After a challenging four years after the birth of Tanaz’s precious premature son, she knew it was time to start creating art once again and make it her business, but needed a helping hand knowing where to start…
My name is Tanaz Assefi. I am originally from Tehran/Iran. I moved to London to further my studies and change my life in 2000.
In 2005 I moved to Woolwich with my husband and have been living within the borough of Greenwich ever since and loving it.
Art has always been my passion and worked as an art tutor since I was 16 (I taught young children during long summer holidays).
I studied at Kingston University for a Masters Degree in Illustration and Animation. After moving to London I worked as a shelf filler at Habitat, as an Art Gallery assistant at Cork Street and PR to an Artist Agent but everything changed when I became a mum to a severely premature baby.
After a long break and once my son had started school, I began to create artwork again and participate in exhibitions and art fairs.
In 2019 I met the CEO of MumsAid (a charity providing pregnant women and new mums with specialist counselling for emotional or mental health difficulties) at a workshop and she invited me to run ‘The Art of Self Expression’ workshops for her clients. Ever since, I have been running these workshops, in-person and online during the various lockdowns.
My main goal was to start running these workshops for women privately, by myself as a business and not just part of MumsAid, but I found the business side of things very difficult. I’d work with my heart on my sleeve with minimum understanding of how a business actually works and how to make my ideas reality.
When I heard about the Successful Mums Course, I thought this was my chance to learn more and tweak my business idea into something that could really work.
“My tutor held my hand gently, yet firmly and pushed me to the finish line. It felt SO rewarding to finish the course as it had been a challenging ride for me – I reached my goal, slowly but surely!“
Tanaz
The support I received was amazing. Meeting other like-minded mums was part of that support. I learned how to write a business plan and create a cash flow chart. I created my business logo and everything else that goes with it. My idea WAS turning into a business.
My confidence was growing and I knew that I could run a business on my own and on my own terms.
I had to be consistent, follow what my tutor set me and show up for every task. It was tough but the support was there. Unfortunately, my son brought covid home from school. We all caught it but it hit me the worst. I thought I was going to have to give up the course as I couldn’t concentrate and was unable to finish all my units on time. Thankfully my tutor held my hand gently, yet firmly and pushed me to the finish line. It felt SO rewarding to finish the course as it had been a challenging ride for me – I reached my goal, slowly but surely!
Overall the course gave me the confidence to push for what I wanted and showed me the tools I needed. We talked a lot about the transferable skills we gain from becoming a mother and not looking at the times we have to take care of our children as a lost opportunity or falling behind.
Being a mother is rewarding and it is truly wonderful to know there are many businesses that value having a mother within their team, they understand the challenges of raising a family and are willing to be more flexible.
Find out more about me, my artwork and workshops on my WEBSITE I’m also on Instagram @TanazAssefi @artofselfexpressionworkshop, Facebook @TanazAssefiArt and Twitter @TanazAssefi