We chatted to Faye, founder of colourful and vibrant activewear brand Mama Movement about why she believes it’s important to role-model running her business for her kids, and how being a mum has shaped her entrepreneurial journey.
Was there a mother figure in your life who influenced you learning any of the skills you use in your business?
My mother was one of the early pioneers of learning to use the internet in the 90s. She put her hand up to build her company’s very first website and taught me basic HTML. At the age of 10 I went on to start my own online blog and community called ‘Galz Rule’, a blog site all about connecting girls from around the world to celebrate our awesomeness! My mother was the most beautiful example of someone with a growth mindset, who showed me that you can learn and do anything you put your mind to. And when running a small business, you have to wear SO many hats that this growth mindset and willingness to learn has definitely helped me in all the different skills I have to use in running Mama Movement.
Did your mother (or aunt, grandma or mother figure) inspire you to take the path to starting your business?
It’s actually for me the other way round, that my daughter inspired me to start up Mama Movement. Becoming a mother made me realise that I needed to be fearless to pursue my dreams, so that I could inspire my children to be fearless in pursuing theirs. And so my daughter was my inspiration to quit my corporate job and chase my dreams, and that dream was starting a brand that was all about helping more women and mums celebrate their bodies. Thus Mama Movement was born!
How do you juggle motherhood with running Mama Movement? What does the reality of that look like?
Sometimes I feel like I’m doing both… half well! I still feel guilt for spending weekends away from my kids when I’m doing a market or have to travel for an interstate event. Or when I have to send my toddler to childcare so I can go to work, and he just doesn’t want to go. And then I feel guilt for my business too. That I had to slow down the growth of my business, when I was pregnant with my second child, and experienced such severe nausea and exhaustion, that I paused all of my Facebook ads as I couldn’t physically keep up with packing orders. And I felt I was letting my business (and all of it’s potential) down.
I’ve realised though that I’m not alone in these thoughts, every working mum feels them, because we place such unrealistic expectations on ourselves. And I do truly know, in my heart, that my business really does bring me so much joy and fulfilment, that I am a better happier mother, because this is my work, and I get to do this work. So the reality is my house is a mess most days, I live in fear that I’ve missed an important school notification, and I sometimes take 2 weeks to apply to work emails. But this is my life that I’ve chosen, I love my business, and I love being a mother, and I’m so lucky I get to do both (even if it sometimes feels half well!).
When you think the ‘WHY’ of your business, how does being a mum impact this?
The WHY of my business has always been about myself as a mother. I started Mama Movement when I had a not-yet-two year old, and all I wanted, was to create a more body positive future for her, and little girls like her, so that she wouldn’t have to go through what I went though as a woman in the complicated relationship I had with my body, and living with an eating disorder for almost a decade. Hence the name Mama Movement. It was never just about the activewear (though the activewear is something I’m SO proud of and has won multiple awards!), it was always about starting a movement of body positivity, through mums, so that we can help the next generation live a more body positive future.
Shop Mama Movement's collection here.
