Hustle and Juggle With Emma Reed
Name:
Emma Reed
Website:
Email:
emki@hotmail.co.uk
Facebook:
Twitter:
How long have you been doing the Hustle and Juggle?
August 2015 when I started writing my book
What is the Juggle to your Hustle?
My toddler who was about 19 1/2 months when I began writing my book about teething. He’s now 2 1/2
Tell me more about your business?
I have written a book titled ‘Your Teething Baby, from one parent to another’. From this I have also started blogging mostly about kiddies and being a parent but also other topics that may spur on a rant or a passion! I am currently working on children’s books too.
What is your Hustle and Juggle story?
Writing a book with a toddler meant using every nap time and bed time as a chance to research and plan and actually try and write. There were times when some things would just pop into my head so before they were lost to baby brain I would have to get them down. This led to Jake calling the laptop the tap-tap, due to the sound it makes when I am frantically typing!! He still calls it this now.
There have been plenty of times that I have wanted to cry. From being tired, to learning how to write and layout a book by myself, to trying to find the information I needed and making the book work for parents. It was a book I felt I so desperately needed when my son was teething but there was just nothing on the market. I wanted to make a book that was easy to pick up, could fit in a bag, had all the info on remedies, symptoms and oral care and that was worded just right for a parent to relate to.
I had to answer emails from the top teething companies and these could be any time of day so usually involved my son jumping on me, begging for me to build a train track or giving him yet another snack! Note books have been filled with all sorts of scribbles just to try and keep on top of Mum jobs, home jobs and book jobs. It is not easy trying to start a new venture whilst being a Mum for the first time and also being a full time one. The toughest part is actually now for me. I self published my book on Amazon and with that I now need to self promote. I have had to learn about all the different social media sites, build profiles, start blogging, make leaflets and write to magazines/websites/bloggers and so on to try to get my name known and the book seen.
There have been so many unanswered messages that you can really start to feel down and doubt the book. This is the time when I feel I want to keep giving up, but I also want to make money to support my family and I want a project I can be proud of. I want to be able to help others and if I can reach just a few people with my blogs and book then I am happy. Yes I may have to jump out of bed and jot down an idea when it hits me in the middle of the night, yep I may have to bribe my child with chocolate just so I can finish writing something important and I am most definitely juggling more jobs here than I ever have done in any job I have ever had but being at home means I get to be around my son everyday, it means I can work whenever I need to and it means I can retain a little bit of ‘me’ at a time when I can at times get lost as just being ‘Mum’.
What’s your message to anyone reading this to inspire them to keep going and remain visible?
Take that leap and start your dream. Whether it’s a new career, new venture, writing, travelling go wherever your passion takes you. It’s better to be able to say you have tried than to always be thinking what if?
If like Emma you are Hustling & Juggling and would like to share your story with others please find out how you can do so here. I would love to hear from you.
If you are wanting to start you own business listen to Emma’s advice – Take that leap and start your dream. Whether it’s a new career, new venture, writing, travelling go wherever your passion takes you. It’s better to be able to say you have tried than to always be thinking what if?
Love, Dee
xx
