After a bit of a slow start, there is progress in my business now. I am moving forwards with my clients and the work I am doing is exactly the right thing for me. Giving this business a real chance to work and giving me a chance to finally realise my potential and talent is what I needed. I feel more and more accomplished every time I take on a new task for one of my clients. It is a great feeling when something that you have put your heart and soul into finally seems to be coming together.

I am also making progress within my makeup business. Again, this has taken time, but like all things, you have to put in the time for it to be successful. I have been trying to juggle my time between these two businesses and my day job, along with caring for my daughter, running a household and making sure that I still have some quality time with my husband. That last part is always the hardest part! But with a little more effort and investment of my time in my own businesses, soon enough I should be able to make things work out and finally be my own boss for good.

I think a big part of my progression has to do with my new found confidence. This is a culmination of various factors coming together and giving me a huge boost. It has taken me 35 years to realise that I have valuable skills to offer to others and that these skills are actually things which people will pay me for! The way which I work may seem a bit haphazard to some people, but for me, it is what makes my lifestyle work. I work my admin tasks around Maya’s nursery time and after she goes to bed. My makeup business can easily be worked around the rest of my life as well, I mean, makeup can be done anytime and anywhere! Being able to combine these two businesses into something that provides me with enough income for our lifestyle is what has motivated me to continue along with my journey. The more orders I get from customers for my makeup, the more my confidence builds and I feel good each and every time I get an order. Every time one of my clients asks me to take another admin task off him, that gives me a boost as well. He is comfortable enough with my skills to let that particular task be done by me, so that he can have that time back to concentrate on the more important things. Each of these things has helped hugely with my confidence and made me realise that I can make this work for myself and my family.

Equally, my health and fitness journey has had a huge impact on my confidence. If you had said to me 3 years that I would be going to weekly fitness classes and going out for runs (and enjoying them!) I would have laughed at you. But now, that is exactly what I am doing and I love it! I have made so many amazing new friends through doing it as well and they have all given me so much help and support, that has done wonders for my confidence. It hasn’t been an easy journey, there has been a lot of hard work and I do still like my treats every now and then! But I now have enough knowledge and experience to be able to regulate my intake and know what I should (and shouldn’t!) be eating. I can now go out wearing shorts this summer and not feel conscious of my chunky legs. I am comfortable in my body and, thanks to my new skincare regime, comfortable in my skin to. This feeds back in to my makeup business, which without this I would not have found an amazing new range of skincare products. Products which I wish had been around when I was a teenager.

So really, all these new things which have happened to me within the last three years have been exactly what I needed. The last six years have not been easy for us as a couple, but we have come out the other side and we’re still very happy together and I feel like a completely different person. Sometimes when bad things happen, it can make you look at life differently and this is what I decided to take from that. My progress in work, in life and in my own confidence is down to many different factors. None of it would have been possible without my amazing family and friends though, so a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey so far. What will the next chapter bring?