The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
I started Clever Bees about 12 months before I was pregnant with Abi. So often, when I’m thinking about Clever Bees, I’m also thinking about my journey as a mum. The two are so very interlinked!
When I returned to work after having Abi, we eventually found our rhythm and things were going well and the business was growing. But what became challenging was our journey to continue to grow our family. We went through pregnancy loss and a really crappy IVF journey, before miraculously falling pregnant with our son James in 2020. The juggle and effort of running my own business intensified when we experienced a really difficult pregnancy with James, which then resulted in him being born at 25 weeks in January 2021. James then passed away in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) very suddenly when he developed Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC) at 3 weeks. Our world was absolutely shattered. Dealing with the grief and loss of a child is unimaginable. Trying to do that, whilst running a business and looking after a team, was so very draining. We were very lucky to be able to connect with Red Nose Australia and had incredible support through them, but there really isn’t an option to take the time you need to grieve when you have a business. Following more pregnancy loss and IVF, we were blessed with our second daughter in 2022, Madi. Again, I juggled a NICU stay with running a business.
When I think about the business journey we’ve been on over the past (almost) 10 years, intertwined with our family journey, they are inseparable and form part of my story. And whilst those challenges have been immeasurable, they influence who I am and what I bring to the table when I am working with families. I completely understand when things seem too difficult, and the different layers of mum-guilt. And I’m also very comfortable with meeting people where they are and working with them on what they feel they need at that point in their journey.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Hands down, the best part of running your own business is flexibility with your time. I love being able to be there and enjoy being part of my kids’ lives. I feel so very privileged to have this opportunity.
The biggest con through is that to have the flexibility, you’ve got to be doing the work and putting the time in at other times… from the outside, it might look like I’m really lucky because I’m able to pick my daughter up from school and take her to after-school activities, but that means that I’m working at night, and I might not be there to put her to bed every night. There’s always a trade off.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I am so excited to be embarking on my new project: Blossom and Grow Consultancy. Without giving too much away, throughout the year I’ll be releasing different levels of support for parents at different stages of their parenting journey – so resources for new parents, parents who have been through a NICU journey, parents of toddlers, preschool and preparing for school, school age parents, the tween years and adolescence.
At the moment, you can access my free toddler tips for parents via SMS. I will be launching further resources and packages for parents in the coming months. If you’d like to head to my website and join the mailing list, you’ll be the first to hear about the release dates.
The other original part of my business, Clever Bees, is still continuing to operate as well, and I am continuing to provide clinical support to families, again from a parent consultation perspective. There are also lots of resources and blog posts on my website, particularly in my interest area working with children with developmental delays and developing independence.
To find out more, connect with them via the following links:
Blossom and Grow Consultancy website
Facebook
Instagram
Clever Bees Paediatric Occupational Therapy website
Facebook
Instagram
