Monday Mumpreneur with Nicky Kriel

Every Monday we feature a mumpreneur who’s ready and willing to open up their lives to us.  They share with us their motivation, challenges and proudest moments in business and they also tell us how they take time to nurture themselves. It’s lovely to have them here at Mums Got A Business and we hope you enjoy connecting with them too.

I'm very happy to introduce you to today's lovely mumpreneur.  We met online last year when a mutual acquaintance told her she must follow me (a lovely compliment).  We've been cyber friends ever since and I've watched her grow so much in that time.  She's now quickly becoming the 'go to' person when it comes to demystifying social media for newbies.

Your name:  Nicky Kriel

Your website:  www.nickykriel.com/blog

Brief description:

I Write a mixture of personal development and social media aimed at the small business owner

How many children do you have?

I have 3 children: Natasha, 18, Emily, 14 and Peter 12

Where do you live? Guildford, Surrey, England

PC or Mac:  PC

Tell us about your business

I came from a Marketing and Sales background before I retrained as a Master NLP Practitioner.  As a Communication Coach, my passion is empowering people to reach their true potential.  Aside from my private coaching clients, I run personal development and social media courses for business owners.  Social Media provides small business owner with a great opportunity to level the playing field and I help business get started by converting geek-speak into english.

What motivated you to become a mumpreneur?

I have worked both full time and part time as a mother.  I probably work harder and longer hours running my own business, but I love the freedom of my making my own decisions and not needing permission to take the day off to watch my children's sports day.  There is a lovely quote about the best piece of career advice is to find something you love doing and get paid to do it.  There is something magical about watching clients have "light bulb moments" and it fills me with pure joy.  I love what I do, the learning has been about how to create my passion into a business and acquiring the skills I need as a business person.

What’s been your biggest challenge in business?

School holidays!  Trying to be productive in a house full of people and creating a balance between working on my business and being a mum.

How have you overcome it?

Luckily, my children are teenagers now and sleep in until about noon.  So I make sure I get up early and pack as much work as possible in in the morning while the house is quiet.  I also make sure that I book days in my diary to have fun family excursions

What’s been your proudest business moment?

When someone recently said that he chosen to work with me despite being approached by a number of other companies offering their services because I had such a good reputation.

What’s your catchphrase or favourite quote?

I love the quote attributed to Michaelango that the biggest problem in life is not that we aim too high and miss it, but we aim too low and achieve it.

What do you do to relax or nurture yourself?

I am surrounded by people most of the time, so for my having time on my own just to chill and recharge is a real treat.

What was the last treat you bought for yourself?

Ok, it is a bit of a cheat because my boyfriend bought it for me, but I would have treated myself to it.  I had my feet nibbled by little fish followed by a pedicure.  It is something I have been keen to do ever since I saw it on Ugly Betty.

Favourite colour:  Burgundy

Favourite flowers:

Jasmine because of their heady aroma and it reminds me of summer evenings in South Africa where I grew up.  I also like Tulips for their simple elegance.

What one piece of advice would you like to give to a new mumpreneurs?

The difference between success and failure is the willingness to keep on trying.  If you feel passionate about what you are doing, you will find a way to make it work as a business.  I have found it useful to ask myself each day, "What is the one small thing that I can do today will make a difference to my business?"

Fancy featuring as one of our amazing mums? Drop me an email over on the contact page and I’ll be in touch.   And remember to drop by every Monday to welcome our latest profiled mum.