Life in Colour - 6: Navigating Life & Business with Beth Macdonald

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

In this episode of Life in Colour, I sit down with Beth Macdonald, a 47-year-old mum of three from the Southern Highlands, to chat about all things life, business, and family. Beth is one-half of the dynamic duo behind Add to Cart, the go-to online shop for unique and thoughtful gifts (just in time for Christmas!). Our conversation covers: * Beth’s journey into entrepreneurship and running a business with her sister, Lucy * The joys and challenges of raising teenagers * Big career changes and finding the courage to try something new * Fashion, style, and embracing your personal look * The ups and downs of perimenopause—and having a laugh along the way This episode is full of laughs, honest insights, and plenty of inspiration. Whether you’re looking for business tips, parenting advice, or just a great story, you won’t want to miss this one. Links and Resources: Check out Add to Cart: https://babymacshop.com.au/ Follow Beth Macdonald on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babymacbeth/ Listen to more episodes of Life in Colour on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Let’s Connect: Have thoughts on this episode? Share them with me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lovingcolour__/ Want to find out what colours you should be wearing? Book a Virtual Colour Analysis at www.lovingcolour.au/colouranalysis

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mum. And from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn and live life. unapologetically in all of its colorful hues. So grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's add some color to this adventure that we call Life in Color.

Well, hi Beth. Thank you so much for coming onto this week's podcast episode of Life in Color. I am so excited to meet you. As I was just saying, before we started recording, I have followed you for a very long time. And I'm just so excited to talk to you. So for those who don't know you and aren't in your world, tell us a little bit about yourself. Sure.

Hi, thank you for having me. It's always nice to connect with people. So my name's Beth McDonald and 47. I never know when I'm old I am. I always have to ask my husband. I'm like, yeah, my children are like, do not know how old you are, Mom. I'm like, it's just this thing.

It's quite easy. It really happens. So I'm 47. I live in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, a little town called Boroughwangs. It's beautiful. Old climate area. Your parents live down in the high.

Island, so you know it. Yeah, it's cold. It's only an hour and a half from Sydney, hour and a half to Canberra, but it's a beautiful, rich farming area and where we live out of town, it's a really pretty potato dairy country. We've been to here for 14 years in the next two weeks or something. I think it's 14 years that we've lived here. We moved down from Sydney. I quit my corporate finance job in 2010. We had two kids at the time, two girls. I've got three girls. We had Daisy. Daisy is just for this year 12. Then I brought Harper who's in year nine and Maggie who's in year four. We moved from Sydney in 2010, made the tree change quite a bit earlier than lots of people have done, which has happened

from the back of COVID. We moved down here. I quit my job and I had started a blog back in 20, or it's not even 20, 2009. My blog's just turned 18 years old. Wow. That's insane. I know. That's incredible. Yeah, it was before social media existed. I had, I've got two sisters and one was living in London, one lived in Melbourne. And when I fell pregnant with Daisy, I wanted to connect with them somewhere, like to update them on the pregnancy because there was no such thing as Facebook. There was no such thing as Instagram, Twitter. That didn't exist. So I set up this blog on the back of like, American bloggers who were doing, mummy bloggers doing it back then and then started to connect with people through that and shared my parenting, mothering journey.

When we made the move down here, I think that was a point of interest for people because we had been living in the city and then we moved to the country. So we did that. And it was at the start of the rise of social media. Facebook just had started to come out. Instagram was a little bit further down. But it was like, it was just a different time. It was like, totally different time.

Yeah, I remember it well. You go on to forums and stuff. Yeah. People are still friends with people from their I do forums or like it was. Oh my gosh. Yes, I remember that. Yeah. And then there were baby forums where it would be like Johnson and Johnson's

forum and that's how you. Yeah. That's how you connected. Yeah, I did that. Yeah. So it's just like a different time. So yeah, mommy blogging had sort of started to kick off. So when we moved down here, I started, I quit my job.

and just started blogging full time. And I made a career from it for a number of a successful career. Yeah, that's amazing. Big corporate clients that I did work for. I was talking to the girls this morning in the car. I was just like, remember it like I was doing work for Ford? And there were competitions and you were making money. We were like being flown up to a group in our agency.

We would like be staying up at Hayman Island and taken in helicopters by tourism, Queensland. Wow. You know, I had in the election, I can't remember what year it was. It was like when Julia Gillard was going. Oh, yeah. We were taken to dinner at Rudy Hill RSS to meet Julia Gillard so that we could Oh, wow.

That's amazing. Yeah. It's just, it seems crazy now. You know, 360. So, yeah, I did that. And then, sorry, I'm going on a bit. No, you're not. I love it.

Keep going. So then say probably, and then I had Maggie in 2015, our third, daughter. She was that we could work out if we wanted to have any more children. It took a long time. So there's like a nine years difference between my eldest and my youngest, which is something that's really coming back to bite me in the ass now. And, um, yeah, I could imagine. Yeah, I can imagine that. Like I've got three, but I had my eldest was three years, 10 months when my youngest was born. So I was like right in the, I was really in the thick of it. And it wasn't like, I mean, having three, I think. I think when you have three, you've got to be slightly cray-cray to have three.

