With magazines such as ‘Working Mother’ and Mia Freedman’s yummy mummy blog ‘Mama Mia’ a staple read for many women, it’s clear that women are interested in finding ways to balance their family life and business career. Today Emma discusses the dual responsibilities of many Australian women, and how being ‘pulled in all directions’ makes you a better business woman.
I was recently interviewed by the Mortgage and Finance Brief, and one of the questions was how I managed to successfully juggle motherhood and being a respected broker. After all, being a finance broker isn’t a job with typical working hours…. but then again, neither is the job of being a mother. I thought the topic would be interesting to Fierce Finance readers, many of whom I know to be juggling motherhood and careers themselves. I have two children under the age of four, and know how difficult it can be to leave them squalling and asking after their Mum. I can also unabashedly say that sometimes leaving them is a big relief, an opportunity to be ‘me’ without accompaniment for a little time. That’s not to say that I don’t feel occasionally guilty about my time management between family and clients – I’m sure that many women feel guilty occasionally and would like to be there more often for their children, husband, mother and father, friends etc. But we all know – there’s only 24 hours in a day and life rolls on.
Since becoming a mum, I’ve experienced my life flourish in a number of ways. I obviously love my kids and relish the role of experiencing life in slow-mo, high-res with them. A visit to the park, a ‘baking’ session… kids force you to slow down and enjoy minutiae. The demands that my children make on my time have forced me to become more efficient – and my business is better for it. I don’t want to spend any additional time on work when I know my family needs me – which means I’m on high-efficiency overdrive when I’m with my clients, creating excellent deals for them with a laser-beam focus. Having children has sharpened my business intuition (ie who is a client i’d love to work with as opposed to those that mightn’t be a great match), and it has encouraged me to be the most successful I can. What better example can I set for my children than to balance my life as best I can, and drive a business which I love, which sustains me and which improves the life of my family?
In my opinion, showing my children how successful a woman can be in business is just as important as showing them how to bake up a killer batch of bickies!
