Feeling weighed down by her motherhood journey, Sophie O’Shea came to realise that she was losing valuable time with her new baby, due to time spent absorbing the rough, anxiety-filled moments of life as a new mum. It was during these hard times that the idea for The Positive Mummy came to her. Refocusing her attention and finding ways to turn her days around and embrace the positives through these tough times, she felt the need to share the skills she had learned with other mums that were feeling similarly lost and disheartened. She created The Positive Mummy journal and community to help mums overcome the negative, overwhelming thoughts, cherish the special moments and know that they are not alone.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
It was really a combination of feeling so emotionally drained and wanting to share what I have taught myself through becoming a single mum and dealing with day-to-day life dramas. I decided to start branding myself The Positive Mummy so I believed that was exactly what I was. The journal for other mothers came a little while after this. I needed to get my confidence and spark back. I needed something more. I decided to follow my dream and start the journey of becoming a published author.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
It was a very slow process. I was not sure how to go about getting a book published. A lot of fees, marketing and words I have never even heard of started coming out of the woodworks. I didn’t give up though. I researched, wrote and designed my journal, finishing it in December 2020. I had so much support from my friends. They helped push this mumma out of her comfort zone and think big!
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthough would have to be my own self-healing through this process. I am truly not worried about how the book sales go; my main concern is I can help at least one other mother out there doing it tough. It’s the small things daily that consume us the most. I would love to get some mothers out there back up off the bathroom floor and playing hide and seek again with their little babes.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
This is a tough question. Writing the journal wasn’t really work for me, although it did consume many hours on the computer and social media. My beautiful little daughter understood and gave me space to do this (most days) while playing with her toys or animals. When I get stuck or stressed, I learned to call on my tribe. My best friend would babysit for me or take her to school etc just so I could get a little extra work done. We all need our tribe!