I think because it just, yeah, you get tipped over the edge of it. But I can imagine that majority of mine, like I've got two teenagers and one who's about to start high school. But you're in totally different areas of childhood at the same time. And that must be tough. It's not ideal. It was so wonderful for me because I had like the early years of my two elders when we were living in Sydney. I was on this corporate like wheel of dropping the kids to daycare at seven

in the morning, picking them up at six at night. It was miserable. We were. Yeah. The kids were sick. I was working three days. I'd have to take time off because they were sick. It was just this stress. Yeah, which is awful. Yeah. Which is awful. Yeah. And sickness and fitting it in and just this like, was just awful. So yeah, to have the chance to have a baby, which we had with Maggie in the country, where there was no stress and it was like it was very healing for me in lots of ways. That's really good. The girls helped me because I had an almost seven-year-old and a five-year-old. I had two kids in primary school.

I got to have an only child at home. Yeah. Beautiful. But now I've got two teenagers. I've got one who's about to start university and I'm still going to the park. It's very confusing. I'm dealing with sex and drinking and boyfriends and driving and driving and. and adult things and then like ballet lessons or like it's just very it's yeah I just I really am

feeling that at the moment and a lot of the time it's I feel like we're going to have an only child with Maggie it's going to be it's tough on her I mean it's wonderful but it's yeah it's those things that you think you don't think of you don't look down the line at what it's going to it's it's like I was talking to my mum the other day and so my oldest I'm two years behind you So she's about to finish year 10 at the end of this year. And I was like, wow, you know, I can't believe that she'll be graduating in a couple of years. And then she's talking about this amazing gap year that she wants to go on and do and travel. And then her brother is back to back.

So he'll be, I'll have year 11 and year 12 at the same time, which is going to be interesting on a whole new level. But similarly, like, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with them. It's right there. Whereas my youngest, who's just about. to start high school. You've got that whole stretch. And I was saying, Mom, you know, I can't imagine. And she said, but it's like when you have a baby, you can't imagine when they're going

to school. And when they're going to school, you can't imagine the teenage. And so when you get there, you will figure it out and it will be different. And like, there's five years between me and my sister. So I have to say from that point of view, you know what? It was a bit like being an only child at one stage because, you know, she'd met someone and moved out and I was still, what, year nine, I guess, at that stage. She met someone quite young.

but I know I loved it. And so I've got a kind of, it's not that I've got a different relationship. It's more at that time. It's just more that I guess she'd had time on her own up front before I was born and then I had that after she'd moved out. And you're just at different levels. But then I think when you get older,

the gap just then starts to close up. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It will. Yeah, it's just, it's a different time. It's a different season. But like I just feel, you know, Maggie's still got a couple of years at our primary school, which is our local small public school,

which has only got like 30 kids from kindy to years. Wow. And when she's finished, we would have done 15 years of primary school in a row at this tiny school. So it's just like... When you think of it like that, it's just... Oh, time. ...insane. ...time on a P&C committee.

Let me give you that. Yeah. So, yeah, anyway, so we did that. And then back to work and what happened. And so 2018, 2019, pre-COVID, I was at a bit of a loss of what to do because Instagram changed a lot at that time. There were a whole range of mums coming into Instagram, whereas old school bloggers like me who would write warts and all about what was going on and share it all.

And it then changed and it became about really beautifully curated images and muted linens. and like isn't this looking gorgeous and brands wanted to work with that because it was what people were interested in and we were just a bit long in the tooth and so all my work dried up and I was just like what am I going to do I've still got like 20,000 people on Instagram that are listening to me and I don't know what to do about that so my sister who I had convinced in that time to move down to the southern highlands as well and started family she had been working at David Jones she worked for M&S in London she worked for David Jones she had a lot of online retail experience and I was just like, you know, from working with brands and knowing that when

I put up, I'm wearing this jumper and you put a link up to it, but you don't know what that trans like really looks like for a brand at the other one. You don't know what the sales look like. So yeah, she was just like, why don't we just try and do a shop of curated objects of things that you love and try and sell it. So we did that. I borrowed $10,000 off my father-in-law. I bought some stock. She created the website. And it just, It went off. I mean, the timing was good. We started in 2018, I think.

