The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
My decades of experience with helping adults and children to meet their health and educational needs did not provide me with business skills, so the lack of business sense was a big challenge for me to begin with. Discovering how to connect with parents through social media and developing a business mindset have all required dedication. However, my belief in the importance of sharing my message with parents has seen me persist. I believe if we can strengthen the insights that parents and carers have into their tween’s perspective, then we will have a stronger society.
Effective strategies in helping me to meet this challenge were through joining Facebook groups, attending Women in Business workshops and working through an intensive business course. These have helped me to connect with others in a similar situation. We have become a friendly network of people who are just a message away from asking or receiving assistance from each other. I’m very grateful for my husband who has supported my pursuit of this endeavour and for the tech support my youngest daughter provides. I would have been lost trying to set up all the systems that run behind the scenes without her willingness to help.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
A pro of running my own business is being able to do more of my favourite things including gardening and walking along the beach. I have the freedom to pursue activities during term time such as taking my youngest on a trip to Italy to celebrate the completion of her studies. I can take my mum and children to appointments, and even attend to my own annual health checks during school hours!
A significant pro of running my own business is being able to share the knowledge and experience that I have gained during three decades of working with children. I see parents grow in confidence as they receive guidance and reassurance. Helping them to connect with their children through deeper understanding is a passion of mine, so being able to turn this into a business is very satisfying.
A con would have to be the steep learning curve that I’ve been on. Working in health and education for so long has been my comfort zone. Moving into the world of business has required identifying rookie mistakes, such as omitting branding on products, which leave experienced business people speechless. I’ve also needed to upskill on using social media to enable my aim of supporting parents to be achieved. I’m usually behind a camera instead of in front of it, so my husband and daughter are persisting in helping me become more comfortable with photos, videos and live recordings.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Parents are often greeted with smiles from their babies. During the toddler years, these greetings change to running towards parents and hanging off their legs. This enthusiasm continues during preschool and primary years as children want to share about their day. This eagerness often diminishes as children reach 10-12 years of age. During the tween years, children begin to develop greater independence as they discern their own values and beliefs. It’s common for parents to feel a disconnect developing and to be unsure of what, if anything, they should do about this.
My hopes and dreams are that a generation of parents looking for a caring and insightful way of connecting with their children will gain support from Morgan Mentoring+. I would love to see the traditional narrative of the ‘difficult teen years’ become the inspirational narrative of the ‘memorable years when we supported our children to develop their own values and belief system’. I would love for parents and tweens to develop relationships where communication is maintained as children’s independence grows, and for the misunderstandings that so often happen through the teenage years to be minimised so that families remain strong and connected. This result is good for families and for societies. It doesn’t mean that moods go away and that life becomes full of rainbows, but it does mean that adolescents better understand that they can rely on their parents and carers to be available for support.
I have a Facebook group for people who are interested in gaining tips and insight into raising tweens. Parents and carers of other children are also very welcome to join. For those who are keen to learn more, information about our Morgan Mentoring+ course can be found through messaging via socials or lynell@morganmentoring@gmail.com.
Visit the Morgan Mentoring+ website to find out more, and access their free guide here. You can also connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.
