A better balance for Successful Mum Charlotte

With a busy family life, a demanding job and a growing pottery business, mum-of-two Charlotte was being pulled in all directions. Here, she explains how Successful Mums was there to help when she decided to make a change.

At the start of last year, I had a reality check. As well as owning a successful pottery painting business, I was working part-time as the deputy head teacher of an outstanding junior school in Bromley, where I had taught for almost 15 years.

I’m also a mum of two boys, aged five and 11, and have been married to my husband for nearly 15 years. With all these different hats to wear, I was quite literally spinning too many plates and something had to change.

For a while, I battled between investing further in my teaching career and investing more time and effort in my pottery business – doing both was no longer an option. I needed a better work-life balance and more flexible working hours so that I could be around more for my family. In February 2017, I took a leap of faith and resigned from my teaching job to concentrate on developing my business.

One of the first things I did was book onto the free Business Start-up Taster run by Successful Mums. This helped me to focus on the strategic direction for my business and I came away feeling empowered – ready to step up to the next rung of the ladder as a ‘mumpreneur’!

One year later, Flying Colours Pottery is thriving and I’ve not looked back! As a mobile pottery painting company, we offer parties and workshops for all ages in our customers’ own homes, as well as in schools, offices and other venues in and around Bromley. Our baby footprint sessions are always in demand and our ‘takeaway’ service is proving very popular with parents during the school holidays.

My business has enabled me to combine so many things I love – being creative, being social, meeting new people and also using all my teaching experience to help people learn a new skill and create treasured memories they will feel proud of.

Being able to spend more time with my children was one of the main reasons for wanting to make it a success and I now have the flexibility to prioritise my family over my work. Our family time together is the most important thing for me. I recently read a quote by CS Lewis that sums this up perfectly: “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” Flying Colours has literally put the colour back in my life and enabled me to fly!

You can find out more about Charlotte’s business here and on Facebook.

If you have a brilliant business idea and want to find a better work-life balance for you and your family, Successful Mums Career Academy can give you the boost you need. Book your place on one of our Business Start-up Courses. Find out more HERE