Defining Moment from a Marketing Mum

We all have those utterly defining moments as mothers. You know, those moments when the guilt, the responsibility, the joy, the guilt, the terror or the absolute unquestionable love smacks us in the face and momentarily takes our breath away. Know the ones I mean? I bet you've got a million to choose from.

Because it's the month of March, the month of International Women's Day (rock on), Mother's Day (chill out) and, let's not forget pancake day (pig out!), I've asked some mums I know and admire to share a defining moment on the Cool Rule blog. I, myself, am usually unashamedly taking advantage of the blogosphere to share my own never-ending defining moments, so I thought it was time to let somebody else have a go.

Today, it's Maxine Johnston from Maxine Johnston Marketing.What Maxine doesn't know about marketing and promoting small businesses quite simply isn't worth knowing. And, according to her nine-year-old daughter, she's really rather cool too. So let's see what kind of moment makes Maxine step back in awe at the role of being a mum . . .


My name is Maxine and I am mum to my gorgeous nine year old daughter. When Abi kindly asked me if I’d like to write about my defining moment of being a mum, I really couldn’t pick just one so I thought I would chat to you about a defining 'thing' we have in our house. 

Since I can remember music has been a big part of my life. I have been reliably informed by my parents that when I was brought home from the hospital as a baby, I was immediately played some Paul Simon. Since then music has shaped my life in so many ways. Thanks to my parents I have a broad range of tastes when it comes to music and with the exception of jazz (sorry jazz fans!) I will listen to just about anything.

Maxine with her daughter as a toddler

 











I wanted to bring my daughter up with the same ideal and she too will also pretty much listen to anything from Beyonce to BB King.

All my friends and family know I also love to sing and dance to any music that happens to be playing. I feel I have finely honed skills in both singing and dancing (although those closest to me feel these skills possibly need honing some more!). Most nights before bedtime my daughter and I sing and dance without a care in the world, along to carefully chosen tracks belting from You Tube.

The other night we were singing and dancing along to Olly Murs and I looked at her and she looked so unbelievably happy. Like any mum, I had a pile of dishes to do, work emails to answer and we needed to start the daily bedtime routine but none of that even mattered.

I took a moment to realise that I won’t get this time back. Soon she won’t want to sing and dance along with her embarrassing old mum. So for now we are proudly singing and dancing in our household. And we make no apologies for it!

Dancing is always best when cake is involved

Maxine, we are totally with you on this one. There can never be too much singing and dancing in a household! Maybe we'll put it as a rule in the next edition of The Cool Rule Book!

If you want to speak to Maxine about the marketing needs of your business, just contact her on maxine@maxinejohnstonmarketing.co.uk or on 07582 955 800.

If you'd like to share one of your own defining moments as a mum, just email abi@thecoolrulecompany.co.uk with 100-500 words and one or two photos of you and your children. If you have your own business, I'd be happy to feature information about that too.

And now you can check out The Cool Rule Company's amazing range of happy living products at thecoolrulecompany.co.uk, Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

Birthday Blog Post No. 10

Today's guest blogger is extra special because she has played a starring role in helping The Cool Rule Company become what it is today. Anne Livesey has been my mentor, my agony aunt, my business planner and all-round expert at keeping me sane during the last year or so.


Hello my name’s Anne, and, up until a couple of months ago, I was an Enterprise Coach and Mentor at Derwentside Enterprise Agency. That’s me, Abi and Big Tot in the picture.

Basking in the coolness of the Cool Rule Book

Currently I am the Business Manager at CHUF – the Children’s Heart Unit Fund at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. We raise money to help babies, and children who have to undergo heart surgery and transplant. You can follow us on Twitter, @CHUFOfficial (please!).

An amazing cause

I’ve always been self employed and employed while bringing up my two children (who have both now left home…it’s so quiet…I almost feel redundant, well almost, until some kind of crisis arises).

In the past five years, alongside being employed as an enterprise coach, I also set up and run my own business, Gift in a Tin. At Gift in a Tin we provide a range of beautiful, handpicked gifts which are encased in elegant tins and personalised with a special message. It's the perfect answer for any special occasion.






    

Beautiful gifts encased in elegant, personalised tins

Abi and I met over 18 months ago, on a cold February day in Consett (yes, I know what you’re thinking: that’s odd, Consett is normally so warm and sunny!).

As we sat and chatted, Abi told me all about her plans for her new business, The Cool Rule Company. Her enthusiasm immediately drew me in, and I was hooked! We just needed to devise a plan to pull everything together and unleash this amazing product range on the world!

Our first challenge was what the Cool Rule Book would actually look like, and how to get just a few samples printed. We used our Mumpreneur group to feed back to Abi, and she also ran a national trial which was very successful.

