A Celebration of Motherhood - Katie

For Mother's Day this year we wanted to highlight our wonderful team of amazing women - all mothers - working in our business and we wanted to tell their Motherhood stories too. Please enjoy our reflections on and celebration of Motherhood articles on the blog this May. I'll go first! Katie xo

KATE - FOUNDER SISSA SORELLA 

How has motherhood shaped your perspective on life and work?

Before children, it’s very much about your own world, what you can do for you, who you socialise with, what YOU can achieve. But when motherhood comes along, it literally reshapes your entire life, maybe your goals and dreams. There’s so much more than yourself to worry about from this point forward! For me, motherhood changed the course of my career, not necessarily for the worse, just in a completely different trajectory. Once becoming a mum, I had to work out how I was going to work and balance motherhood. I’ve found that on the journey of motherhood, I've had to be much more considerate of my family and their needs some time more than my own. Motherhood has also helped me to be more empathic of other mums in general. The life and work juggle, the mental drain, it's a lot and I admire women for what they are capable of doing and managing for multiple humans and themselves!

How do you balance motherhood and your work at Sissa Sorella?

One of the most valuable things I put into place, early on at Sissa Sorella, was opening at 930am and closing at 4pm during the week. Although not ideal for all my clients, it was out of the need and desire to drop my child to school each day and spend time with my child in the afternoons or get her where she needed to be.

When I was a child, my mum or grandmother picked me up from school each day and we went for hot chocolate and afternoon tea. That time in the afternoon after school has left an indelible mark on me, one I remember with such fondness and value so highly.

Although I work a lot in the hours after I close the store, I am based at home primarily and therefore am still accessible for my child and homelife.

Another important part of balancing work and motherhood, is thinking ahead about the week/s and working out where my gaps might be that I can't be there for my child and putting an arrangement in place to manage that. As my daughter is much older now that is becoming less and less of an issue.

What values or principles do you hope to instill in your children?

• As a child and young adult myself, I worked weekends, and school holidays for a family business. I have always had a strong work ethic and dedicated myself to whatever job or career I am doing at the time so a principle for me to share with my child is the importance of a good work ethic. Dedication and hard work rarely goes unnoticed or unappreciated.
• Honesty is a critical value that is not only important in the workplace but personally as well.
• Respect for your friends, family and colleagues.
• As an owner of a small business when every dollar counts, and you really understand what it takes to earn a dollar, appreciating the value of money is a principle I constantly harp on about at home!