The Netmums Podcast - S10 Ep8: Love, Lists and Labels with Jemma Solomon

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

Jemma Solomon aka 'The Label Lady' joins Wendy this week, to talk about how she swapped her stress filled life working as full time nurse with 3 young children, to setting up her own business that helps people find order in their lives. Jemma's book "Love, Lists and Labels" is released on the 22nd of June.

You're listening to The Netmums Podcast with me, Wendy Gollage. And me, Alison Perry. Coming up on this week's show... I suffered really badly with anxiety after I had Darcy and one thing that mum's group really helped me with, which wasn't until later on, was being able to talk about it and actually put my feelings and thoughts within that group, if that makes sense. But before all of that, this episode of The Netmamas podcast is brought to you by Aldi. Wendy, I've got a question for you. What's your guilty parenting pleasure? Oh, I'd probably say it's gobbling up cold fish fingers from my kids' plates after they've abandoned dinner in favour of watching

the telly. I do that too. I reckon my guilty pleasure is sneaking out and escaping my children to have a lovely browse of my local Aldi alone. I am so with you. What I love about Aldi is they have an excellent range of great value products. They even have an award-winning baby and toddler range which includes weaning essentials, nappies and wipes. It's funny you should say that because another friend told me that she switched to Aldi Mamiya and it's giving her big savings. Yes, plus with Netmums and Aldi, new parents can get a pack of newborn nappies absolutely free. So log on to our site and let your friends know about this awesome opportunity with Netmums and Aldi. Right, don't tell my family, but I'm sneaking off to Aldi right now.

Hello folks, welcome to another episode. I'm really excited because today's guest is, oh, I don't even know where to start. I'm doing a lot of spring cleaning and this lady is the queen of all that. Gemma Solomon aka The Label Lady launched her business a couple of years ago. She sells custom-made labels and is now author of the book Love Lists and Labels. An inspiring guide to believing in yourself, making positive changes to your life and how a sense of order can help. Welcome Gemma. Hey. How are you? I'm okay thank you. Yeah keeping busy, trying to always be positive and just enjoying the journey I'm on if I'm honest with you. Loving the ride and taking each day as it comes. I think you're either the kind of person who gets excited by a label

maker, me and you, or you're not. What do you you reckon well you want to know what I am or you want to know if you're that person well I just want to know what is it about labels that makes you so happy I think for me it was about so so basically I've had a label machine for before from quite a way before the label lady like my first one I got in actually 2017 and it wasn't really for organization purposes it was more for and I had a tiny small business that did like events and stuff so I used it for like balloons and that side of things and eventually I realized that I could make organizational labels with it and that's how I started to grow a love for the label maker does that make sense I think sometimes

when you first look you think oh why do I that? But then when you start applying the labels and realise that there is that sense of calm and organisation, everything has its own place. It just makes you so happy. Why would you not want to walk over to something and be like, oh, I know where that is? Unless you apply it with a bump in the label, then things are really bad. However, there is tips and tricks for that. Now in the book, you say you found growing up as the oldest of three quite tricky. Why was that? I think the oldest one has it the worst. I think we've got the hardest job. And I know the middle children are going to disagree

because they're going to say, no, I'm a middle child. But then the youngest just can't disagree because they have it the easiest. But I feel like as the eldest child, you get given quite a lot of responsibility first. And you also have to go through all those feelings and emotions first so that sounds really silly but you know like when your mum and dad like say to them can I go and play out or can I go to the shops or can I go to the cinema with my friends or can I do this and that it's kind of that no before it's a yes whereas by the time it's got to like child number two number three number four they're like see ya have fun so I feel like you you have to as the oldest child always go for everything first and that can be quite difficult

to navigate like especially when you're like insecure about things or there's something that you're not sure how to question yeah just with things like that so you and your sister Stacey are both pretty creative was it like that when you were growing up were you the ones making rockets out of loo rolls and cereal boxes? Have you always, both of you, been as creative as you are now? I think as a family, we're quite creative. When you look at all the different jobs that we've all gone into and all the different things that you've done, you can definitely see how our roots are quite creative roots,

even from both our parents. And we love arts and crafts and making and doing all things like that. So yeah, 100% we were those children. But what a great way to be. Like I encourage my children to do it now so much. And I love watching them make things out of things. And I've got a little duck that one of my children drew that's on my desk in front of me.

And I actually turned it into a label for them. So I got them to to draw it digitally and then I made it into a label and they loved it. But tell us about your kids. How old are your kids? What are they called? So they are Darcy, Mila and Hudson. Darcy's the oldest, she is now 10. Mila is seven, soon to be eight and Hudson is five. They're lovely, I love them so much. Don't get me wrong. They can drive me up the wall sometimes. But on the whole, they're really lovely children. They're so beautiful. And yeah, I'm just so proud to be their mum.

