Mums in Business featuring Nutree Life
Career

Mums in Business featuring Nutree Life

This week as part of my Mums in Business series I’m delighted to feature Jade who owns and manages Nutree Life Ltd with her husband. I loved reading Jades story particularly how she runs the business with her husband, and how they agree set hours so that they can both take care of their son, rather than letting the working hours run away with themselves, which is often the case if you run your own business.

So if you’re interested in learning a few tips and tricks for how to best balance business and your family, run a business together as husband and wife, or how to make a success of your own business then read on…..

Tell me a little bit about you, your background and Nutree Life?

Hi, my name is Jade and I’m the Co-founder of Nutree Life Ltd, a plant-based manufacturer of vegan protein bars, snacks and powders. I’m also a proud mummy to Isaac who turned two in August, and I’m also expecting another bundle of joy in a few months’ time.

I launched my business last year with my husband Adam, and father Patrick, whilst being a full-time teacher.

After studying Primary Teaching with Special Educational Needs at university I decided to become a teacher, which I had been doing for 5 years until the end of 2017, when I joined Nutree Life full-time. Teaching is a lot different to running a business, so I’ve definitely had a steep learning curve in everything from accounting to staff management.

My husband and father are the manufacturing and product development whizzes and I primarily focus on building the Nutree Life brand by running social media campaigns and developing brand partnerships with online influencers.

We also work with larger sports nutrition companies to help them develop innovate protein products, and we also have our own direct to consumer eCommerce brand that sells plant-based protein bars and snacks that are always free from additives.

It feels great to be developing and running a company that puts health and nutrition before profits. Providing nutritious products, whether it’s to our B2B partners or direct consumers, is at the heart of everything we do!

What were your drivers and motivations for setting up Nutree Life?

As a close family, we’ve been discussing running a business for many years, but finally in March 2017 we decided to give it a go.

My primary driver and motivation for doing this was my son. Being a teacher, I worked long hours everyday which meant I hardly had anytime to see him. It was frustrating to leave the house at 7am and return home at 7pm, I just felt awful for not being there in the morning or evening for my boy.

Although I still work many hours in my business, I can now find time to enjoy those little moments when I like. I can have breakfast and dinner as a family, I know come school time I will be the one able to pick them up and ask them first about their day (it was these little things I would have missed dearly.)

Working alongside my family has also been fantastic, we don’t always agree on certain things but we’re all working towards creating a successful future for us all, and hopefully one day, my son will want to join the company too.

Now that I’m expecting my second child, the drive to build a business to support our family is greater than ever!

How do you balance the business around family and childcare?

I wish I had an answer for this, but it is something that I’m still learning myself. I count myself as very lucky to be running a business with my family which means I can find support for my son during the day.

The one rule that I have set and stuck to since joining the business full-time has been to finish and leave work with my husband at 4pm everyday so that we can spend time together with our son before bedtime.

As a business owner, the work never stops so you must carve out that time every day. It can be so easy to let work takeover, so you need to be strict with yourself.

If we’re extra busy or there’s a deadline to hit, we may do a little more work in the evening once we’ve all had tea together and Isaac has gone to bed.

Mums in Business featuring Nutree Life

Since setting up the business what’s been your biggest success to date?

The company has only been trading since November 2017 but so far, we’ve had many great successes.

Our website has seen hundreds of customers who love our tasty and healthy products, and we’ve also secured contracts with very large sports nutrition companies to produce products for them.

We’ve also been shortlisted for a Manufacturer of The Year award which is amazing!

What’s your top tip for Mums who are thinking about setting up their own business?

My top tip that I’d give to anyone who is interested in starting their own business is to make sure they have two things for success. And those are determination and patience!

Everything else can be learned, finance can be asked for and advice can be found everywhere, but if you don’t have determination and you expect results immediately, you’ll have a hard time.

Myself and my family have been determined from the day we setup the company in March 2017 until today, and we’re only just starting to see the flickers of success.

So, if you have a great idea and you’re determined, go for it!

Thank you so much Jade for taking part in my series, and I wish you and your family all the best for the business in the future. You can find out more about Nutree Life by checking out the website, Facebook and Instagram channels.

If you would like what you’re reading and would love to be part of my Mums in Business series then just drop me an email: thepramshedblog@gmail.com. Or have a nose at some of the other businesses I have featured in the series: Spinsonic CircusThumbsie, and Katie Colella Social

Claire x

 

 

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