Ready, set, action!

Hello you badass babe,

Welcome to the very first blog post of the Badass Business Babes Club! I have written many a blog in the 11 years I've been in business and also a few best selling books in their too but today feels kind of special to me. I have been on my self love journey for around four years now and something I am truly passionate about is women supporting women, in life, in motherhood but especially in business. I cannot wait to share with you ways where you can feel more confident within your mind, body and business. Before we dive on in I wanted to share some of my journey so that you know that I haven't always been confident.

When we are babies we are literally born confident, when we learn to walk we keep getting back up again after every knock but when we get older depending on who is around us and what happens to us that confidence can get knocked. Mine definitely did, I went to drama school at 18 years old which I was always told it was unlikely I'd get in because they prefer people with experience but I did and there were so many amazing diverse people their that I felt I could be myself. When I was nearly 20 and studying abroad in Barcelona I found out I was pregnant, I finished out the year and in September gave birth to Nathaniel. I loved my bump, I felt so proud and confident, I remember someone saying "You're brave wearing a bikini" but I loved showing off my bump. However, once I had given birth I was not prepared for how my body would be. I went to NCT classes, read all the books and was always the first to answer questions but no one told me about postpartum. I struggled to look in the mirror and felt like an alien was staring back at me, why do I have stretch marks everywhere but my stomach?! If I thought I was fat at 18 and a size 10, now 20 and a size 16 you can imagine the horrible words running through my mind.

Motherhood is always a challenge but I found my feet, then 9 months later I found out I was pregnant again, with twins. Fast forward to 2014 and I now have three children under the age of 18 months and my relationship with my body is more toxic than ever. I loathed my body, I was desperate not just to get back my "pre baby body" but to be the "slimmest, healthiest and happiest ever" I thought the answer for this was losing weight, it was not. After endless diets, eating dust and calling it food, 'healthy eating' plans that are just another way for messing up you relationship with food and losing three stone, making me the smallest I had ever been, I still wasn't happy. When I was a size 16 I was covering up, long black vests, leggings and jumpers but now at a size 8 I was dressing in tight jeans and crop tops but feeling like a total fraud. When the twins were young I separated from their dad, so I was a single mother of three young boys and I thought I'd be alone forever. Not only did I think that no man would want a woman with so much "baggage" but also I thought they'd take one look at my 'mum tum' and run for the hills. I was so self conscious over it and my old trusty friend, my teeny tiny boobs. Caring about how I 'should' look seriously affected my mental health, it held me back from being successful in business, it held me back from finding love, it held me back from making memories with my family, it held me back from being the amazing person that I am (yes we all need to be our own biggest cheerleader).

Since being on my self love journey I've found love, a husband who is my rock, he loves my boys so much and we had our own son. I've walked a catwalk twice in my underwear with other women, I've been on How To Look Good Naked and danced in my neon pink swimsuit, I went to London on my own to meet a 1000 women I'd never met before to run 10k in my underwear (scariest thing ever) and I've written my book, being truthful with how my negative body image affected my mental health. Now I empower women to honour their 'flaws' and rule their clothes with confidence with my brand Self Love Detox, we have a GRL PWR support group and in 2020 I started designing and making Statement clothing, so we now have a size inclusive fashion brand!

I am so passionate about normalising bodies in their natural state, no filters, no photoshop, there is too much "fake it till you make it" in this world and I always aim to share my vulnerable side, whether that's showing up without make up on or sharing that I'm having a bad mental health day, we are all human. Being in business I have learnt that you can't always be positive, it's not healthy and it's not realistic, we all have bad days and sharing these bad days shows other business owners that they're not alone. It's tough running a business, doing everything and not really having a clue what you're doing or where you're going but still finding the energy to move forward. Over the next few months I am going to be bringing you some ways to help your confidence within yourself, your content and your business to help you get more eyes on your business without feeling self conscious.

I'm excited and grateful that you're here with me for this journey, buckle up world here come the badass business babes.

With love & gratitude,
​Ana