Yeah, that was a sweet spot time, I feel, for e-com. And then we hit COVID and that obviously went off. And it was really, really busy. But it was just so interesting to see, like, oh, this is coming. I'm wearing these earrings. And then to see the sales click in, it was just like, oh, God, okay, right, this is good. So we've been running the shop ever since then. And obviously, we had the highs of COVID.

and then the post low and it's a very, very, very, very difficult time to be. It really is. It's just the pits at the minute. It is so hard to get people to buy anything. It is so hard. And having been in e-com before doing colour analysis, I totally get that. Like I feel that deeply. And especially when you're an infantry-based business and you can see it sitting on the shelves

and you know that you have to move that on and you also know that people are expecting to see new stuff like I was in fashion and then there was that pressure of constantly what's the next collection it's like well I don't have any money to do the next collection because you haven't bought the previous one and it's it's really really hard and I think that's where like I love small businesses like yours and I have I've purchased so many things for my mum from your store and she loves it. But I think small businesses, they just don't get the recognition now. Like during COVID, it was all shop small and really look after small businesses because

they're doing it tough. And I kind of feel that that has been forgotten almost a little bit. Now that life's kind of gone back to normal, you know, cost of living and pressures are hard and businesses are really doing it tough. Yeah. People have really, you know, people need to shop wisely. I know I do and it's impossible. We've got this huge big corporate like particularly in fashion where they're just turning

over stuff and so they've got the volume to do the sales. So we're having to sell everything on sales to get a sale. And when you're having to shorten that market. Yes, it's demoralizing. I know that feeling. It's hard. It's terrible. Yeah.

And that's where you've, you know, people are like, oh, get creative and everything. It's like, I'm doing it. everything like seriously i'm doing it all and yeah it's it's not it's not easy it's never been harder than what it is right now i mean coming up going into so much debt just to try and get stock and then all of this side and you're just rolling along with it hoping that you're going to spit out the other side and still be here but yeah it's not and they're closing every day and i get it and a lot of the time i don't even really want to look at the reality of what the situation is because yeah what else i'm going to I literally don't know what I'm going to do

because I still got this audience. I've still got these people. I don't know. I think that's where, like, you know, you were talking before about how you, the work had dried up with like from the traditional mummy bloggers. And I totally get, you know, the whole perfect thing came in, which, yeah, really hard for anyone to live up to that, quite frankly.

But I think when you have that time when you're looking at what can you do, like you pivoted then and you have that audience. And I think that is one thing that is amazing. And because you were one of the originals that started out so many years ago, like if you go onto your Instagram, so as a follower, I can see the interaction is amazing. And that's because, and obviously, because I'm in a similar, you know, we all look at the analytics and you know about it.

But from someone really on the outside looking in, you can see that you engage with your audience. And that's why they trust you and that's why they follow. And then that's why they buy. whereas others don't do that. And so there's no connection. And once you don't have that connection, that's it. But yeah, it's, is it also, do you feel that with, obviously, you've got Daisy

finishing, obviously you've had a massive term, this term, in a couple of weeks. Does that even come into it a little bit with like work and everything, knowing that I know that you've got Maggie who's younger, but obviously you've got the older two sort of moving through and then now start doing their own thing? Not necessarily that you'd have more time because I know you've got a year, younger one, but are there other things you'd want to do, maybe? Yeah, I don't know. I've just, like, I guess this year particularly, I have just been like, I need to just,

like, it's like, really need to be there for the girls. And so this job has given me that flexibility of time to be able to do that. And I still need to be there for Harper and for Maggie coming up. So, and that's been the joy of this business with running it with my sister is that we have created this model that is so flexible that it's not giving us, like, I'm not making much money at all from it, but it's enough to make me keep coming in and doing it. Yeah, but I think it also gives it something for you. That's why I do mine.

I'm the same that my kids get sick a lot, seriously. We're one of those families that we have a lot of medical stuff issues going on. And like my health hasn't always been great. Like I had a, you know, full hysterectomy at the start of last year. And I needed things that I could dip in and out of, basically, rather than, and when they need me. And I think there's that preconception that when your kids get older, they don't need you as much. And oh my gosh, they need you more. I said that to someone this week.

I was just like, we're providing food for the year 12s who are doing a study camp. And I was just like. I saw that. The scones? Yeah, we're literally feeding them like they're in preschool. And I'm like, they are in preschool. They're basically toddlers that can drive. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Just the same needs. They need like these 15 will, yeah, it's just. I've never known how much my kids, I never thought how much they would need me. And I'm overcompetating because I didn't have that when I was a teenager going through all that. So I'm really going aware of it. Yeah. With making sure that they've got everything that they need.

But yeah, it's, yeah. Anyway. They do. And if I think even some weekends, a kitchener not, I get to the end of Sunday night and I'm like, I am frigging exhausted because I've spent that whole weekend helping with a quilt that's being made for Texas. styles or helping proofread assessments or then the littlest needs then some attention or driving the others to work because they both work and it's just the driving of teenagers is unbelievable but anyway we've now got a license we've got daisy's got to take the pressure off a bit but i'm still in we're

in the learner phase yeah i'm about to dip back into that and i can hardly wait like so much fun So much fun. At least we've got like country roads and space and yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're not because I'm on the northern beaches. It's not, we kind of just stick in that little area at the moment to make it a little bit easier. But yeah. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about, because obviously there's so many things we can chat about. But I know that you really documented recently because I followed along with it. Obviously, I'm just, I'm 43, so I'm just a few years younger than you. experience with trying to get help with perimenopause. Yeah, yeah. And then I think going through that, I remember you did a story about how you're going through that at the same time you've got teenagers who are pushing every boundary

that you possibly have. Plus you're trying to run a business. And then you've got your marriage. And then it's just, yeah. So it's a lot. Much in the same way that like when I had a newborn baby and I was seeking advice, connection, asking questions because you're completely thrown in the deep end. And like when I properly started getting perimenopause symptoms, it was like I having a newborn for the first time.

