The Reality of Building a Business as a Mum: The Messy, Emotional and Sometimes Embarrassing Truth

The Reality of Building a Business as a Mum: The Messy, Emotional and Sometimes Embarrassing Truth

There’s a side to building a business that I don’t think people talk about enough, especially when you’re doing it alongside being a mum.

The pressure. The self-doubt. The constant juggling. And the very real question of whether anyone actually cares about what you’re putting out into the world. For us, Family Story Club started as something incredibly personal. It was a little love project we created for Rae, our daughter, because we wanted to find a way to keep the people we love close, even when they can’t always be there in person. We never imagined that we would be sharing it with the world. But here we are, trying to turn something that means so much to our little family into something that might mean something to other families, too. And honestly? It’s harder than I ever expected.

Trying to be a mum and build a business at the same time

Rae is at home with us full time, which means our days are a constant relay race. Connor and I are constantly juggling looking after Rae between her naps, planning activities, keeping up with household chores, and fitting everything around Connor’s work schedule. On top of all that, one of the biggest challenges is finding the time to actually create content. Because, of course, creating a business these days means showing up on social media. You need to make videos, record voice-overs, write captions, take photographs, come up with new ideas and somehow convince people to stop scrolling long enough to notice what you’re doing. All while raising a toddler full-time. Some days, Connor takes over with Rae once he’s back from work or during a quiet stretch so that I can concentrate on creating content. And although I’m incredibly grateful for that time, it can come with its own little wave of guilt. I’m away from my baby, doing something for our business, and part of me feels like I should be spending that time with her instead. Then there’s the other side of it: trying to create content while looking after Rae. If you’ve ever tried to record a video with a toddler in the room, you’ll probably understand exactly what I mean. The phone becomes the most fascinating object in the entire house. The microphone is suddenly the best toy she’s ever seen. And the moment I try to record a voice-over, she decides that she absolutely needs Mummy’s attention. And who can blame her? She’s little. She doesn’t understand that Mummy is trying to record a sentence for the fifteenth time, or that the background noise from her playing means I’ll have to start all over again. She just wants me. Sometimes I find myself trying to squeeze in a quick recording while she’s happily playing during a brief window, only for her to spot what I’m doing and come straight over. Other times, I try to write a caption while she climbs all over me, or attempt to film something with one hand while keeping the other free for whatever she needs. It’s chaotic, it’s unpredictable, and sometimes it’s genuinely funny. But it can also be exhausting. Because you want to be present with your child, and you want to give your business the time and attention it needs. And somehow, you’re trying to do both at once.

What if nobody likes it?

Now, this is the part that I find particularly difficult. Putting yourself out there. You can spend hours thinking of an idea, filming it, editing it, rewriting the caption and trying to make everything look just right. You press publish, and then you wait. Will people like it? Will anyone relate to it? Will anyone even care? And, perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all: Am I embarrassing myself? In a world full of slick automation, I’ve never used AI for my videos—and sometimes I wonder, is that a bad thing? Everyone seems to be looking for shortcuts, but I genuinely want to create real, raw content that’s relatable and honest. I want you to see the real moments, even when they’re unpolished. Still, sometimes I genuinely wonder whether people think I’m a bit of a loser for trying to build this little business. What if people think it’s silly? What if they don’t understand it? What if we’re putting all this time, energy and love into something that never really takes off? It’s strange how something you’re so proud of can also make you feel so vulnerable. I know why we started Family Story Club. I believe in it, and I know how much it means to us as a family. But believing in something privately is very different from putting it out into the world and hoping other people believe in it, too. There’s no guarantee that people will connect with it. There’s no guarantee that a post will reach the right person, that a video will get watched, or that someone will see what we’re trying to create and think, Yes, this is something my family needs. And that’s a scary feeling. Especially when it’s something so personal.

