Switch Mum’s fresh business start after arrival of daughters
AMUM has told of how she left a high ranking job after she ‘really struggled’ after having her two daughters.
Amy Clarke, 38, spoke candidly about how becoming a parent was a driving factor behind leaving the rat race to launch her own business to support fellow mums after giving birth.
Mrs Clarke previously worked as head of merchandising at Superdry, the head office of which is based in Cheltenham.
But after having her daughters, now aged four and six, she found she craved a more flexible fitness-based lifestyle, which would work better around her parenting.
The mum-of-two said: “I used to work in Superdry head office, so it was a complete career change. But when I had my little girl I really struggled.
“I’ve always had a passion for fitness and I saw a gap in the market.
“So I decided I needed to do something that was more flexible and that I was passionate about.”
She is now a proud club owner of Busylizzy, which offers parent and baby friendly based fitness sessions four mornings a week.
But when Mrs Clarke launched the club in January 2020, having given up her career in retail to do so, she did not expect or prepare for the national lockdown which followed just months later. It was something she said “really affected her and the business”.
She said: “I left a good job, I thought six months the business would be up and running but then three months after there was all of this.
“The business is still quite new, so the national lockdown really affected me in terms of the business and financially.
“When the first lockdown started, we hadn’t been open that long. Keeping it going the past year has been the hardest thing I’ll ever do.”
Mrs Clarke added: “Without that flow and consistency it’s hard to keep the business going. But regardless of the financial situation we’ve been put in, I’ve managed to just hold on and keep it going.
“I just need to be able to come out of this lockdown and run with it.”
Mrs Clarke said that having moved Busylizzy online for the time being “does the job”, but that the “essence” of the business is “face to face contact” and “getting the mums out of the house”, something that cannot really be done online.
“If the mums were to walk into your group and see you and the other parents, it’s just so different,” she said.
Discussing her own experience, she said that when she had her own children “going to coffee clubs where there’s no focus” left her dreading “awkward small talk”.
“I just wanted the world to swallow me up,” she said.
With Busylizzy the mum hopes that “cringey small talk” can be avoided should people want.
Mrs Clarke said: “The biggest thing about this is the flexibility, I know from my experience how important flexibility is.
“We book through an app, and if two hours before a mum decides she doesn’t feel up to it she can cancel and not lose her credit. It’s about knowing what it’s like to be a new mum and having that flexibility.”
The classes run four mornings a week in a number of locations including Leckhampton, East Glos Tennis Club (outside) and near Waitrose in Cheltenham. For more visit busylizzy. co.uk/