It started with a gif

Fiona Shackleton
Jul 30, 2017 · 5 min read

Sitting in the car waiting for my five year old to finish ballet provides a mum with 30 minutes of pure bliss. Oh yes, precious minutes to look at my phone uninterrupted and guilt free.

Yet on one particularly cold, manky night I felt miserable. I thumbed through my emails. Not one was addressed to me directly, it was just a sea of marketing mail, drawing me in to impulse buy. It made me feel so unwanted, so worthless as a public relations freelancer. When had I become career invisible?

Like any miserable mum sat in a car on a cold manky night I took to social media. Facebook was my preference back then. I scrolled away, loving a post and adding an inane comment to one of my friend’s baby pictures. Then, I had a thumb stopping moment. Facebook had, in its algorithm wisdom, suggested a Digital Mums post to me. I read it quickly and immediately knew that this was something I wanted to pursue. I was actually, for the first time in a long time, giddy.

So here I am, 10 months later at the point of becoming a Digital Mum graduate. My outlook on freelancing, establishing a business, and most importantly, my new found love for creating gifs, has completely changed me from the miserable cow sat in her car only a few months ago, to a lady with a new found confidence ready and primed to hustle.

It was an emotional ride, mind you. There were square eyes, tears, late nights, early mornings, coffee, wine, chocolate, laughter and big confidence crisis moments. But it was all worthwhile, and here is why:

The Mother Tuckers

Our peer group was clearly put together as we were the only five within the January cohort from outside of London. But the separation of three countries and regional accents did not deter us from forming an unbreakable bond. I have honestly found friends for life. The moments shared during these six months means that we will always be each other’s sounding board for freelance life in the social media world. Who else can share 15 gifs in less than 10 minutes on a What’s App group and not be judged for it?

Even the name Mother Tuckers, officially the Holly Tucker peer group, was derived from our ability to just be ourselves and have fun in our weekly hangouts (which always lasted at least an hour longer than the suggested 30mins). Wednesdays were an absolute pleasure!

My campaign

The best part of the Digital Mums Strategic course is the opportunity to work with a real business — mine was Bubbles Swim School. I’m a true believer in the saying: “If you don’t fail, you don’t learn”, and my campaign truly tested this theory.

I could not seem to find the right angle for the campaign at first, and when I tried to refine it, I kept coming back to my original. I never felt it was wrong. Yet, by taking advice on board from my peers and social media guide, I changed it and my final #SaferSummerSplash enabled me to reach my objectives.

This was my biggest lesson. Embrace the advice given, always ask for help and suggestions and positively reflect on your campaign . Remind yourself always, that you have not failed, simply found something to improve upon. As someone who worked independently for so long, this has definitely changed my working culture perspective.

My confidence

Going back to my miserable cow state of mind. I was never an unhappy person, especially when it came to my family life, but I had lost my way with my career. My confidence was non existent after I was pushed into freelancing when I quit my job at 25 weeks pregnant. I was diagnosed with pre-natal depression and I was emotionally done, yet my employers had little sympathy for my diagnosis. The “It’s just your hormones” was stated a lot, and in a very vulnerable state of mind, I quit to focus on getting myself better for the benefit of my baby.

I picked up some freelance work and the rest they say, is history. Yet, I never quite grasped the concept. I loved the #workthatworks lifestyle and didn’t really want to return to conventional work, but my expectation of freelancing differed from reality. I expected work to come to me, I certainly did not have the confidence to go and sell myself, and I didn’t know where to start meeting like-minded mums. All my mum mates seemed so happy and secure in their careers that I didn’t even dare mention my fears.

The Digital Mums process has been my career therapy. All the fears, insecurities and loneliness fading day by day. And although my friends and family will say I seemed tired and stressed throughout the course (no lies, I was both of those and I used gifs at any opportunity to express my mood), I now feel accomplished. I have brought out the inner fighter and I know my girls will benefit from seeing their mummy transform from the person who’s favourite job was washing up — their opinion, by no way mine — into a Mother Tucking Hustler.

Here’s to the future.

I have my collective, I have my Mother Tuckers and I have my hustle at the ready. I am primed for life as a freelance Strategic Social Media Manager. So if you’re in a moment of flux, or you are a miserable cow sat in the car not knowing what to do with your career, I suggest two things. One, find a gif to express your mood, and two, consider your future as a Digital Mum.

Thank you DigitalMumsHQ. Thank you Mother Tuckers, it’s been a blast. #MotherTuckers4Life

Fiona Shackleton

Written by

Enjoying life as a #DigitalMumToBe in my not so Insta-ready office in Yorkshire. Founder of Fine & Dandy, lover of gifs

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade