INTRODUCING DANIELLE - THE TIRED MAMA COLLECTION
This week for my #FridayFemaleEmpowerment feature, I interviewed Danielle, the owner and founder of @thetiredmamacollection !!
I am soooo excited for this!! Danielle has been my inspiration from the beginning of my journey with Gem&I!
She launched her business while on maternity leave with her second son back in 2017 as she wanted to create comfortable, yet stylish and flattering outfits for mums. In the last four years her brand has grown from strength to strength and is now so much more than a clothing brand but an empowering community where mum finds comfort, inspiring & funny quotes and feel they are not alone!
Tell me a bit more about your journey and how you got to where you are today...
Hi, I’m Danielle, mum of two and owner of The Tired Mama Collection. We are an online clothing brand, that launched in 2017 whilst I was on maternity leave with my second son. The business grow quicker than expect and within 6 months I left my teaching career to become self employed full time. Four years later we have gone from working in my attic, to my garden and now have two industrial units and a team of 8 incredible women. We encourage flexible working and have our families at the centre of the business, working to create a balanced lifestyle, breaking down the traditional barriers that come with working and motherhood.
What is the biggest obstacle you have overcome?
The biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome is myself, putting a limit on what I believe I can achieve and then not allowing myself to dream bigger. Why do we always do this?!
What do you love the most about having your own business?
The thing I love most about having my own business is being able to have the flexibility to create my own life balance. Even though it’s taken me four years of over working, it’s a wonderful feeling to be at a place where my lifestyle fowls match with my work goals. It’s also the most incredible feeling to have such a reliable team of girls that I call my family. I feel so unbelievably blessed to have each and every one of the girls in my life.
Why is empowering other women important for you?
Encouraging women empowerment is so important to me. Naturally, as women we are very very critical and are often so very very hard on ourselves. I think this stops so many women from doing what they love and holds us back from reaching our full potential. Over the decades; the rise in female empowerment has been huge. However; I still think there’s a HUGE way to go! These men haven’t seen anything yet ladies!
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own brand?
Just do it, I think when we want something so much, we automatically complicate it in our minds or believe that it’s out of reach for us. My advice always is to just go for it, don’t over think, just jump in and learn on the job!
What have you learnt most about yourself in the last year?
Over the past year, my life has completely changed personally and it has taught me so many things. It’s taught me how incredibly strong, passionate and driven I am. It’s also taught me to be kinder to myself which is a huge lesson for me; once you get to a point in your life when you’re not constantly striving for perfection, you start to see things in a much more relaxed light and I’m so happy to have allowed myself to get there.
How do you make sure to celebrate your wins? How do you pick yourself up when you’re demotivated?
Within our business we try to celebrate all wins! We try and decide before hand what we will do to celebrate a milestone before we hit it. When I feel demotivated, I just allow myself to sit with it and take the pressure off and ride it out. I completely rely on the girls to pull me back; it’s so important to be surrounded by cheerleads.
How do you practice self love and self care?
My idea of self care has completely changed over the past 12 months, I used to think it was all about a face mask and getting my nails done. But now, for me, it’s recognising when I need a break and switch off and allowing myself to do it without feeling guilty. Being kind to myself when I don’t complete all the tasks I need to and realising that sometimes having days doing nothing at all are just as productive as the busy ones!
What would you tell yourself as a first time mum?
As a first time mum I would go back and tell myself to keep things simple and pick my battles. Motherhood is so overwhelming.
Do you remember the first bit of jewellery you every owned, do you still have it or remember what happened to it?
I don’t remember my first price of jewellery but for my 21st birthday I was bought a beautiful charm bracelet from my mum and it’s something I will treasure forever and hopefully pass to my children (if I ever have a girl!)
If you could gift a piece of Gem&I jewellery to someone who would it be and why?
If I was to gift a piece of Gem&I it would be to my lovely Alicia. Alicia is my absolute rock in both business and my personal life and not sure she really knows how incredible she is! I think a piece of jewellery that she could treasure would remind her of how important she is to me! Maybe even something matchy matchy BFF style like the old school dates!
Follow Danielle and her team on Instagram and check out their gorgeous collection below!
https://www.instagram.com/thetiredmamacollection/
https://www.thetiredmamacollection.co.uk
Thank you so much for reading my blog, make sure to follow me on Instagram and to subscribe to my mailing list!
https://www.instagram.com/gemandijewelleryuk/
Thanks,
Sarah x