Friday Interview

From high flying legal career to becoming a handywoman and now running your own business. Not the most typical career path. How did you get here?

 When they see me now, in my steel-toed capped boots, getting grubby in their gardens, a lot of my clients can’t believe I used to be a prosecutor.

I followed a fairly traditional route through life up until my thirties. I graduated with a Law degree from Newcastle University and pursued what was then was my dream career, as a private prosecutor with G4S.

It was there I met my soon-to-be husband and we started our family. But by the time my son was born, he was my soon-to-be-ex-husband and I found myself a single mother, trying to juggle parenthood with a demanding career.

With my little lion cub at home, long hours just weren’t possible anymore. Despite the fact I always expected to be one of those women that has it all – the career, the husband, the child, the perfect home – it didn’t work out that way.

So, I downed tools and moved back home to my native North East. It wasn’t easy. I missed the old ‘career’ me and sometimes I struggled to know what to do next. But I knew that I wanted to be a strong positive role model for my son and I started to think about businesses I could run.

And that’s when Handy Helpers was born.

What do you love most about your life now you’ve shaken off the corporate world and embraced self-employment?

I love running my own business. I love meeting clients and developing a rapport with them, understanding their needs and seeing how relieved they are to have found someone who can help.

The feedback I get after we’ve done a good job is such a buzz. People love coming home to a  clean house or a smart garden or a newly decorated front room. I’m surrounded by happy people who love what I do for them. It is a great feeling.

It can’t be easy though, juggling a business with parenthood. What are the biggest challenges?

It is extremely challenging and I can’t say that it has delivered the work-life balance I was hoping for yet. I’m often decorating, gardening and DIYing for clients all day, then working on my laptop in the evening to provide quotes, market the business, invoice clients.

But I can see the progress and growth in the business every month and I know that the future is very bright for Handy Helpers. There is such a huge demand for our services and I think the sky’s the limit. I just need more hours in the day! Or more handy helpers to come and work with me.