From time to time, I plan to feature women who are turning their passions into careers. Many women aren’t prepared to return to full time work after having children or have other reasons their lifestyles don’t fit within the 9-5 work model. 

When I was a baby, my mum returned to work after just a couple of months of maternity leave. Work wasn’t anywhere near as flexible as it can be these days; she went back full time and off I went to family day care. That’s a pretty typical story. Women either went back to work or didn’t work at all. Nowadays, however, there’s a new generation of women who can either access more flexible options, have partners who are more likely to share the load when it comes to raising kids or they find an entirely different option to suit their young families.

Alexandra Lyons is one of the latter. She’s one of an increasing number of women going in to business for themselves.

The ABS figures currently indicate a sharp rise in female entrepreneurs- a 46% increase over the last 2 decades. Entrepreneurship is presenting women with a real solution to the often discussed work/life balance.

Before having children, Alex worked in the mining industry in an administrative role. She went on maternity leave with the birth of her first daughter, Harper, and when that leave began to run out, she realised she didn’t want to return to her previous job. Looking for a way to contribute financially to her family while still being able to be at home with Harper, Alex turned to one of her creative outlets: sewing. Between her mother and grandmother, Alex had learned to sew as a child and continued to build her skills, with home economics being a favourite subject through high school.

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