Survey highlights flexibility penalty for mums
Despite the post-Covid move to more flexible working, many mums are struggling to get the...read more
Well, this weekend involved an emergency rescue job for a bride in Oxfordshire (who had been let down, two days before her wedding by another VW camper hire company), a sunny Sunday afternoon in a campervan filled with male models in just their underpants (!), and a juggling job to get my daughter to a birthday party that she had been really looking forwards to!
Working for yourself can be exciting, but you are constantly balancing the responsibilities of parenthood – and pulling favours left right and centre! Especially if the nature of your work tends to focus around weekends!
I decided to give up my grown up job in the city to run a vintage VW camper wedding and holiday hire business in south London. It is the greatest job in the world! You never know what is coming round the corner – getting to travel to exquisite venues to pick up happy brides and posing for fashion magazines (well the campers do – it is the closest I will ever get to a modelling career!).
But all the fun and frolics that come with this job require serious support over the weekend – a role that my lovely husband is able to provide – but at the cost of me missing out on attending those Saturday afternoon birthday parties, watching my little one eat jelly and ice cream and pin the tail on the donkey….
I do get to spend more time at home in the week which is certainly a plus – but I have also found that I have had to be quite strict with my time. The temptation to respond to a booking enquiry, when you are spending time with your daughter – the little red light that starts to wink at you on your phone, telling you that you have mail, whilst your are elbow deep in chocolate and crispy cornflake cake making activities! I think that I probably have an unhealthy relationship with my phone – it comes everywhere with me – even in the bath!!!
There are no regrets over starting up my own business (this thought was particularly true whilst on the Sunday photo-shoot with all those male models – ha ha!) – but anyone considering doing it needs to be ready for the barrage of work that will come their way. I hope to blog over the next few weeks about some of the hurdles I have had to overcome – from legal wrangling over a “passing off” claim, to strategic thinking with the recent news that I am now three months pregnant and operating a business in full swing!
I hope that I can give you a few laughs along the way too!
Nathalie (www.buttercupbus.com)
PS. If any of you cheeky ladies would like to have a sneaky peak at the male models at our recent photoshoot, check our Facebook page on this link here!