Monday Mumpreneur with Lisa Furnish

Every Monday we feature a mumpreneur who’s ready and willing to open up their lives and their business to us.

They share with us their motivation, their challenges and their proudest moments in business and they also tell us how they take time to nurture themselves.

If you’re looking for inspiration, then our featured business mums show you what’s possible. Our message is “If we can do it ~ then so can you!”

I'm delighted to introduce you to our Mumpreneur of the week ~ we 'met' online a few years ago. It was the end of 2010 and my Magical Meditations 4 Kids CDs had just been published.  Lisa had seen them in a shop in the Lake District and taken a picture of them for me.  She admitted to being very excited upon finding them and was jumping up and down shouting 'I know her' ~ what really connected with me was that I would have done exactly the same thing.  She made me smile and she's been making me and other people smile ever since ~ I know you'll like her as much as I do . . .

Name: Lisa Furnish

Website: www.secretsmilephotography.com

Brief description: Photographer based in West Yorkshire specialising in photographing children and families. I capture those smiles that would otherwise be lost so that you can look back on them for years to come.
J.M. Barrie once said “God gave us memories that we might have roses in December”

Children: Jacob, aged 4. The master of disaster.

Live: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.

PC or Mac? PC

About my business: Photographer specialising in child and family photography, freezing those moments in time so that we have a visual memory that makes us secretly smile for years to come. I have always loved photography and registered my business in August 2010

Motivation: My partner at the time started working abroad for months at a time and I didn’t want to put our Son into full time childcare so I gave up my job as a Marketing Executive for the largest corporate law firm in the world to be a full time Mom and photographer.

My biggest challenge in business: Childcare. I am a single parent and I have no family nearby. I beg, steal and borrow childcare wherever possible to work weekends which is when most people are free for their photographs to be done.

How I overcame it: With a little (ok, a LOT) of help from my friends.

Proudest business moment: When I walked into my friend’s house and saw my work hanging on her walls. I photographed her children and she bought a disc with the images on. She had 2 huge canvases printed and hung in her living room. I was so excited I took a picture on my phone and texted it to all my family.

Favourite quote: “Never frown because even when you are down you never know who is falling in love with your smile” [unknown]

What I do to relax: Take a hot bath with candles and read a good book.

The last treat I bought myself: My favourite picture I have taken of my son mounted as a large acrylic for my living room. I am proud of my work, I am making sure everybody who comes to my home and my home studio can see that

Favourite colour: pink

Favourite flowers: tulips

Advice for other other mumpreneurs: Don’t give up! When it gets darkest the stars come out.

Fancy featuring as one of our amazing mumpreneurs? Drop me an email over on the contact page - and I’ll be in touch.   Or let me know in a comment below.