Name: Lucy Martin
Age: 40
Children: Stephanie 9, Gina 7 and Jude 5
Job title: Owner and founder of Gina’s Nannies childcare agency
Profit in first year: ?15,000
What was the motivating factor for staring your own business?
Many – I felt that at 35 I needed to be in charge of something. Working in a law firm wasn’t delivering the opportunities I was looking for. I felt that doors were being closed in my face because I was a mother with children. There was no female representation at board level. I think it would be fair to say that I was pushed out of my career by a glass ceiling.
The idea of running a business had always appealed to me because I don’t like to work within the confines of an organisation where I don’t have any say in how things are done. I wanted to design my own career, dictate my own working hours. Setting up a business is also a very creative process, and I felt I could unleash all my creative potential, while using my legal background and knowledge.
I set up a nanny agency because I knew I could give the opposition a run for their money! My own experience of agencies had been very disappointing. I also knew enough parents and nannies to kick-start the business, and it was a business I could set up virtually overnight, with no financing required, just a computer and a phone.
What are the best bits about working again?
I have never stopped working. I never could. Full-time motherhood was never for me. Running a business can be a mixed bag sometimes. What have been you highs and lows so far? No major highs or lows, it’s been pretty even really in terms of Gina’s Nannies. Obviously, when I have a good month that makes me happy, and if a client is unhappy for any reason I still take that very personally, although less so as the years go by.
The biggest highs have actually been what the business has led me to do in other areas, setting up Wimbledon Women in Business in my local community, writing?Make It Your Business with?coach Bella Mehta, and working with the government on the new enterprise framework which is going to revolutionise the landscape for business start-ups in the UK.
What is available to mothers now that you wish you had access to when your family was young?
Well my family is still young and I don’t think much has changed that I know about. I think full-time mothers have a tough time. If you are wealthy and have lots of friends you just don’t notice how much of a struggle motherhood can be. I hear mainly the hard-luck stories of women struggling to find childcare so they can get back to work, which they need to do to support their family. But the childcare is too expensive or simply not up to standard, so they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
Childcare should be a higher priority for the government in my view.
How have you managed to stay on top of your career with the demands of motherhood?
Good question. Well one career fell apart precisely because of motherhood. This new career of mine is designed to fit around my children. I work in school hours and I have a part-time assistant who shares some of my workload. I work from home, so if a child is ill it doesn’t affect me. School holidays are a bit of a challenge and my working hours are reduced then, but I make sure my clients are aware of when I’m in and out of the office so all calls are returned within a day.
The other thing is getting your family to understand and respect your business, not use your computer, answer your phone or leave all their toys scattered around your office. A home office for a business can become a bit of a dumping ground. Another issue is the social expectations of you as wife and mother – shouldn’t you be baking cookies with the kids, rustling up home-cooked meals for your husband? I wrestle with that guilt as well!
What has been the high point along the way?
Getting the book published and getting another offer for my new book.
What is your worst experience along the way?
Probably something very boring like having to do my accounts or getting the computer fixed!
Any tips for expectant mums, or mothers who feel that you can’t have a successful career and a happy family life at the same time?
Yes! I think our book has a lot to offer in terms of inspiration, as it is written by two mothers who are very realistic about what is and isn’t possible in terms of combining work and family. We acknowledge that not every business is going to be big, and the demands of your family may mean that you only want to work part time; but we also challenge that as a presumption – i.e. don’t assume that yours will be a small business – it could have massive potential. At the root of this assumption, which many women make, is the issue of self-esteem.
Too often women tend to put themselves down and motherhood can make you feel you have lost your previous identity. Working can really give you that back, and a new career can mean you get the chance to change what was wrong with the old one and make things fit around you, not vice versa.
Lucy’s co-author Bella Mehta provides coaching for women women who are returning to work and / or considering setting up their own business. Visit www.enspiral.co.uk for more details.