by Isa Maria Seminega of Noisette Marketing
I have been astounded by the response to Motherhood Month so far. The comments have been so touching, full of honesty and willingness to share your motherhood joys and struggles. It is clear that many of us are experiencing the same conflict, trying our best to juggle housework, children and business/work.
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I have two beautiful, funny, clever children. Joseph is almost 3 and Lily is 8 months. I look after them full-time whilst working from home. When they sleep, I work on my two businesses, Noisette Marketing and Noisette Kids. It’s challenging especially as my husband works crazy shifts which means I can’t rely on set hours each week to work. Despite this, I love it, the benefits of working from home far outweigh the negatives but it has taken me a while to get to the point where I don’t beat myself up over things I’m not able to do.
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As mothers we are notoriously hard on ourselves. We sometimes focus too much on other people’s expectations and outward appearances. We want to have it all and really why shouldn’t we? We work hard, we raise our children and deserve to be successful in whatever we put our minds to. So let’s not feel bad about wanting more for the future, instead let’s let go of the negatives so we can focus on growing our businesses in a way we can manage, right now.
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A while back I wrote a blog post on how it’s ‘ok to grow your business organically’ . I wanted to share the message that we don’t always have to be the fastest growing company in the world or make a million pounds (or dollars!) in the first year of trading. Like many entrepreneurs I have dreams of growing my Empire to epic proportions. We all want to succeed but it is ok to do it slowly. As Aesop’s writes in the fable The Tortoise and the Hare, slow and steady wins the race.
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So I’ve decided to focus on building relationships, not on making money. As Jessika wrote, People over Profit. My aim with Noisette Marketing is to help people make a living doing what they love, so I focus on that. When you hone in on the true purpose of your business, you become free. Because money is not my focus, I can provide the best services I can without undervaluing what I do. I have less clients, but provide more for them. I try out new things without fear. I can grow my business in a manageable way which in the long term will be more sustainable. I am building networks, community and relationships so when my children are older I can move forward with new opportunities.
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So let’s change our mindset! Let’s make a promise to ourselves to follow this Motherhood Manifesto (or Womanhood/Sisterhood Manifesto!). We are amazing women whatever challenges that come our way and it’s time for us to realise that.
