I’ve been in my current job for 8 and half years and it has certainly had its ups and downs. I always planned to move on after the second baby but the second baby never came and when I was able to take flexible working when the little one went to school last year, I thought why change the status quo?

Fast forward a few months and I’m being made redundant! Instant panic set in when I heard the news. 40 and redundant what on earth am I going to do? I’ve had a few months to think about it now and I’ve calmed down.

The obvious choices are get another part time office job, 3 or 4 days a week, or try to get an office job in a school. These are the types of jobs I have experience of, I’m skilled in and which would fit in with home life. However, the idea doesn’t really fill me with joy.

What if there is another way? A creative self-employed option? A work from home option? That is the dream of so many parents.

My dad said he thought it was funny I worked in an office as when I was younger I’d said it was something I’d never do. And certainly the start of my career wasn’t going in that direction. I completed a theatre degree and wanted to be an actor. After a couple of years of rejections, and badly paid jobs to pay the bills, I realised that although I loved acting I didn’t like the lifestyle and I wanted a family and a house.

I started doing drama workshops and almost went into teaching but segued into arts admin instead. I don’t know what made me make that choice at that time. Looking back, I should have gone into a behind the scenes theatre role. But I started an arts admin career. We managed to buy a flat and then a house and have a baby. And everything is plodding along quite nicely until you get made redundant and you realise you really don’t want another office job.

Taking inspiration from my mum, who retrained as an upholsterer at 40, I’m looking for something new. Or possibly, looking back to childhood dreams, something old. With the possibility of working for another 25 years looming ahead of me I need something to pay the bills, fit in with family and to possibly enjoy!

The risk adverse side of me wants to get a part time job as soon as possible and build a new business on the side. I think this is a positive way to start. But it will be hard to find the energy and the head space to learn a new skill and/or develop a business. I am going to give myself a couple of months, after looking after The Boy for the 6 weeks holiday, to find a part time job that I will enjoy. A new environment, and possibly sector, will provide new challenges. I will try and focus in on what my new enterprise could be in the next 6 months, as I don’t know where to start, and next year I want to be working towards something new.

The next 6 months are going to be interesting.