Blogging, Bump and Business

Right now my life is pretty hectic and I often wonder if I’ve taken on too much and should slow down?

6 months ago I was set in a pretty good routine. I worked 3 days a week, Lamb was settled in nursery and I was blogging casually in my ‘spare’ time.

Rewind to the 13th of September 2015, the day I found out I was pregnant with my second child, the day our family ‘became 4’.

This is aimed to be a positive post, so I’ll only touch upon the bad stuff that happened to me following the day I found out I was pregnant. On 21st September I was in a pretty bad car crash, which isn’t something you expect to happen a week after finding out you’re pregnant. Luckily we were both ok, although it’s taken me a long time to get over the trauma.

Mid October saw me losing my job without notice. One day I turn up to work, only to be told to go home and never come back. Ouch. Redundancy sucks.

I had a pretty overwhelming few months at the end of last year, but like I said this post is looking at my life now and how it has drastically changed – for the better.

Sitting here now I’m a self-employed blogger and small business owner with a pretty big bump to carry around. Who would of thought that I would take on full time (ish) blogging and launch my own children’s clothing brand whilst pregnant with my second child?! I must be mad!

Since deciding to blog full time things have taken off pretty quickly. My blog is over 2 years old and the name Lamb & Bear is fairly well known, however to be a successful blogger you really do need to blog and promote regularly. I wrote a post on how I tripled my blog traffic, and one of the main reasons was by blogging daily.

Due to being pregnant I decided not to look for a new job when I left my old one, and hubby was extremely supportive when we discussed this. He knew how passionate I am about my blog and knows that with enough hard work I can turn it into a career. In fact, everyone around me feels the same. I’m very lucky to have supportive friends and family who know my blog is more than just a hobby now, and are all amazed at my success. My father-in-law is particularly supportive and loves hearing about all of the opportunities my blog brings.

By the end of October 2015 my life became blogging and bump, and you know what, this made me really happy. I felt content and comfortable, something I hadn’t felt for a while.

Fast forward to December 2015 and we reach the launch of my clothing brand, also known as Lamb & Bear. Now my life had become blogging, bump and business – and very busy!

The launch of my business went pretty well. In the first few weeks I sold 10% of my stock and had incredible feedback from my customers. It’s now March and I’ve just received my second little collection of printed leggings which will be online very soon. How amazing is that!

I know things will have to slow down when my life becomes blogging, baby and business (and boy of course, we can’t forget little lamb in this equation!) but I’ll just have to deal with that when the time comes. Right now I’ve got a few weeks left to work, work, work and do as much as I can before I go on ‘maternity leave’. Obviously I won’t be giving up blogging or the business, but I certainly won’t have as much time to work on them as I do now.

One thing people know about me is I’m very passionate. When I find something I love or want to achieve, passion is what drives me. What’s amazing about my life right now is I’m passionate about everything in it. Blogging, bump (soon to be baby) and business (and boy). I’m loving where things are going and the opportunities I’ve been given. My blog is now ranked 274th in the Tots100 charts (out of thousands of registered blogs), I’ve become an ambassador for a number of amazing brands and my social media following has reached over 7500.

Although it’s going to be a long time before my business is profitable and I can earn from it, it’s already receiving great feedback and the sales are coming in slowly but steadily. This weekend I will be selling at my first ever trade show, something which I’m super excited about but also pretty nervous about too. I’ve got everything crossed that the people there love my designs and I make some sales. Either way it will be a rewarding experience to be showcasing my own brand amongst lots of other fab companies.

Whilst doing all of this I am, of course, growing this bump, this beautiful baby boy bump.

To say I’m lucky is an understatement. I’m blessed with a growing bump, blog, business and boy (who turns 3 tomorrow!) and I’m very grateful for the path my life is going down.

Here’s to the next chapter of my life – blogging, baby and business (and boy!)

Ax