Do you think they follow the same kind of sibling? Do they follow the same pattern as you guys did? Obviously, you each have different characteristics. Are they similar to the three of you? We actually laugh about this so much because we see it like with my family with my sister's family like we see it with like the eldest the middle east and the youngest and we always say like the eldest one is that very well behaved you know always wants to do the right thing and I think prim and proper is probably the wrong word but like you know what I mean like quite you know my eldest is the same.

She does, she plays by the rules, the eldest. Yeah, that's it. Plays by the rules. Whereas the middle one, she's literally like. So is Stacey the middle one? It is the middle one. And that's why it makes us laugh because I was at the goody two shoes. You know, the middle child is like a bit more rebellious and cheeky and, you know, knows their own self, dramatic and very like theatrical

and stuff like that. And then the youngest one is just like, yeah, whatever, like with the wind and just flows along. And we see it in our own children. So it really makes us laugh when their little personalities come out because you haven't made them like that. They've just grown like that and it's funny to watch. It's crazy crazy isn't

it how siblings follow those patterns so when you catch up with your sister now there's an awful lot of small people like between all of you humans mini humans there's a lot of mini humans tell us how that is well we love being a big family like we're obviously a big family as well we've got obviously like a brother's sisters stepbrother sisters a half brother so there's a lot of us in general anyway and even like my husband he's one of six so we're used to being around these huge families who have been gone and had children and that's why I always say if I'm planning an event or doing anything within the family I feel like people have to remember that we're like the Pied Piper and all these people come following behind not because we've got loads of friends it's like the Von Trapps there's just loads of

people at 18 when they'll jump out the car and actually we used to laugh because as children we had one of those cars with the 18 bus but it was for us it was I didn't I don't even know what the 18 are until I go google them but it was like that 18 bus where you just slide the door open and we'd all jump out one after the other so do all the cousins get on yeah well yeah we're lucky like I mean you've got to remember like Darcy and Leighton are only 10 months apart. So they're actually more like siblings rather than cousins. And even like Rex and Huds, they're like little brothers with each other because they're, they see each other all the time. So yeah, we're really lucky like that.

Don't get me wrong. They can, we know when they've had enough of each other and we're like, we call and say, it's time to go home. Go and come to your children. But otherwise they have sleepovers together see each other all the time and I really really really hope that as they get older that will turn into it's friendship now but you know like that friendship where you can you've got they'll go out together or they'll do things together and stuff like that so yeah that'll be really nice

when you started the business did you ever imagine that this is where you would end up? No, 100% not. I say we, what happened was I stepped away from my role in the NHS and was looking for a new direction within the NHS. And so I was working bank shifts to keep up my job role, my registration, all of that sort of thing while looking for a job and in between that that's where I obviously spent more time at home so I was then organizing and doing things around the home and then it was actually on Lee's birthday in 2020 so January 2020 that we sat down and my family were like why don't you try this as a as a small business because I'd always had little small businesses throughout my working

careers um and I thought okay I'll give it a go I enjoy it I like doing it and I just I don't think you ever can imagine that from saying those words to owning your own you know office and premises and staff and stuff like that like it's Like it's just, I don't know, you just don't imagine that for yourself, if that makes sense. Sometimes I have to really stop and think about how far I've actually come in that amount of time.

So what inspired you to write the book then? Because it's not like you're not busy. You seem like you've got quite a lot going on. Do you know what? When I was approached about writing a book and stuff like that, I actually thought, oh my gosh, I remember saying to me, listen, if I write a book, you've got like six months of not seeing me and me literally being like buried in this book and not speaking for anyone and, you know, just keeping myself to myself.

But I actually really enjoyed it. I actually didn't find it stressful. I found the whole process quite rewarding because you're you're almost saying out loud what you kind of tell yourself and you're saying out loud things that you want other people to hear and read and know about you. So it actually feels like not a weight has been lifted, but it feels like a really nice thing to do. So I didn't find it an extra job job I actually found it maybe a bit of comfort um is probably the way to describe it if anything and so yeah I really enjoyed it I really didn't find it stressful at all I found it a really nice experience I'm actually well I'm still on it because it's not I haven't got the actual book yet but yeah I found the experience really um positive

who's the book for um it's for so basically I say it's a little bit about me. So if you want to know a bit about me and who I am, but a lot of it is about you guys. And I say you guys as in general, what I mean is you could be a stay at home mom, a budded entrepreneur, it doesn't matter who you are, it matters that you can take takeaways from the book so if you are a stay-at-home mom that is absolutely your job and fine and you have to understand that no matter society's you know impressions of what that means that is a blooming hard job and there is so many ways that you can organize that role within your life and how you can take takeaways from that but at the same time if you want to start your own business and you're not sure how to do it, there's also takeaways that you can take from that as well. And if you just want to think about life, I speak a lot about

