We have 4 daughters.  From a very young age, I longed to have babies. I was very lucky to fall pregnant relatively easily and to have easy pregnancies and births,  all midwife-led.  In fact I actively enjoyed being pregnant.  Breast feeding wasn’t quite so much fun…. I remember my boss at the time of my first pregnancy telling me that every stage is best until you get to the next phase.  I was quite a worrier and would always worry whether they’d had enough food/sleep/playtime and I was a sucker for a strict routine.  But it worked out and they slept well.  The cliche about teenagers being worse is true, I’m afraid.  The worrying doesn’t stop and the worries get worse! 

My father died unexpectedly in his sleep when I was 11 and my brother 13, leaving my mother a widow at the age of 36.  The three of us became very close and she would often tell us how she’d help us set up home/babysit her future grandchildren etc.  She told me once that all a mother wanted was to see her children settled and that it broke her hear that she wouldn’t due to secondary breast cancer that she eventually died from at the very young age of 48.  It was incredibly hard to have 4 babies without a mother around and the pain is still raw to be honest.  The nativity plays, the first steps, the momentous milestones all missed by her.  So many times, I want to call her or send her a quick photo and I wonder whether that urge will ever completely disappear. 

I am a very keen and able sleeper! I swim most days and I have very frequent massages and facials.  I’m not very good at sitting still and I never watch telly.  I also manage my diary well and make sure I don’t over do things. I’m very high energy so am constantly busy but it’s in my genes and I like it like that.  The CBT I had in my 20’s equipped me very well and I tend not to sweat the small stuff anymore..

I have always worked from home to be around for the children. To start, I catered for friends and created brownies for local cafes. This led to me becoming a virtual concierge to anyone needing to get organised! This gave me the idea to become a homestay host. Taking students in from overseas, mostly Japan, who were spending the school holidays here to learn English.

One of these students brought me a warming face mask and at this moment the idea for Spacemasks was born.

I knew the relief a calming warm eye mask could bring to those suffering with stress, depression and anxiety and wanted to create something that would help us all rest, sleep and take time out.

I decided on the space theme to emphasise the escape from earthly worries and so
created the brand Spacemasks.

Finding a supplier you had the right environmental credentials to make the product took many months.

Once I had found the right supplier I placed an order for a small first batch which sold out in less than a month! The rest, as they say, is history.