This week we are delighted to feature the lovely Giselle Naimi. A Canadian-Iranian working mum who has made the UK her home for the past five years. Giselle is also part of team WoMo and is a very talented Marketing Strategist, working with small businesses and startups through her agency, Buzz Social! We absolutely love working with her and she has already made a huge impact on our team AND business.
Keen to hear what a typical workday looks like, for Giselle, we asked her to run us through how it looks. She starts by getting her little girl ready and dropped at nursery which is immediately followed by COFFEE (absolutely essential, right?). Post caffeine fix it’s time to tackle emails and tasks for clients. Her calendar is quite packed day by day but she never feels that it's repetitive due to the nature of marketing. She works from home so enjoys hopping on client calls throughout the day as it provides a nice balance of human interaction. Fast forward to 5 pm when it’s time to go pick up the little one again!
We can all agree that It can sometimes be tricky to switch off in the evenings but when you can, it’s great. Giselle spends all day looking at multiple screens so when it comes to the evening, she puts all screens away and just reads a book, has a nice relaxing bath or goes out for a long walk.
Giselle also shares that she hasn’t quite mastered how to combat WoMo guilt yet (It’s a tough nut to crack) but she does try to remind herself that what she’s doing at work or for herself, is actually making her a better mum when the little one is home from nursery.
We moved on to the subject of returning to work after maternity leave and what she found most challenging. For Giselle, it was “not giving her 110% towards my baby at the time. The guilt was making me anxious, but I knew that starting my business would allow me to be more present for her in the long run. Instead, I scheduled days where I wouldn't touch work and gave her every ounce of my attention! It's worked out great so far.”
‘WoMo guilty pleasure: Coffee + TikTok’
Giselle’s little girl can’t yet talk but she joked that she would describe what mum does for a living as blah blah blah. Got to love toddler speak!
Becoming a WoMo has made Giselle realise how incredibly resilient and adaptable she is. She told us that no matter what challenges she faces or how chaotic a situation can be, she has been able to find solutions and just get on with it. Becoming a mother during the pandemic made her an, even more, patient person who is able to cope in higher stress environments with no support. There's a silver lining to the pandemic after all, eh!
Drawing our interview to a close Giselle offered some great advice to other working mums and we think it’s awesome. “You are bigger than your fear, stronger than your doubts and more capable than you could ever imagine. Believe in yourself! The biggest legacy we can leave behind for our children is the ability to believe they can do anything they set their minds on because they watched their mamas do it!’
AMEN! Thank you, Giselle.
Find her on IG: buzzsocialuk