How do some women seem so focused and clear in their decisions? How do they turn their lives around and turn the worse situation into a positive outcome? Here’s my story and how I turned everything around, and started my business in financial advice.
Experience in Finance
My business, Evolution for Women, was a dream on scrap bits of paper, years of ideas that have become something. It started at 19, and working as a temp cashier for Alliance & Leicester. The love of clients and helping people fast tracked my career and at the age of 27 I was a Regional Sales Manager, managing a large, all male, self-employed Independent Mortgage and Financial Adviser team. My responsibility was to manage sales and train the advisors to an exceptional level, I was my job and my job was me. If I went out to a party and people asked what do you do, I would say ‘I am a regional sales manager’ and I would feel proud!
Pregnant and unemployed
After a few years, I found out I was pregnant. I paced the room for hours…at 14 weeks pregnant I was being made redundant. My life was over. How could I go to job interviews with a huge bump? How would I explain maternity leave? How could I work full time with a baby? By June 2008 the recession hit and my daughter was 2 months old. Signing on was my lowest point! I was over qualified for the majority of the jobs I was going for or they were in completely different industries. When going out to meet people and they asked what do you do, I would say ‘just a mum’ with a smile on my face however felt so low and that my identity was gone. I was lost.
Returning to work
Being head hunted by my old boss, I found myself back in financial services again and back to what I was good at! I was very nervous, not as confident as I was before. I had to learn the products and processes all over again. I just pushed myself as hard as I could, telling myself ‘you can do it – you did it before – you can do it again’.
The job was a love/hate relationship, loving the relationship with clients and helping people to overcome their issues and plan for their future. However it also reminded me of everything I didn’t like about financial services. I seemed to have changed, softened, the hard sales lines, high fees and even tougher targets didn’t sit well with me anymore. The client never came first and the sale always did! On top of that, I was now a mum, juggling working in a tough sales environment and the needs of my own family.
The birth of my own business
After many sleepless nights and much soul searching Evolution for Women was born in February 2011.
I am writing this article with my daughter giggling in her bedroom whilst I work in my home office in half term. I have my pa on the phone from main office discussing the goals for the week. My daughter and I are off to a play date in ..oops now.
This is how my life is. It works for me. I am organised and manage every body’s expectations. Everybody wins; I have weekends with the family. I take my daughter to school every day and pick her up. I attend as many https://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/erectile-dysfunction/ school plays and assemblies as I can. I sometimes have to work in an evening for a client appointment, this is when the support of my husband is fantastic and he completely takes over putting her to bed and making sure she is happy. I take my hat off to single mums who manage to juggle life and family alone.
So what tips can I give new mums or mums wanting to start their own business?
1) There is always a compromise. It might be you don’t make the gym one week, or the hovering doesn’t get done. You can’t do it all perfectly.
2) Do one thing at a time. Otherwise you don’t do anything right. Plan out your actions and make them time bound.
3) If you aren’t working, you aren’t working. Turn the phone off and social media off. We aren’t able to operate at our best 24 hours a day. Find a way to switch your brain off and let it go, let your mind drift and just relax. Taking a day out of your business for yourself can have a massive positive impact on your business. Some of my best ideas have come from standing in the shower or lying in bed on a Sunday morning.
4) Find a business buddy, someone you trust and can share ideas with and together you can set targets and deadlines so you have some accountability.
5) Get help on the areas that don’t come natural to you. So if you’re not already social media experts get the help from someone who can train you or provide that support. You can’t be all things to all people.
Hard work and persistence
Of course there can be down sides to running a business. The tips above have been learnt from experience. It has taken much determination and not just hard work, that is a given. It has taken a strong level of will power to not give up at the first or second or third or even forth hurdle.
Making it work with childcare
I have help from after school clubs, a baby sitter and a friend who does the school pick up when needed. I have a dog sitter to look after my other two babies in my life. In the school holidays I have a day swap with another mum who works full time, this is a great way to save money and get to spend time with my daughter.
Is it worth it?
But why have I done this? Why have I put myself through such a mental challenge when my life could be so much easier? The alternative to me is working part time doing a job that brings me no satisfaction, no challenge or gives me motivation to push myself in life. Or it is a job which I would find rewarding however I wouldn’t get to spend time with my daughter and the job would dictate my life. Instead I wanted to create my own path and my own opportunity to create a life that works for me.
I love helping my clients and giving them impartial advice on their finances. The client comes first in my business, but my family comes first in my life. “A mum on a mission”.
Author: Rebecca Robertson runs Evolution for Women. She is a financial planner and works completely independent. She lives in Kent. She advises on mortgages, personal and business protection (insurance) and helps you plan your estate.
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