When Family Life Changes Your Plans: Why I'm Closing My Facebook Group for a Bigger Mission
When Family Life Changes Your Plans: Why I'm Closing My Facebook Group for a Bigger Mission
It’s been no secret that the last year in my personal life has been a rollercoaster.
The end of 2023 was full of worry as my eldest child underwent scary health investigations for a major skills regression. Serious possible causes were suggested by doctors. I’m relieved to tell you that those were ruled out after thorough investigations.
However, his mental health was hugely impacted and that phrase ‘a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child’ summed up the months that followed. Even simple things like getting our boy into school became a heart wrenching challenge.
In the last 6 months, 3 out of my 4 children have received a diagnosis of autism and some other co-occurring conditions too.
Emotionally, this time in our lives has been hard. On a practical level too, the workload that came with advocating for the children has been massive.
In the depths of it all, I panicked and wanted to sell my business.
I just couldn’t see how I could manage everything I had to deal with and in all honesty, at times I felt doomed. I thought it would be easier to let it go, so I had less to deal with.
I realised I had a choice. I either give up the business that I love and have worked so hard for. Or, I make this situation more of a motivation within my business and reevaluate everywhere I’m putting my energy.
Of course I went for the latter!
I truly believe that this is the incredible thing about running a business, we get to work it around the changing seasons of our lives.
Now, more than ever I want to show my children a way of earning that works with your strengths and allows you the freedom to work where and when suits. Ultimately, working in a busy office will unlikely suit my autistic children too, therefore showing them another way is even more important than ever.
My love for my business and the incredible Love Your Birth community is bigger than ever. My business is a huge part of my life and a part where I get so much joy and accomplishment.
This tricky time has forced me to make some decisions that I know long-term are going to be fantastic for my business and my family, even though right now they feel scary.
I want this to be your reminder too, that it’s okay to change things up. Make your business work for you and your family so that it has the longevity it deserves.
Even those things that have been working for you in the past, if they no longer feel good and they are taking you away from other possibilities in your business, change is ok. We must make space for new things.
7 years ago, I started a Facebook group for aspiring and current hypnobirthing teachers. It grew to be an incredible community, and it was the main place I got my enrolments for my Hypnobirthing training from for the first few years of my training school.
It was the place I shared my best content. The place where I was consistently visible. It was the community I nurtured.
It was a great success.
In recent months though, my time in there has dwindled.
My time to be on live video as a form of marketing has declined.
I’ve felt a sense of guilt at neglecting that space. I knew I needed to move away from the group.
I’ve wanted to launch a podcast for a few years. I know how wonderful podcasts are for busy mums that want support on the run e.g as the drive in the car and so many of the people I support are mothers. Yet, I never got there with launching it as I didn’t want to spread myself too thin. How would I navigate committing to creating fresh content on yet another platform?
That’s when I decided to let go of my beloved Facebook community - The Hypnobirthing Mentor. This allows me the energy to plough into a weekly podcast that aims to inspire birth and baby business owners to create more success in their businesses.
With my family needing more of me, I realised how important it is for me to be making an impact with my business with the time that I have. Bye to content being locked behind the door of a closed Facebook group and hello to the podcast that will be available everywhere!
The podcast is coming on the 5th November and I can’t wait for you to hear it. It will be where I generously share all the lessons and hacks in building a successful baby business around my family.
I’d love you to be one of the first to hear about it coming out and I’d appreciate your support in this new podcast that I intend to be your weekly dose of motivation and inspiration. Please come and join a temporary podcast launch WhatsApp group where there will be prizes to be won for those that share and review the podcast when it launches. Simply Email me at [email protected] and we will add you to the WhatsApp group as we get closer to November.
Now, please don’t worry the wonderful community I created 7 years ago as the Facebook group is continuing. I’ve passed it over to the incredible Samantha Bevington, the founder of The Business of Babies to continue to be the supportive place it has been for the last 7 years.
Lasty, to my beautiful students and graduates at Love Your Birth, please know that our incredible Facebook communities will continue exactly how they always have.
Right, I best go and record a podcast!
Abby x
