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| Mum in profile - Tiffany Faglin | ||||
 French Australian Tiffany was born and grew up in Tahiti, but has lived in Australia for many years. She lives on the Gold Coast with her three boys, Keeanu 4½, Romeo 3 and Texas 15 months and her husband, Olivier.C4K: You've got three busy boys and you work from home. How does that work? What's your daily routine? TF: I am the creator of TheChicElement, which specialises in Office Style for women. My focus is on bringing a selection of beautiful, quality items to decorate workspaces in a way that is uplifting and inspiring for women. It is all about beautifying the workspace by adding personal touches of colours and prettiness through accessories, decoration, furniture and lighting. A typical day here starts at 5:45am when the boys are up. A typical day of work involves the boys being dropped off by 8 am – I like to get housework done, the kitchen & laundry have to be done before I start my day of work around 9am. I am fairly ruthless with my schedule because it helps me fit as much as I can into my day without procrastinating. Between 4-7:30pm I don't usually work unless I have something urgent. This is my time for my family. From 7:30pm after the boys are in bed I like to have some me-time or resume working. I also make sure to complete certain tasks that will make things easier for me the next day such as scheduling a washing for the next morning so that when I wake clothes are already clean and just need to be hanged and have kindy bags and clothes ready and my kitchen must be clean before bed. C4K: Office furniture and accessories is quite specific. How did you come up with your business? TF: The idea came after I had my third child – during my pregnancy I became particularly obsessed with organising everything and from that need to organise I discovered a lot of amazing blogs on the topic. Most were written by mums and I soon noticed that they all had something in common - pretty offices! This is when the light bulb went. I didn't really have my own separate office space at the time but through these bloggers, developed a desire to have my own space where I could completely immerse myself for work as well as be able to close the door and not think about it during the times allocated for my family. From the moment I decided to create my office began the many hours of online surfing trying to find the perfect chair, desk or accessories and it pretty much started from that. C4K: Did you take time off with your children? TF: For my first two I was back working part-time when they were around 2 months old. I was lucky that both my mother and mother in law were able to look after the boys at that time which simplified things a lot for me. From the moment I fell pregnant for the third time I became quite exhausted and told my husband that I needed to stop working. I am lucky that I was in a position where my husband could support all of us if I did not work and so I took a year off and became very focused on the pregnancy and getting myself ready for the experience of natural childbirth. This was a very big deal for me as my first two were born by caesareans. The need to work came back around when Texas turned 3 months. I definitely felt a need to work again. My experience as a mum of 3 boys under 4 (then) is that it is a very demanding and exhausting role and working is almost a way for me to find myself again not as a mother but as a woman, it is my way of reconnecting. I already knew that I wanted to work from home and everything fell into place from the moment I decided I was ready to resume working again. I was working on TheChicElement months before it launched, so it was certainly a work in progress and did not happen overnight. And yes, Texas was born completely naturally at the Gold Coast Hospital, thanks to the wonderful support of my midwife Sharon Dalton from My Midwife for encouraging me through this amazing experience! C4K: What were your main motivations to return to work and what was the hardest thing about it? TF: My main motivation stems from a love of work. Working gives me a different sense of purpose than that of being a mother and keeps me happy and balanced as a wife and a mother. I bore very easily and need and thrive on the mental stimulation that comes through my work and working can also be a lot less tiring than running after my 3 boys particularly when we have bad nights. Work means organisation, concentration, quietness and effectiveness - things that I love, but which are almost non-existent when my boys are around! I don't feel mother guilt about it, because I love and need to work and also because my boys are in good hands when they are not with me. We have a pretty good routine going on and I try very hard to stick to it, because that routine is what makes it possible to have a work/parenting balance. It is even more important when you work from home because it can be so easy to dismiss the children in order to finish that 'one last thing'. My hardest challenge to date has been trying to deal with my fatigue from lack of adequate sleep that all mothers go through. My youngest has just started sleeping through at night whilst my older two are up at 5:45am most mornings (sometimes it's 4am) so some days are rougher than others. C4K: Who looks after the children when you're working? TF: My boys attend Jelly Bean Family day care 3 days a week. Previously my two oldest were attending a local child care centre, but when Texas turned 1 I became aware that he needed more stimulation than I had the time to offer him and I chose to enrol all 3 at the same family day care. It is the best decision I could have made, my boys just love going there. They have so much fun and would have sleepovers if they could. I have the boys with me one day a week and we enjoy going to playgroups on that particular day. My mother in law looks after the two eldest once a week. This works well for everyone. On days where I have appointments and I am unable to bring along my youngest I can easily drop him off at my mother's house. I am very lucky, because I do have a lot of support from family. Next year my oldest will be starting prep, so it will be down to having just two boys with me this will be an interesting change. I look forward to my oldest starting school, I think it will be very stimulating and an experience he will definitely enjoy. C4K: What were you looking for in your child care arrangement? TF: I was always looking for my boys to experience care in a way that offers them the stimulation they require without taking away the nurturing one on one care they receive when with their grandmother or with myself. They also offer the same education program that you would find in a child care centre and provide lunch which is a huge bonus for me. The other bonuses are that my boys get the same educator every day which is just wonderful, (they refer to her as 'auntie') and I also get a daily reflection of their day with photos, milestones and a written description of their activities and achievements etc at the end of each day. But above all it was important for me that my boys felt happy about attending the family day care and they absolutely love it! They would go everyday if they could and as their mum I know that their enthusiasm and joy for attending the family day care is a true reflection of the care they receive. C4K: What are the main benefits of your particular arrangement? TF: There are so many benefits with this arrangement, but the main ones are flexibility and space for me whilst providing a fun, safe, stimulating and nurturing environment for my boys. C4K: What three things could you simply not do without as a working mum? TF: I couldn't do without the boys' family day care; Their carer, whom they call 'auntie' is just amazing. On top of doing the normal educational activities they also get to bake cupcakes and make pizza on specific days which they truly enjoy. I also couldn't do without my laptop and my car. Those are the two indispensable tools in my life! Find out more about Tiffany and The Chic Element at www.thechicelement.com.au |
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