We were delighted to speak with Juliette about the challenges and joys of running her own business. She owns and runs GenieMackers - a children's entertainment company based in Dublin and is a mum to the beautiful, 7-month-old Lucienna.
1. Why did you start your business?
While I was in art college I was also a face painter at the weekends and taught art and music to children. I did a lot of acting and voice over work on the side too. I knew I wanted to work with children, and as soon as I finished my degree I decided to put all of my three loves together: Kids, art and performance... I began to work independently as a children’s entertainer, doing facepainting, magic, puppets and games at kid’s parties and corporate events. At the time, I had no long-term plan to expand – I just loved what I was doing, and I was making a living so that was enough for me, but within a few years I was so busy that, rather than turn down clients, I had to start training other entertainers to fill the demand. That’s how I came to run a kid’s entertainment business! It took a long time to find the appropriate/like-minded people to take on for this job but it was worth the wait as we now have an amazing team.
2. What are the main challenges you face as a mum trying to run a business?
Well, I don’t think I really knew how all-consuming motherhood would be! I’m breastfeeding – so it is a little tricky timing my gigs so that I am back on time to feed my baby!
On days that I am doing administration, I work from home. There was a time that this was incredibly time consuming, but by the time my daughter came along, I had organised it so that it was more time-efficient. I didn’t want to completely automate the services just yet, because Geniemackers is all about the personal touch. I feel it is really important to tailor parties to the child’s needs and to be available to e-mail and correspond with parents. I am so used to entertaining large numbers of other people’s children that I thought it would be easy to look after my baby while taking bookings or talking to parents – how wrong I was!
I’m still getting used to juggling it all – half the time I’m singing twinkle-twinkle mid VAT returns. They say you should sleep when the baby sleeps, but nap time has become a really important work window for me. I fit as much as possible into nap time, and I work in the evenings to catch up on the work that requires more concentration. One of our amazing magical entertainers, Dee, has turned out to be the most incredible support – she really helped to keep everything ticking over during the first few weeks of baby brain days and sleepless nights and continues to be a fantastic help.
3. Why is having your own business so good when you have a family?
The flexibility is just so precious. I can choose my own hours, for example. It is great to be able to keep breastfeeding after going back to work as well – I don’t know if I’d have been able to do it if the baby was in creche full time. I love the idea of involving my daughter in the business – it’s lovely to have her surrounded by fairies, genies, pirates and superheroes on a daily basis. There is lots at home to entertain her – bubbles, parachute games and puppet shows on tap!
4. What motivates you?
Honestly, the children's excited faces when they believe I am a Genie from magic land, their laughter when I do magic, how their faces light up from my stories and crazy bunny rabbit I bring with me. I think the most encouraging thing a parent ever said to me, was that their child used to be scared at night, and now runs to bed excited because I tell the children they can come visit me in magic land in their dreams. I love meeting older children whose parties I have done years ago – it’s just an amazing feeling when they tell you they remember every details of you doing their party (in detail). It is the most rewarding feeling in the world to leave a room of excited, happy children. It gives me a real buzz.
5. What is the secret to your success?
I love my job and I love working with children. I surround myself with a team of people who are genuine and love what they do. You can only fake it for so long – I think being passionate about what you do is the key to long term success.
6. What advice would you give to other mums trying to juggle their own business?
If you can take time off, do! Try to figure out a way to give yourself maternity leave. Don’t try to go back to work too early, and don’t for a minute beat yourself up if you find it hard at first! Remember – and I really believe this – being a mother makes you more capable, not less capable, you haven’t lost your abilities, you have added to them, but the beginning can be so overwhelming and you need to put some support in place!
I tried to go back to work when my baby was 6 weeks old and felt like a complete failure. In reality, becoming a mother makes you better able to handle anything, but if you’re not kind enough to yourself, and if you don’t have support at the beginning, it can feel like the opposite. When I first came back to work I felt like I was neglecting both my child and the business I had worked so hard to build. I thought ‘something has really changed about me, I’ll never be able to work ever again!’ That’s where Magical Genie Dee stepped in! For the first few months she took on a large amount of the administration so that I ease myself back into it slowly.
My daughter is now 7 months old and I feel like I could run the world! That said, I have an incredible team I can rely on. I think that’s key. I don’t know what I would do without all of our amazing entertainers. It is so important to involve people who are as passionate as you are about the business, because they are the glue that holds things together when you can’t!
