How It All Started.

Hi reader! I’m Tammy, the designer, creator (and literally everything else) behind Lilybug Graphic Design. I honestly never thought I’d have the time to write or upkeep a blog, but the more mums I meet who are in the process of starting up a business, the more I realise that my journey over the past 5 years may help someone else. I am in NO way a perfect or overly successful business woman, but I am really passionate about working with small business owners, and I always like to share advice that worked for me.

Over the past 5 years, I have grown what was a little Facebook page dedicated to doodles, to something completely for myself. I was a stay at home mum. I felt incredibly lonely, and I felt completely out of place in my life. By qualification I was an Early Childhood Teacher, surely this meant that I would have some sort of ‘heads up’ or knowledge of what was to come in parenthood. Surely I would be able to handle one baby after caring for 34 two to five year olds? To these questions, guilt and insecurities, I finally had an answer.

No. HELL no.

There is absolutely nothing that can prepare you for the smack in the face, kick in the vag, punch to the heart and full blown explosion of love that is birthing a tiny human from your body and having to care for it 24/7. Nothing at all can prepare you it.

So to say I felt lost and in a dark place is a complete understatement. I felt like I had lost the part of me that enjoyed socialising, working and leaving my home. I longed for a way to make a difference outside my home, outside of my little safety zone. It took me until I had my second child in 2014 to take a plunge and create a Facebook page to showcase a little creative project I’d been working on, The Lilybug Project.

The Lilybug Project is named after my first born, Lily, and it started out as a little business selling custom hand drawn arty prints. It was a quirky little niche, but I was quite happy in it. It ticked all the boxes I needed at the time - social interaction (even if it was over Facebook), a bit of pocket money, and a purpose outside of being a mum. In the 5 years since, my kids have grown and are now in school, and what was The Lilybug Project is now Lilybug Graphic Design, a thriving small business that I am so proud to say I built from scratch.

It has not been easy in the slightest. During this time, I have battled through depression and anxiety, and have had to temporarily close my business several times to deal with my own mental health. Starting up a business while raising a family is a lot of work, a lot of pressure and unfortunately comes with a lot of guilt. It’s taken a few years, but the work/family/social balance gets a lot easier. I am lucky to call a lot of my fellow ‘mumtrepreneurs’ friends, so work and social often falls under the same category. It’s wonderful having a group of women who know the endless struggle of being a business owner and a parent.

So, if you are in the process or are thinking of starting up a business to keep yourself at home with your children, do it. Will it be easy? No. Will it be an overnight success? Most probably not I’m afraid. Will it empower you? HELL yes.

There is always space in the business world for new ideas and awesome women!

I hope to share a blog post once a week, and I’d love to discuss starting up a small business in New Zealand, design advice for business owners, freebies, any share any tips and tricks for social media.

Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Tammy x

www.lilybugdesign.co.nz

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