Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
My husband and I now work together in the business which has meant that we have had to implement some strict boundaries so we can have a home life away from the business! We still talk about work at home, but we try to also have quality family time where we don’t bring work into it. We do have to consciously think about our work-life balance and how to make things work best for the business and our family.
We have a great team at Milk and Love now, which gives me a lot of freedom to structure my time in a way that works best for the family. My husband and I recently started having our work meetings while exercising outdoors together, which is a nice way to spend time together and think more strategically at the same time! I feel very lucky and grateful to have control over when I work and to be able to leave work for school pick up, to take a day off a week to spend with my youngest, and generally to structure my time around my family needs.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
The biggest challenge for us is trying to grow a startup business while also having a young family. I never realised how much time, energy and money both required! There have been times when I have thought I am going to go completely insane, and other times when I have wanted to lie down on the floor and sleep.
We have had health challenges in our home life that have caused us to step back from the business for a period, as well as downturns in the business where we have had to sit down and decide if it is time to give up or if we are going to dig deep to be able to keep going. The mental load of having a small business is huge, and the stress of balancing everything and trying to keep all the balls in the air is very real.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
There are two big pros for me. The first is being able to have a vision and help work towards it. Brightening a new mum’s day really makes me feel like I am making a difference in the world. I firmly believe that being able to promote gentle parenting is also helping to change the world for the better, one person at a time. For me, this is much more fulfilling and satisfying than working in a corporate environment.
The second is being my own boss! The flexibility of managing my own time without answering to anyone is incredible. It has meant I can create routines that work for me and my family, which has been invaluable.
The main con of running your own business is lack of certainty. The last 24 months we have experienced our biggest ever low AND our biggest ever high. It does feel a bit like we are being tossed around on a sea of economic uncertainty sometimes, with buying behaviour changing drastically in response to world events.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We are on the brink of producing our own brand of natural products for new mums that we have spent a lot of time testing and working on to create products that we are proud to put our name behind. We get a lot of feedback from our customers and we know that new mums are going through a unique time in their lives, so we really want to create products that brighten their day and make life a little easier.
In addition, we are refocusing on providing more support and information through our Facebook group as we are working on partnerships with lactation consultants.
Visit the Milk and Love website to check out their beautiful offerings for mums and babies. You can also join their supportive communities on Facebook and Instagram.
