THIS JUGGLE IS REAL

How many of us can relate to juggling work with the demands of childcare? As we come out of lockdown we are trying to re-jiggle our lives and re-adjust to merge the online work:life balance with the re-discovered freedom.

I WAS RAISED IN NORTH LONDON (Tottenham), I met my husband at Secondary School and went to university to study Construction Management.

A year into my degree I was headhunted by a construction firm to work on site management and quantity surveying for refurbishments across Central and West London.

I worked mainly across site management and construction procurement but working full time with a young baby and another on the way proved pretty difficult. After having my 4th child by aged 28, it became near enough impossible to have a career in construction and I decided to forge a career with my husband. I needed the flexibility for childcare that came with running your own business. Today I have 4 children at 2 different schools. My home is in Hertfordshire and my office is in Harlow, Essex.

I am the Aftersales Manager for Essex Prestige where I look after everything from legal, commercial decisions and compliance. The company launched 6 years ago and we field over 150 calls a day and sell over 100 cars a month. We are doing pretty well!

As with most people Lockdown hit us hard. Having to close the business totally during Lockdown #1 made us reassess the way we operate. Rather than sit tight, waiting for things to open up we set up a stringent ‘By Appointment Only’ system - this works really well for us in terms of COVID safety but also in adding a heightened sense of exclusivity and excitement to the purchase too. With our customers spending anything from £10k-100k+ on a vehicle it’s important that we can dedicate time to that customer to give them a service they not only expect but deserve. We have also setup a flexible contactless delivery system for cars too and a full video tour of the vehicle to send customers giving them an informed view of the car.

Again, this worked really well – we have over 10k followers on social media and with the post COVID increase in demand for premium used cars we often sell as soon as a video/ image is posted online.

This pandemic has had a huge impact on everyone in different ways. The first lockdown really made me reassess who I was, and what I wanted to achieve with my life.

“Life has moved too fast at times and I’ve had to learn a lot of lessons.”

Whilst juggling home schooling for 4 different aged children, managing their screen time allowances with the dwindling fridge contents, plus usual sibling bickering I was so touched by the stories of families really struggling financially I decided I wanted to give something more back.

I had previously been inspired by a visit to both Ongar and Harlow libraries where, during winter they had a coat rack in the library for those who were cold to grab or swap for a warmer coat than they already had.

I setup YOU-NIFORM during Lockdown 2.0 because I saw a gap in the market. Restrictions mean that shopping for uniform is not as accessible as pre-COVID times and online school uniform shops left me confused. I know the cost of uniform and I couldn’t find many outlets who could offer pay-plans to spread the cost.

I know I can make a difference. I want to help by supporting parents and carers getting uniform for their children.

I built the website myself and proved to myself I could learn new skills. I like a challenge and the result is: www.you-niform. co.uk. We are a one stop shop for everything schoolwear, dancewear and gymnastics kits. I am adding new product lines all the time. Grant and the opportunity to help parents struggling to afford school uniform. We do this by encouraging parents, carers, and schools to donate old uniform and in turn get vouchers to buy new uniform through our online shop.

I have also set up Klarna, LayBuy and ClearPay on our site to make payments through interest free instalments more manageable.

My friends think I’m crazy and that I should sit back and enjoy life a bit more but perhaps it’s because I had to forge my early work life around having and caring for the babies that I now have this burning desire to create something really special on my own.

I don’t have a long corporate CV or years of work experience behind me but since having the children I have only been involved in entrepreneurial ventures. This means I have gained some fantastic experience over the years. I have learnt a lot and made some spectacular mistakes - I know I can win contracts, sell myself and promote my business.

Life has moved too fast at times and I’ve learnt a lot of lessons. I’m really looking forward to the next chapter of my career and watching YOU-NIFORM grow.

To find out more about YOU-NIFORM please visit: www.you-niform.co.uk

TOP TIPS

to manage juggling:

1Go to bed early, get up early and make time for yourself in the morning.

2Set a plan for the day and then for the week. Then...Take each day as it come BUT be prepared for change, you can never over-plan but remember disappointment/ delays are inevitable.

3Check your daily schedule the night before.

4Meal prepping has not only helped us loose loads of weight over lockdown it’s also really helped us manage food consumption at home, reduce waste and also means I’m not chained to the kitchen all night feeding the busy family at different times.

5My kids have had to learn that work isn’t just for the office now and are often asked to help more around the home whilst I’m on calls or writing emails. They have to help with their laundry, the dishwasher and making breakfast. While they are still young- we don’t always get it right and I really have to work hard to remind them and be consistent - but it will all work out in the long run.

6Being focused and having an end goal really helps keep some form of sanity throughout parenting and running a business. I try to break tasks into small projects and I don’t like long term tasks... I need an end date.

7Have a sanctuary – or a quiet space you can go think or hold a conversation. Mine is my garage!!!