Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Let’s just say it’s always on my mind! The balance is like a see-saw… up and down, up and down. I don’t know how I do it. I’ve never had this little sleep in my life! I have an 8-month-old, a 3-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 19-year-old that I cook for and care for, so basically there is no balance. It’s look after the family first and get what I can get done in between. There are a lot of late nights but nothing is so pressing that I can’t go to bed early if I want to. I have great nana living next door so my children still get to go to the park every day and be looked after if I need to attend to anything important. My list is long and prioritised. It gets revised and added to every few days. There’s a list for the business, a list for the children and a list for the house. I don’t like to forget anything and find lists useful. I also make sure I turn off and just enjoy my family without thinking of the shop. Currently, I am thinking of ways to delegate tasks and lessen the load so that I can focus on the strategic growth of the shop. There is a fine balance to the work/life see-saw.
My girl’s been teething badly the last few days and that means that she needs me more than the business does. When this happens, I attend to only the most pressing tasks and make sure she feels comforted. It’s no use trying to help the world when I can’t help my own family, so I make sure that they come first. I like to role model that to others. Nothing is more important than your family.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
The biggest challenge would be to keep up with the growth of the business whilst having the children at home. This is addressed by having a supportive extended family who will look after the kids and keep the household running while I can’t. For example, if I need to take an important phone call at the drop of a hat, I know that someone will watch the kids while I do that. Or if I need to get to the post office to send an order off, I know that the house won’t burn down while I’m gone. I give myself permission to ask for what is needed and trust that my needs will be met. The other challenge would be to keep motivating myself every day and telling myself that what I am doing is worthwhile. I address this by thinking, “How can I help people?” and I’m off again. My career in Community Development taught me so many things, but one thing was how to identify a need and meet that need with a solution. This is what I do with my business.
The challenge would be to keep going when people question why I choose to run an online baby clothes shop. Here are a few examples: What are you doing Natasha, why don’t you get a real job? Don’t start a business! Why don’t you just look after your kids? Have you made many sales? Oh my goodness, it’s hard to keep pushing through that stuff. I had to have conviction that what I am doing is worthwhile and I’m glad I listened to myself because what On Chic Baby Clothes does is important. It provides solutions to parents’ problems whilst being environmentally friendly and looking after the planet.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros are the learning and the self-development. As my business has grown, so have I. It’s given me so much confidence and I’m so grateful I gave it a go. The cons would be wanting to do so much but only having a small amount of time to do it. Ideally, I’d like to be able to work without having to stop every 5 minutes to attend to a child.
It’s also hard having to hold yourself accountable. There’s no manager to guide me and no team to bounce ideas off. I just have team meetings by myself in the bathroom!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Oh, so many. I’m such a dreamer and a go getter. I’ve got so many plans for the future. Firstly, I want to make sure that On Chic Baby Clothes stays a place where parents can feel confident in their parenting choices. I want to expand the range so that parents have more choice and I want to get more New Zealand labels in-store. I’d like to finish our Community Fundraising project and ultimately I want to make the world a safer place for all its people.
If you have a new baby coming into the world, welcome them with an On Chic Baby Shower 8 Piece Organic Gift Set.
The set includes:
- Maud & Lil Organic Bunny Comforter – (choose between Rose, Ears or Oscar)
- Purebaby Natural Hairbrush
- Snuggle Hunny Organic Cotton Muslin Wild Fern Swaddle
- Purebaby Organic Cotton Sleepsuit
- Purebaby Organic Cotton Singlets x 2
- Love & Lee Bamboo Washcloths x 2
Natasha is mother to one teenager and three little children aged 3, 4 and 8 months and heads the Perth Kindness Pandemic, which helps to spread kindness, not the virus, in the wake of Covid-19. Although orginally from New Zealand, she now calls Western Australia home.
Visit the On Chic Baby Clothes website to view their product range and join their communities on Facebook and Instagram.