journeys and how you're following different paths in life and what they mean and how not to feel so much about something, but actually strip it back again. And we're all amazing humans and we've got to realize that. So I actually think it can be for And we're all amazing humans. And we've got to realise that. So I actually think it can be for anyone from all walks of life. It's how you interpret what's in there for you. And that's what's important about it. So do you think you'd ever go back to being a paediatric nurse? So technically, I still am a paediatric nurse. I'm still registered. I still got my pin. And I have

to make that decision quite soon actually as to what I want to do because for anyone that doesn't know you have a pin that's attached to your name and a registration and you have to renew that registration every year which is fine I have been but every um three years you do what's called a revalidation and to pass that revalidation, you have to have done so many hours worth of work, or like nursing, if you like. And you have to do like certain reflections and stuff like that. Oh, big decision. I worked so hard to get it.

I gave eight years of my life to the NHS. Obviously, I know there's people that have given a whole lot more. But eight years, I really dedicated and loved what I did. did so yeah it's a huge decision. Do you miss it? I miss giving care and I miss that side of it in terms of like somebody said to me tomorrow come and do a nursing shift I'd love to do it but I don't miss the politics I don't miss the state that the NHS is in I don't miss the pressure that's put on you as an individual working there. And that was what broke me, not the job. I love the job.

Like the job didn't break me. I always say to people, I never worried about the job or the pay. That wasn't my issue. My issue was the conditions. Everything else. Yeah. And that was the point that really got me and the saddest point and I used to get so upset about it because my when I got to the

stage where I stepped away from the job I was in I was actually in a job where all I wanted to do was make change and be an advocate for those I call it the shop floor like you know like I say the shop floor but it's like the nurses the doctors the cleaners the porters like you know all of them them staff are and I really wanted to be an advocate for those people and really help make change so that their working environment was what it should be um and it's a really difficult thing to do and you are constantly hit with the word no hit with the word no and that was what upset me the most if I'm honest so even though you're not in it are you forever being asked do you get Stacey ringing you up saying ah they've got a rash they've got spots what's this do you still get that kind of like

all the questions from your mates about their kids I think you'll never not get that and I think if any of our friends listen to this they'll laugh and be like oh that's me I do that to Gemma at 11 o'clock at night but do you know what I don't mind it because I feel like it kind of like keeps me fresh and keeps me a little bit sane as well because otherwise I always say if you haven't seen a rash before or you haven't seen a spot before or you haven't seen all these things it's scary like so scary and you know a lot of simple rashes or marks or conditions have got these hugely scary long medical names that no one can say and no one can pronounce properly and you think oh my god my child's got that and then you know oh no it's just baby rash don't worry but it's got a name longer than anything you've ever heard before and it sounds like they are diseased you know so it's

very it can be really scary so I get it and I like it that you all talk because also I think it brings it it makes you realize what's normal what's not normal and if you're sharing those things then if anything is abnormal you're gonna you're gonna spot it so yeah I don't mind it. You talk actually about the different whatsapp groups you're in what are those mum's groups why are they so important for you so we have a mum's whatsapp group so I've got quite I like to think I'm quite a friendly person I've got quite a few friends I can't seem to let go of friends a lot from all different places and we have so I've got like a group of girls that we've known since like college and they've known since school and stuff there's

like 16 of us and then obviously some of us had children some of us haven't yet had children so we kind of broke off a mum's group separate to that not to divide ourselves but just not to drive the others crazy if I'm perfectly honest with you because you know if you haven't got children or you don't want children the last thing you want to hear every five seconds is oh so-and-so pooed up the wall the other day and I was walking you know when I was walking to the shops so we kind of separated that and actually um it's such a nice um feeling to know that you've got other like-minded individuals in in that group with you and I think I I suffered really badly with anxiety um after I had Darcy and one thing that mum's group really helped me with, which wasn't until later on, was being able to talk about it and actually put my feelings and thoughts within that group, if that makes sense. Because I was one of the first to have children.

I had Darcy when I was 24, which is quite young nowadays, isn't it? Yeah. For children. So I actually felt quite alone when I had her. But by the time the girls started having children, it was all right for me to be like, you're not crazy. It's okay. Like, you're going to feel like this.

