The mum juggle: how I’ve managed motherhood & a successful beauty business

Session nail stylist, salon owner & educator, Marie-Louise Coster, opens up about her experiences juggling parenthood and her beauty salon…

I am not sure there is ever a right time to start a family. I was quite late to the table when it came to being a mum. Having tried for many years to no avail, I accepted it wasn’t to be. We didn’t go down the route of finding out why or fertility treatments; that wasn’t for us. I focused on my career and built a successful business, then at the ripe age of 37, thinking I was going through the menopause, I discovered I was 10 weeks pregnant. But what would that mean for my home salon?

Luckily, I had a wonderful pregnancy and worked right up to my due date. Then came the discovery that baby was breach and would need to be evicted! I had not factored in recovering from a C-section, planning to go back to work for a couple of hours after a few weeks. That didn’t happen.

In truth, life changes completely when you become a parent, but you have to go with it and adapt to the new normality. I went from working Monday to Friday 9am-9pm and Saturday 9am-3pm, to working Monday to Friday 6pm-11pm and Saturday 7am-9pm, so my husband and I could juggle childcare. I naturally lost a few clients, but most were working mums who wanted evening and weekend appointments.

Within the blink of an eye, my daughter, Beatrice, was off to nursery. This allowed me to pick up some more hours and clients. Then she went to pre-school and my working week altered again, and the same happened when she started school.

Running my own business has allowed me the flexibility to be the mum that she wants, needs and deserves, and that I want to be.

With my daughter, Beatrice.

Being a parent and running a business is a juggle; you need to be very organised, and you have to do what is right for you and your family. Reducing my hours didn’t have a detrimental effect on my business – in fact, it had quite the opposite. I utilised my time more efficiently, focused on driving more retail sales and ended up making more profit.

Work was also a great escapism: a time to be me again and not ‘mum’. I think what I struggled with most was going from a woman who achieved a lot, to not having the time to achieve or feel like I was achieving. I look back now and see I did achieve plenty: from award nominations to growing the business in a new way and session work. At the time, I did have to say ‘no’ to things, but now I have an amazing relationship with my daughter. If I had to do it all over again, I would do exactly the same – just feel less guilty and nervous about it.

To anyone who is pregnant and worried about how a baby will impact your business, please stop. Decide what is best for you and your family, and work the rest around it.

Have set opening hours, which you stick to, stay in touch with all of the clients on your database – whether active or not – to keep you in their minds, and be active on social media. (In my experience, this is easily done while breastfeeding!)

Beatrice with my nail team at the Edward Crutchley AW24 London Fashion Week show.

Make clients feel lucky they have got appointments with you. Create an exclusivity around getting a service and push your unique selling points (USPs). By being open fewer hours, people will be more inclined to book in advance to ensure they have appointments, and your hours will be far more lucrative and productive.

Push your retail products, as these can easily be ordered, sold and collected or delivered. There are lots of ways to keep your business thriving; you just need to be creative. And don’t forget: people come for you as much as the treatment, so they will wait if they need to. A new client contacted me after I had my daughter and had to wait eight weeks to see me, but she did because she heard I was worth waiting for. Nine years later, she is a regular client and a friend.

Do not feel guilty for putting your needs and the needs of your family first. You won’t be able to accommodate everyone and will have to say ‘no’, but you will grow your business – just a little slower. You are about to embark on the greatest (but admittedly, badly paid) ‘job’ you will ever have.

Instagram: @mlcnailartist

Facebook: Marie-Louise Coster Nail Artist, All About Mi