Try, try again! Or, as my riding instructor constantly reminded me, if you fall off the horse, get back on again. Now, after a rather bad fall from a bucking horse when I was at uni, I have not gotten back on again due to injury. However, the sentiment still drives me to try again at some point.

It is much the same with starting my own business. I knew it wouldn’t be easy and I knew that getting everything initially set up would be a hard, and somewhat pricey, feat. I have that setup ready and am eagerly anticipating clients. Finding the right people who want to work with me and that I can connect with on a professional level is key to finding my success. It is always hard to advertise yourself, rather than a product. When you are selling a product, you have something physical there to use as a visual aide to get your customers coming to you. When it is a service that you are providing, that selling point becomes a bit harder. For me especially, I have always been an employee, so I am not used to working for myself and I am not used to selling myself. That is, selling my skills. I know what I’m good at, but if I can’t convey that to potential clients, then how do I let them know what it is that I have to offer?

So, I have started out on a new smaller opportunity that I think will not only help me with a bit of extra income, but it will also help me to boost my confidence and learn how to sell myself and what I can offer to other people, to help them improve their business.

I have spent some time watching videos of some very inspirational women recently and am trying to learn how I can help others to realise their full potential. This new opportunity will help me to see how I can help others empower themselves, encourage and educate each other and how to really engage with others. I am learning how to really promote myself and to let people see the real me, the real potential that I have to offer. Through this new opportunity I hope that I can gain some confidence and the ability to inspire others, which in turn I can then use to my benefit with my virtual admin business.

And hence the title of this latest piece, try and try again. I will keep trying my utmost to boost my social media profile, so that more people see what I have to offer. I will keep trying to put myself out there and offer help to those who I think may need it. I will keep trying to better myself as a person and as a business woman. I always try to put 100% into everything that I do. Thank you for reading and have a great day.

Some people might assume this blog is about my love for the global phenomenon that is Queen. Whilst I do love the band and think that Brian May is the greatest guitarist alive, it’s actually a reference to carrying on with life.

After attending my friends funeral and our first memorial service with my forget me not group last week, I felt emotionally drained on Sunday. But come 7am Monday morning I had to be back at work and ready for another week. It’s expected that when you experience a bereavement you need time to grieve, but no-one can tell you how long that will take. Everyone experiences grief differently and everyone deals with it differently. The pain of losing a baby, I cannot explain that to someone who hasn’t experienced it. The loss of anyone we love is hard, but when it is a baby or child, there is something else that happens to us. There is no miracle cure for grief, you don’t just wake up one day and you’re suddenly better. It takes time to learn how to carry on. I am in no way over my grief, but because I have a job to do, I have a house to run and I have a toddler to parent, I have to find a way of carrying on with my life.

Life is never easy. There will always be something that will throw you off and mess you up. Being able to carry on with the important things, despite the curve balls we may be thrown, is the sign that you are doing ok. I know that it will take me a long time to be able to fully cope with life, without breaking down at certain points. Somehow, we find the strength to get through these things.

It’s all well and good putting on that show for others, the one where you go, yeah I’m fine. Sometimes though, when someone asks you, how are you, it’s ok to say, actually I’m not ok. It’s ok to need to talk to someone. It’s ok to need to vent or complain or moan. The people who matter the most will be the ones who listen to you and the ones who will stick around, no matter what.

I am notoriously bad at asking for help when I need it, partially because I’m a Taurus! I like being independent and being able to do things for myself. As I have gotten older and been through various difficult experiences, I’ve come to realise that sometimes I do need help. Thankfully, when I really needed help after losing Theo, I was able to get the right sort of help. There is no point in asking the wrong people for help, the ones who just tell you what you want to hear. The ones who tell you the truth are often the ones who will actually help you more. But equally, there are certain ways of saying this and of being tactful and thoughtful of others feelings, rather than callous and hurtful.

I guess what I’m trying to communicate in this blog is, yes life does need to carry on, but not at the detriment of your own health or well-being. If you need help, ask for it. If you are on the receiving end of nasty, hurtful or unhelpful comments, that person(s) is not worth your time and energy and you may be better off without them. Like I said at the beginning, the show must go on, sometimes that means you have to replace key actors to make it work better.

Today is the first day of National Baby Loss Awareness Week and because of this I have been thinking a lot about my boy. Today is also the day that I had to say goodbye to a dear work colleague, who was taken very suddenly. So this is a very hard and emotional week for me. It has meant that I’ve taken a hard look at some things over the last few days.

I’ve been reflecting on what my son’s life could have been like if he had survived. We would probably be spending a lot of time going to and from various hospitals right now, dealing with surgeries and treatment for his heart. He could have been a very happy and healthy little boy, but we’ll never know. Our lives could be even more stressful than they are right now, so the fact that we don’t have to be dealing with multiple hospitals is probably a good thing. Going through all the ‘what ifs’ in my head for him can be comforting sometimes.

