For me, becoming a mother was like stepping into another dimension. There was so much information and contradicting advice it made my head spin. I have experienced the very highs and lows of motherhood and continue to ride the ups and downs. My greatest struggles so far have included going through post natal depression after the birth of my second daughter and the near drowning of my eldest which although traumatic, shot me into a space of gratitude and ignited a search for passion and purpose.
In January 2014, after yet another hard night of broken sleep and dragging myself off to work, I wondered "Is it supposed to be this hard?" I put the call out to my local community of mums and asked "What if we all just did what we could to support each other?" The concept was well received, and I had 150 mums join the community support initiative within 3 days. I called it 'It Takes A Village...'
I had a fantastic time running this initiative, it was my passion. Even though I worked full time with two children under five I just loved doing it. I ran clothing swaps, toy swaps, cultural celebrations, parenting and budgeting talks. I saw that many mums were running in home businesses so I put on a MumsBiz expo to drum up local support. That was amazing. We ended up with a room of 40 mums networking and connecting like crazy.
Many mums would come to me with their heartaches and struggles and that's why I felt compelled to run the Mothers Unite! Conference, to try and address those very hidden but very mum orientated issues of isolation and loss of identity. By the time the conference was over in March 2015 I found I was almost burnt out. I loved, loved, loved all that I was doing but the strain of working full time and doing it all was taking a toll. I took a break for a bit and just as I was looking for ways to get funding for 'It Takes A Village...' my husband got a chance to be relocated to Dunedin for work. It was very hard to leave what I created behind but it was truly the best thing for our little family, we had been struggling so much in Auckland. Some lovely Auckland mums have taken over 'It Takes A Village..' and it's now just reached over 1000 members in its Facebook community.
So now I'm in Dunedin and back into my passion of building connection, love and community in the world of mums. If you'd like to work with me pop over to my 'Work With Bron' page or drop me a line via the 'Contact' page. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Bronwyn Bay
Mum, Blogger, Freelance Writer, Community Builder
In January 2014, after yet another hard night of broken sleep and dragging myself off to work, I wondered "Is it supposed to be this hard?" I put the call out to my local community of mums and asked "What if we all just did what we could to support each other?" The concept was well received, and I had 150 mums join the community support initiative within 3 days. I called it 'It Takes A Village...'
I had a fantastic time running this initiative, it was my passion. Even though I worked full time with two children under five I just loved doing it. I ran clothing swaps, toy swaps, cultural celebrations, parenting and budgeting talks. I saw that many mums were running in home businesses so I put on a MumsBiz expo to drum up local support. That was amazing. We ended up with a room of 40 mums networking and connecting like crazy.
Many mums would come to me with their heartaches and struggles and that's why I felt compelled to run the Mothers Unite! Conference, to try and address those very hidden but very mum orientated issues of isolation and loss of identity. By the time the conference was over in March 2015 I found I was almost burnt out. I loved, loved, loved all that I was doing but the strain of working full time and doing it all was taking a toll. I took a break for a bit and just as I was looking for ways to get funding for 'It Takes A Village...' my husband got a chance to be relocated to Dunedin for work. It was very hard to leave what I created behind but it was truly the best thing for our little family, we had been struggling so much in Auckland. Some lovely Auckland mums have taken over 'It Takes A Village..' and it's now just reached over 1000 members in its Facebook community.
So now I'm in Dunedin and back into my passion of building connection, love and community in the world of mums. If you'd like to work with me pop over to my 'Work With Bron' page or drop me a line via the 'Contact' page. Looking forward to connecting with you!
Bronwyn Bay
Mum, Blogger, Freelance Writer, Community Builder
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