Why would I start a business when my life is already so chaotic?

I was recently asked why I decided to start a business when I am already so busy in my day to day life. It made me actually stop and question what my "why" was. I often hear amazing people at my networking group say that it was to benefit their whole family and I want so much to say the same ... but I can't! Pixie Bee Creations and all things crafting is very selfishly all about me and what makes me happy!

My children are just amazing! They are funny and everyday I feel like they set me new challenges which I both love and hate all at once. I remember when I was pregnant, I was informed to make sure that I ate nutritious food, because the baby would be taking all of the goodness from me. Naively, I believed that once they were born they would stop taking all of my goodness. Whilst they are now not taking any nutrients I ingest, I do at times still feel like my children have the ability to take all of my "goodness" and by the end of the day, I feel drained and exhausted. As my love for for family develops every single year and grows beyond anything I deemed I could possibly feel; I did notice that I had ceased being Anne-Marie and was finding it incredibly difficult to remember to make sufficient time for myself.

That was until I started to learn how to crochet. I realised that spending the time creating something really helped my mental health. I still find crafting, (crochet in particular) to be a therapeutic activity. The rhythmic, repetitive motions of crocheting have a calming and meditative effect on me and is a great way to reduce my stress and practice mindfulness. All at the same time, I am creating something from nothing with my own hands, which gives me a huge sense of accomplishment.

I noticed when I started to gift people the creations that I had made, most people were thrilled that I had taken the time to consider exactly what they might like, and create it for them. These gifts carried a personal touch and showed that I had invested time and effort into creating something special. It was because of these gifts that many of my friends and family started to encourage me to build a business to enable other people the opportunity to gift their friends and family a special gift too.

As if i wasn't busy enough at this point, I decided that I also wanted to share my love of crochet with others by teaching them to do it too. I now run many one to one and group sessions teaching other people the skill of crochet. I have had 100% success with every single person I have taught being able to crochet when they leave my sessions. but the success I am most proud of is hearing how many of my students tell me that they have gone on to fall in love with crochet too.

So my life IS already chaotic, but do you know what, I see my life as happy chaos! Whilst navigating my life through a GCSE year with my eldest, continuing to find 'exciting ways' to encourage my youngest daughter into school, being a Governor of that school, running a household whilst trying to make sure my family get enough exercise and eat healthy and nourishing food, plus just to add that final cherry on the top of a very full cupcake starting the process of locating to a different part of the country, I can honestly say that my life is so much better for the fact that I started Pixie Bee Creations. It is that little bit of time i get to put everything else to the back of my head and craft away to my hearts content ... plus i get to call it work! My job brings me absolute joy, and making bespoke gifts for people or teaching them to crochet allows me to bring joy to others also!