Bec Mackey 1/3/20 Bec Mackey 1/3/20

Starting a creative business when you have young children

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 Creative Women’s Circle members 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.

5 min read

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 CWC circles. The previous president of the Creative Women’s Circle board runs Creative Minds Publishing, a boutique publishing company that produces and sells high-quality books and resources that provide practical advice and inspiration for creative professionals. She juggles this alongside part time work and caring for her two 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 its amazing where it goes.

Tess: I could say that wanted to diversify my income to incorporate products, but really I just wanted to design nice books and make all the decisions! Plus publishing is not a big money-earner (at least the way I do it!)

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: I was running my own business as a graphic designer for various clients before having kids, so working for myself on my own books meant that I didn’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.

How do you structure your business around your family?

Tess: Because I’m mostly the primary carer (and I have a p/t job) and my husband works full time, I use one weekend day when he is home to concentrate on my business. Outside of that, it’s night times.

Nadine: Before going on maternity leave, I worked on my lunchbreak, and then also in the evenings. I tried to keep the weekends free. At the moment its 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 and 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 yourself. If you’ve got a bit of an idea, don’t say its silly, because the voices that say that are just trying to keep you safe. Push through that because its 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, its 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, Kerri and Tess on Instagram:

@candocontent

@antiquate_artistry

@creativemindshq

Bec Mackey is a freelance feature writer who has worked in the media industry for over fifteen years. She writes about wellbeing, work, personal development and parenting, and when she can muster the energy and courage, she writes about Things That Matter. Connect with Bec via Instagram or at www.becmackey.com

Christina Lowry 6/3/18 Christina Lowry 6/3/18

Five lessons learnt from working from home with children

Christina Lowry shares her lessons learnt on working from home with children, after five years, and many nappies and sales!

When I grew up, I wanted to be an artist, complete with the romantic notion of living in a loft full of canvases, drinking red wine with poets and writers. Alas, my foray into painting at university was less than satisfactory and my creativity took a different path when I discovered gold- and silver-smithing. Tools, gold, gemstones! After becoming a jeweller and working in the industry for several years, my journey took another turn when I decided to become a stay-at-home mum.

For three delightful years, I cooked, cleaned and cared for my son and husband, filling in my spare time with creative hobbies. I began playing with my tools again, and after much urging from family and friends, I started my own business. Over time, I taught myself everything I needed to know as I needed it. While I researched how to run a business, I learnt many lessons on how to run that business with a child, then two children, and now three children...

Five years, and many nappies and sales later, here are five of the lessons I have learnt.

1. Make time instead of finding time

This was a huge mindset shift for me. When I was trying to ‘find’ time, I could only find the odd block of free time. But somehow when I had an appointment booked, it was non-negotiable. When I changed my mindset from hobby to business, I realised I needed to ‘schedule’ in work. If I don’t schedule time to go to the gym, I don’t go. If I schedule in work time, I say no to playdates, ignore the laundry and get to work.

I was told early on that if you give your child ten focused minutes of your time, he or she will give you an hour to yourself. This depends a little on the age and temperament of the child, but I have found that even as toddlers, getting down to my children's level and joining in with them, or simply listening to them fills their cup and they are less likely to even notice that I am now doing my own thing.

Naptimes, nighttime, weekends are all great times to get to work. Depending on the type of work you do, you may be able to work at your laptop while your children play beside you. Think about when you work best. Are you a morning person or a night owl? I know I am fresher in the morning for tasks like writing, while I can do repetitive tasks at night. Schedule time for chores, too. Embrace the flexibility of working from home to create a routine that works for your whole family.

2. Enlist help

I am blessed to have a father-in-law who comes to our house and babysits one day a week. That is my bench day. I have tried working with my children in my workshop, and while it is sweet at first, it almost always ends in disaster. There was the time my toddler dropped a steel block on his toe, which resulted in a trip to emergency to stitch it back together. Or the time another of my little ones drew beautiful pictures all over my professionally printed postcards. Or the time my daughter was playing with my metal ring size gauge, which does make a lovely rattling sound, and which has never been seen again.

If you don’t have the convenience of grandparents, enlist friends for babysitting swaps: you take her child one day, she takes yours the next. The kids get two playdates and you get a whole day of work. Think creatively about other blocks of time you could use to work. My gym offers two-hour crèche sessions, which means I can work out and then write on my laptop in the coffee room before collecting my treasures.

Free up your time in other ways by enlisting help. You may not be ready to hand the reins over to an employee, but perhaps you could hire an intern, get a cleaner, hire a courier to pick up your parcels rather than going to the post office, have your stationary orders delivered instead of picking them up at the store and indulging your paper addiction… Think about your rate of pay as a business owner. Is it worth driving half an hour to pick up that item yourself, or would you be better off paying a ten-dollar delivery fee? Can you hire a bookkeeper, invest in a product photographer or ask for guest articles for your blog to free up your time to do the things that only you can do?

3. Batch your days

When I was working full-time (before there were small humans dependent on me), I answered emails, ordered supplies, posted to social media, did paperwork, did bench work and went to the post office each day. Now, I have themes for each day. It stops me from multitasking and is the best use for my time.

One day might be for emails and ordering, another day is my bench day, another is for scheduling social media and another day for packaging and posting orders. Even if I am interrupted a million times, I know exactly what I am up to that day and there is no time wasted getting out the packing supplies five times a week, or making five trips to the post office.

4. Set boundaries

This applies to both yourself and others. It’s easy to get lost in your workday and forget to make time for your children, too. When your scheduled work time is up, resist the temptation to do just a little bit more and focus on your children instead. Go to the park, take a walk, paint a picture, read them a book, bake with them or do your chores with them. These are the things they will remember. These opportunities are the reason you are working from home.

At first, I felt ‘mama guilt’ whenever I was working, feeling like I should be with my children instead, while with my children I felt guilty that I should be attending to my business. I couldn’t win! Over time, I have realised I need to be where I am in the moment. By scheduling my time I can be present with my children while I am with them and forget about work, and while I am working, I need not feel guilty about expressing my creativity and contributing to our finances.

Setting boundaries for others can be more difficult. I am a people pleaser and try to oblige whatever is requested of me. Oh, you need that tomorrow? Sure, not a problem! Argh! It is your business. You make the rules. Learn to say no. Ask for what you need: the time you need, the money you need, even the help you need from your partner.

5. Take Sundays off

Your business won’t love you back, but your children will. Early on, I treated my business like a newborn, attending to its every need immediately. Now I realise it is more like a tween. It needs my help, but can exist independently for longer periods of time without my undivided attention. The separation between home life and work life are blurred when you work from home. There is always so much to do on both fronts that it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Several cycles of overachieving followed by burnout have taught me that much of the pressure is of my own design. Everything doesn’t need to be done at once. Give yourself at least one day off a week when you don’t think about work and focus on your family and yourself instead. Reconnect, do self-care, ignore your emails, work on projects for fun with no pressure or financial goals attached to them.

It's not always easy, and I am often asked how I do it all. I think all business owners have a streak of crazy! But the satisfaction of having my children home with me and being able to build a business and watch it grow as they grow has been the best decision I have ever made.

Christina Lowry is a designer and jeweller who creates fine jewellery for creatives. Her work is featured in several Australian galleries, as well as in her online store. Christina fell in love with jewellery making while studying a Bachelor of Fine Art/Visual Art. Each piece is lovingly made by hand in her Brisbane workshop, incorporating precious metals and gemstones and using traditional metalworking techniques. To see more of her work, visit her website, Facebook page, and follow her on Instagram (@christinalowrydesigns).

Photos by Trudi Le Brese Photography