You have something you want to build, and you're also a mum. Those two things can sit happily together, but that doesn't mean it's always easy.
How do I build something that matters to me without disappearing from the life that matters to me, while making more room for who I am, not less?
Welcome to Mpower.
Â
We're surrounded by contradictory messages. Be an ambitious businesswoman, but build as though you don't have children. Be a devoted mother, but don't want too much for yourself. Work harder. Be more present. Grow faster. Slow down. Make more money. Spend more time with your children. No wonder so many mums in business feel as though they're permanently getting something wrong.
Mpower isn't here to sell you a mythical version of perfect balance. A woman shouldn't have to diminish one calling to honour the other.
Building a business as a mum really is different.
Not better. Not worse. Different.
Time is different, risk can feel different and growth can look different, because your capacity changes, your priorities move and what you have to give a business can change from one season to the next. That doesn't mean lowering your expectations. It means getting intelligent about what you're building, why you're building it and how you want to build it.
A business that looks successful from the outside while consuming the woman who built it isn't our only definition of success, and a business that fits neatly around family life but never becomes commercially viable isn't serving her either. Mpower holds both, the business and the woman, and it starts with you: your family, your capacity, your strengths, your season of motherhood.
There's no shortage of advice telling us what we should be doing. But does it work for you? Your business shouldn't be smaller because you're a mum, slower because somebody says it should be, or bigger because the internet says that's what success looks like. It should be yours.
Where are you right now?Â
You might recognise yourself in one (or more) of these…
Seeking clarity & balance
You’re feeling lost, overwhelmed, and pulled in too many directions. You’re ready for more focus, flexibility and flow.
Craving more confidence
You have ideas and passion… but doubt, worries and self-belief issues keep holding you back.
Fearing visibility
You want to be seen, heard and valued, but you’re not sure how to stand out authentically in a crowded and competitive world.
Struggling to see results
You’re working hard, but the outcomes don’t match your effort. Something’s not quite landing and it’s frustrating.
Truth: Nobody should have to struggle like this.
Good news: You don’t have to.
Business is Just Business, Right?
Well no, actually...
For us mothers (who often have the responsibility of being primary caregiver to the family), taking the courageous leap of faith to start up our own business (sometimes leaving a well-paid career behind us) — it's about WAY MORE than just business!
The Mpower Manifesto
Motherhood matters. We refuse to treat one of the most significant roles in a woman's life as an inconvenient obstacle to business success.
Your ambition matters too. Wanting to create, contribute, earn and grow doesn't need an apology.
You belong in the equation. You don't have to disappear to make it work.
Commercial viability matters. Meaningful businesses need strategy, positioning, marketing, sales and profit as well as passion.
There is no single right way to build. Life moves, businesses change and children grow, so we build for responsiveness, not perfection.
Success gets to mean something to you. Bigger isn't automatically better and smaller isn't automatically wiser.
So, what are you building?
Perhaps you're at the beginning, with an idea you can't quite leave alone.
Perhaps your business is already working, but you want it to work better for the life you're living.
Perhaps you're entering a new chapter and what worked before no longer fits, or you're simply tired of business advice that seems to have been designed for somebody else's life.
Mpower brings together the book, self-study programmes and free resources, all created for mums in business.
The best place to begin is the book, The Invisibible Revolution, written specifically for Mums building a business (and listed in The Independent's 10 Best Business Books Written by Women). If you'd like a free first step on the marketing side, start with the Marketing Made Easy Checklist.
Mpower Began With Mums
Hi, I'm Nicola Huelin. Mpower began in 2013 with CEO Mums, where CEO stood for Cherish Every Opportunity, and CEO Mums became Mpower.
Over the years the work grew to include business, leadership, coaching and organisations. Today those strands have Homes of their own, which means Mpower gets to come Home too, to mums who are building businesses.
And if you're looking for another part of my work...
For my writing, speaking, and wider transformational work for women leaders in the corporate space, visit nicolahuelin.com.  If you're a coach looking for specialist business support, visit Grow Your Coaching Business. If you're an organisation looking for world class leadership and team development, visit Successfactory.
The Marketing Made Easy Checklist
Discover the 5 essential foundations of authentic marketing that will have clients seeking you out
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY
