26/11/2024
Well, it’s been a minute (or 637 days, but who’s counting? 😆). I’ve been busy with life, a baby, and figuring out business—and I’ve got some lessons to share.
I’m a new Mum in business and here are some self-employment mistakes I made pre-baby:
🟣 Not having the right schedule for me. This was a hard one before having my baby because I struggled with accountability to myself. The freedom to work anytime felt more like staring at a blank page with creative block than the magical 'freedom' I imagined.
⚫️ Being in business mode all week. Leading to total overwhelm and burnout that meant I was productive very little of the time but stressed out 24/7. Even though I blocked out evenings and weekends.
🟣 Not having a sense of purpose. Not a deep one that guided me every day at least. I wanted to help people and do it on my own terms, but I felt like I was fighting a battle just to get through the day. I think lack of purpose was a key factor in my mental health trouble (as well as the fake hormones from the pill but hey that’s another story).
⚫️ Taking on new work in the third trimester of pregnancy. Baby brain hit hard and I couldn’t provide my best service. Of course, this experience varies for everyone. Personally, I cannot be a super hero who works flawlessly right up until baby arrives as if my mind isn’t mud and my body’s not malfunctioning.
🟣 Overcommitting myself and saying yes to too much. I actually thought I was getting pretty good at saying no. But I needed to dial riiight down before I could truly understand my own business capacity. It doesn’t look like other people’s and it doesn’t need to. It also means scaling down my financial goals to something genuinely realistic and fair yet ambitious.
100% switching off from business for about a year was what I needed. It allowed me to reconnect with myself, rediscover my priorities, and emerge with a clearer vision. Having my little one has been healing and purposeful. Now I have new foundations to build on and I am able to think about business differently.
Some key lessons I’ve learned:
🟣 Working within tight restraints can be a really good thing. They provide clarity and direction because there’s no longer unlimited options to choose from.
⚫️ Spinning your wheels for a long time means you need to do something drastically different.
🟣 The best things for you should feel scary or flow naturally. Listen closely to your intuition.
⚫️ You can’t read the label from inside the jar (a saying I read in She Owns It- The Membership). No amount of overthinking or research is going to change your position. Only finding a way out through action will.
🟣 Community is everything. Giving and receiving support amongst kind people will fill everyone’s cup.
So yeah, I am a web designer/developer who can help people. But I’m not desperately grasping for work. I’m not available 40 hours a week. I don’t make 6 figures. I don’t keep up with the Joneses. But more importantly, my passion is back. Glow Creative work is fun and satisfying. I’m mentally healthier than ever. I tend to my dishes every day 😂. I feel joy regularly. I have a wonderful wee family.
Flick me a message if you're a fellow mum in business or if you’re curious about Shopify and WordPress - I’d love to chat and share stories!
Yours glowingly, Ashleigh ✨
