Whether you start a side hustle at night after the kids go to bed or launch a business during maternity leave, choosing the freedom of a business or freelancing is an increasingly popular choice for women who have young children. But there are questions. A lot of them. How, exactly, does it work? When do you work, how do you work, how do you decide what type of business to start?

To answer some of these questions, we interviewed three members from The Exchange Society who have forged this path for themselves. They give us some behind the scenes insights into the process of starting their businesses, and how, exactly, it all works.

Our interviewees

Nadine Nethery, based in Sydney with three children, runs Can Do Content. She is a copywriter who works with female entrepreneurs, helping them to find their brand persona and their ‘why’. A lot of these women are also juggling their business with family life, and it is Nadine’s mission to help them find their voice.

Nadine Nethery. Image: Sister Scout Studio

Kerri Hollingsworth runs antiquate from her home in Gippsland, Victoria . Combining two passions, one for upholstery and weaving and the other for sustainability, she uses recycled materials to create one-of-a-kind armchairs, each piece telling its own story. Kerri runs her business alongside being a mum to her three year old daughter.

Melbourne-based Tess McCabe is a familiar name in TES circles. The previous president of the Creative Women’s Circle board is the brains behind Creative Minds, a boutique publishing company that produces and sells high-quality books and resources that provide practical advice and inspiration for creative professionals. She also helps clients with web design, book design, and branding via her design business, and has two school-age kids.

What prompted you to start your business?

Kerri: I started out doing standard upholstery before my daughter was born, while I was working as a flight attendant. But I was getting frustrated with the amount of waste I was producing in my home and my business. I was looking at the fabric scraps— my business of upholstery art, Antiquate Artistry, came from wanting to be less wasteful. The idea just evolved. If you let it evolve then it's amazing where it goes.

Tess: It's always wise to diversify income to incorporate products and services, but I also wanted to design nice books and make all the decisions. While publishing is not a big money-earner (at least the way I do it!), it's great to have an arm of my career that is not only creatively fulfilling but supports my community of clients and peers too.

Nadine: The flexibility, and being able to do what I love. Corporate life isn’t for me.

How did you get started?

Nadine: Like many female business owners I started my business as a side gig, around my day job in corporate events in communications. One of those boring days in the office I decided to give it a go. At the time I had two kids and was working full time. I thought, no pressure, and see how it goes. Then I got to the point where I almost had too much work, and went on maternity leave with my third child and have been working on Can Do Content since then.

Kerri: I was on maternity leave from my job as a flight attendant and when I was waiting to get the call to go back for retraining, I thought I would just give the upholstery business a go. Qantas called a few months later, but by then I had got into a magazine and had a front cover feature, had held an exhibition and I had three orders – one for eight chairs. I decided to leave flying. It was a really hard decision, but I couldn’t ignore the feeling, it was like my heart was bursting. And I knew I couldn’t combine flying and being away with motherhood.

Tess: It started unofficially through self-publishing Conversations with Creative Women in 2011, and was formalised into a company in 2014.

What obstacles and challenges have you faced?

Tess: Books need marketing to sell, so once the book is produced, while there is no more ‘making’, you have to find time to keep on top of marketing. Finding time is always a challenge!

Nadine: Probably confidence – imposter syndrome. I know I can write, I have a background in marketing, I know there is a need for my services but I still questioned myself. The self doubt and wondering if I’m good enough.

Kerri: I think the biggest challenge was probably my mindset. I’ve always been a really positive person, but you can’t help the fears that come up where you wonder if people think it’ll be silly, I’m constantly working to quiet those little voices that say ‘you’re stepping outside the norm’. A lot of us a fear of success because then people might react in a certain way.

What are the pros and cons to running a business vs having a job when you have a family?

Nadine: As a mum the paid sick days are a pro of a job. Whereas in your business everything stops and comes to a halt. You need a big support network if you have a deadline, partner, family and friends that can help. But the flexibility and the reward for finding a passion that you happen to get paid for, rather than showing up to an office everyday to get paid for something that you don’t want to do are the highlights of having your own business. And I love that no day is the same, no client ever has the same story.

Kerri: Financially having your own business there is more pressure. With a job you turn up and do your job and you go home and you know you’ll be paid. There was so much I loved about flying, but I know not being in the job I remember the good and not the hard parts – like the 23rd hour you’ve been awake and you still have to drive home.

Tess: Publishing my own books means that I don’t have external deadlines, only my own. But the money is different when you have a product-based business vs a service-based business. Time is not the only outlay and there is more financial risk. My service-based design business supports the production of my books, while my books support the marketing of and promotion of my services to my ideal clients.

They work hand in hand, but it's a balance. On the parenting side, having my own business means the utmost flexibility. I can choose where to be and when, and my kids can see what I do for my career and how it contributes to our family lifestyle.

How do you structure your business around your family?

Tess: Things have evolved over the years as my kids have grown. While in my kids' early years I worked during naptimes and nights/weekends, now I have more structure by working school hours. I take whatever time I need during school holidays. It's always evolving, but I'm also prioritising my own needs as a business owner not to run myself ragged. It's nice to enjoy the progress I've made after almost two decades in business for myself – and enjoy my kids too.

Nadine: Before going on maternity leave, I worked on my lunch break, and then also in the evenings. I tried to keep the weekends free. At the moment it's during naptime and the evenings and I still try not to work on the weekend.

Kerri: It looks different everyday – when my daughter was younger, it was a bit easier, because I would go into my workshop and work while she was sleeping. Nowadays when I’m working, if she wants to stay with me and I have to keep going, then she loves to help so I’ll give her something to do alongside me. I’ll set up a little loom and she’ll weave alongside me. I try to include her in everything so she doesn’t feel like she’s excluded. I hope that she sees it more as we’re playing together rather than ‘mummy’s at work’. We go on walks around our property if need be to reset. The two days she’s in daycare I do the things that I need to do that I can’t be interrupted for.

Final words of advice

Kerri: The main thing is to remember who you are. It’s so easy for mums to lose touch with themselves. If you’ve got a bit of an idea, don’t say it's silly, because the voices that say that are just trying to keep you safe. Push through that because it's really worth it. Your children and family fill your heart in one way but having your own purpose – they don’t take from each other if you give each their space.

Nadine: Don’t wait for the perfect moment, if I waited for the perfect moment it wouldn’t have happened. If you have that underlying passion and desire for something, just do it. If you think too much then you can always find a reason not to do it. Just give it a go and the worst that can happen is it doesn’t work out. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Don’t listen to the mum guilt, something has to give, if the dishes aren’t done, whatever, it's going to be ok.

Tess: It takes a village! Utilise and ask for help. And don’t be too hard on yourself – businesses can evolve as your kids grow.

Connect with Nadine (@candocontent), Kerri (@antiquate_artistry) and Tess (@creativemindshq) on Instagram.

Starting a creative business when you have young children