I was completely uneducated, like even though you know stuff, you don't know until you're in it. I was just like, what is this? This is awful. I just went from being a really confident, successful person to like feeling. like paranoid that nobody likes me having no friends isolating myself losing all my confidence like that's just the mental stuff let alone the physical stuff of like a radic bleeding and putting on weight and um you know bad skin and bad digestive and like lots of different things so i i've got my friend mickey styling you who you may know she's ahead of me so i always look down the

barrel at where she is and her youngest has finished school last year so that's going to be me in 10 years time. I hope I'm going to be over in Europe like she has been. That trip looked amazing. That Greece in particular, I was like, oh, so I want to do that. I know. I was saying. So, you know, I looked to her for advice and she was just like, God, I wish I had just

started HRT early, so I, earlier than I had. So I went down that process of trying to find a good GP locally who could have a relationship with and she could help me. And I just kept like being, it was like budding up against a brick wall. I did no one wanted to help me. No one knew what they were talking about. No one wanted to talk about my marriage. They wanted to prescribe me with antidepressants.

So many women say that. So many. And it's scary. Yes, it's terrifying. Yeah. So I just thought in the way that I have overshared everything in my life for the past 18 years, I would talk about that. And funnily enough, there was so many.

messages from women going through the same thing and finding it really helpful. So I just thought, I'll stuff it, I'll just document the process. And eventually I started H or MHT, what's MHT, menopause hormone treatment. Yeah. Yeah. And started that earlier in the year and it has completely changed my life. And I just feel like myself again. I was just, this time I see.

But it's suffering. I think so many women are suffering. Yeah. And the fact I do, I remember watching you on your stories and you, and you'd just gone into a GP and you were really upset crying in the car of like they're not listening to me. Like I'm not getting, and they were sending you for all of these checks that you had to go and do. And so many women would either take the script because they think something is actually wrong with them. Like, you know, the famous actress Hallie Berry.

I don't know if you've seen her on Instagram. It's the last couple of weeks. She was diagnosed by an elderly male GP with herpes. It wasn't herpes. It was perimenopause. symptoms but he diagnosed her with herpes and so she was like oh my gosh like how on earth is that happened and so went down that whole path and then she went to someone else and said no you're in peri menopause and she was like are you kidding one and it goes for such a long period of time and it's not just

hot flushes like i would just lie and say yeah i've got hot flushes i've never really properly had a hot flush because that's the only thing that doctors can tick off and go oh okay then maybe maybe she's going, because I still get my period every month. I still am regularly bleeding. So people go, oh, well, until you've not, you don't have it. And I can assure you, I have had it. And noticing the change in myself mentally and physically since I started taking it, it's just completely changed my life.

I could not look at myself in the mirror for maybe four months. And that's not, I'm the person that I am. I'm something, you know, out. going, full of self-confidence, love myself, think I look good. I just couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. I hated myself. And so it's, you know, coming around, I can feel like I can laugh again. I feel like I can, I just feel like myself.

And that's not from anything else than some estrogen and progesterone to do things out. I mean, if I've been taking antidepressants, maybe it would have helped me. But like. Yeah, but it's not, it wasn't the cause of it. So if it's not the cause of it, then how is it going to actually help in the long run? to advocate for yourself and keep pushing forward. You just go, oh, fuck it, this is too hard. But as I say to so many women, because I get a lot of questions about it.

Yeah, I bet you do. That you deserve to be a version of yourself that is better than, after everything that you go through, if you had children, if you haven't, you're working, you give females just give so much of themselves to other people and just work like dogs in the homework, work, stressing, trying to make all the puzzles piece, all the mental load, all that shit, and then to turn around and then find out that you've got to deal with this. I know.

My best mate and I were literally talking about that the other day of like, are you frigging kidding? How a male, yeah, I said to my husband, it must have been about a week ago. I said, you realize you have a 24-hour cycle. We have a 28-day technically cycle. And it's like, what are you talking about? and I said, no, men's hormonal cycle goes through 24 hours. And I said, and when you're the most sleepy is when you go to sleep.

And I said, yeah, for us, they just taunt you with their snoring as you're laying there, going to. How are they not thinking about what I did in 1997? How are they not doing that? How am I not thinking about what I know, no, what I've got to do in the next fortnight and then school holidays? And then what's Daisy going to do next year? And then what's going to happen if Daisy has kids before Maggie's finished school,

like that's a possibility that that could happen. Now I'm going to be a grandmother. And then I'm never going to have a break at the park. It goes. Yeah. You know what, though? I think that is every woman's mind.

I don't know many women who, you know, you're out at the washing line or you're cooking dinner or you're brushing teeth or you're driving or you're even in the middle of work. And then something will pop into your head of like, oh, I've forgotten to pick up such and such as sports uniform that they need or they've lost their hat. So I've got to go down and buy them a new one.

