I worked in IT after graduating and (as you do in your 20s) I had the money, time and energy to spend on myself. I’d go shopping at the weekends, knew what I liked and felt confident in the way I dressed.

I’ve always loved clothes and been interested in colour and style so 14 years ago I trained as a Colour & Style Consultant with leading global image consultancy Colour Me Beautiful and loved it! I continued working in IT but spent my weekends helping women to feel more confident about the way they dressed and how they shopped, ensuring their hard-earned money was well spent.

In December 2014 I left my full-time job to have my son and continued working weekends styling women.

I loved being a mum but as you’d expect, my lifestyle changed considerably. That time and money I’d previously had for my wardrobe dramatically decreased as did my energy levels (my boy didn’t like sleeping).

Almost overnight I swapped tailored suits, dresses and heels, for jeans, tops and flat shoes, because you don’t do dresses and heels every day with a little one in tow, (well most people don’t!). Even my accessories (in particular my scarves and long necklaces) seemed redundant with those grabby little hands!

At the age of 41, I was an old new mum and a couple of years after having my son I noticed my hormones changing. Due to the hormones or the pregnancy, (or both), I also noticed changes to my body shape. Parts that I’d once enjoyed being flat, weren’t any longer and vice versa – you get the idea.

It all seemed to change and make the business of feeling good about the way I dressed a challenge. Many of the clothes in my wardrobe just weren’t right any longer. 

Another consequence of being an older mum was that I was often the oldest mummy at the baby group / nursery / school playground and this also didn’t help my confidence levels.

But my training helped me hugely.