The similarities between birthing a business and having a baby
By birthing a baby, I had to give up another – my business – and the similarities between running a company and having a child started to hit home, writes Ashleigh Spencer-Shirley.
Maternity Leave. Those two little words seemed impossible to even say, let alone become my reality when I first started my company some 12 years ago.
For years I pushed myself to the brink of burnout, riding the wave of business expansion while working endless weekends, nights and holidays, leaving precious little time for anything
outside of work.

Having a baby not only seemed out of reach, but completely naïve and foolish when I was working 50 – 60 hours a week.