The list and the mental load, on women is extortionate. It's a lot. And then you obviously, you add in hormones, and then they wonder why you lose your nana. Yeah, hysterical. I do. I'll tell you why we're hysterical.

It's just like, you can see where people just completely go loco and just go, yeah, tip a table up and just go, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not doing it. Yeah. And just be like, I'm done. I've had enough. It's because I'm done. So you can see why there's a thing in midlife crisis, why this happens.

Yeah. I have a very supportive husband. and also am like very vocal about everything that's happening to me. I don't want my girls to have to worry about this shit. I say to my mom, how did you cope? Like she didn't even have hormone treatment. And there's like this. Yeah, my mom didn't either.

She had a rough time. They were scared off from like debunked studies saying they get to cancer. And they really missed out. I really feel for them. My messages from women saying like my mom left us, she did. Like I've got so many. women sharing their stories of their mothers having full on full blown like mental breakdowns from it and it's just cruel it doesn't have to be like this so no it's changed for our kids yeah i think so

i really think so there's so much talk about it now and i think even so for me i um i've had endometriosis my entire life hence the hysterectomy i've had four surgeries and there's more and more coming about to do with that and people are talking about it. It's not just a painful period. It is debilitating and it is, it's just next level. And even having had a hysterectomy, mine still has come back. Like it doesn't just end because you have a hysterectomy. You still have estrogen in your body and it feeds off estrogen.

So for someone like me, I want to take HRT, but it's going to be that fine balance of making sure that it doesn't stem me off in a whole other different direction. But I remember, gosh, I must have been about 17 or 18. and we were staying in Malulah Bar, and I think my mum must have just gone on to HRT. And the news report came up. And I remember watching her literally almost like throw the packet in the bin, because she's like, I'm not taking it. And like you, I just feel so sorry for that generation of women that went through that.

And then also the effects that that had by not having the hormones that they needed for all other, like osteoporosis and all the other things that you need these hormones for, Yeah. So how did you eventually get help? So I know that you didn't find it locally, did you? You found it. No, no. I didn't. I just, I went on to Wellfam, which is an online telehealth thing that specializes in it. It was just from like, there's a good Facebook group that has a lot of information. And I just went on and like literally in 13 seconds. She's like, yeah, you're perimenopausal. Here's a script. And I was like, thank you. And I've had a check in. And yeah, it's just like as it should be. So now, but I've tried to. make another appointment because I need to review like renew my scripts and I can't get in for the longest time now and it's like shit so I'm now going to have to go back to a local japan say I need you to write me a script for this and they're going to I can just even just go well no I'm not going to so you can't just get a repeat script obviously yeah I need to I've got to chase it up and

work it out but yeah it's been really good it's changed my life completely I highly recommend it And it's not for everyone and everyone is different and all of that. But if you are struggling, you don't have to struggle. And it's very exhausting, advocating for yourself and keep moving forward. But it is worth it in the end. Your family, like you, most of it, you deserve it. But your family deserves to have a better version of yourself than one that they just, like, hold their eyes out and resistant and, like, feel like she's fucking crazy.

And I'm like, I'm not. I'm only crazy because of you assholes. So, sorry, I'm swearing a lot. Oh no, go for it. No, no, no. I think that's awesome. Talking changing tax a little bit, talking about like style, fashion or that kind of thing, do you feel, have you always enjoyed style and fashion? Is it something? So, because I know that, so for people who don't know, your business, you sell, you do sell some clothing and you sell earrings and handbags and and also like homeweils and things, homewears and things. So, yeah. Yeah, I do. I do enjoy fashion and have

enjoyed doing that and working with like brands over the years like friends that have started labels like Nikki's got a label my friend has bohemian traders and so another friend Lou has Arlington Mill and Elms and King so I have had connection with female founded business fashion people and I don't know how they do it honestly the like you said the turnover of stuff it's just it's hard but yeah I have always enjoyed it and worked with fashion stuff on the blog or otherwise and yeah it's just Like, I mean, obviously day to day, it's like not very glamorous, but I try and try and make an effort when you're coming into work just to make yourself feel, you know, if you dress for like business, it's business time, right? Yeah. You know what?

I'm a big believer in that. Like, if I want to get stuff done, even if it's sometimes just sitting at my desk, getting stuff done, I will maybe stay in my active wear tights like for the day because I don't know why. If I've got my, you know, sneakers and my active tights on, I'm like, right. I put a cap on and watch out. Another productivity that occurs when I'm like, it doesn't matter what's going on here today. I'm just getting stuff done. Just getting stuff done.

So I do that. But I think there's a really big thing. You know, sometimes I come downstairs and my husband's like, oh, you look really nice. I'm like, thanks. And he's like, where are you going? And I said to my office upstairs, like in the house, I'll take the kids to school or maybe, you know, go to the shops.

