The Balancing Act
So you had it all, great career, fabulous social life, oodles of disposable income and then
WHAM, a little bundle of joy arrived. Your priorities change, you need a career that works
with your expanding family. Is it possible to do the whole work/life balance thing?
Sara's Story:
We were living in Dubai when we chose to have a family. I was a magazine publisher and
worked long hours. To make time for a family I decided to work for myself as a photographer; a career waiting to be pursued for years.
When I became pregnant with Jack we came home. A family lifestyle that included our extended family was top priority now. My business was parked while we had Jack and settled back into the UK. When he was 10 months, I got a 'proper job' back in media for a short while. As a result, our lives became a series of military operations, the children did long nursery hours and by the time we all got home, there was no time before it was bath and bed time for the children. We felt we didn't really see them in the week. For us, something had to give again. So, with Craig's support, some determination and many financial sacrifices we started The Great Little Picture Company Ltd and Sara Moseley Photography. 18 months on, the studio and office are based at home and we enjoy more time together. Whilst much of what I do is out and about, I can be flexible with my hours and still do the normal things like the school/nursery runs.
I took a different career path after having children; I appreciate not everyone can do this. Becoming a family gave me the need for flexibility and time that led us to create a thriving family business.
Sally's Story
I have always worked, when the children were younger I managed a children's nursery and was fortunate enough to be able to take them with me, which worked out well for me.
After the children started school, I left the nursery and moved into sales. I worked for a leading gift company and this experience gave me a valuable insight into the retail sector, but it involved lots of travelling, long hours and overnight stays, which meant I found it difficult to juggle with family life. I decided I needed a change. Working for the gift company, I met lots of inspirational women who ran their own retail businesses and
managed to balance work and family life. This gave me the confidence to make the leap
and set up my own children's boutique, from that moment, Mooch was born. Now I work
close to home, I can do the school run every morning and between family and friends
I can strike a happy balance between work and family time. At the moment we are busy
preparing to launch our on-line shop, which will complement our existing offer of products,
watch out for moochkids.com.
Juggling family time with work commitments can be difficult but now the children are older, they enjoy being involved in what I do. From the initial concept through to the launch of Mooch Kids the children have been involved, they are now my official
product testers, so far, so good. You will sometimes find them helping out on a Saturday, this is great experience and offers them life skills they cannot learn in a classroom.
My husband, Jonathan, is always there and in between his day job he offers support,
manpower and advise, plus accountancy skills, Mooch Kids is truly a family business.