And this is going to happen to you, but it's going to be okay. Hard for you not to have anyone to say that to you. Yeah. And I think as well, for me, I'm very matter of fact. I'm not very emotional. I'm very much like, okay, it's happened. Suck it up. Get on with it. We've got to move on to the next thing okay it's happened suck it up get on with it we've got to move on to the next thing there's another thing taking up my brain space and I need to get

rid of that one um and when the anxiety came I was not an anxious person before I never had anxiety before so I didn't know what it was and it took me so long to realize what it was that I just, I was, I actually felt quite good that I could tell others. So yeah, I was a bit like, oh, I wish people could have been there for me before. But I didn't know that I had it before. Was it anxiety about yourself or about Darcy or about whether you were doing it right? It was about me. It was like my birth and stuff like that that I think triggered it um there's more about that in my book I've spoken in quite detail about it and but I didn't

know that's what it was I just thought you know everyone must feel like this when they have a baby so I've got to suck it up and get on with it you know everyone looks like this after a baby suck it up and get on with it that was kind of my thought path in my head what I didn't realize was actually if somebody was just to say to me Jimmy you're gonna feel like this Jimmy this is gonna happen to you Jimmy this is the thoughts and feelings that are probably going to go into your your head after you have a baby it would have been quite comforting um but I didn't know that I needed that at that time so then when the girls started having babies I was able to be like it's okay this is gonna happen but it's okay like you're gonna get through it like it's okay, this is going to happen, but it's okay. Like, you're going to get through it. Like, it's going to happen, but it's going to be okay.

I remember a midwife sitting my husband down before I gave birth to my first and saying, right, you need to buy a pack of paracetamol, a really large dairy milk and a box of tissues and roll with the punches. I think that's actually good advice because you need chocolate, you need drugs and you need a hug at the end of the day and you know like you're going to hospital and like especially for me like I was 24 and I thought I was quite good with children I'd worked in nurseries I'd nannied like so not that I do not that I knew what I was expecting but I kind of knew how to change a

nappy like I all the basics like I knew but you walk in and you see like these pictures of the mums holding the baby breastfeeding the smiles on their faces and everything's that calm and actually like it's a huge trauma and a huge shock and when you're like why isn't the baby feeding on me and they're like oh no they will and i'm like but they're not like you you almost want to question it like you don't want to argue or you know say anything against it because you're okay and so you withdraw and withdraw and withdraw and withdraw and I think it's that withdrawing that then eventually leads to like that explosion if that makes sense I totally agree now I don't think our listeners would forgive me if I didn't ask you a little bit about your lovely sister because she's a much-loved netmums

lady um I guess one of the things that our readers love about Stacey is that she seems so genuine everything that kind of comes out feels like it's really what she's thinking is that the case is the Stacey we see the Stacey you see it is and I just laugh because I like if anyone you've met Stacey or you know Stacey like she's the nicest person in the world the loveliest person in the world but her and Jo are like the same people it's funny to me because yeah they're like the same people it's like they've married each other and it really makes me laugh that's funny you should say that so they've basically they are the same human in male and female form and they've married each other yeah it's really funny really funny you seem like it seemed like personality wise but in terms of

like like Stacey is way more organized than Jo sorry Jo but she is way more organized and way more like that methodical if that makes sense um and that that yeah but they're both lovely very lovely is it as calm in that house as it appears to be I don't think any of our homes seem I mean they calm in the sense of like please god we've got you know happy healthy like beautiful children and they are always running around and when the weather is nice like obviously their house is amazing and the outside space is just a dream and you know they're extremely lucky to be able to have that space um which is you know a joy to watch like them climbing in the trees and playing football and running around and playing it and all those sorts of things so but yeah I don't think we've ever I mean have we got we haven't got calm houses we've

got a million children between us well you do a very good job of making it look serene put it that way so what is next Gemma what's you've written a book you've got a successful business we know there's a little bit of a question about nursing but we won't dwell on that what are you gonna do what's next in your plan for world domination do you know what I think for me I think so this year in particular not just for me but for so many people you know we're in a really hard time at the minute and more and more and more I'm seeing small businesses that are struggling and closing and you know things are happening around us that are just not nice to see and when you compare it back to a couple of years ago with how how well they were doing it's a real shame to see and so truthfully this year my aim is

to I would really like to do something where I can I'd love to work with small businesses in a way and just you you know, get them through times like this, because no matter what happens now or in 10 years time, there's always times where the economy is good and there's always times where the economy is bad. And it's how we get through those times that is really important. So I'd love to do something where I could perhaps work with other small businesses or, I don't know, do something empowering to help them to get through those times and uplift other businesses to do really well and I don't know what that is yet I can I can hear it

in my brain and I can feel it in me but I don't know what that is but that's something I'm really passionate about and something I'd really like to um build upon and then yeah I just want to build upon me I think as a person I'm really growing and really accepting myself and really happy with who I am at the moment so I think I need to be more confident in myself and I've said to quite a few people this year you know someone offers me the opportunity to do something or to speak to somebody or to be a part of something I need to say yes and yes it's going to be my like word of the year because I really want to be able to say yes to as many opportunities that I can and um yeah enjoy the ride well thank

you for saying yes to us we're very pleased it's been lovely to have you on thank you so much for joining us well thank you for having me