BALANCING raising a family with bringing home the bacon is one of the great difficulties of modern life.
Long hours and exorbitant childcare costs make starting a business while trying to bring up children a seemingly almost impossible task.
But now, one Croydon businesswoman is trying to make the balancing act a little easier – drawing on her own, very personal experience.
Yuliana Topazly suffered with post-natal depression after the birth of her daughter, Jessica, three years ago.
In her darkest hour, it was the world of business and establishing her own firm – Phase One Enterprise Training – which helped rebuild her confidence.
Yuliana explained: "After I gave birth to my daughter I was diagnosed with post-natal depression and the one thing that got me back on track was starting up my own business.
"Mums in my position often lack the self-confidence to go back into work."
Now, Yuliana has launched a new venture called MyOutSpace, which opened on September 1 above the Beanies Cafe in Croydon town centre, to help parents juggle raising a family and running a business.
The shared work-space has a play area for children aged three months to eight years, open the same hours as the centre.
It means businesspeople can hold a meeting in one room, while their little ones are happily playing in another.
"I found it hard to know where to go," Yuliana said of her own experience.
"Office space is prohibitively expensive and often I felt it would be easier if I stayed at home with my daughter.
"But as much as I tried I couldn't work productively at home. There were too many distractions and I found it isolating and lonely at times."
Croydon Council has provided some assistance, but the project is mainly geared to be community-funded, via the Crowdfunding platform.
Yuliana added: "There was definitely a gap in the market and the feedback has been very positive so far. I hope to give people confidence that you can still have a career after having children."
MyOutSpace is located on the second floor at 3 Middle Street, Croydon. Spaces in the play area must be booked in advance.
For more information, call 0203 603 1140, e-mail yuliana@myoutspace.co.uk or visit www.myoutspace.co.uk
