Why Us #MumBosses Need Our Insta Sistas

Lauren Derrett - 20 Oct 16

So, a few months ago (around 8) I decided that as my youngest was starting school and I would be relinquished of mothering duties for a whole 7 hours a day, that it was a great time to set up business and become a #MUMBOSS

I set about my plans, a website selling pregnancy gifts that were woman centred (not a muslin in sight), a massive high five to women who were making humans and a reminder of how totally bloody awesome they were in every single box of loveliness delivered to their doors, a huge fist bumps to all the women who are creating the next generation!

This would include me shopping for stock (biggest bonus of the #mumboss) I hand picked all the gifts and they started flooding in, I boxed them up and thought I could kick back and await all my orders!

Oh how naive I was!!

Becoming a mum boss has been one of the biggest challenges of my life, both on a mental and emotional level. All of a sudden I was the new kid at the school of #mumboss and it was time to integrate myself with all the other mum bosses (seriously there are loads of us and we are making huge marks on the workforce) time that I made new friends and find my own place in this new shiny world.

This, as it turns out has also proved to be another massive challenge. Of course my first port of call was Insta, they have the hashtags, it’s easy to search them out on there (read, stalk in a non creepy, but slightly obsessive way) I had my eyes on all the Insta users using the elusive # and they didn’t know it yet but I was going to try to infiltrate their perfectly formed girl gangs. These were the girls I wanted to be friends with, the girls who had all their shit (and more) together, whose business’ were smashing the shit out of this new world, who were juggling kids, business’, blogs and ranking high in the fashion stakes whilst wafting around social media as breezily as they drew breathe.

They were like mystical beings! I was Insta crushing over all the major players, but always from afar. Their groups were already well established and like any new girl at the school I was watching from the sidelines wondering if I would ever fit it?

I then got bored of watching them, and I got bored of sitting at my desk in an empty house watching a million YouTube videos on how to get better SEO on my website, running my excel sheets keeping my accounts fluid, waiting patiently for all the orders to flood in. Turns out being a #mumboss isn’t just about buying in pretty stock? Who fecking knew?

And then as if by magic, I started spotting other #mumbosses who were also looking around, bewildered at all the title brings, drowning a little in all the practical boring, day to day mundane shiz that is part of the self employed deal, it had hit us all like a truck, almost as hard as the loneliness.

Thankfully as newbies we wore our naivety like a beacon and our novice lights brought us together. I am now a proud member of the new girl gang on the block and I couldn’t love these girls anymore than I do. We share all our highs and our lows (starting a business brings many many lows) we share ideas, we hold each other up and feed each other confidence in every executive decision we find ourselves having to make for the good of our progression, and our most exciting venture was sharing a stage (read, street in Leyton) with the almighty, our biggest mutual Insta crush, the one woman machine who rains happiness wherever she goes, I particularly liked her personal blog where she shared that she shat herself on the number 55 bus travelling through Leyton.

Of course I’m talking Mother Pukka!!

We may have (totes did) flex it out with her and Mae on a rainy Friday in the east end after boshing a stuffed crust pizza and a few gin in tins! Shining a little more light on her already glowing campaign ‘Flex Appeal’, asking for flexible working for ALL parents. Fun was had by all, comfort-zones left on the curb of the road along with our tins of gin and we all flexed like the mothers we are, Mother Pukka flashing a fair amount of thigh whilst balancing her urchin on her shoulders with her closing line “coming atcha like Cleopatra, we’re not really, we’re just knackered mums trying to make a few quid” #parentingtheshitouttalife

Seriously, this woman instantly feels like your best friend and leaves you with a ‘I wanna be her actual friend’ after taste. So me and the new crew Nissa (aka One Strong Mother) Keri (aka Do It Like A Mother) and Ray (aka Kent Hypnobirthing) have created ‘Mamas Gotta Eat’. These women are right up my street, they get me, they feed me both emotionally and intellectually, they make me eat junk food and drink wine when my waist band tells me not to, I’ve always been a bit reb and my new like minded #mumboss girl gang feel like an extension of me.

So my message is this, if you are a #mumboss and are looking at the headlining #mumbosses and wonder if you’ll ever be part of their gang, stop looking in their direction and look into the direction of where you gang lies, your vibe attracts your tribe, send out your vibes and welcome your tribe.

Lauren Derrett

I'm Lauren, Founder of Wear 'em Out, reusable period pads for the empowered eco-curious. Mother of 4, Step-Mother of 2, I've been parenting for 24 years so have seen and learned a lot of stuff

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