Becoming a mumpreneur, the story so far...

Thanks to everyone for your follows and comments so far.  Before I delve into posts about my opinions, reviews and general snippets of my life, I thought I would share with you my story so far...

As you know, i'm a new first time mummy and business starter, but how did I get to this point?

The adventure had just begun 

Flash back to September 2009, James and I touched down in Sydney after a booze fuelled jolly around Mexico, Vegas and LA.  With all our hopes, dreams and savings intact we had arrived down under, ready to start our new lives together in the sunshine. (ahhhh)

After some nightmare temp jobs (we even considered 'superhero' roles at a theme park, oh yes!) we both secured respectable jobs in the city, myself in Marketing and James in Training.  With hints from both employers of permanent sponsorship, weekends at the beach and moving from a flat share to our own pad just off the harbour bridge we thought... we've made it!

Then after ten days of being late, two days of feeling like death on the train to work and seven pregnancy tests later (six for me, one for James - just to make sure they were working) we found out we were pregnant!  Suddenly our whole world changed.

We decided to stay on in Sydney until I was 24 weeks, after which I wouldn't have been able to fly.  We enjoyed the sunshine, said farewell to new friends and headed back to the sub zero temperatures that awaited us at home that February.

We stayed with James' mum and dad whilst we served notice to the tenants renting our house (thank goodness we didn't sell up, now that's fate).  For the first time in my adult life I was jobless, and unemployable, with an ever growing bump no one was going to give me a job.  So once we got back in our house, I nested, but living on one income was becoming a problem.

Summer came and with it bought the World Cup, damn ruddy football!  I had no interest in being rolled from BBQ to BBQ in the blazing heat to watch what was inevitably going to be a national let down,  so I sulked at home, sweating.

I applied for maternity pay from the Government, I have worked all my adult life, paid my NI so I didn't think there would be a problem. How wrong was I! Two weeks before my due date I received a letter to say that I wasn't eligible.  As I had been out of the country I hadn't worked the required amount of weeks in my 'test period' in England, and Australia didn't count! I was 6 weeks off.  Gutted... how were we going to get by on one wage with a new baby?  

Exchanging Bondi for Skegness - two become three

Then came June 26th 2010, the birth of my beautiful baby daughter, Belle Rose.  It was a horrendous birth, of which I will go into more detail another time, but after an emergency c-section under general anaesthetic she was here!  Isn't it just the most amazing feeling, being a mummy!  We were both over joyed and any feeling of regret about giving up the Sydney dream subsided immediately when we looked into her eyes.

Amongst the joy of having this beautiful new born I couldn't shake the stress of money worries and the guilt I had from not providing towards the household income.  I have always been very independent and worked for my own things.  Suddenly we had to live to a tight budget, of which I wasn't contributing.  I didn't like it one bit!  I knew I had to take ownership of my own destiny, so, when Belle was 10 weeks old I decided to go freelance, and baby number 2 was born... www.themarketingbean.co.uk

And the rest, as they say, is history.  I have been working freelance ever since whilst looking after Belle full time, and I'm loving it!

I hope you'll stay with me as I share with you my continued journey of working motherhood, James adoring and Vera Wang wedding dress hunting!