When I think about the friend that I had to say goodbye to today, I have some great memories of her. She was an amazingly selfless person. She left the store which I still work in, to go and work with adults with disabilities. She enjoyed that new job so much and was the perfect person for such a role. I do find some comfort thinking of her being at peace now, along with my boy who had his own problems. It’s almost a picture in my mind of her being there with him, to help look after him. That brings me some closure. After having said my goodbyes to her today, I have also been able to make another connection between her and my boy. She was a huge Disney lover and as such, her family picked a Disney song to be played as part of the funeral. The song they chose was from Tarzan, a song by Phil Collins called “You’ll Be In My Heart”. This song was also one of the songs that we chose for Theo’s funeral. I have those words engraved on my necklace that has his ashes in. In the moment, hearing that song took my breath away for a minute. But after reflecting on this, I realised that it’s the perfect connection between her and Theo. She would have been one of the people I would have asked for advice, had Theo survived and had I become a mother to a child with a disability. I know she would have helped me in any way she could have.

Over the last couple of weeks I have also been reflecting on possible changes relating to my work. I have had a couple of doors crack open for me, but then had them slam shut again for various reasons. If I had been able to step through those open doors and take a step onto a new path of my working life, things may have gone the way I want, but equally it may not have gone the right way. So as a way of reflection, it could be a good thing that those doors closed on me.

People often think about reflection as a way of looking back on the past, but it can also be a useful tool for looking at the future. As I look to the future of my business and of my family, I know that I will take on board a lot of advice from many different people. Reflecting on the missed opportunities I’ve had in the last couple of weeks doesn’t make me sad, it makes me wonder what else may be in store for me, for my business and for the future of my family.

For Gina xxx

Achievements are something that should be celebrated, no matter how big or small. When someone reaches that milestone that they have been striving for, it can mean so much to them. The people around you can be so key in urging you on to your achievements as well.

I achieved something I never would have thought possible this past weekend. I ran 5k. I don’t do running, have never liked it. But my new-found love of fitness has completely changed my mentality and the sense of achievement I had when I finished that run was amazing. My sister was with me for the run and her encouragement has meant so much to me, not just for the duration of that run, but since February this year when I started my fitness journey. We had our cheerleading team waiting at the end of the run as well, my husband and daughter, plus our mum and my brother-in-law (her husband). The other ladies we ran with had their families there to cheer them along as well. Such a great feeling to see all that love and support going on.

Another achievement this past week for me was taking my first official client discovery call. A small thing, but a very important one. Hopefully it will lead to more and the business will start to expand.

Achievements in business can be such an amazing motivational tool. When you achieve any task, however big or small, it really does make all the difference when you’re trying to create your own business. My hope is that I get to celebrate more achievements in my business over the next few months and see it grow. Thankyou for reading and have a great day.

Women as a gender can sometimes be looked down on, not treated as equals and thought of as being weaker. All of this thinking has created a lot of controversy in the media of late and there are more and more cases of inequality coming to light. Women need to stick up for themselves and we also need to stick together, so that we have one another’s support.

An unfortunate quality that I have encountered in my lifetime as a female is the inherent bitchiness that can sometimes occur. Now I am in no way saying that all women have this quality, but I have been on the receiving end of it both as a teenager and as an adult. There are certain occasions when women get together and it can descend into an unpleasant atmosphere. Which ultimately, isn’t good for anyone involved. The person(s) on the receiving end of the rant can often become upset, self-conscious and depressed. The ones creating the fuss can also be doing this as a mask for their own insecurities. When situations like this occur to women that I am close to, it does upset me because generally speaking the topic of the argument/discussion is actually something very trivial. So it does frustrate me that other women are having a go over things that, in reality, are not that important and are definitely not more important than affecting your relationship with someone who you have known for a very long time. When these situations are created over important aspects of people’s lives, it is so important that all parties concerned need to remember that you are all adults. You may all have your own opinions, but ultimately that is all it is, your opinion. Unless you are a professional within that given area, you are not qualified to state “you should do xyz because I say so”, that’s a sure-fire way to permanently damage a relationship. My point is, is it really worth hurting your relationship with someone who you have known for a very long over a trivial argument? As we mature we all encounter events in our lives that make us realise, growing up is hard. Which is another reason why it is so important that we as women stick together, to make sure that we all have the support we all vitally need.

I am very lucky to have a lot of amazing women in my life. Within my family and my circle of friends, I have lots of women who constantly inspire me to be the best I can be. This has influenced me on many levels, both personally and professionally.

Two of the most important women in my life are my mum and my sister. The older I get, I am becoming more and more like my mother, according to my husband anyway! I only see this as a good thing though. My mother is a wonderful, caring, thoughtful woman who can never do enough for others and always thinks of them first before herself. I like to think that I have a lot of her qualities in myself to. My sister has a lot of our mothers qualities as well. She also has other qualities which have developed as she has matured. She is a very determined woman; she aims for her goals and doesn’t like to quit until she has achieved what she wants. I admire her dedication so much and this has really influenced my attitude to my future plans, not only for my personal life but for my business as well.

This blog is for all of the women in my life, my family, my friends, my colleagues, all the amazing ladies who have I have the privilege of knowing. You are all wonderful people and you should never let anyone tell you otherwise. Thankyou for reading.