“All women know that once you’ve had children, returning to work makes you feel guilty. Someone else is left raising your kids so you need a very special reason to be at work to balance that guilt.
“I’d had a career and left work to raise the children. My husband Phil had a wonderful job and was climbing the corporate ladder. He spent a lot of time travelling and we suddenly realised he was never at home.
"It seemed like a crazy way to live. I was always at home, not using my talent. I wanted to go back to work. The only way we could achieve work-life balance, and overcome that guilt, was to start our own business.”
The pair created My Secret Kitchen, a home-cooked foods franchise. “We’ve been running the firm for one year and now have 18 consultants. Starting a business together was incredibly fulfilling,” she says.
It hasn’t always been easy, though: “There has been a lot of plate-smashing and plenty of heated conversations but there are no regrets.
“I am overawed by the wonderful family situation we’ve created. It would have been unheard of for my mother and grandmother to go off and start a business after having children. Phil and I want to take over the world!”
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