When Abi approached me to write a blog post for The Cool Rule Company’s first birthday celebrations I was over the moon. “No bother,” I thought. “I’ll rattle that off in no time.”
Ha. Not quite.
I’m now over my deadline and frantically typing away whilst trying to settle my four month old baby, and hope that my two and four year olds stay sleeping.
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| Michelle with the original Custard & Bear |
Welcome to my world as a Mumpreneur (and a Mumpreneur with three young kids at that!).
Businesses are like children; they thrive and flourish when paid lots of Grade A attention, they get grouchy and difficult to deal with when you give them Grade F attention.
So, how on earth do you give your kids and your business that Grade A attention when there’s literally not enough hours in the day?
The amazing thing about meeting Abi, and all of her inspirational birthday business bloggers, was that they understand this juggling act. And let me tell you that juggling a business and being a mummy ain’t easy. It’s great fun, exhilarating, rewarding, empowering and just generally fab. But it’s also a knackering, ever-changing, constant battle of dividing your time between work and the kids, and trying not to feel guilty when you choose one over the other.
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| Michelle's awesome marketing agency |
Other mums I meet often think that ‘working from home’ means I don’t really do much, and that my stress over work is a lame excuse as to why my house is always a tip!
However, I don’t stress over giving my business Grade A attention because it’s a fun hobby or a cute diversion from changing pooey nappies; I stress over it because my business pays my mortgage.
But, the downside of all of this juggling is that I often find myself fraught, tired and a bit wired. And, if I’m being brutally honest, I take that out on my kids. I get grouchy with them and snipe and whinge and moan at them and then wonder why they don’t behave like angels.
So, I bought Abi’s Cool Rule Book with a different reason to most mums. I bought it to remind me that my kids need me, my time, and a sane, fun mummy. Their Cool Rule Books are secretly my Cool Rule Books!
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| A very happy Big Tot with his Cool Rule Book |
When I’m tired and at my wit’s end with them I pick up their books, look at all of our rules, see their smiley faces and I smile too. I mean I really, really beam from ear to ear.
And, armed with my smile and happy thoughts, I am Super Mummy – the most funny, silliest, cuddle giving, bubble blowing, lego building mummy for miles around.
And, do you know what? When I’m happy and the kids are happy then my business is happy. And that’s because the joy my kids have for life infects me; I thrive on their happiness and I’m inspired, motivated and full of ideas and my clients just love it.
I don’t think that when Abi launched the Cool Rule Company she ever dreamed that it was a tool to improve business productivity, but hey, for me that’s exactly what it is! It’s my bible on how to juggle being a mummy and being a mumpreneur and for me it’s invaluable.
Every business mummy should have one!
(Oh, and just in case you’re wondering what I do… I run Custard and Bear, a marketing agency, and we’re pretty awesome).
Michelle, we're so happy to hear that our Cool Rule Books have helped you in the enormous quest of raising toddlers and raising your business too - result!
If you want to contact Michelle or find out more about what she does, here are her details:
facebook.com/custardandbear
@custardandbear
custardandbear.com - website coming soon!
If you want to check out the genius of The Cool Rule Book for yourself, visit thecoolrulecompany.co.uk. Thanks for reading!
Awesome article Michelle! I work with Michelle and can honestly say I think she's a superhuman/ robot! As well as being a total marketing guru she is most definitely a total super mummy :) Hats off to all of the mumpreneurs!
ReplyDeleteShe certainly is wonderful. Thanks for reading!
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