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| Mum in Profile - Emma Gascoyne | ||||
 Emma Gascoyne is the Queensland based designer/owner of Dark Horse Accessories and jewellery. She lives and works in the picturesque Samford Valley in South East Queensland with her two children, Lexi and Callum, her husband and various horses.C4K: Your business is based at home, so how does your daily schedule pan out, if there is one? EG: Both my kids are in school now, one in Year 2 and one in Prep. So once I wave them off on the school bus I head into the studio (which is just across from the house) to start my workday. Sometimes in my PJ's. Of course the nature of wholesale accessories sees peaks and troughs and sometimes I can be up until 2am readying orders and other times it is a lot quieter. C4K: What led you to designing jewellery and accessories and starting up Dark Horse Accessories and Red Revival? EG: My original degree was in Art History and History before working in Banking pre-children, so I have always loved the aesthetic side of life. I started experimenting with different mediums and selling my designs after my son was born in 2010 we took a leap of faith and invested in "Sparky" our laser cutter, which brought life to my designs as well as to the designs of other indie designers we have done work for. Then in early 2012 we started a sister label to explore designs in resin. C4K: Did you take time off with your children? If so how much and was it enough or too much? EG: After my daughter was born (first child) with a serious heart condition that required open heart surgery at 4 weeks of age I was not keen to return to my full time job in Financial Markets for one of our big banks. Unfortunately, despite publicly lamenting the loss of their staff after motherhood and an alleged willingness to promote part time or job share for new mums, I was told I had to return full time or not at all. I chose the latter. I was head hunted by another bank who promised me I would only work part time, but I soon realised I was working full time hours from home on the phone. When I became pregnant with my son I resigned and said goodbye to banking. From then until my son was about six months I was a full time mum apart from continuing study. I must admit I struggled with either working too much or not working at all and questioning my identity without work, which I am sure so many of us do. C4K: What were your main motivations to return to work and what was the hardest thing about it? EG: That's a hard question! In terms of working for myself, I would have to say it grew organically. I started out experimenting in order to have an interest outside the kids and to try to feel productive. My two labels have grown from there and now my work does contribute financially, whereas that was not the case in the beginning. C4K: Your kids are at school now but how did you manage work and preschoolers? EG: When I had my son in pre-school at the local day care centre, I was very grateful for flexible hours, as with all centres though, an experience can be only as good as the teacher you have and turnover can be a pain. My Son was diagnosed with PDD (NOS) (Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), which includes atypical autism, and is the most common form of PDD). This is hard to pin down in a description, but the short story is that it is under the "Autism umbrella". It is where you are put if you have some markers of autism, but fit neither Asperger’s nor Autism Spectrum Disorder. Basically Callum seeks a lot of movement as he does not get normal sensory feedback, he has trouble concentrating and sitting still, he is also very rigid in what he will eat. Unfortunately all this can result in him being labelled as "naughty" and the cycle becomes self-perpetuating in a classroom setting. This means there is a constant need to liaise with teachers and specialists, such as his Occupational Therapist, to try to get the best outcomes. C4K: Who looks after the children now when you’re working? EG: With both now at school, this has become a lot easier, during school terms at least! In school holidays we fly by the seat of our pants and juggling the kids and work is a lot harder and I often feel guilty about telling the kids "not now, I'm working". Unfortunately all my husband's family is over 1000 kms away and my parents are not regularly available to help out. C4K: What three things could you simply not do without as a working mum? Online recipes My bookkeeper My horses! Find out more about Emma and her design labels at www.darkhorseaccessories.com and www.redrevival.com.au |
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