SPRING 2016

Recommendations

Info

That tricky work-life balance… keeping it from tilting by Megan, NCT Haringey I used to take my daughter Anis to school in the morning before going to work. As a managing director of an architectural engineering firm in the UAE, I wouldn’t be able to drop what I was doing in time for school pick-up, so the school bus was a good option. Every morning Anis would say, “It’s not fair, ALLLLLL the other mums pick up their kids from school, why can’t you get me?” I was pregnant, and when the rewind button was pressed, I said to Anis, “Once your little sister comes along, I’ll be able to pick you up”. And I did. After four days, I left baby Lily with Grandma and took Anis to see a school production of ‘Oliver’. On the way back home, she told me that actually she missed her school bus pals and could she come home on the bus again. I’d disrupted her routine. And my routine was about to be disrupted too. Apart from having a newborn in the house, I made a drastic decision to leave the country and come back home to London so that the girls could see more of their dad (who was commuting from his studio in London roughly every three weeks to see us in Abu Dhabi). The company I worked with were very understanding, and offered that I continue to work two days a week from home until they found someone to replace me. It took longer than expected. I thought, “So this is this thing called a work-life balance”. I was occasionally going into the office in Clerkenwell to meet London-based colleagues. One day, when Lily was about seven months old, I was due to meet our CEO. I had prepared Lily’s food, with love, and put it in a bowl in the fridge. I thought I’d have plenty of time to get the peripherals that go with child feeding together before going to Grandma’s. As it happened, I received an urgent call, and was thoroughly rushed. I went to get the food, then changed my mind, opting for a pre-packed food pouch, which have come to my rescue on so many occasions. On the way to work, I thought, “That’s silly. I’ll go to the supermarket and buy a zipped pouch with a nozzle on it, so that I can put my own good stuff in there.” I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I called up my cousin who has a packaging company and ran the idea of making these pouches through with him. “No problem”, he said. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we were making prototypes. I called up Alex next who is a brilliant market researcher, and she organised a very thorough set of questions and groups to help develop the concept, as well as get feedback from the use of the pouches. The responses were so encouraging that we were propelled to continue. We met parents in Bedfordshire, North London (with one of our focus groups in Crouch End), South London (Clapham South) and many individual interviews both in this country and abroad, all of them adding something without exception. One of the best things that came out of my numerous designs, trying to get the ergonomics right in Lily’s hands was the size. The optimal size I found to be 100ml. Guess what. That opens up a whole new market who can now use them. Ray, my husband who travels a lot, decants his hair gel and facial wash into them, and we have found that you don’t need to be a baby to have a use for these. Anis makes smoothies. We freeze them, then she puts one in with her snack box to keep things cool and she can drink it afterwards. They’re good for anything that is of a consistently gloopy nature. Big chunks of food don’t agree with DoddleBags. The brush I’ve developed makes it a doddle to be creative without too much mess. There must be 101 uses, but so far I’ve only tried out about 53. You can stick them in the dishwasher as well as the freezer so that makes them re-usable as well as recyclable. This was a very important aspect of the 28
pouch for almost all the parents who tested it, and at first I was sceptical about how well they would last, but it turns out that they are actually tough and again the feedback was great on this front. Starting a new business in a field one has never worked in is always daunting, but I am fortunate to have a diverse group of friends who have helped and an incredibly supportive family who have encouraged me along the way. I read somewhere that setting up a new business takes at least 18 hours a day for the first 18 months, but since I’d had a taster of that work-life balance, I wasn’t prepared to give it up. It takes a lot of organisation and after bedtime strategising, to be able to continue to spend Mondays and Fridays with Lily. Going to the zoo is our current favourite, and I always find these adventures inspiring, often leading to new thoughts about what else to develop to go with Doddlebags, or other uses that I hadn’t thought of before. I don’t think I’ve thought much about architecture since handing over the reins to my successor. It’s been a long journey to get DoddleBags off the ground, but it’s close now. We’re launching in September, and though the balance is tilting a bit towards frantic, I am still able to pick up Anis from school and be there for cartwheels across the lawn, piano practice (Uggghh, I’d happily give up that pain!) continue to make supper, do the bath time, bed time routine, and sing (I’ve joined the Primrose Hill Singers). Advice to others wanting to start out with something new? I don’t think I’m qualified to say, but I guess being creatively inclined, sociable, optimistic and having a great support network are all key ingredients! 29
Page 1 and 2: Dunstable & District Branch Newslet
Page 3 and 4: Spring 2016 Branch News 4 New Membe
Page 5 and 6: New Members Welcome to our new memb
Page 7 and 8: Home Birth Support For those planni
Page 9 and 10: 9
Page 11 and 12: lunches. The cafe at the zoo was my
Page 13 and 14: To have and to hold by Alice Reade
Page 15 and 16: 15
Page 17 and 18: 17
Page 19 and 20: 19
Page 21 and 22: 21
Page 23 and 24: 23
Page 25 and 26: 25
Page 27: Baby First Aid Courses NCT has team
Page 31 and 32: I had about staying at home till my
Page 33 and 34: skin until it bleeds. It can be con
Page 35 and 36: Tiny Twisters Kensworth Village Hal
Page 37 and 38: Your Branch Needs You! Current Volu
Page 39 and 40: 39

SPRING 2016

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?