Amanda Williams is a Working Mum working who is studying for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is married to Ben. She has a toddler Sam who is nearly 2 and a second child due in April 2010.
Not only does she juggle work and family she is building an online financial education service Innergi that provides [online] technical information on areas such as superannuation, estate planning, insurance, investments, tax and debt, as well as lots of other information and services.
Amanda is also offering a special offer to CareforKids.com.au members
Amanda Williams
My husband's name is Ben we have been married for 6 years. We have a toddler Sam who is just on 2 years old and our second child is due to arrive towards the end of April 2010.
I currently work four days a week and I am just about to finish a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) which I have been completing [slowly but surely] over the last few years. More recently I have teamed up with Innergi to build my own business in providing online financial education.
At my regular 4 day a week job I am a manager within Federal Government. I studied Business at University and my roles have generally been geared towards communications, marketing and stakeholder engagement. My real passion however is my business with Innergi, an online financial education service that provides [online] technical information on areas such as superannuation, estate planning, insurance, investments, tax and debt, as well as lots of other information and services.
I'm looking forward to building my business so that I can assist people in improving their knowledge of technical and behavioural money matters. I would also like to help as many mums and dads as possible so they can enjoy time with their families without the burden of financial worries.
I took a bit of time off my studies when Sam was born and I had around 9 months off work. I found returning to work a particularly hard time as I wasn't really enjoying my job and I was struggling with the fact that I had put Sam in care. Why on earth was I missing out on this special time when I didn't even want to be at work!? Sam was also getting sick a lot [at the time it seemed like every week] so I felt extra pressure taking off time to look after him.
C4K: What were your main motivations to return to work and what was the hardest thing about it?
KB: My main motivation for returning to work was to earn an income again. Interest rates had started to rise and even though we had saved a decent sum to keep me off work for as long as we could, we did start to feel a little anxious. This is where my passion for Innergi comes in. I don't ever want to be in a position where I can't spend as much time with my children/family as I want due to financial burden. Innergi's vision is to educate and empower people to learn more about their finances. Learning more about the behavioural aspects of how my husband and I deal with money has helped us to work out together what is important to us and how to achieve it.
C4K: What were you looking for in your child care arrangement?
KB: Our main requirement was for Sam to feel safe and comfortable with his carers. Before we placed him in his current childcare centre, he attended a centre a little closer to my work. I hated leaving him there and found it very difficult to get any information about his day - whether or not he had slept, what he had eaten, or even just the type of day he had had. The carers didn't really seem to love the work they did and the morale at the centre generally appeared to be quite low. The last straw came one day when my husband and I decided to pick Sam up a little earlier than usual and we witnessed one of Sam's carers handling him in quite a rough way. While we did have an opportunity to speak to the centre's Director about the situation we moved Sam into another centre as quickly as possible. I couldn't stand the thought of what was happening when we weren't there. Sam is now at an ABC centre just down the road from our home and we haven't looked back!
C4K: How did you find your child care and was it a difficult process?
KB: I spoke to a lot of friends with children to get a feel for the type of centre we wanted and used the Careforkids.com.au site to identify current vacancies. I had Sam on about 5 waiting lists 6 months before he was born and only one centre (the centre we ended up leaving) contacted me with a vacancy. I also looked at family day care but didn't have any success there. I was very lucky to get Sam into the ABC centre he is in now and I am so grateful. I must admit, I had avoided ABC centres as I had not heard any good reports about them, but my experience with them has been quite the opposite. Sam loves the centre. He not only knows and loves the carers in his own room but also knows all of the other carers in the centre by name (and they know him too). He is kept busy with art, craft, reading, cooking and outdoor play and he is building his social and intellectual skills every week. It is a great relief to have finally found a centre that provides such exceptional care. I am very happy with ABC and I have learnt to trust my own judgement and not the judgement of other people (or the media for that matter!).
C4K: What would you do differently if you were looking for child care again?
KB: I would trust my instincts! I had a feeling the carers at Sam's previous centre had a tendency to be a bit rough, but it wasn't until I saw it first-hand that I believed it. I delayed moving him to another centre because I thought I was being a 'hysterical new mother'. I wasn't – and I think it's unfair that we are often made to feel this way. I, like every other mother/father/guardian simply want the best for my child and I know now that this is not unreasonable.
C4K: What are the main benefits of your child care arrangement?
KB: Our centre allows us to drop Sam off as early as 7:30am and pick him up as late as 6pm. Although we rarely drop him off earlier than 8:30am or pick him up later than 5:30pm, it does provide us with flexibility if we need to stay back at work or we're running late. Given its close proximity to home, it also makes it handy for drop off's/pick ups.
We also only pay half of our fees when we go on holidays which I had not come across before going to ABC. I think this is a real advantage given most centres make you pay full fees even when you go on holiday.
C4K: How would you sum up your experience with your child care choice for Sam?
KB: I believe childcare is a very tough gig! I am not sure I could work such long hours looking after so many kids - each with their own little personalities and idiosyncrasies. I am sure at times it seems like a thankless job. I am so grateful for the wonderful carers Sam gets to spend time with, learn from and grow with every week.
C4K: About Innergi
Innergi was born out of a desire to help people and a frustration with the limited amount of 'independent' information available. Innergi provides [online] technical information on areas such as superannuation, estate planning, insurance, investments, tax and debt. It is also a great resource for you to explore the non-technical side of how you might behave with your money including: your money personality, your money beliefs, building your financial team, cash flow and where your wealth comes from. There are also financial calculators, handy links, member documents, quizzes and competitions (with cash prizes).
C4K: Exclusive Member Offer
Amanda would like to offer a special discount to CareforKids.com.au members. It you join using the following link www.innergi.com.au/amandawilliams you will receive a 32% discount off the standard subscription price - $8.50 per month reduced from $12.50. Click to Join and make sure the “Referred By” drop down menu has Amanda Williams highlighted.
Amanda would also like to offer this discount to friends and family of CareforKids.com.au readers (but they must use the same link to join as above)
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