Successful Mumpreneur, Sheena Woods is Mum to two children (Siobhan and Brannon) and Director of MaByLand. Sheena shares her story of the highs and lows which led to her successful business ‘MaByland’ with Mums Baby Magazine.

Big Decisions

I was only twenty six years old when I became the youngest and only woman to sit on the Board of Directors as a Performance Executive. It took four years of dedication and hard graft to get there, and I could no longer set my sights any higher, I’d reached the top. My ambitious nature had led me to a cross roads.
Should I jump ship and look for a new role? Perhaps this my chance, the right time to chase my childhood dream of running my own business, I went with my gut feeling…

After ten years my childhood sweetheart finally proposed to me, and visions of my big day swamped my mind. Although I’m Chinese, I have lived, studied and worked in the UK my entire adult life, which left me with a catch?22. I wanted the romantic English white wedding in my finance’s village, but I also wanted to follow tradition and have a Chinese Wedding. I had to make a decision, and as my friends back home weren’t able to make it to my white wedding, my mind was made up, I’d have both!
With marriage thrown into the mix, my attention turned towards our future, and family. Although I am very ‘career driven’, I also believe that no matter how successful I became, it would all amount to nothing if I didn’t have a family to share it with. My mind became overwhelmed with broody thoughts and my entrepreneurial dream; it soon led me to have a ‘light?bulb’ moment! I could combine both my dream of running my own business, and starting a family ? the outcome was ’MaByLand’, my very own baby brand was born.

Everything seemed to be happening all at once, and I had an unbelievable amount to organise and plan.I’d return home from a long day at work in the city, sit back down, and continue my research into the baby industry. I’d work late into the night designing, and on top of all of this I was planning two weddings! Every moment I had, I squeezed the most out of, trying to complete as many tasks as possible. If I wasn’t ringing the florist or tracking down a photographer for the wedding then I was talking to manufacturers, or deciding on fabrics for my new up and coming business. I spent my weekends driving to and from London and Leicestershire planning my church wedding and I used my holiday leave to travel to Hong Kong to meet my manufacturers for ‘MabyLand’ and organise my Chinese wedding too!

My New Life

I got married in December 2007, twice! My weddings were only one week apart, including my honeymoon, the celebrations lasted a month! I returned to work on a high, I handed in my notice which was my first real step towards my dream…My husband works as a Doctor, and explained how it can take between six months to a year to fall pregnant, so we starting trying immediately.

On the morning after my leaving party I discovered the good news. We couldn’t believe it! We were going to be parents and we couldn’t be happier. But this left me worried if I had made the right decision to leave my job, but I couldn’t lose my nerve now. Now I had a baby on the way I needed to get the business up and running, so with the help of my husband, the website www.MaByland.com went live ahead of time in late August 2008.

Slowly but surely started receiving regular orders. My first baby girl, Siobhan was born on December 1st 2008. Immediately, this impacted my business as my little girl became my everything, I was a first time Mum and had so much to learn. I’d spend my days doting on her, striving to be the best Mum possible. I breastfed her, so I felt I couldn’t actively arrange business meetings or visit retailers with a baby on my hip, thus I waited until she was ready to start weaning.

Second Time Around

Whilst on my first venture out of the house without my daughter during the summer of 2009, I made my first sale to a local retailer, which reminded me that I was sitting on great products, and I was ready to get down to business. I began running a ‘Mummy Focus Group’ to discuss ideas for my new product range. After a few months everything fell back into place, it was then that I fell pregnant with my second child (during September 2009)

Before I was pregnant I had pre?booked to exhibit at a selection of the largest Baby Shows in the UK! So at five months pregnant I exhibited, our tiny stand was swamped with custom, I didn’t even have time for a toilet break! I had to continuously waddle to and from the storage area to stock up the stall. Although these shows took a lot out of me, they gave me a buzz, and this reassured me that I had designed things that other parents love too! The exhibits also helped me to work through my shy nature and gain a little confidence in myself. Due to this I was able to attend the UK’s largest trade show on my own. However, I was unable to take part in after show social events as I was six months pregnant at this point!

I didn’t want the business to fall behind again, so I decided to hire someone to help, and found myself an office on a quaint little street in Wimbledon half an hours walk from my home. I kept Siobhan away from the office by taking her to playgroups whilst the renovation work was going on, I had so much on my plate at the time that I didn’t realise until two days later that I had been having contractions! My baby boy Brannon was born in June 2010.

Melt Down

It was a big part of my dream to have both of my little ones with me in the office; I wanted the freedom and flexibility that most working parents don’t have. My child had their own little play area setup, so that I wouldn’t miss a moment of watching them growing up. However, I soon realised that this was a farfetched fantasy.

Running a business, controlling a toddler and looking after a new-born baby became too much for me, and the most difficult six months of my life followed. My two little ones set each other off crying, they both seemed to want my undivided attention, which I was simply unable to give given the circumstances. It was difficult for Siobhan to adjust to the new office environment, she became protective of her space, and she’d wail if a customer came in to browse the products and touched ‘her’ things! My son wasn’t sleeping through the night, the initial first few months I had expected this, but I never imagined his sleepless nights to continue on for six long months.

Brannon was only three months old when we journeyed together on our first business trip abroad to Germany, where we were exhibiting at the largest European Baby Trade Show. It was a surreal experience; I’d breastfeed behind a poster and during business meetings. We worked long days and late nights which took its toll on both my son and I. I was still running on very little sleep, as Brannon’s feeding and sleeping pattern was no different from a new-born baby’s. I worked into the early morning hours, getting only a couple hours of sleep. I ran my business during the day, and took care of my babies in the office.

It was at this point that I began to suffer severely from stress related illnesses such as painful ulcers, terrible mood swings, and I longed for my own mother who was thousands of miles away in Hong Kong – all of which built up and caused me to break down, leaving me feeling like a terrible mother.

New Beginnings

I soon had a break from work, and travelled to Hong Kong to show off my little family to all my friends and relatives. After receiving so many compliments about my little ones, and how great I was coping, I soon regained my confidence, and put together a plan as things had to change.

On New Year’s Day 2011 I decided to try ‘controlled crying’ (a method used by many parents to reduce the time taken to get little ones to sleep) as I hadn’t had an uninterrupted night’s sleep for over six months and I was utterly exhausted. I was apprehensive of using controlled crying as a method and it was difficult, but it miraculously worked, and within three days my son was sleeping through the night.

I decided that two year old Siobhan was now old enough to go to nursery; she was like a little sponge that soaked up anything new. Siobhan now loves nursery, she enjoys making new friends and learning new songs! As for Brannon, I still take him to the office with me; he loves crawling around and creating mess! I am now able to focus my attention on my third baby, ‘MaByLand’. It is finally beginning to take off, and I am more than excited about what the future holds.

Looking to the Future
I believe all parents build thick skins, they will have already achieved things they thought were never possible! I wish to encourage Mums and Dads alike to follow their hearts, and go with their gut instincts; there will be highs and there will be lows, but it will all be worth it when they look back with no regrets.

Mums Baby Magazine would like thank Sheena for her time and would like to wish Sheena and her family all the best for the future.