Even writing this blog is hard

The funny thing is, even writing this blog comes with its own challenges. I’m trying to gather my thoughts, put my feelings into words and create something that might resonate with another mum. But there are interruptions, distractions and a little person who quite reasonably wants her mum. Sometimes I lose my train of thought before I’ve even finished a sentence. But there’s something else I’ve realised. Writing this blog is also a bit of a mental dump for me. It’s a chance to get everything out of my head. The worries, the ideas, the things I’ve been overthinking at 2 am, and the feelings that I don’t always know what to do with. I don’t have to make it look perfect. I don’t have to turn every thought into a polished social media post. I can just be honest. And perhaps that’s something I need to do more often. Because behind every little video, every Instagram post and every new idea, there’s a real person trying to make something work while navigating motherhood at the same time.

From a little love project for Rae to something we want to share with the world

Family Story Club wasn’t born from a business plan or a desire to become content creators. It started with our family. With wanting to preserve familiar voices, create special memories and find little ways for the people Rae loves to feel close to her, even when they aren’t physically together. It’s about the stories, the laughter, the familiar voices and the moments that might seem small now but could mean the world one day. And somewhere along the way, we started thinking about all the other families who might want the same thing. Families who live far away from grandparents. Parents who work shifts. Relatives who can’t always be there in person. Little ones who find comfort in a familiar voice. And parents who want to hold on to those fleeting moments of childhood for just a little bit longer. What started as something for Rae became something we wanted to share. And that’s a really special thing. But sharing something personal also means opening yourself up to judgement, uncertainty and the possibility that it might not work out the way you imagined. I suppose that’s the reality of building something from scratch. You have to be willing to let people see what you’re creating, even when you’re still figuring it all out yourself.

Learning to give myself a little grace

I don’t have all the answers. I’m still figuring out how to balance being a mum, supporting our little family, creating content and trying to grow a business. Some days I feel motivated and full of ideas. Other days, I question everything. Some days, I manage to get things done. Other days, a simple video takes hours because real life keeps happening around me. And perhaps that’s okay. I’m learning that I don’t need to have everything perfectly organised. I don’t need to create something every single day. And I don’t need every post to be a success for what we’re doing to have value. Most importantly, I don’t want to miss the very moments that inspired Family Story Club in the first place because I’m too busy trying to tell everyone else about it. Rae is the reason we started this. She is the little person at the heart of it all. So, if creating content takes a little longer because she wants a cuddle, then it takes a little longer. If I need to put my phone down and just be with her, that’s what I’ll do. The business matters to me, but so does the childhood happening right in front of me. I’m trying to remember that both things can be true: I can be a devoted mum and have ambitions of my own. I can love spending my days with my daughter and still want to build something meaningful. I can feel proud of what we’re creating and still be terrified of what people might think. I don’t think those feelings have to cancel each other out.

If you’re building something of your own, too…

Perhaps you’re starting a business during maternity leave. Perhaps you’re trying to return to work, create something on the side, or find a little piece of yourself outside of motherhood. Perhaps you’re simply trying to work out who you are in this new chapter of your life. If any of that sounds familiar, I hope you know that you’re not alone in the self-doubt. It’s okay to feel nervous about putting yourself out there. It’s okay to wonder whether people will like what you’re doing. And it’s okay to be proud of something while still worrying that other people might not understand it. I’m trying to remind myself that Family Story Club doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. It started with love, and that’s what I want it to stay rooted in. A little love project for our daughter, created by our family, with the hope that it might help other families feel a little closer, too. And if nothing else, writing all of this down has reminded me why we started in the first place. So, for now, I’ll keep creating when I can, writing when I have the headspace, and learning as I go. There will probably be a toddler grabbing my phone in the background, a voice-over interrupted halfway through, and plenty of moments when I wonder what on earth I’m doing. But maybe that’s part of the story, too. And perhaps one day, when Rae is older, she’ll look back and see that we tried to build something out of love, even when it felt scary. For now, that’s enough of a reason to keep going. 🤍