The business books don’t tell you what to do when you’re nursing your newborn at 3am while frantically checking emails about a client emergency.
They don’t prepare you for making critical company decisions on two hours of sleep, or for handling a staffing crisis while recovering from childbirth.
Yet this is precisely the reality many entrepreneur mothers face – myself included.
One month ago, I welcomed my beautiful son John into the world. It should have been solely a time of joy and bonding.
Instead, it became a masterclass in crisis management and resilience.
In the months leading up to John’s birth, I experienced what can only be described as a perfect storm of professional and personal challenges.
As the founder of LRPM, a block management firm, I’ve faced my share of business hurdles over the years.
But nothing quite prepared me for discovering that a trusted staff member had been stealing from the company – a betrayal that cut deep, especially when my focus needed to be on preparing for motherhood.
As if that weren’t enough, I moved into what I thought would be our family home, only to discover severe damp issues that forced us to relocate just weeks before my due date. Nothing tests your stress management skills quite like packing boxes while eight months pregnant, all while running a business.
Then came another blow – a key team member resigned without notice. Each of these challenges would be significant in isolation. Together, and alongside preparing for single motherhood, they created what felt like an insurmountable mountain.
There were moments when giving up seemed like the most rational option. I remember sitting on the floor and feeling completely overwhelmed.
But here’s what I’ve learned through this experience: we are far more resilient than we give ourselves credit for. And sometimes, our greatest challenges become our most powerful motivators.
When John was placed in my arms for the first time, something shifted. This tiny human depending entirely on me didn’t make me want to retreat from my professional ambitions – he made me want to come back stronger. Not despite being a mother, but because of it.
The truth is motherhood hasn’t diminished my business acumen – it’s enhanced it. I’m more efficient with my time than ever before. I make decisions faster, with greater confidence. I delegate more effectively. And I’ve developed an almost supernatural ability to function on minimal sleep.
This isn’t to say it’s easy. Far from it. The juggle is real, and sometimes painful. There are days when I feel I’m failing at everything – not giving enough to my business, not giving enough to my son. The working mother’s guilt is a heavy burden that no amount of professional success seems to alleviate.
Yet I’m learning to be kinder to myself. To recognise that perfection isn’t the goal – presence is. To understand that some days, success means nothing more than keeping both my baby and my business alive. And that’s enough.
I’m also learning to accept help – something that doesn’t come naturally to many entrepreneurs. Building a support network, both personally and professionally, isn’t a sign of weakness but of wisdom. No business leader succeeds entirely alone, and no parent should have to either.
To other business owners facing personal crises alongside professional ones, I offer this: your challenges don’t define you, but your response to them might. When staff let you down, when circumstances force unexpected changes, when personal life throws curveballs that hit your business plans – these moments test not just your business model but your personal resilience.
One month into motherhood, I don’t have all the answers. I’m navigating this new territory one day at a time. But I know this: my son hasn’t diminished my business ambitions – he’s amplified them. He’s given me a new purpose, a renewed drive, and perspective that makes even the most challenging business problems seem manageable.
The path forward isn’t about choosing between being a successful business owner or a good mother. It’s about defining success on my own terms – creating a business that serves my life, rather than a life that serves my business.
And on the hardest days, when everything seems to be falling apart, I look at my son and remember this is why I persist. Not despite the challenges, but because of them. Because he deserves to see that his mother can be knocked down seven times and stand up eight.
With that resilience, my business is growing stronger than ever. Our new area manager is already making waves in Norfolk, and we’ve just secured a brand-new central office in Primrose Hill. This is just the beginning of an exciting new chapter—for both my business and my little family.
Perhaps, that is the greatest lesson I can teach him.
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