My name is Stephanie Marko and I never had any intention of being a mumpreneur.  As a Professional, I gave up my salary work when my first child was born in 2002 and took up the hardest job I would ever have in my life: being a mum.

By 2008 we had three children and I was looking forward to the day that our youngest would start nursery school.  I had plans to return to the gym and to start writing again, but I also had a nagging problem when it came to labeling my children’s shoes, clothing and supplies for school.  In the middle of a frustrating search for a solution, I discovered a Business opportunity.  However, I was not so sure that I wanted to take on the daunting project of starting a company.

After nearly 2 years of turning the idea over and over in my head, one night at 2am when I was up caring for our oldest who had a high fever, I came to the realisation that I hadn’t slept a full night’s sleep in over 8 years.  I figured with that being the case, I could easily withstand a few more years of Sleepless Nights that it would take to get a business off the ground.

However, I promised myself I would not only create a company that would provide high quality products for mums around the world but I would also create a high quality company where I would want to work as a professional and as a mum. In essence, this meant building an organization with opportunities to grow and learn and where everyone could combine his or her professional and family life.  And with those goals in mind, Stikets (www.stikets.co.uk) was founded in 2010.

Now 8 years later, we have 26 members in our team.  At our core we are a family-first company, working to make the family life of everyone around us, from our clients to our own team, just a little bit easier and a little bit better.

While I still have many sleepless nights, being a mumpreneur has a great growth opportunity professionally and also at a personal level.  I never had any intention of starting a business but now I don’t know what my life and the life of our family would be if I hadn’t.