But I'm very much one I like to dress. And I think when you do make an effort, especially, I think it's really important maybe on those days where you are feeling flat or you're just not going. You know, that dopamine hit that you can get by wearing either a bright lipstick or your favorite color or whatever, it just, it can lift you. It's like when you don't feel like going for a walk, but you go and the fresh air makes you feel better because you got out of the house. Yeah, that's right. And connecting with people online, getting inspiration from fashion people, like I find that that's really helpful when you follow someone. that you like. There's some UK people that I really like their style. Alex Stedman, Alex Stedman, maybe. She's in a UK. I follow a year for UK people too. And they're all like, they've got

great style and you see what they put together and then you go, right, what have I kind of got in my wardrobe that could kind of do that? And then you end up wearing something and like, yeah, I've done that quite a bit recently and I find it quite helpful when you're stuck with stuff. And I don't buy a lot of clothes. I'm using shopping my wardrobe a lot of the time. So yeah, I do enjoy getting that inspiration from people. I think what you just said, those really important for people in terms of a shopping and wardrobe, but secondly, take inspiration. Don't feel that you're having to either buy what they've got or copy it exactly. It's like, okay, well, they've got like a charcoal jeans. I don't like that or wear it so I will wear my light colour jeans or they've got that in it. And it's just,

giving the premise of what the outfit could be like rather than thinking, I've got to copy that exactly. I mean, Pinterest is great because Pinterest can also give you some really great ideas. But I think sometimes when you actually see it on a person and they're, especially on stories and they're moving around and yeah. Okay, right. Yeah, I just find that really interesting where they go, I'm clashing these two patterns and you don't have those patterns in your wardrobe, but you go, I don't try a stripe with a something like and a something. Yeah. And see how it goes. see how it goes.

So it's fun. And there's some creative people. My God, there's some amazing people up there. So, yeah, I really enjoy that. Yeah. So I always like to ask three questions to my, the people that I love to interview. So what is something that you do for you every day or mainly most days that you would never want to give up? And it's not for anyone else.

It's just like for you. Up early. Which is, seems. so weird to me because I had so many years of sleep deprivation from my children. Yeah. But there's, I wake up at like five most days before. I started with the daylight savings changing. My body clock's waking me up earlier and earlier.

Yeah, wow, that's early. Early. And I won't say that I wake up and go walking every day because sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But just that act of waking up on my own terms, I used to get the shit so badly when you would wake up and you would have a toddler who is in a bad mood because they don't want to wake up yet and they've woken it and you're starting the day on their terms and it just just really give me the shits. It's like when your nighttime routine gets thrown out.

Yeah. Going to sleep how it is and it's not working out how you want it to work out. That's why. So upset when things don't go to plan. So that act of choosing to wake up by myself and getting up and either lighting the fire or rekindling the fire or I just have a cold. coffee or I sit and look at the sunrise or I might just be scrolling my phone. I might be writing a blog post.

It's been a very long time since I've done that. But that act of that time for myself is being really good. And I would never put that up. I love having a coffee knowing everyone in the house is quiet and asleep. And by the time they get there, I've had some time for myself. And then I'm ready to serve. I think that makes such a difference. So I notice the days, for whatever reason, if I've slept a bit later.

and when I say slept a bit later, it's more like quarter past six. So like you, I get up quite early. And if I start my day and instantly my day is on with them, wearing my socks, I can't find this, I've got this on today, what do you want for lunch, all that kind of stuff. I just haven't had, I feel like I'm being bombarded and overwhelmed immediately. Whereas like I get up, I go downstairs. Since my hysterectomy, I've had to do lovely pelvic floor work.

So I found a great program that I'm doing and I've committed to doing it. every morning, like seven days a week because I have to. But now it's become, that's almost, it's my time. And even if they come down, I'm like, don't talk to me. Don't interrupt me because this is my time. And you do, you do. I think you just need to just be you for like an hour. Like not a mom, not a wife.

Just you. And I think it's so important. And I know it's harder for those that listening that you're in the trenches with small kids. I totally get. And babies. but obviously we're in a slightly different stage of life and it will come. Now we're in the depths of like I go to bed before all my children pretty much because I'm just like,

this is the weirdest thing. All of a sudden everything changes. Teenagers don't want to start talking to you until like 930 at night. And then they're like, so mom, I was, I'm just like, no, we're not doing this now. I'm ready to go to sleep. You've had all day to talk and ask questions and connect. And you're just like, okay. So they're just like, it's just different.

And you're like I, I remember those early mornings with little kids, but I also remember putting my children to bed at seven o'clock and they would go to sleep. Yes. Have a whole night. You know what? You're absolutely right. Like what TV show are we going to watch? You might have a bit of time together.

Whereas now, it is like, yeah. We get into our bed and we're just like, let me just watch my Instagram rules by myself. I want to be like, leave me alone everyone. Yeah, I've actually started incorporating. I think it's around 8 o'clock. I have put, I've said, I'm vetoing it. Anyone who's got a question, including my husband, because he likes to use that time of day,

like, oh, by the way, I need to fly to Singapore next week. And I'm like, no, I'm done, unless it's urgent that you're sick or your arms falling off. This can wait. And from 8 o'clock, I'm like, don't ask me questions. And it doesn't always work. But I'm trying, because, again, it's like that time in the morning. I just feel that stress starting.

