Self-care Series: Julia Yule and Christina Moss, Founders of Bloom and Blossom
At &Breathe, we're extremely passionate about our parental self-care mission. It's so important to make time for yourself in your parenting journey - self-care isn't selfish! After all if you're not at your best, how can you be at your best for those around you?
Julie Yule and Christina Moss are sisters-in-law and Founders of Bloom and Blossom; a stylish range of solution focused skincare for the whole family. As beauty junkies, they had always been interested in skincare – and no time more so than when they were pregnant. They wanted effective, safe, ingredient-led products that delivered the same results as non-maternity focused skincare and also wanted something stylish and elegant that didn’t scream ‘pregnant’. When they couldn’t find anything on the market they liked, Julia and Christina decided to create their own! Find out more about Bloom and Blossom.
Credit: Bloom and Blossom
Work/Life Balance
&B: How do you manage to balance running B&B vs family life? Is it possible?!
JY: We get asked this question a lot – and in all honesty we find ourselves questioning what actually is the ‘balance’ – can anyone really achieve this and who sets these parameters as everyone’s family needs are different? If we can get our children to bed at night, happy and content, then we feel like we have achieved something. Running a business alongside the chaos and fun of day-to-day family life is great training. We are a family brand, we understand how time poor parents can be and we apply our experience of this to both the product offering and the running of our business. We deliberately chose an office located near to our homes, to enable us to do the daily school run, as that was part of our ‘balance’.
Career vs Kids
&B: How have you found that your professional life has changed since having kids? Is this what inspired you to start B&B?
CM: Julia and I started Bloom and Blossom when we couldn’t find skincare products we wanted to use when we were pregnant. So our pregnancies, babies and children have all been intrinsically linked to the business. Even today, the new products we are working on are the products we need in our own lives as mothers and for our children. Bloom and Blossom has evolved with my children, and my professional life changes with the needs of my family and the business. Owning a business is hard work and long hours, but the upside is being able to flex around my family.
life lessons
&B: If you could pass on one lesson to your kids, what would it be and why?
CM: The one lesson above all others I want to teach my girls is to be kind.
Credit: Bloom and Blossom
“The one lesson above all others I want to teach my girls is to be kind.”
Fit
on keeping fit
&B: How do you like to keep fit and active?
CM: I like to exercise first thing in the morning before my kids wake up and the daily chaos of school runs and work kicks in. I also try to walk whenever possible. Julia and I are big fans of taking our meetings outside and have hatched many a business-critical plan over a “walk and talk”
Food
on eating healthily
&B: What's your best food hack secret to eating healthily?
JY: Make lunch the night before. I have to make 3 packed lunches in the morning, so adding a fourth isn’t helping matters…… I try to cook a little extra at night and Tupperware it up for my lunch the next day.
Feel
on relaxing
&B: What's your favourite thing to do to relax?
JY: Walking and ideally talking. We live in the Chilterns and are so lucky to have rolling countryside at our fingertips. To get out of the fast pace and enjoy the open fields and fresh air is on the top of my list – if you can add in a catch up with a friend or family member and a nice cup of tea on route, then all boxes are ticked.
“Enjoy the time you have with your children, don’t be distracted and instead be present and be engaged.”
#1
#1 Selfcare Tip
&B: What's your number one self-care tip for mums or dads?
JY: Don’t be too hard on yourself, your children want a happy ‘you’, not a rung out stressed ‘you’. Enjoy the time you have with your children, don’t be distracted and instead be present and be engaged. After a busy week at work it can be so easy to be distracted by the house admin and chores, but ultimately that will still be there tomorrow, so engage and appreciate what you have.
&Breathe Postnatal is a family wellbeing company focusing on self-care for new parents. Join one of our postnatal and family fitness retreats in France, Morocco, the USA or the UK.