Mixing business and babies

Is taking your baby to a business event strange?

No, not if a new type of group is anything to go by. In fact I’m really proud to have helped set up Mum’s The Boss in South Yorkshire. This is for parents running their own businesses, which offers crèche facilities and meets at childcare-friendly times.

Mum’s The Boss was started two years ago by Sam Pearce and Helen Woodham, both mums who have run businesses. It is now expanding fast around the UK, with great speakers, workshops, fab cakes and the chance to meet a diverse range of businesses. People who come along soon see the benefits. They realise that everyone still talks business, makes connections and develops opportunities, as they would at any other event.

Since I set up as a freelance PR consultant last year it really hit me that there are breakfast, lunch and after-work business groups in abundance in Sheffield and across Yorkshire, but not a lot for parents who can’t (or won’t) just up and leave the house and their children at six in the morning.

Mum’s The Boss is changing things because it embraces the fact that many business people also happen to be parents and can’t always hide that (even though sometimes we feel we are expected to).

If we want mums and dads who are trying to get a balance between parenting and business to be able to participate in the business world more, then maybe we should make other business events a bit more ‘child-friendly’. This doesn’t mean children running under everyone’s feet, or discussions about nappy changes, just occasionally using a venue with a crèche or starting at ten in the morning, after the school run.

It’s great to be able to respect both parts of our lives sometimes.