Babies, Businesses and the Beautiful Chaos in Between: Honest Tips for Mums in Business

I have been taking Clemmie to my networking events since she was ten days old. Ten days. I probably shouldn’t have been there on her first event.  I gave birth ten days ago!  People said I was mad. I’d even considered asking my husband to drive me there as I wasn’t sure I was able to. The fact that I even considered it tells you everything about what it’s like to be a business owner and a new mum at the same time.

You cannot switch one off for the other. They just exist together, tangled up, and somehow you hold it all.

This topic came up in a recent episode of Women Inspired Networking Conversations, where I had the most brilliant and honest conversation with Emma from Start Strong Fitness CIC. Emma is a pre and postnatal fitness specialist, mum of two under two, and one of the most resilient women I’ve ever spoken to. So I wanted to capture her words of wisdom here in this blog to share with other mums growing their business — who needs to hear that they are not alone in finding this hard.

First, can we just acknowledge how much we’re actually doing?

I heard a quote recently that really stopped me in my tracks: you’re not average, because the average person wouldn’t juggle parenthood and a business.

We are so quick to focus on everything we haven’t done. The emails we haven’t replied to. The content we haven’t posted. The fact that we snapped at the kids because we were stressed, or missed something because we had an event on. We hold onto all of that.

But we rarely stop and say: I am doing something genuinely extraordinary.

For me, I run Women Inspired Network and The Success Circle. I attend around ten events a month. I’ve been doing most of it with Clemmie on my hip. And yes, there are days where I feel like I’m doing everything badly instead of something well. But I’m still here. Still building. Still showing up.

The mum guilt nobody prepares you for

Can we talk about mum guilt for a minute? Because I think it’s one of the biggest things nobody really warns you about when you decide to run a business alongside raising children.

It pulls you in two directions at once. You feel guilty for taking your baby to work with you. And then you feel guilty for working with your baby at home. There is genuinely no position where the guilt disappears entirely. I’ve had Clemmie at events and spent the whole time worrying she’s disrupting things. I’ve left her with a grandparent and spent the whole time worrying I’m missing precious time with her.

The shift I’ve had to make — and it’s very much a work in progress — is in how I think about it. Clemmie isn’t being dragged along to things. She is watching me build something. She is learning what it looks like to work hard, to show up, to help people. That is an incredible thing for a little girl to grow up seeing.

I’ve also recently made a decision that has genuinely helped: one day a week is just a Clemmie day. No calls, no events, no emails. Just us. It doesn’t fix everything, but it gives me something to hold onto — and it means that when I am working, I can do it with a slightly clearer conscience.

The honest truth about running a business with a newborn

Emma is going through this at the minute. The newborn stage is magic and it is brutal and everything in between. And when you’re also trying to run a business during it, there is a very specific kind of exhaustion that kicks in.

I had HG during my pregnancy with Clemmie. I was really unwell. And there was no sick pay, no cover, no one to pick up where I left off. If I didn’t show up, the events didn’t happen. That pressure is something only other self-employed mums truly understand — and I don’t think we talk about it honestly enough.

Here’s something a little controversial: sometimes, going back to a nine-to-five after having a baby can feel like the easier option. You leave the house on your own. You get paid regardless of what happens. You come home and switch off.

When you run your own business, there is no switching off. You are doing a 24-hour job as a parent on top of a full-time job as a business owner. I’m not saying this to put anyone off — I’m saying it because knowing it’s genuinely hard means you can stop asking yourself what’s wrong with you and start recognising that you are doing something really, really difficult.

Emma’s tips for mums juggling babies and building a business

1. Find your people.

Find the women who genuinely get it. Not the ones who say “you’re so lucky, you can work whenever you want.” The ones who understand the mental load, the guilt that follows you everywhere, the 3am panic about an email you forgot to send. Those women exist. And when you find them, everything feels a little less lonely. 

It’s one of the biggest reasons WIN means so much to me as the founder — because I have seen women walk in feeling completely isolated and leave having found their tribe.

2. Be kind to yourself.

You would never speak to a friend the way you speak to yourself on a hard day. It is okay to not be okay. It is okay to have a day where the business takes a back seat because your baby needs you, or because you need you. That is not failure. That is being human.

3. Come back to your why.

There will be days where you want to give up. On those days, go back to why you started. What drove you to do this? Who are you helping? What does this business make possible for your family? Your why is your anchor. Keep it somewhere you can see it.

4. Build your support before you need it.

Whether it’s a VA, a trusted team member, or another business owner who can step in — get that in place before you desperately need it. Don’t wait until you’re in crisis to figure out who’s got you.

5. Protect one day that belongs to them.

Even if you can only carve out half a day — protect it. No emails, no calls, no sneaky scrolling. Be fully present with your little one. It won’t solve the guilt entirely, but it gives you both something real.

6. One hard day won’t undo everything.

Your business will still be there tomorrow. One missed email, one rescheduled call, one day where you did the bare minimum and kept everyone alive — that does not erase everything you’ve built. Give yourself permission to rest.

7. Let your kids see you do it.

One day, Maya and Millie are going to look back and see what I’ve built. They’ll know that her mum worked hard, helped people, and didn’t give up even when it was difficult. Your children are watching you be strong. Even on the days where you don’t feel it.

You’ve got this — even when it doesn’t feel like it

If you are a mum running a business, at any stage, with children of any age — you are doing something incredible. Not average. Incredible.

The days are long, the juggle is relentless, and the guilt is real. But so is the community you’re building. The difference you’re making. The example you’re setting.

We’ve got this. 💛

About Emma

Emma runs Start Strong Fitness CIC, offering free grant-funded pre and postnatal exercise classes for parents and babies across Colchester, Ipswich and Stowmarket. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook at Start Strong Fitness CIC — go and give her a follow, she’s brilliant.

Want to hear the full conversation?

Listen to my chat with Emma on the Women Inspired Networking Conversations podcast, available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Spotify:

Come find your people:

🌐 Find your nearest WIN event: www.womeninspirednetwork/events

👤 Join our free Facebook community: Women Inspired Network: Networking For Women In Business

📘 Facebook Community:

📸 Follow along on Instagram: @women_inspired_network