The final version of The Cool Rule Book

This was real start-up phase.

Abi was relying on me as business coach and mentor (and business owner) to listen and impart pearls of wisdom. But it was clear to me; Abi was a very intelligent, creative sort, who had run successful businesses before. She had fantastic dreams, was overflowing with creative ideas, my job was simply going to be to harness all that wonderful enthusiasm, and just, well, be there.



We set about devising how to let the world know about the Cool Rule Book. There were social media marketing master classes from the amazing Pascal Fintoni and bookkeeping and finance with the all-knowing Jackie Oxley. So I can’t lay claim to be the only person who supported Abi on her journey.

But I am very proud to say that Abi has done an amazing job with her brand and her product development over the past year (I really love the reward charts). Her life is busy looking after Big Tot, Little Tot, and Turkish husband,  but Abi works long hours and never gives up. She is a true entrepreneur with natural grit and determination.

Can you see the grit and determination?

Now, a year on, Abi has moved on from being a start up, and has found new connections who will help drive the business on and I know she will make a terrific success of The Cool Rule Company.

Anne might have to do a stint here

 My brief was to tell you all about me and my amazing products (Abi’s words, not mine). But that’s not why I wanted to write this blog – it’s just not about me. But with the risk of incurring Abi’s wrath and being sent to the naughty step, if you want to see more about what I do, you can find me on Twitter at @giftinatin or www.giftinatin.com


Anne, thank you so much for an overly-complementary blog post (two minutes on the naughty spot will do!) and thank you for every minute you've spent helping me since I made that call to you just over a year ago. Folks, if you want to check out Anne's fantastic gift range visit the Gift in a Tin website today, and don't forget about her amazing fundraising work at the Children's Heart Unit Fund.

If you're looking for ways to celebrate your toddler's behaviour, and promote happy family living in your home, visit thecoolrulecompany.co.uk - enjoy!

Birthday Blog Post No. 1

A Word from the Chillipeeps Lady!

Today is the first in our special series of blog posts to help celebrate the first year of The Cool Rule Company. Claire Mitchell from Chillipeeps has been kind enough to take time to write a few words and show you why she has been such an inspiration to me during my first twelve months in business. Enjoy!

Hello, my name is Claire Mitchell and I am the Inventor of the multi-award winning Chillipeeps Teat.

Claire and the genius Chillipeeps teat

The Chillipeeps teat attaches directly to cartons of ready-made formula and Volvic and Evian water bottles. We also have a Sterilised Teat and are about to launch the Chillipeeps Spouts for 6m+.
We now trade globally and have huge plans for the future to create a real difference for our babies.

The teat and the spout in action

It all began with a real ‘Eureka!’ moment when we had just set off late to a family party with our beautiful baby daughter. I knew I had cartons of ready-made formula in the car but I couldn’t remember if I’d picked up the clean sterilised bottle which I’d painstakingly prepared. I asked my husband if he’d picked it up, he hadn't and tried to convince me I definitely would have. So whilst I made him rummage through the baby bag to check, I ranted ‘Why hasn’t anyone invented a teat that can directly attach to the carton?’ It turned out I had picked up the bottle and off we went to the party.

Six hours later when the party was over and we got into the car, I told Rob I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Rob had already forgotten. ‘Why hasn’t anyone invented a teat that attaches directly to the cartons?’ We discussed it all the way home and after a little bit of research online, realised we may have come up with a good idea.

The result of that 'Eureka!' moment

I contacted Peter Jones from Dragons Den that evening and asked him to get in touch. His automated email response gave me the first steps of advice to contact the Patent Office and from there Chillipeeps was born. Genius!

I first met Abi and her funky Cool Rule Company at a local baby and toddler show, where I had gone to give away some Chillipeeps Teats and Abi had a stand. I was immediately drawn to see what she was up to. The branding was so vibrant and intrigued me as to what it was.

The branding that captured Claire's attention

Once Abi showed me the concept of The Cool Rule Book and her reward charts, I loved it. Having a little one myself, I just got it. I quizzed Abi a bit about what her plans were for the future and taking it to a larger audience and offered her my business card. Abi didn’t contact me straight away, which was a good thing as in the meantime I became a Mums Club Top 100 Business woman and within the 100 found a fabulous contact for Abi.

The Cool Rule Book for parents & toddlers

I hoped Abi would make contact one day and I’d have the opportunity to introduce them. Abi did finally get in touch and I gave her the belief and confidence to think big and I introduced her to my special contact, the Dodo Pad founder Rebecca. Fate works in fabulous ways and Rebecca was a perfect contact for Abi, to advise her on moving to a bigger stage.


