The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
I think the biggest challenge is figuring out how to turn your vision into reality and accepting that you will have to compromise on things for a number of reasons. If we had infinite time and resources, The Maternity Market would be 10 steps ahead of where we are now, but we accept that it’s going to take nurturing and time to achieve our large goals. Also, Nikki and I have both managed businesses before but never started one from scratch and there’s a lot to set up and learn that we did not anticipate.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros are putting our time and skills into something that is all ours and something we are hoping to build and build and build! We honestly feel like we are making a difference in women’s lives and love that we are helping to elevate Australian brands, many owned by other mums. Also, the feeling you get when you hear feedback that people love what you do is amazing.
The cons are having to spend time away from family, working whenever you can (I haven’t watched TV all year!) and late into the night, that niggling self-doubt and worry about whether your decisions are right and, lastly, space! Our warehouse space is super small and it is getting tighter by the day!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We have so many big dreams for The Maternity Market. Not only do we want to continue building our range of products to really be that one-stop shop for everything you need during pregnancy and after birth, we want to take The Maternity Market and all of these amazing Aussie brands global and start selling internationally.
Our real dream is really to have a large warehouse space of our own, a super The Maternity Market headquarters! And the big goal is that the vast majority of our staff are women!
Visit The Maternity Market website to find out more and to check out their amazing range of products, and follow their journey on Facebook and Instagram.
