Shruti's blog: Mumpreneurs

When I went on my first maternity leave, I was wildly optimistic about all of the spare time that I would have on my hands. Surely nothing could be as hardcore as being a derivatives lawyer in the City.  I envisaged having French lessons while simultaneously breastfeeding my contented newborn.  I even signed up to have pottery lessons, thinking that I could leave my baby happily gurgling in its buggy while I took to the wheel and created a new dinner set. Clearly, as soon as Arianna was born, all of my illusions were shattered and my hopes of bettering myself were replaced with an inability to wash my hair or brush my teeth any time before noon. Going on maternity leave for the second time, I was far more realistic and didn't plan on doing anything apart from having a shower before doing the nursery run, and at a push, taking Anushka to baby rhyme time at the library with my other mum friends.

The gap between my first child and my third was sufficiently long that by the time I went on maternity leave yet again, I had forgotten how unachievable most of my original plans had been.  Once again, I found myself filled with ideas of using my time out of the office to learn about new things.  During my year away from work, I have become involved with a charity (Noah’s Ark Hospice), undertaken a course in Non-Executive Directorships and, possibly most importantly, been the class rep at school for my eldest daughter.  But despite all of this, the thing that has absolutely filled my soul with joy (apart from, obviously, my utterly delicious new baby boy) has been Campus for Mums And Dads.

An initiative run by Google for entrepreneurs, they provide assistance for those in the start-up space in a variety of forms, ranging from mentoring sessions to lectures from experts to mindfulness workshops.  Best of all for me, they also offer a 10 week programme for parents with a business idea that they want to turn into reality or that they are looking to progress. But here’s how they've pulled a blinder - it is actually achievable for a person with a small human permanently attached to them, because you are allowed to bring babies to the course.

I was so delighted to be accepted onto the programme that as the start date loomed closer, I worried that it could only be a massive disappointment. I could not have been more wrong.  I rocked up on the first day and met my fellow mumpreneurs (and a few dadpreneurs as well), all with really diverse perspectives, but each with a common sense of enthusiasm and determination. I practically worshipped the lady who stood up in front of our entire cohort with her week-old baby, giving an impressive presentation on her simple yet brilliant business idea. There was an immediate connection with the fellow lawyer in my class, who was equally shocked to meet a breed of people for whom an aversion to risk is not paramount.  A few of the ideas were so blindingly obvious and thoughtful that I had to stop myself from behaving like a crazy stalker, begging people to let me invest my savings in their businesses.  My peers on the course have amazing ideas, but even more incredible, is their genuine generosity in sharing their expertise to help others to improve and advance. The ten minutes spent workshopping my business idea with my group was so productive that by the time they had finished with me, they had virtually transformed my app from being small-time and non-profit making into being a better version of Pokemon Go (even if I do say so myself).

I am currently only a few sessions into my course and I am cherishing every moment.  Being mostly comprised of women, the campus has captured the true spirit of the sisterhood, whilst also being inspirational and facilitating access to heavyweight contacts in the tech and funding arena.  Like the words in a good book, I am soaking up the time before I turn over the last page and head back to reality.

Shruti works part-time as a derivatives lawyer in London. She spends her days-off with her two girls aged 6 and 4 who are both at school and her one year old boy who is just starting nursery.