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This article was written by Natalie Roberts-Mazzeo, Miracle Mama

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Finding balance between motherhood and business can be challenging and when those challenges peak, it is tempting to want to quit on the spot! Yet often what pulls us back into the passion for our business is the drive to help others as well as our family.

 

I was working at a local yoga studio when I fell pregnant with my second daughter, Chiara. The plan was to get back to the studio and teach a small number of classes after the new born phase had settled in.

 

Natalie & Chiara at RCH

 

Yet life had a very different plan for me, when my daughter Chiara was only five months old we were told she had a stroke. All of a sudden life was catapulted into hospitals, therapies and unknowns. Most of our family life was spent at The Royal Children’s Hospital and the idea of getting back to work was impossible due the medical care for Chiara.

 

Yes, this was a moment in my business career where I was forced to quit as the challenges were just too big. I closed my local yoga business which was one of my ‘dream job’s’ that I worked so hard to create. Yet nothing mattered more other than my daughter’s health and wellbeing. I had to put my own business dreams on hold and attend to this huge sudden life change.

 

The first year after Chiara’s diagnosis was a blur, I was running on very little sleep and a crazy amount of medical appointments to attend. It was around this time I started a blog to share our families’ experiences. It was a place to keep track of her therapies and progress and to share my thoughts, no matter how raw or real.

 

Soon the blog started to reach other mums around the world and my writing began to feature on Huffington Post, Elephant Journal, Source Kids and The Mighty. Mums would write to me after reading a blog post and share their story with me. I would literally stay up until after midnight to reply back to every single message, it was the only time I had.

 

Then the light bulb moment: it’s time to create an online resource to help serve the special needs community, in particular the mums. I knew my writing was already helping them, but I wanted to do more. I had great self-care tools as a qualified coach, yoga and meditation teacher.

 

Once things began to settle and I got a handle of my new role as a “special needs mum”, I started to see life in a whole new way. I understood the importance of looking after myself, so I could continue to meet the challenges of caring for a child with serious complex health needs.

 

Miracle Mama was created to help support all mum’s who are raising little miracles with extra needs. An online sanctuary where mums could access heart-centred coaching, informative articles, beautiful meditations, inspiring real-life stories of mums all over the world sharing their journey’s, an amazing resource hub and an incredible community who get it.

 

Yes, there were so many times I just wanted to give-up, the idea of perusing my own work dreams felt almost impossible given my motherhood circumstances. Yet what kept me going was the tribe of women who continued to support, encourage and inspire me.

 

Natalie & Chiara 

 

I’m so glad I continued on with my business despite the challenges and what a wonderful blessing to receive the 2017 Ausmumpreneur Influencer award. It highlighted to me that no matter what, our passion + purpose can make a huge difference in the world.

 

Here are my top 5 tips that helped me overcome all kinds of challenges in both my motherhood and business life:

 

  1. Vision: when the challenges arise it’s so important to align with your vision. Getting really clear on the big picture, the global view on what you want to create for your business and your family life. It can help reignite your passion and keep you focused through the ups and downs.
  2. Purpose: creating space to connect with purpose, the heartbeat behind the why, how, who, where, when. It can be easy to slip into the ‘busy’ and forget to come back to the purpose of why you do what you do. What is it that lights you up about your work?
  3. Patience: is our number one ally when we get tested in life, either from a business or personal perspective. I had big ideas for how I wanted to help special needs mums, yet very limited time to work on my business due to hospitals and specialist’s appointments. I needed to be patient enough to let things unfold at a pace that I could manage around the additional care for my child.
  4. Connection: staying connected with other mums in business has been a huge source of inspiration and support. I met some incredible mums from the Melbourne Ausmumpreneur Masterclass, as well the recent 2017 conference in Sydney. Gathering your tribe is so important in managing all the challenges that come our way, together we rise.
  5. Fun: I often forget this key ingredient, it’s my go-to when things get tough. We only have to look at our children to see how important FUN is through life. It can help bring is back down to earth, to see the little things and know that no mater what, we can always find our fun!

 

“We need women who are so strong, they can be gentle.

So educated, they can be humble.

So fierce they can be compassionate.

So passionate they can be rational

And so disciplined they can be free.”

By Kavita Ramdas

 


About our 2017 AusMumpreneur Ambassador :

 

Natalie Mazzeo-Roberts –  founder of Miracle Mama

I’m Natalie, a Melbourne based Mum and founder of Miracle Mama, an online sanctuary that empowers and inspires mothers with neurodiverse children. Through coaching, community and heart-centred collaborations, my mission is to create a space for women to reconnect with themselves and what is most important to them. Learn more here…