F a m i l y F e a t u re - I S S U E 07
‘The juggle-struggle is real’: balancing business with motherhood Cecily Henderson, co-founder of plastic-free children’s toy company PomPom, explains the inspiration behind the brand and offers advice on how to survive working from home with kids.
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recently I read that the term ‘mumpreneur’ is now considered patronising. It was a relief, as I am living proof that there is nothing cute about running your own business and being a mother. It’s messy and frustrating, and the juggle-struggle is real. I probably identify more closely with the term ‘wantrepreneur’ – there’s nothing like a healthy dose of Imposter Syndrome and self-doubt. Yesterday we sold out of our first set of indoor climbing triangles in just two weeks. It made me sit up and take stock – excuse the pun – of quite what myself and my business partner had achieved through lockdown last year and being 4,731 miles apart. In 2019, Katherine Rhodes and I set up PomPom, which sells imaginative and unusual toys, games and homeware for children. We are the natural home of the climbing triangle and proudly plasticfree, from product to packaging.
we swapped easy tips on how to buy less plastic and be more sustainable. Our mum-mates started asking for advice on where to buy unusual and loveable alternatives to plastic toys that kids will actually play with again and again. They were too busy to look themselves and yet wanted to do the right thing. We knew we could help and then, PomPom was born.
There is nothing cute about running your own business and being a mother
SURVIVING LOCKDOWN
Although we are a British company, Katherine holds down HQ in Essex and I – for now – need to be in Vancouver, Canada for my husband’s job. In January 2020, I had my second son, a week early, in the middle of packing boxes and the worst snowstorm Vancouver has had in 20 years. My hospital room overlooked the busiest street in the heart of downtown and yet it was silent and beautiful – rather romantic despite the circumstances. Within a week, we had moved house and the basement had flooded, but at least the rats had been evacuated, much to the chagrin of our toddler who loved watching the Rat Trap Man at work.
SHARED PASSIONS
The idea for PomPom was a true moment of clarity. I realised children are the tip of the iceberg of all that comes with them – clothes, toys, nappies – and that we were drowning in colourful plastic. I had been adding to the world’s plastic problem and I didn’t know what to do about it. I was a first-time mum and overwhelmed. Sleep was more important than researching plastic-free alternatives. But I slowly began to shop more consciously. Katherine and I are old friends from university who share a love of travel, theatre, books, art and dancing on tables. When we became mums, www.FamilyFirst.co.uk
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