Fiona Clark photo 20131Marvellous Mum Fiona Clark is the founder of Inspired Mums. Fiona has a passion to help others find fulfilling roles which work around family life. With two children of her own, Fiona knows the challenges facing mums returning to work and has a determination to help others achieve their potential.

Sum up your business in a sentence:
Career and confidence coaching that empowers mums to find fulfilling and family friendly careers.

Which part of the Chilterns do you live?
We’ve recently moved to Holmer Green and I love it – there is a strong community feel.

What did you do before setting up your business and why did you set it up?
I spent 10 years working in high-pressure sales roles for two major blue chip companies and knew I needed a change when my heart was no longer in it. I wasn’t playing to my strengths and needed a drastic change in direction but felt lost and didn’t know where to start.
A few sessions with a career coach helped me have my ‘light bulb’ moment and understand what really motivates me – which is helping others and having meaning in my work. I retrained as a coach and founded Inspired Mums in 2006, and I am passionate about helping other mums find fulfilling and flexible roles.

What’s the most difficult thing about running your own business?
Initially, I found it really hard to predict the hours and workload – and that is still sometimes the case. I have to manage my own work-life balance whilst ensuring I remain flexible for my coaching clients. Finding flexible childcare has helped me overcome this obstacle and given me the support to run the business successfully.
Believing in yourself and staying motivated through the first difficult months when you have to invest in your business and childcare without knowing whether you’ll ever make enough money to cover the expenses, is also very tough.

How do you see your company growing in the future?
I really want all mums – regardless of background and budget to have access to career and confidence coaching. I’m planning to develop free and low-cost products to sit alongside the main 1-2-1 coaching such as e-books, podcasts, webinars, and so on. That will also help my business grow geographically across the U.K.

Six words of advice to those looking to start their own company:
Find your passion, get support, persevere

Your biggest weakness: saying ‘no’ to people – I sometimes take on too much because of my passion for helping others!

Your simple pleasure: cuddles in bed with my kids for the 10 mins or so before we all need to get up

Favourite tipple: Pimms – and no I don’t wait until summer for an excuse to have one!

InspiredMumsIf you are interested in understanding how 1-2-1 coaching can boost your self-belief and confidence – please contact Fiona on fiona@inspiredmums.co.uk or 07789 597209 or visit www.inspiredmums.co.uk
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