And then to rise. And I know that I will. then think about it and even dream about it. I don't know if you do that. I dream about stuff that I either have to do or it's going on. And so you wake up and you've never actually even rested because it's just constantly there. The life of a mum, hey? It's just, I think I did. I trampled up the stairs the other day. We'd had a sound, I know that you'll relate and so many other moms out there will relate who have teenagers and something had kicked off and under my breath up the stairs. I was like, I hate teenagers. like I think teenagers.

And they heard me and they're like, I can't believe you just said that. Can't believe you just said that. And I'm like, but it's sorry, but like, yes, I know it's hard for you being a teenager, but it's hard for me too. Like this whole changing relationship, teenagers are a whole. They are. They are awesome. They are really awesome.

Oh, they are. And I don't want to like brush them all with they're terrible because I remember when you've got little kids, you're just like, what do you mean? And they go, you think three is hard. Like you wait until them. 17 or whatever. It's hard regardless. It is hard regardless.

And like you say, I've said that to people. I'm like, no, like we did a trip to the States last year. And we went for three weeks and we went all over. And it was the best holiday we've ever had. And I would not have done that with small kids. Doing it with teenagers was phenomenal. And it's like the conversations that you can have with them. Like you talk about world events.

And it's just like it is. It's, don't get me wrong. I love them dearly. It's just there's trying moments and like anything, there's trying moments and then there's amazing moments. So yeah. But okay, so I've got two more questions for you. What is a colour that you never wear and why?

Because obviously my background being colour, I always love to ask a little bit to do with colour. I don't know. I wear lots of colours and I. Yeah, you do. I do. I like, I, okay, well, orange, I guess. If I'm thinking of the colour colour colour. I don't really wear a lot of orange, but it's not to say I wouldn't wear it because I definitely

would. I just don't have a lot of it in my wardrobe. I like yellows and I really like wearing like cobalt blue and I don't know. I wear lots of different colours. So I really not, I will experiment with lots of different things. Yeah. Do you wear many pale colours? I'm trying to think back to your stories. Maybe that's what I was literally in my head I was going through and I'm like. I wear pale pink. Okay, there we go. I would never wear that. In my head, and this is just me taking a guess, because, obviously, with what I do,

but also because I apologize you for so. So I would put you as a, like, in a winter somewhere. I don't know which subseason within winter. So winter is like a cool-toned season. And you can wear high contrast. So like what you've got on today. So for people who think you've got a navy on and you've got great bold glasses on. And you can take that level of contrast.

And that's what winter is. are there really, really high contrast. And someone in that, a really pale, soft baby pink, you wouldn't be at. No. I wouldn't be drawn to it. I would never pick it up and go, oh, that's pretty on me. Yeah, yeah. So then the last one be, what's your favourite colour to wear?

To wear. I've got this, like... Or in general, it can be both. Yeah. I have this, like, Chartreuse jumper from Bohemian Traders, which I've been wearing a lot this winter. And it's such a... It's like an oversized vealised.

neck so you can wear like a shirt underneath it you can wear a striped top underneath it it's just that contrast of you can wear a red lip with it you can wear jeans with it you can like it's versatile it just goes well with everything and i don't know if it suits me but it's like fluoro yellow and i just love it it makes me feel good gives me a little that's good no i would say a fluoro yellow would i can't i don't if i remember seeing you in that one in your stories but yeah like we talked about that high contrast works really well. Asian, I had a friend who's a designer at Rebecca Balance. She's the head designer there.

Yeah. She gave me this dress to wear the daisies graduate. I saw that. That was spectacular. This is why people buy designer clothing. Like when it's like put something on, you go, shit. This is like, it's actually fitting me. Look at this fabric.

Look at how this. Yeah. It was spectacular. I believe it was. So for those of you that want to know what it looks like, You've got it on your feed, haven't you? Yeah, I did. It got the most amount of likes I think I've ever had.

So I've got like 32,000. And there you go. You just can't pick it sometimes, can you? With Instagram? Never know. I've got 32,000 followers and I had 3,500 likes on that post. Wow. 10% of my audience liked a post that I did.

And normally only 2% even get to see it. So that's phenomenal. That went, yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah. I did look amazing. Oh, you did? But that was a car key green and it was like I really liked wearing that too.

So it was a very, it was a lovely deep car key green. Yeah. It was really, really beautiful. Yeah, it looked amazing. I said I had one last question. I don't. I've got, I've got one more. So what's next?

I don't know. You can't ask me that question because I don't know the answer. And it makes me very awkward and uncomfortable because I don't know. I just don't know what's next. But you know what? That's okay. But I think that's really good for people to hear that too. Like someone asked me the same thing, I'd have a couple of things, but nothing said in stone because things change.

I think I kind of meant maybe more, what have you got coming up that's next? Like so you've got, so Daisy's finishing. So she's graduated, she's got her HSC to sit. We've been, I've just been in a really, maybe four years of flux of change. We renovated our house. We moved out. We had to move back in when the house got renovated. The kids were going through things.

