NCT First steps newslettersummer17 | Page 22

Sometimes going back to your old employment does fit in with your new family. We spoke to local mum Sarah about her decision to leave work, purchase into a well known franchise and become self employed. the perfect opportunity. I now spend Mondays and Wednesdays teaching classes, with Tuesdays spent working for our family firm. On Thursdays and Fridays I put on a different hat and am “Mummy” all day. TinyTalk is a franchise, which As a secondary school teacher, I means that there’s a Head Office loved my job. There were so who deal with everything from in- many benefits, not least of which terviews and training to lesson was that I got to spend the majori- plans and resources. One of the ty of my time with funny, interest- massive benefits to me is that the ing and interested teenagers – planning is nowhere near as oner- they do exist! However, after the ous as it was teaching in a birth of my son Oliver in 2013, I school, although I do like to make found that I’d lost my love of the my own tweaks! They are a con- job. Happily, I was in the very for- stant support to me, especially tunate situation whereby we could after my recent diagnosis of epi- afford for me to rethink whether lepsy. the career I’d envisaged for my- As a franchisee, I am effectively self really was going to work for self-employed which means that I our family. am able to manage my own work- load, which would be much more difficult in a more traditional work I had attended TinyTalk classes environment. Whilst I recognise with Oliver from the age of 4 that we are in a very fortunate months up until he was nearly financial position to allow me to two. We both loved attending take a drop in salary, many of my class; Oliver adored his teacher colleagues rely on their income and I loved the atmosphere and from classes to support their chance to learn whilst socialising. families – and do it well! When the possibility came up to run classes of my own, it seemed