I live in South East London with my husband, three kids, and one more on the way! It’s a classic London Victorian terraced house, pretty white and minimal-ish on the inside.

I work from the office between 9am and 5pm Monday to Thursday, although I’m often found working on my supposed day off and weekends. Mornings are spent rushing round in a whirlwind of breakfasts, dressing, and brushing ponytails before the inevitable school run sprint. I couldn’t do it without my husband who despite his crazy job at an ad agency, gets up early with the youngest and sorts out the breakfasts and packed lunches so I can get ready, then gets us out the door.

I arrive at work where eight hours a day are never enough to get everything done. I get home just after 5pm and try to put the phone down to spend some time with the kids before bed. We read together every night. Once I’ve got them to bed, which is a pretty hard slog until about 8.30pm, I can make some dinner which we usually don’t get to eat until 9.30pm. We then flake out on the sofa for an hour of TV, but inevitably the computer comes out onto my lap and I continue to work until bedtime. Weekends are usually about ferrying the kids to various sporting clubs on Saturday, and then on Sunday we try to have family day.

I spent years working in the music industry but it wasn’t the sort of career I could keep up with once I had two small kids. I initially went back to work in a different area and absolutely hated it. I was interviewed a few times for a large children’s online retailer and I realised I how much passion I had for this sector. That all fell through in the end but by then I knew I didn’t want to do anything else.

The best thing about working for myself is that if one of my kids is ill I can take time off to look after them without being made to feel bad for it. However, I’m also on call 24 hours a day and, especially in this social media age, people want and expect answers there and then, so my phone is never out of my hand. My children comment on that all the time which makes me feel ashamed but at the same time it’s a necessary evil.

Balancing work and motherhood is really, really hard. We had to dig deep to pay for a nanny so I could work past the end of school each day. Businesses simply can’t stop at 3pm and I was getting so stressed trying to deal with three tired, post-school kids as well as mealtimes and bedtime whilst still answering calls and trying to respond to emails and social media. Even though it’s a financial strain, the fact I know they are in safe hands is a great relief, and when I get back they have at least been fed and are happy, and I can actually put the phone and computer down and spend some time with them before bed. I try not to feel guilty and worry about how much time I spend with them, and instead try to make the time we have really positive.

My advice to mothers wanting to set up their own businesses would be that you mustn’t be fooled into thinking that working for yourself will give you more time with your children and that it will be easier than working for somebody else. Because remember all your colleagues at your old job? You now have to do everything they did too.

I am amazed and grateful every day for how successful this business has become in such a short time. The fact that sometimes I realise I have no idea what I am doing and am simply winging it by gut instinct makes me feel good. I’m so proud of my three beautiful, well-balanced and brilliant children. I’m by no means perfect, but I’ve taken a lot of lessons I have learned while growing up and used them to try and do the best by them.