I felt for you with those moves. I've just been in a. huge blocks of change and it also like manifested itself in me going through perimenopause at the same time. So there's just like everything has changed. Everything that I'm someone that doesn't like change and I don't know what's going to happen with the business and I don't know. So I mean it just the whole thing makes me feel very uncomfortable if you can't tell but I don't know. I don't know what's next. Next year, Daisy will be finished. She's having a gap year. Harper will be going into year 10.

My husband's work is like really kicking off, which is so good. He works. He's a fashion photographer. So he's with, um, MJ Bale and he's going to be doing more travel and stuff. So whilst he sort of like when I was really busy and like doing the mummy blogging and working and like being the, you know, making money and doing all of that,

he sort of sat back and now I'm like happy to take a bit of a backseat and be a mom and do all those things. But I mean, that's going to last five minutes. realistically knowing me. I just don't know. I'd like to, like I've always wanted to design and create my own style of things in home owners or something, but I just don't know what the reality of that looks like. I don't know if it's the right time to be doing stuff like that. It's just, I mean, a pause and weight and, but you know, and I think that's okay. So I, I was you in that phase of not knowing after my hysterectomy. So like how we talked about before I hit record.

And it's a weird feeling and you just have to sit in it for a bit. For someone who like, I'm a Virgo. I'm quite organized and I like to know what I'm doing. And I felt, I think lost was probably the right word for me. I literally just felt lost and like, what am I going to do now? I've just closed these e-com businesses down, which was absolutely the right thing. And people couldn't understand it. They were like, why on earth would you close? And I'm like, because it wasn't right for me. And I think when you're in entrepreneurship, there's not, I don't want to say stigma,

but when you're in a traditional job, if you don't like it, you look for a new one and you leave. So when you're in entrepreneurship, if it's not working for you anymore and you want to change the business or do something, people automatically assume something went wrong. And sometimes it's not. It's just that you've changed your mind about what you want to do. And yet people couldn't understand it. And I lost money on that second business.

For me, the financial, I didn't hit the financial goals with that business, but I remember being at a cheerleading comp with my daughter. And from a distance, I saw one of my dresses that I designed and manufactured and it was mine. And saying that to me was the goal. And I went up to her and I spoke to her. And I said, I just have to come up because like, you're wearing one of my dresses and I'm so excited. And that to me was, and I learned so much out of it, but I know that feeling really well because I'd been through, like you, I'd been through that massive health thing and, you know, having a

hysterectomy, it's not just physical that it affects you. It's mentally that it affects you as well. And then for me, I went into perimenopause following that. I hadn't had symptoms really before. But I think that's where when there's so much flux and change around you, you just have to, even though you hate it, you just got to sit in it. I am sitting in it and it's very uncomfortable and it's been very emotional that letting go of your kids.

It's just a big thing. Like all of a sudden you're not needed anymore and I don't want to get to the end of it and be completely lost without my children. I don't want to lose my identity completely, which you can see can happen. So yeah, it's just a slow. It's a lot. Yeah. And high school, particularly the end of high school.

As they grow up, it's, yeah, it's very emotional. See, I'll start crying. Oh, no, no, I don't want to make you start crying. Oh, my God. I need to go put some more estrogen on my arms or something. Thank you so much for today. I have absolutely loved chatting to you. And where can people find you?

Because no doubt people are going to want to come and follow you and find you. Yes. You can find me on Instagram. My handle is at baby. Look at me. I'm like, what is it? It's, and I've only been doing it. I've only done 11.7,000 posts on Instagram.

So there's quite a bit for you guys to catch up on. If you knew, follow me. There's only 1,000 posts to catch up on. No, I'm at Baby Macbeth. So my blog was called Baby Mac because when I was pregnant with my baby, who was Daisy, that I didn't know, it was Baby Mac, and then it just sort of stuck. So at Baby Macbeth. You'll see a link to my shop there, which is baby Macbethshop.com.

which is also called add to cart. Yeah, which is a brilliant shop. I'm going to, they have amazing things. So make sure you go on and shop with them. They're just, they're brilliant. We do have nice stuff that it's that personal touch of when you

really is. You can ask us any questions. You know that you can send a present to someone and I'm going to use my best pen and write my best handwriting in the card and send it off to someone that you love. And you can count on us to get it right for you. That's the difference with shopping small. Absolutely. And coming into Christmas, make sure you make a note. It's at Descartes. And they do. And they do beautiful gift wrapping too. Just saying. Yes, we do. We do do beautiful gift wrapping. But it's that, yeah, and we support brands that are people like us. They're small entrepreneurs that have started their own business. So it's a candle or a fashion or a ceramics or whatever. We try and support. And like 80% of our businesses are all run by females that we are buying Australian businesses. So it's, it's, it's,

down the line, we're all supporting each other, having a crack, following dreams. Yep, absolutely. You know. So make sure you go on and follow her over there, but thank you so much for your time today. I have loved having a chat with you. And no doubt I will see you on Instagram soon.

You will. Thank you. Yes. Thank you so much.