The BUMPY ROAD OF A FEMALE FOUNDER
PART 1- DRIVE ON
‘Surprise, surprise’ as Cilla Black would say. ‘I wasn’t expecting this’ as I said this time 12 weeks ago. I am 42 and pregnant. We have just moved house and I am pregnant. We are living with my parents while we retrofit a house; and I am pregnant. I am trying to grow my business and I am pregnant. What the absolute f*!#@.
While the shock has just about worn off, the nausea has not. But it is easing for sure. So has the panic. I can do this. I have done it twice before. Neither came ideal times but both pregnancies happened when they were supposed to. And each in their own way were a huge influence in where I am in my career today.
The idea for Juspy stemmed from my first baby experience. And then I started the business 6 months pregnant on my second. Now, on my third, I am going to simply drive on and scale this business.
There is never a good time to have a baby isn’t that what they say. Well, I wish ‘they’ never said it. Because it’s an awful saying. It lends itself to the idea that a baby is an interruption to your life. When in fact ‘they are a blessing’ as an older, much wiser generation would remind us. It is a much nicer way to think about things for those of us privileged to be gifted.
The most amazing thing about pregnancy for me is how focused I get. It’s a ‘right so’ attitude. It’s a ‘You’ve got 6 months to front load and get as much sh*t done as possible’ attitude. And that’s exactly where I am at on week 13. I started Juspy 6 years and I am not going to stop what I am doing because I am pregnant. I will make it work for me.
Pregnancy for me is a creative time. Ideas come rampant and unlike any other time, my busy scatty brain makes really interesting connections and sparks fly. It even has the laser light focus to plan properly. ‘The bumpy road of a female founder’ is one such idea. It is a blog series I wanted to write to share my experience of being a 42 year old, self employed female founder.
Each one of my pregnancies has had an interesting steer on my Juspy journey and I want to remember where it all started, continued and is going. I want to unpack it all while I am in that headspace for the next 6 months.
Topics will include things like – how I worked around tiredness in this first trimester, how I have been moving my ever growing ass so that I feel strong inside out and what I am feeding myself and my baby to ensure we stay energised and nourished. I want to look at how I am navigating fund raising and the growth of my business considering society biases about what a woman can achieve while expecting.
My friends might say I thrive in chaos and my life is chaos right now. But it’s all good. We just have to drive on.
