Hannah's Blog

January 2020

Three essential oils and a cranky baby!

So a few people have asked me why I started my business and the answer goes back a long way! Step back 12 years...

I had just left my final year at school and started working for a large Corporate Law firm in London. I knew the IT manager at the firm and she offered me a temp role for a few months. After a lot of hard work and shadowing this turned into a 10-year stint across several IT and HR roles. The environment was intense but so fun! It taught me a lot and I loved working in the city and socialising. I made some amazing lifelong friends but also learnt some hard lessons along the way. Corporate life is work hard play hard and comes with stress.

Move forward to 2015 and the year I became a parent to my son William (aka Wills/the tornado) who is now 4. Whilst I loved being a Mum I also found it a lot flipping harder than I ever thought it would be. (Bouncing a colicky baby around 24/7 is enough to tip anyone over the edge!) From day one I questioned myself and have also been tested more than I thought possible! It seemed that loads of advice was available to prepare for birth but not for the change you encounter and the pressure you can feel. (particularly when you are shattered, living on chocolate and dreaming of a full nights sleep!) Since then I have noticed a big change in the importance of supporting parents in the early days. Local Brighton business 'The Mother Box' is a perfect example of this. Founded by Doula and Massage therapist Beccy Hands and Midwife Alexis Strickland these two ladies are experts in nurturing women before, during and after birth when the need to look after Mum is so great. The boxes contain specially selected gifts all designed to help you feel human again and they also offer self-care workshops to support new Mums.

So much has happened since I started working in the City and became a parent. Eventually I decided I wanted to make a change when William was around 2 1/2. I was working 3 days a week at the time but feeling that I wasnt functioning at home with everything going on, or able to concentrate at work. I wanted to start something that would allow us flexibility as a family, bring in money but also something that combined everything I had learnt in the corporate world with ways to relax.

Why Aromatherapy?

I've always been someone that likes to hibernate (usually in the bath!) and after I had William I craved this escape to relax even more. When I came home from the hospital my sister-in-law (a health visitor) suggested I added lavender and milk to my bath to help me relax and soothe my sore bits! I did it and honestly felt for that 10 mins i'd been to a spa! I used the oils around the house, in the bath and felt such a change in how I felt. They were amazing at lifting my mood, waking me up when I felt tired or helping when I just generally felt under the weather. They worked on a mental and physical level. I started to make connections locally and met with several Aromatherapists who had trained and practiced for years. We chatted about how they had set up their businesses and the training they'd had. In order to learn and earn money I started working for The Koorana Centre in Ardingly and managed the admin, bookings. I practised there whilst training and it really helped me build connections with some amazing therapists and teachers. I completed my Aromatherapy and body massage training in August 2019 in Brighton and now hold a full FHT accredited diploma in Aromatherapy. I love meeting clients that want to learn how Aromatherapy can support them and be used at home. 

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