the pile, the greater the likelihood that things will change and we will one day have a workplace that embraces women who choose to become parents but continue to be a valuable part of the workforce.

Luci can also be found on Pinterest

Luci McQuitty Hindmarsh

Mother.Wife.Me is the parenting and lifestyle blog of a London Work-At-Home-Mum. That mum is Luci McQuitty Hindmarsh. She is MOTHER to a little girl and WIFE to a businessman husband. The blog is part parenting and part lifestyle. There’s parental anecdotes, musings and rantings on anything from education to feminism and back, London activities for kids, beauty finds, lifestyle loves,reviews, competitions and an increasing focus on Working Mums – check out her Business Mums series of interviews.