[Forum Administrator]

CLEO magazine is on the hunt for a single mum to be interviewed for a story. The feature is called 'how I make it work' - so it's on women facing different challenges and how they work around them. Ultimately, I am hoping to find a single mother with young child/ren (1-2 yrs) that needed to go back to work in order to survive. There is a short q+a to answer and a photoshoot in Sydney this coming Friday. If you have a portrait type photo of yourself, you don't need to attend the shoot. Please contact Jo at CLEO for more info - jbarry@acp.com.au

[Mumprenuer]

Hi there Jo,
I would love to be of assistance If I can.
I am a single mum of 2 beautiful children (4 and 6) whom are my life.

My story in brief:

I had been living and working in the Middle East for 14yrs up until 18 mths ago when I decided enough was enough with my Iranian husband. Due to unforseen circumstances and the situation I left a successful business called Tiny Talk with my cherubs and a suit case. With intergrity and passion for life knowing that there was going to be stormy days ahead, it had to be better than what I was prepared to put up with.

I took a personal developement coarse that put me in the frame of mind to stand up to the verbal abuse that I had been recieving for a long period of time with out realising it. The coarse helped me to understand that I had a voice and that I am worth more and that with acceptance and gratitide of the things around me I could succeed.

6 months ago I purchased a little Cafe in the holiday area of Ettalong Beach, not knowing a thing about the restuarant industry I have followed a passion and surrounded myself with a new challenge of turning a run down cafe into a growing busy funky little hub where the locals are loving the atmosphere and enjoy the friendly service.

It is a work in progress daily, and the challenges have been immense mainly due to the fact I have had no experience at all in the industry.

The reason I have replied to this advert is to reach out to other single mums to try and lend support that they are not alone out there and to have faith that if they believe in a dream they can succeed. During this 6 months I have been going through several court cases, Divorcing and having the children put on a airport watch, and at times it has been tough to say the least, however having the strength, determination, motivation and the will to survive is what keeps me going. Setting goals and having the mindset and the willingness to accept help off others that can see the difficulties and challenges that you have as a single parent and a business owner.

Even if my story isnt featured I hope that other single mums or dads out there might read the snippet of my story and give them a little more encouragement that might be needed to help them on their way to start achieving their goals and aspirations.

Regards,

Amanda Delalat.

Surf Sun sand Cafe.
175 Ocean Beach Rd
Ettalong Beach, 2257

[Gemma]

Hello,

I am happy that you are running such an article, it makes me feel the support out there.

I am a single young mother with a 6 month old and I have been working pretty much since she was born. I know that there is a stigma about single mothers complaining all the time but at the end of the day it is really hard trying to juggle being a mum and working- both have massive demands and while being a mother is the most important and best thing that has ever happened to me, I am the type of person who wants to put 100 per cent in to what I do. My job is very demanding and often I feel like I am either letting one or the other down.

I need to work to be able to provide for my daughter and while I have a tremendous amount of support from my parents (you don't really realize how good they are and how much they love you til you have children) I still need to be able to move out of my parents house and into my own and create a future for us. Which means working.

My mum says it is a constant battle to find the balance of life and work, or in my case life and baby, but sometimes I wish I didn't need to stress about money and the future.

[Gemma]

*ran such an article