Spotlight on new business: A mumpreneur born in lockdown

Mums Tips

Mumpreneurs & Mums at work

Published on Monday, 28 June 2021 10:13

Last Updated on 27 June 2021

LaurenMicallef

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Hi All

Firstly thank you to London Mums Magazine for giving me this lovely opportunity to blog here.

I have so much I want to discuss and talk about, but I thought I should probably introduce myself first.

My name is Lauren, I am a mum of two who started a business during the beginning of lockdown last year.

I was actually on maternity leave with my second baby when I had the idea – baby number two was just a month old at the time (yes I also look back and think I was absolutely crazy – I blame it on lack of sleep and hormones!).

One day, I decided I wanted to make beeswax crayons for my daughter’s friends as little lockdown gift.  I actually loved making them so much that I thought I could make a business from it.  So BeeCrayative Crayons was born!  We were stuck at home with a new born, a 2-year-old and a poor husband trying to work from home (and help me get my business off the ground)!  It was tough, but I do not regret one second of it as I actually think it kept me sane.  It was my little get away from all the madness going on in the world.

There were a lot of long days and nights, tweaking how I actually made the crayons so that they were just right, learning from my initially bad packing skills and getting my brand exactly how I wanted it.  I am not going to lie, I am a perfectionist and I cant say no to people, so I literally worked myself to the bone to make things exactly how my customers wanted them.

I wanted to set myself apart from all of the other crayon businesses out there, which is why I chose to make them using beeswax.  The process is a lot more time consuming but I feel that it makes them a kinder and more natural product, which it what I was striving for.  I make sure all of my packaging is 100% recyclable, because it is important that we do our bit to help the planet (and the bees) along the way.

A year on, I have returned to my day job at Great Ormond Street Hospital but I am continuing to run my business.  I relish being able to do this as well as my day job and looking after my wonderful family.

I want to teach my children that ANYTHING is possible, when you put your mind to it.

Look what you can achieve in the middle of a pandemic!

So that’s me!

I don’t know about you but, returning to work opens up a whole can of worms in regard to childcare, nursery fees, so called free hours and so much more but, I’ll rant about this in my next blog!

Stay safe

Lauren