passion, paychecks & parenthood
MOTHERHOOD
WRITTEN BY KAYLEIGH GREENACRE
MARCH 23, 2025
Creating a Career You Actually Love
Career driven, aspirational, motivated and resilient are all characteristics I would describe myself as in my twenties. I loved a challenge and loved succeeding in my job within education. I was willing to go that extra mile, putting in the extra hours and exceeding targets in order to give students the best possible chance of succeeding.
In this article:
01 The Woman I Was, The Mother I Became
02 When Motherhood and Ambition Collide
03 Planting the Seeds of Change
05 6 Tips for Building a Career You Love While Raising Children
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However, when I turned 30, my life completely changed, my beautiful little girl Sofia Grace came into the world and I finally got to experience life as a mum. After 7 months on maternity leave I returned to my full-time job as an Assistant Headteacher and little did I know how challenging this would really be. I had set myself such high expectations at work and usually spent most nights working until the early hours. How was I going to be able to be the best mum to my daughter as well as a career go getter?
I remember people judging me and questioning why I went back to work so early and why I wasn’t at home with my daughter. Many evenings I would spend in tears, feeling guilty, wishing I was a better mother and hoping that one day I would be able to change things. I valued people’s opinions, but struggled with the guilt of not spending enough time with Sofia.
During the pandemic everything paused, schools were closed and I was at home in a lockdown with my daughter 24 hours a day. I loved every minute of it (apart from the tantrums). During one of the days, Sofia made great progress in her piano skills, something I had been teaching her during lockdown, and I was so proud of her that this was the moment that I realised I was missing out on my daughter growing up.
That evening, I sat down with a notebook and pen and started mind mapping, coming up with ideas of how I could create a business through what I love but in a way that would give me more freedom, flexibility and time to spend with my daughter. I spent every evening for the next few weeks planning, formulating business ideas, researching existing businesses in coaching and education.
The planning process of the business was extremely challenging. When I wasn’t working my full time job as an Assistant Headteacher or being a mum, I was spending every spare minute studying, developing and growing my ideas for my business. It took a lot of energy, courage and self-belief to launch my business, but when I did, it was one of the best feelings I had ever felt.
Obviously at the beginning juggling two jobs and being a mum was extremely challenging, but this was progress towards the end goal. I had started my new journey towards more freedom and towards becoming the best possible mum I could be.
Fast forward 3 years and here I am, a Business Strategist, Coach and Mentor, TED X speaker, Motivational speaker and mum entrepreneur. I’ve grown my business to multiple 6 figures in just a few years and have supported thousands of female entrepreneurs. I support female coaches, service providers and online business owners in building, growing and scaling their dream business and making it highly profitable.
My mission is to positively impact millions of female entrepreneurs around the world to follow their dream and make it their reality, creating the FREEDOM, SUCCESS and WEALTH that they dream of.
As I look back on that time during Covid and whilst I was building my business, I reflect and realise that my daughter Sofia was, and still is, my biggest motivation and the reason why this business and entire movement of ‘Actually, I Can!’ exists.
Here’s my top tips on how to build a fulfilling career you feel passionate about while raising children:
DEVELOP SELF-BELIEF Ensure that you believe in yourself. If you have a goal to start up your own business then invest in yourself and work on your mindset work. Anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself.
LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION If your intuition is telling you to go for it, then do it! Don’t wait around for opportunities to present themselves to you; follow your dream and go for it. It may well present itself as being a challenge at first, however, if you feel that this change will benefit you and your children then what are you waiting for?
IGNORE THE CRITICISM Being a mum and working full time is hard work, and those of us that are single mums know that we have limited options. However, ignore any judgements and criticism that come your way from others, because at the end of the day you are doing this for you and your children anyway.
MAKE TIME FOR YOUR CHILDREN If it’s one thing I have learnt along the journey, it is that you should always make time for your family. Work life balance can be very hard to juggle and sometimes you will have many important things that need completing to start your business or grow your business. Prioritise your job list and just ensure that you can find the time to spend with your loved ones, otherwise there may be many experiences that you miss.
DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS Whatever they are doing is not necessarily the right thing for you. Everyone is different. Its about finding the right balance for you and your business and children. As long as you are happy with the result.
CREATE A SUPPORT NETWORK Go to your partner, family, friends if you need support. They will stick by you and support you when you need it the most. You can also find organisations or community groups such as like we have in ‘Actually, I Can!’ where we support
about the author
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Kayleigh Greenacre is a Business Strategist, Coach and Mentor, TED X speaker, Motivational speaker and mum entrepreneur.
She supports female entrepreneurs in building, growing and scaling their dream businesses by becoming the ICONIC leader in their industry that everyone wants to buy from.
As a single mum, her daughter Sofia is her biggest motivation and the reason why her business and entire movement of ‘Actually, I Can!’ exists.
Kayleigh's mission is to positively impact millions of female entrepreneurs around the world to follow their dream and make it their reality, creating the FREEDOM, SUCCESS and WEALTH that they dream of.
kayleigh
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