Thanks so much Claire . . . it's been great to hear from you. And thank you for all your help and support to get The Cool Rule Company where it is today!

The next blog post is from a very talented paper artist, Poppy Lee. Check it out on Monday 8th July!

If you want to follow Claire and her Chillipeeps journey, use these links:

chillipeeps.com
Facebook.com/ChillipeepsTeats
Twitter.com/Chillipeeps

To find out what The Cool Rule Company can do for you and your toddler, visit thecoolrulecompany.co.uk

Happy Birthday to Us!

Well, The Cool Rule Company has made it to its first birthday! It started smiling months ago, it's finally sleeping through the night, has had a good few teething problems but hey, it's just about on its feet and making its own way in the world! Next thing I know, it'll be a toddler.

Any excuse for cake

This time last year I was pulling all the strands of my genius business idea together. The Cool Rule Book trial was done and dusted (with brilliant feedback, of course), the final draft was being lovingly printed and bound, the blog was up and running and the website was coming along nicely. There was only one thing left to do . . . register with the Inland Revenue.

That landmark call was made one dark, thundery afternoon whilst Little Tot was sleeping and Big Tot was at school. I gave my details to the lovely man on the other end of the phone and waited for his heartfelt congratulations. So I was most disappointed when he just asked me if I'd partake in a telephone satisfaction survey. Satisfied? No I bloody wasn't! Didn't he know the hours of toil I'd put in to get to this momentous day?

Luckily most other people I've met since then have been a tad more supportive. I've met some amazing parents trying to be the best mums and dads they possibly can be. I've been lucky enough to have the help of some brilliant business mentors, who have been so generous with their time and advice. And the number of talented, motivated, creative businesswomen I have met has astounded me. I mean, they're everywhere. You're probably sitting on one right now.

Me with the infamous Big Tot and my mentor, Anne

 

 

 

 

Maybe it's a sign of the times but it seems that women today are totally going for it. The women I've met over this year, through mummy-type-networks and right-on-women-type-networks, are calling on their creative powers to get that work-life balance right. What they don't know about combining family, work, health and wellbeing is, quite frankly, not worth knowing. And the important thing is, it's a path they've forged themselves.

I'll put my hands up and honestly say I am still forging my path. I know exactly where I want to be (cue the gentle rolling of waves, rays of sunshine, palm trees swishing etc etc) but the path to get there, considering I'm carrying two unruly Tots, a grumpy hubby and a stack of self-help books, can sometimes get a bit rocky.

I could Cool Rule on a beach

And that's why meeting all these amazing people over the last twelve months has been so inspiring. Yes, their businesses are important. And yes, some of them have some truly magnificent products and services out there. But they're also just normal women, trying to make it all work.

So I've had a brainwave. Let's bring them all together to spread the Cool Rule love. I've asked all of them to write a few words about their businesses throughout our birthday month of July. So, if you want to find out about some fantastic services, some genius products and perhaps get a few pearls of womanly wisdom then this is the place to be.

Go well,

Abi
xxx

34 Tomorrow

I'll be 34 years old tomorrow. Does that plant me firmly in my mid thirties then?

Is that why my nearly-four-year-old son throws his head back in disbelief when I casually call myself a girl and then practically snorts at me "No Mummy, you're a lady".

Is that why I had to tick a different box on a consumer survey the other day and reluctantly admit I am no longer in the 'Young Person' age bracket?

And is that why I'm here, desperately hugging a mug of hot chocolate with five (yes, five) floating marshmallows and musing over all the things I thought I'd have done by now?

I think we all know the answers to these questions. But how cruel that I can no longer make smudged mascara look cool. How tragic that I am unable to wear ripped jeans without the health visitor raising an eyebrow. And it's not fair that I can't look cool doing Zumba. Who invented this whole ageing business anyway?

But having said all that I'm really quite enjoying getting on a bit. For starters, and let's put the baby-birth hair loss and wobbly belly to one side for a minute, the last four years have given me two fantastic healthy children. They are the result of a heart-stopping romance leading to a happy marriage with my own dark, brooding Mediterranean man. I've had the courage to ditch a career I didn't want any more to boldly be the Mum I've always wanted to be. I've lived in three different countries and therefore met three sets of fabulously gorgeous people. And now, in a bid to tip the balance a little bit more in my favour, I'm starting my own business.

It's all new and exciting right now and whilst it's not exactly top secret, it's not something I'm going to shout about until I'm good to go. So until then you'll just have to be satisfied to know that it's cool and it involves rules of some kind and the antics will be posted right here.

Oh, and I found the inspiration for it during my ever-so-wonderful early thirties. Let's hope the mid-thirties have something to offer too (other than floating marshmallows).

Go well,
Abi