Mum in Business – Eliza Adams

I have another lovely Mum in business for you to meet this morning. Please welcome the lovely Eliza, here to tell you about herself and her business Eliza Do Lots. You can also find Eliza over on Twitter and Facebook so pop over and say hi and give her some support 🙂

Eliza is currently working on a new collection of free downloadables for people wanting to make the most of their social media engagement, and market their own business on a small (or non-existent!) budget, and marketing basics for start-up businesses; if you are interested in these then pop over to her website and enter your contact details to the form for the newsletter and she will send them to you 🙂

Hi Eliza, Welcome to This Mummy Loves… Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your business…

I’m Eliza Adams. I have two boys, aged six and four, and I’ve been working as a freelance writer since I was pregnant with my eldest when we relocated from London to Dorset. In that time I’ve had stints in offices for various businesses and as part of the PR team for local government during the 2012 sailing events, but I’ve always returned to freelancing as I love the variety and freedom of the work.

What made you start your own business?

Wanting to keep contributing to the household finances but unable to find work in the area where I had experience when we relocated – particularly as I was about to give birth and didn’t want to rush into an office and leave my baby – I returned to a long held ambition to simply work for myself. Initially I intended to do so short term and work towards building my experience to re-enter the industry at a higher level, so took on wider reaching projects, new training and built my knowledge – and despite a few temporary contracts in house for a range of people, I’ve always returned to my passion – which is the writing and communications.

What do you love about working for yourself?

Freedom. I get to hand select the clients I work with, the campaigns I work on. I’ve built some amazing relationships, had a lot of fun experimenting with a wide range of approaches, and honed my skills in the industry – and I get to do it from home, with the freedom of fitting my work around my family so that they remain my priority, and my business success simply enhances our family life.

Is there anything you do not like about working for yourself?

Genuinely not; there are times I wonder if I’d be happier in an office – but commuting, and sitting under bad lighting, and missing school assemblies, not being there when the kids are poorly, and having less say in the projects I’m working on, soon remind me that freelancing is the most fun I’ve ever had – and people pay me for the pleasure. 

Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you could? 

I think every experience I’ve had as a freelancer has been valuable – the only thing I do wish is that I’d stepped it up to full time earlier; I’ve worked part time until this year, and the difference it’s made to my confidence and my lifestyle is incredible.

What advice would you give to a Mum considering starting her own business?

Choose something you love. The ethos of my business is ‘be your brand’ – it’s not a product or a service that your business should sell, it’s you and your passion for the business you started; you wouldn’t want to start a business if you didn’t care about the thing you wanted to do – so build on that passion, and share it – that love is what will keep you going on the tough days, and what your customers will buy into.

Thanks so much for your time Eliza 🙂 We wish you every success with your business.