TODAY'S WOMAN - Mum's the word for businesswomen
You love your mum to bits. But could you work with her? And more to the point, can mums used to ruling the roost take orders when the boss is their daughter? In this Mothers' Day special, meets six women who can.
Work with her mother? As a stroppy teenager, Carly Moulson would have laughed in your face at the very suggestion.
But 14 years on, here she is, running her own business with her mum as right-hand woman.
The pair run Carly's Woodseats dancewear shop Arabesque, a little Aladdin's cave of tap shoes and ballet pumps, sparkly leotards and flouncy tutus, many made by the nimble-fingered pair.
"We are glued together - we work together every day and often spend our evenings sewing into the night," admits Carly. "I suppose for some mothers and daughters that could be a recipe for disaster, but it works for us.
"Our relationship is closer as a result, and the shop runs smoothly. I couldn't do without her.
"But if someone had given me a crystal ball when I was a teenager and told me this would happen, I would never have believed them.
"I had all the usual teen moments with her. But our relationship got so much better as I got older. What happened was I grew up and realised that actually my mum talked a lot of sense."
The 29-year-old owes her career choice to her mum, too; it was Sue, now 55, who got her into dancing at the age of three.
"She was a naughty little girl who was always into everything; I sent her to dancing class to get some discipline," says Sue, 55. "It worked - and Carly can't remember not dancing now. Her whole life was about competitions and shows. And when she go made redundant and decided to set up on her own, selling dancewear was the logical step."
Carly set up shop eight years ago and mum Sue went to work for her three years later after taking voluntary redundancy from her job in pensions for BT.
"I wanted an employee I could trust totally and who understands how I want things done. I couldn't think of anyone better than the woman who knows me best in the world," Carly reasons.
The two women have their own separate roles within the business, coming together for costume making and sales. And when Carly decided to go off travelling to Australia for six months last year, she was able to do it without a worry about the business. It was in the safest possible hands."
"People have said: how can you work with your mum? Don't you get up each other's noses? And naturally we do have our moments.
"We're very similar, which isn't always a good thing. We are both very stubborn and are big perfectionists. And we both always think we are right.
"There's the occasional argument over whose turn it is to wash the pots," she says, with a cheeky sideways glance at her mum. "But we've learned when to ignore the snappiness, put it down to stress and put the kettle on; by the end of a cup of tea we're back to normal again.
"People might think that being joined at the hip with my mum means I haven't cut the apron string, but actually I'm very independent.
"I turn to her in a crisis, though only after I'd had a very good go at sorting things myself."
Mum Sue explains that she can't complain; she was determined to raise her only child to be strong, capable and hard-working. "I was the one who encouraged her to have a go at running the shop. I knew she could do it," she says.
Did she have any qualms about going to work for her strong-willed daughter?
"Not one," she says. "We communicate very well; we're both comfortable with saying to the other: why are you doing it that way, not this?"
And when a customer walks in and assumes Sue is the boss and Carly the assistant, it's Sue who puts them straight.
My mother helped me save the day
When her daughter's beauty salon hit a glitch, it was mum to the rescue.
Julie Wells' business partner wanted to call it a day - but Julie couldn't afford to buy her out.
There was always one person she could call on in a time of crisis, though - mother Anne Scott.
"I stepped in with the cash and became Julie's partner last year. I did it without any reservation," says Anne, now 69. Julie, a 50-year-old married mum of two, couldn't believe her luck.
"I wouldn't have been able to carry on without mum. She made it possible for the business to survive, but on top of that the knowledge and the skills she brought to the salon have seen it grow and prosper," she says.
Their French-style salon, La Vie En Rose at Glossop Road, Broomhill, has undergone a stylish makeover and recently added a chic fashion accessory boutique to the premises.
Along with Julie's dad, Anne had previously run the cutlery firm Arthur Wright and Sons for years.
"I did all the ordering and the book-keeping until we sold up. And to be honest, I was finding retirement a bit boring. Since I joined the salon I've been using all my old skills and have picked up some new ones. I'm quite a shy person but the job has brought me out of my shell."
Anne is now an equal partner in the business and is at the salon most days, enabling Julie to continue with a full-time job.
"I'm there more, but we run it between us - Julie is the brains behind it and she does all the internet stuff and the computerised accounts which leave me totally baffled," she says.
Julie admits she had worried the business might have a negative effect on their relationship, but both report no fall-outs or bust-ups.
"We haven't got sick of the sights of each other - in fact work has actually enhanced our relationship," says Anne. "It's given us another interest in common.
"I think my constant tidying gets on her nerves, but she bites her tongue and she doesn't boss me about," says Anne. "I knew she wouldn't. All I've ever had from my three daughters is respect."
Julie thinks it's worked so successfully "because we both have the same taste, sense of humour, interests and goals; we are an extension of each other."
But while her mum has turned out to be her ideal business partner, she doesn't think it would work for everyone. "From speaking to a lot of my friends, I know they couldn't work with their mums," she says.
"I certainly couldn't work with my daughter of 25. Her generation have a different work ethic to mine and my mum's. I just know we would fall out all the time!"
Parental onvolvement adds a touch of flower power
The way Hazel Swirles looks at it, her daughter's flower shop isn't just her life, it's her baby.
"And if she had children, I'd been helping her look after them, wouldn't I?" she says.
For the last 12 years, she's been helping her daughter fulfil her true vocation.
"That's what floristry is," says Hazel. "You can't work with flowers all day long unless you really love them."
When Janine Swirles decided to set up shop so she could give full reign to her artistic abilities, Hazel jumped at the chance of helping her achieve her dream.
"We had helped our son set up a business; then it was Janine's turn to be given our support, I had incredible faith in her. She had years of experience and qualifications to her name and a real passion for flowers. As a little girl, she would ask for them instead of toys," says Hazel.
The Hollyhocks shop on Chesterfield Road is now a thriving business thanks to their teamwork. And in addition, the two women feel their relationship has blossomed from working together.
Both women reckon that the mother-daughter relationship enables employer and employee to "really say what's on their minds and get it over and done with."
"What has always been a very special bond has got stronger," says 38-year-old Janine. "I absolutely love working with mum.People might think we're in an unusual situation, but I don't see anything odd about it. In fact, most of my friends are quite envious; they wish they could work with their mums."
Hazel might have raised her and chipped in with the start-up funds, but Janine is definitely the boss in the shop. While she concentrates on the creative side, her mum does everything from the cleaning up to doing the deliveries.
Says Hazel: "If she instructs me to do something, I respect where she's coming from and I do it. I'm the general dogsbody!"
There are fringe benefits of being the boss's mother, though.
"I don't have to clock in and out," she says. "But the main perk I get is mother's pride from helping my daughter achieve her goals."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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