All has been busy at Clever Mamma HQ but I'm delighted to be back on the CM-Profile-Train and have a fabulous mum in biz for you all to meet. This week I have the pleasure of introducing you to Clever Mamma Josie Campese, from Recipes 4 Success, an Independent Consultant and Group Leader for The Chef's Toolbox. Based in the north western suburbs of Melbourne, Josie is a passionate and proud business mum who loves what she does!
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... I am a mum of a sixteen year old daughter. Almost 6 years ago I went along to a cooking party, mainly because I was promised food and wine! I had a great, fun afternoon but most of all I was so impressed with the obvious difference good quality cookware, knives and bake ware can make to the results I get in the kitchen. I learned to make a fabulous risotto without stirring and also yummy sticky date puddings, all in about 30 minutes
2. How did your business begin? I joined because it was a fun way to earn some extra money and I still had the time to spend with my daughter and have the time to be involved with her at school.
3. The bits I love... The social interaction with guests at my parties, the money to spend on family holidays, rewards like the overseas and national travel - I have been away on fully paid trips with The Chefs Toolbox every year and especially the rewards like knowing that I help other women to have the benefits of being mums at home with their kids, while developing their own home based businesses and contributing to the family income while they gain things like confidence and independence.
4. The bits I not-so-love... The perception that I am available 24hrs a day because I work from home.
5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas? Set and diarise your work time, social time and family time and stick with it.
6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Devonshire tea.
Thanks for stopping by the Clever Mamma blog Josie! It's been great getting to know you and your business a little better. If you would like to find out more about Josie and her fabulous business, be sure to sneak a peak at the listing on the CM Directory. You will find more details plus a link to Josie's website. What are you waiting for? Go on... hop to it!
While playing cars and trucks with my two and a half year old son yesterday, he was telling me that one of them was daddy on his way to work, and then he went through his nearest and dearest; his grandparents and his beloved aunty, explaining to me that each of them were in his little vehicles off to work. I thought I would ask him a question to see what he felt about what his mummy does... "Master 2, does mummy work?". His response without batting an eyelash was "No." He then went on to continue playing while I had one of those "mum" moments.
At this point I wasn't sure how I should feel about his answer. A part of me was fuming and thinking about all the work I do in the house to keep it's day to day running as smoothly as possible, cooking, cleaning and everything else in between. Not to mention the running around for Playgroup and Gymbaroo each week. And then there is the two actual businesses I run from home in my spare (?) time.
And then it dawned on me... the reason I have chosen to run businesses from home is so that my day to day time with my son is not in any way effected. While household tasks are at any time of the day, I only "work" when he is sleeping or being looked after elsewhere.
In time he will come to realise what "work" mummy does, but I'm happy for his first few years to be oblivious to it, and for us to just enjoy the precious time we have together. So while my stress levels at times may be high and my mind full of things to add to my to-do list, I'm happy to know that it is not effecting the most important people in my life. And isn't that the reason I'm doing it in the first place?
Firstly, I would like to send a huge thank you to all the clever mums in business who entered the Clever Mamma '3 for 300 Giveaway'. The responses were so good that I had trouble deciding (my 30 week prego brain may have also been a factor)... So as we are so close to hitting 400 likes on Facebook, I took it into my hands at the very last minute, 10pm last night to be exact, to change it to the '4 for 400 Giveaway'.
So what does this mean? I have chosen four talented mums and their businesses to each win a 12 month membership to the Clever Mamma Directory instead of 3. This includes a Clever Mamma Blog Business Profile, continuous Facebook and Twitter mentions throughout their membership, as well as the Clever Mamma personalised service we pride ourselves 0n. Each membership is valued at $120 but these lucky ladies receive it absolutely free.
So without further ado, I'd like to announce... Drumroll please... Kathryn Hill from Gigi's Buttons, Kym from Virtual Marketing Manager, Kelly Northey from Bamboo Bubby and Kate Christie from Babysitters and More. Congratulations ladies, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your responses and finding out "What you love most about working with other mums in business".
Over the coming weeks I will be showcasing the winning entries plus those that came extremely close (via Facebook and Twitter) and you will be able to pop over to each of these amazing women's websites to find out for yourself how talented they are and also support their business.
Thanks again ladies for reinforcing why I began the Clever Mamma community, for business mums to connect and support fellow business mums!
All has been busy at Clever Mamma HQ but I'm delighted to be back on the CM-Profile-Train and have a fabulous mum in biz for you all to meet. This week I have the pleasure of introducing you to Clever Mamma Josie Campese, from Recipes 4 Success, an Independent Consultant and Group Leader for The Chef's Toolbox. Based in the north western suburbs of Melbourne, Josie is a passionate and proud business mum who loves what she does!
