ONLINE BUSINESS

With Motherhood

By Louise Malone

Upon reflecting on my life, I’ve realised that it’s not an easy road for women to juggle business and work life.

I have lived in Australia, the lucky country, all my life. I grew up in Sydney’s Western Suburbs. School was close by. Mum struggled financially and I had no idea of the experiences that were ahead of me.

Mum migrated from Italy to escape fascism and find a better life. She looked after me well and was very protective. She was naturally guarded, but I loved and appreciated her a great deal. I didn’t appreciate it in my teenage years, but now I do. I love good food, like all Italians and it has been an important cornerstone in my daily life.

When I finished high school, I wanted to have my own business. I graduated in 1976, when Labour was in power. Gough Whitlam did something amazing. For the first time in Australian history, free education was available to all. I completed the Higher School Certificate and applied for Business courses. Like a lot of my life, things fell into place at the right time. In Australia’s history this has never happened before, so I in credibly lucky to have experienced it as my family didn’t have the money to pay for University fees. Mum couldn’t understand why I wanted to go to University and not get married and have a family. It’s so funny how the next generation sees things so differently, isn’t it? were hurt and injured. At high school ,I experienced disrespect because of my Italian heritage too. We are a multicultural society and we should remember that people are more often than not fleeing from bad situations and coming to Australia for new opportunities.

At university I learnt how to study effectively. My favourite high school teacher always reminded us that we were “spoon fed”. I had no idea what she meant by this. It’s nice to look back and think, “Oh, I see now!” Practice writing your answers using past exam papers before the big test. Another lightbulb moment for me!

There was a lecturer at University who liked to tease me when I walked into lectures late. I was fair game! Imagine a hall full of young adults, most of whom were men. There were few girls studying Commerce, but I found a couple from my high school to hang out with.

I didn’t pass a subject and had to ‘Show Cause’. That meant paying a visit to the Lecturers' Campus Room. Luckily, I paid a visit to the lecturer with a male colleague. It would have been a disaster if I had gone in by myself. My gut told me this was not a safe place to be and I’m so glad my friend came with me that day.

I graduated in 1981 and found my first job at CSR. It was a great place to start my business life and most of them were welcoming. It was a very male dominated business world. I had no idea of this until I experienced my first job. The head offices in Sydney were grand and I felt very happy to snag this nice job.

On the plus side, I had trips to North Queensland to audit the Sugar Mills. They were great fun and a wonderful learning experience . In my down time I visited Green Island. I swam amongst coral and colourful parrot fish like I could never have imagined.Once, a skate swam under me, and I felt one with the fish in the ocean. I have gone back to the Great Barrier Reef many times since. The beauty of it is always there, but never so much as on my first visit.

My Commerce degree led me down the track of working on many systems. My business life has been a progression of learning and practising new technologies.

Have I achieved my goal of having my own business?

Little did I know that a Commerce degree covered all aspects of business. After Sarbanes-Oxley legislation was enacted in 2002, American companies were still going bankrupt. Someone will always find a way to break the rules! University is the start of a journey of learning on the job.

The boys that I befriended at University were a lot of fun. It was the seventies after all. Some of the boys lived on the Northern Beaches. Some surfers didn’t welcome visitors from the Western Suburbs, but my Uni friends were welcoming in their own tough way. I loved going to Palm Beach for a swim in the semester break. Palm Beach had an unwelcome sign saying, “Go Home Westies''. Wow, they didn’t own the beach. How could people be so meanhearted? It reminds me of the 2005 Cronulla riots. It was the same kind of disrespect shown for people of other cultures. Laws were broken. People the moment. Push away the bad thoughts.

Over time I have evolved the activities that I have enjoyed into sideline businesses. I have always loved to read books on health, aromatherapy and fitness. I couldn’t envisage what my own business would look like back in the seventies. It took an evolution of time to bring me on the path that I am on now.

I worked as a fitness instructor leader in the eighties (like Olivia’s ‘Physical’!) I had my two sons in the nineties. Unfortunately, I lost my first son to depression and anxiety. My second son has also experienced mental health issues. It’s hard to see your loved ones going through such torment and as a mother, it’s particularly hard to watch it all unfold and not have a great deal of control over the outcome. Commerce has been good to me, but it has left gaps in my creative and caring self.

When my boys were growing up, I dedicated 100% of my life to raising them. My business life dropped off for some time in this period. When I returned to work, I found it difficult to juggle business and family life.

So, I created Busy Bee Blossom in 2016. I wanted to focus on achieving the goal I’d had as a teenager. Although I loved the technical side of commerce, I needed a creative outlet. As a result, I started my Australian owned business. I make natural botanical skincare, body care products and candles. I wanted to create products that were free of nasty chemicals and was passionate about my customers experiencing eco-friendly products.

I value sustainability and ethical practices and I strive to minimise our environmental impact. I use recyclable packaging and reduce waste in all aspects of our operations. My happy memories of the Great Barrier Reef remind me to be caring for our world.

· Find beauty in nature and in good health. Look after yourself and the Earth that we live on.

· Love and care for your family first.

· Do something that gives back to others, like charity work, especially if you work in big business.