The arrival of Emma’s daughter brought a new perspective into her life, torn between not wanting to miss out on these precious years and fulfilling her career aspirations Emma took a leap of faith and set up her own embroidery business.

With a little help from Successful Mums business coaching, Emma was able to navigate the challenges of juggling motherhood and her new venture and is now a shining example of how passion, hard work and the right support can empower you to create your own success.

“My name is Emma, and for as long as I can remember I had a drive for creativity. I went through school, art college and finished up my education graduating with a degree in fashion marketing.

After a few years in the thick of the fashion industry, I decided that women’s fashion really wasn’t for me. I didn’t enjoy The Devil Wears Prada lifestyle… and realised my true calling lay elsewhere.

So, I pivoted and redirected my marketing skills into the Education sector; where I spent most of my career working for a range of education providers; I’ve worked for urban South London colleges where many young people came from troubled backgrounds, through to elite independent schools in Chelsea with members of the royal family and well-known footballers at the school gates.

I worked my way up to senior manager level and was feeling good about my progress over the years. However, the birth of my daughter made me rethink my career, I was desperate not to go back into an office. After waiting a long time to have my daughter, this time felt so precious and valuable. I thought there must be a better way to balance motherhood and my professional aspirations.

I decided I wanted to pair my degree skills with something that I am in the thick of and had an idea to launch a personalised embroidery online gift shop. But I wasn’t sure how to start, and after having my baby and taking a career break my confidence was at an all-time low. This is when I turned to Successful Mums coaching programme for support and guidance.

My first experience of coaching was fantastic, I was introduced to my business coach Dee via Zoom. She was exactly what I needed, a smiley, bubbly engaging woman who was just overflowing with warmth. She made me feel instantly at ease and not self-conscious in the slightest about whether my idea was viable or not. She was 100% on board and cheerleader-ed me from the offset.

My meetings with Dee were really valuable. I felt like by having a baby, I had hit a big slide in a game of snakes and ladders in the career world. I felt frustrated and was worried about never getting back to where I had been in my career, or having that salary, and stressed about having to make sacrifices between my family and career. It seemed impossible to ‘have it all’.

I really wanted to go solo, but the fear of failure was like a cloud hovering over me. I felt self-conscious in every sense after having a baby, mentally and physically in unchartered territory. The coaching helped me to grow confidence and reminded me that I have all the skills already to make my own success.

Dee reminded me that I’d had a very successful marketing career for 13 years; why on earth would l not be able to do it on my own? That was the turning point for me.

I would highly recommend this coaching programme to anyone who wants to try something different, it’s not intimidating and everyone at Successful Mums has one goal, and that’s to see you succeed and that is felt from the offset.

As a result of the coaching, I’ve gained useful knowledge on the project management side of getting my business, Martin Designs, off the ground, but most importantly I have gained the confidence injection that I so needed to feel reinvigorated and just start.

I now have a small but growing business, a website and online gift shop, a growing social media following, a regular artisan market stall and local press coverage. It’s not been easy growing a business in between a lack of sleep, nursing, weaning, and all the activities that come with a 6-month-old.

I’ve juggled and multi-tasked my way through by getting work done on my phone in the middle of the night feeds, being creative and using weekends when my husband is home.  It’s all for the greater good and I hope that I can be a positive role model to my baby girl in the future, to show her that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

As Benjamin Franklin famously said… don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today.”

You can take a look at Emma’s amazing work here on Insta and Facebook.

If like Emma you are looking to turn a passion into a profession, but need a little support and guidance, get in touch! We’re here to help you build the confidence to take those first steps. Contact us TODAY!