Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Running a small business while raising young children is definitely a juggle! They can both be quite relentless roles, so we’ve found it important to have boundaries, time where we step away from our phones and screens, and not being afraid to ask for help. Both in our parenting and business lives.
Keeping momentum from a business perspective can be tricky, so we practise a lot of self compassion, when things don’t go as planned. We are really fortunate to have supportive partners who really believe in what we are doing. We also have a fantastic working relationship. Rachael instinctively knows I function better with coffee and cake, so having a friend who is also my work wife certainly helps during those super busy times!
Our work meetings might happen on a nature walk with our kids, or via Skype while cooking dinner or folding washing. That is the reality of running a business. I would say our balance isn’t perfect, more of a work in progress most days!
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Starting a business is hard work, more than I ever could have imagined!
It can be a total rollercoaster, some days we will be buzzing having sold out a workshop really quickly. Other days we could pour our hearts and souls into a meaningful article, to have only 10 people see it.
‘Marketing’ has always been a bit of a dirty word for us. Neither of us come from that type of background so it can be tough, as it requires constant work to be noticed as a small business. So I would say the biggest challenge that we have overcome is our own mindsets. It’s hard not to be bummed about moments where things don’t go as planned, but balancing that is knowing we can really help people and that’s what keeps us going.
So whether it’s getting our message in front of hundreds at a time or one person, what matters most to us is that we get the support to those who need it most. We know there are families absolutely struggling with meal times, or who are desperately worried about their child not eating. I can’t tell you how many mums we have spoken to who are going through their own journey of acceptance with their body, while also worried sick about their child’s relationship with food. It’s often complicated and for many families it is isolating and deeply agonising. Knowing that we can help them through that means that every time we put ourselves out there is worth it.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Pros would definitely be the connections we have made. We have been privileged to met some brilliant paediatricians, speech and language therapists, child psychologists and other registered professionals who are not only highly skilled, but wonderfully compassionate. Being able to link up with them, share knowledge and wrap support around a family who needs it has been fantastic. Having the time and flexibility to nurture those connections and prioritise supporting the families we work with in that way, is something that can be hard to achieve in the public health sector.
Cons would be: It is a huge commitment in time, energy and finances. Definitely not an easy option, so would only recommend to those who are passionate and ready for a challenge!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We hope from next month that we can more easily connect with people living or working with children who need our support.
To enable that, we are about to launch a series of online webinars and books! We have had so many requests for our workshops from people around the world, so we are so excited to have this option for them.
Our baby led feeding webinar is all about raising a confident and mindful eater right from the first bite! It offers practical and evidence-based tips for starting solids and feeding your baby in the first two years, looking at both baby led weaning and a traditional weaning approach.
Our guidebook ‘Feeding a growth mindset’ is about building children’s confidence with food and creating family meal time routines that teach children skills for both their health and happiness.
We are also putting the final touches on an early childhood food education programme: ‘Growing happy healthy eaters – thinking beyond nutrition’. This is for early childhood teachers and ECE centre cooks, a whole centre professional development programme.
To find out more about The Food Tree and the wonderful work they are doing, check out their website and join their communities on Facebook and Instagram. You can also find them on Soundcloud.
