How Being a Mum Can Push Your Career Forward
Career

How Being a Mum Can Push Your Career Forward

Having children doesn’t mean you can’t be a badass business mum as well. Society’s notion of how women should put their career on the shelf when they have a baby is slowly shifting, and people are, in fact, starting to realize how much it actually can help their careers.

Children change your entire perspective, putting you in a nurturing role naturally, and it makes a lot of sense that these qualities are transferable to your professional life as well.

Here is how business women say their children helped them prosper in a career, and why you should always keep being ambitious.

It makes you more grounded

Reva Seth, the author of The Mom Shift, talks about how she finally started writing her first book after having children. It was something she always wanted to do but never got started on until the drive she gained from starting a family kept pushing her forward.

After about 40 rejections, she thought about giving up, but struck a deal at last; “I don’t think I would have pushed on if I didn’t have a baby – but there’s something grounding about it.” Have a read on ms-jd.org for a good article on a lawyer’s opinion on having children, juggling a full-time job, and how she came to realize that you can’t press play again on every aspect of your life.

Although you might not be the biggest risk-taker with regards to your own family, it’s easier to take risks and get rejected without watching your world crumble when you’re standing steadily on your own two feet. You’ll pick yourself up again and keep trying – it’s the kind of mentality they try to teach entrepreneurs.

Change isn’t all that scary

When you’ve already gone through the biggest change of your life so far, there’s little stopping you from asking for that promotion or pushing yourself to get that degree you always wanted. After having children, many mothers saw their children as their catalyst for change; the desire to provide more for their family drove them towards positive change.

Pursuing a degree or trying to climb further up the career ladder is more common for mothers than you might think. It’s why universities are starting to offer more flexible lecture hours, businesses are opening for telecommuting, and an increasing number of companies such as meta-morphose.co.uk are looking for specific qualities rather than ten years experience in the field.

It makes it a lot easier for those with a busy personal life to put their talents to excellent use.

Children build confidence

That having a baby changes your entire perspective of the world, as well as your own identity, is no secret among mothers. The challenges you face as a mother outweighs the few hiccups in business life by far – and setting up your own company doesn’t seem that overwhelming when you’ve overcome the massive turbulence of starting a family.

Many mothers find inspiration in their children too, and it’s no surprise that an amount of innovative toddler products were born out of a mum’s frustration with their current products. Have a read of this blog post if you’re interested in how it is to make money online, and start your flexible career a bit sooner.

Motherhood has acted as a cradle, so to speak, for an amount of brilliant business ideas you’re probably already using. These mums noticed a gap in the market and understood how their idea could help other mothers; just the kind of mindset that any budding entrepreneur is trying to achieve.

Parents have the best time-management skills

As soon as you have children, you’ll need to manage your time in a much better way. It’s not just for your own sake anymore – it’s for your kids too, and it pushes you forward to act a bit quicker, think on your feet, and pull a decent decision out of thin air.

They become much better at assuming a natural leadership role too, and showing others how much they care – it’s the kind of qualities any boss should have.

Leadership isn’t as much about authority as it is about empathy, an ability to listen and keep your head cool under pressure. When we look at the kind of traits that makes for an excellent leader, it’s actually quite clear that we would have found many of these in our own mothers – and your children see them in you.

Did having children kick start your career?

Claire x

How being a Mum can push your career forward

2 Comments

  • Rainy Days Fun

    It didn’t in the traditional sense – meaning I actually got made redundant in the firm I had been for almost 7 years, and I felt that upon my return from maternity, I kind of got stripped off my team, my responsibilities etc. However, after this, I decided to create my own project and also envisaging a complete career change. So in a way, I guess, yes motherhood has been amazing to my career in that it made me realise what is actually important, and, if a traditional 9-5, coat on chair employer isn’t willing to appreciate me to my true value then they’re not worth it!

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