This business venture has been something I had been considering for a good couple of years before I finally decided to take the plunge and launch back in May of this year. After having my daughter I went back to work part time, downgrading from management level to supervisor level. I had no desire to be a full time manager anymore, the responsibility did not appeal and the amount of time I had spent at work previous to being pregnant was not what I wanted anymore. A company restructure whilst I was on maternity leave gave me the opening to take a position that worked for my family life. Upon returning to work in this new role I found the job to be not that dissimilar to my previous job role though and was struggling to cope with the expectations placed upon me. I was not happy within my job anymore and started to think about what I could do to change this.
My time within my retail job has allowed me to learn and develop many skills. Some of which I used whilst I was in an admin role, as a PA to one of the Area Managers. It was my time in that role which reminded me how much I enjoy that sort of work. Since becoming a manager, I spent some time honing my admin skills as and when the admin manager was on holiday. These moments helped me re-affirm my love for admin tasks. It may seem strange but even now, the tasks I enjoy the most within my “day job” are the ones based within that admin office. I had these skills and I thought about how I could use them. After some research I came upon several sites, groups etc which had information about becoming a Virtual Assistant. I could do that. And so that was the beginning of my idea.
However, as these things happen, I found myself getting very apprehensive about leaving a stable job when we had just welcomed a new addition to our family. So I put off starting my own business for the sake of keeping a fixed income, to guarantee our finances stayed healthy.
Fast forward to August 2017. On Monday 14th August my aunt had a heart attack. She was admitted to hospital and put into an induced coma. The following Sunday, 20th August, there was nothing more the doctors could do and my cousins had to make the heart breaking decision to turn off the machines. Losing my aunt was very hard. But then 7 days later an even bigger shock happened, I took a pregnancy test and it came out positive. As you can imagine, the emotions I was experiencing at this point were very confusing.
Somehow, I got through the next few weeks, going to my aunt’s funeral and then my sister’s hen do within a few days of each other. I kept the pregnancy a secret from pretty much everyone, apart from my husband, due to unfortunate circumstances we had been through before. When we finally made it to the 12 week scan and saw that heartbeat on the screen, it was such a huge relief. However, there was complications. After being sent for additional screening and being referred to 2 additional specialists, at 2 other hospitals, and having a very large needle stuck in my belly, we discovered our baby not only had Downs Syndrome, but that it had a major heart defect as well. We had numerous scans and appointments to check the baby and see how it was growing. But on Friday 15th December, at a scan with the heart consultant there was more bad news. She could see swelling under the baby’s skin and wanted us to go and see the other consultant back at Southend hospital the following week. By the time we saw the consultant on the following Tuesday, it was too late. Our baby’s heart had stopped. It couldn’t cope with the infection and had given up. 4 days later, on Saturday 23rd December, after being given inducing drugs, I gave birth to our sleeping baby boy and we named him Theo Ethan Canham.
Losing a baby or child is not something that you can explain to people easily. But, it is something that changes you. Losing Theo was the motivation I needed to take back control of my life. He made me realise that life is too short to wait around for “the right moment”, to wait for things to happen to you. You have to create your own opportunities and make your own moments. He is my reason for doing what I am doing now. This business is for him. And for his big sister, Maya. They are my motivation and my reason for creating my own opportunity, with my own business. KC Virtual Admin Services is a very self explanatory name, one I chose for ease of understanding. But really, when I think about this business, I think of it as Theo’s Business.