For most people, the first week back after Christmas looks like “returning to normal.”
School run resumes. After-school clubs restart. Lunchboxes reappear from the abyss. Life clicks back
into routine.
But not in this house.
I had approximately two days of post-Christmas school rhythm before we loaded the car with ball-
room dresses, false lashes, dance shoes, snacks, emergency snacks, backup emergency snacks… and drove six hours to Blackpool.
Because my daughter was competing at the International Champions of Tomorrow at the Blackpool
Tower Ballroom.
If you’ve never experienced competitive dance life, allow me to introduce you to a world where: ✨
hair buns have gravitational pull
✨ glitter becomes a lifestyle choice
✨ mornings often start before the sun has remembered its shift
Children , tiny elegant warrior-creatures , are in hair and makeup from 4 or 5am. They’re on the ball-
room floor from 8am. And depending on how far they progress, they may be dancing all day.
It’s magical. It’s emotional.
It’s exhausting.
And it requires your full attention as a mum.
Which means: my business had to wait.
Except… for the first time ever… it didn’t.
Last Year vs This Year: The Business That Finally Learned to Run
Itself
Last year, when we did this same competition, my business essentially shut down for six days.
Emails paused. Content paused. Sales paused.
Momentum paused.
Because I simply couldn’t split myself in two:
- One half running a business
- One half operating as Hair Grip Technician, Snack Coordinator and Emotional Support Human
- So the business just… stopped.
- And like most women-in-business, I quietly carried the guilt.
- “I should be doing more.” “I should be checking in.” “I should be visible.”
And my favourite intrusive thought: “If I stop, everything will fall apart.”
But this year was different.
This year, my business kept running without me.
Not in a cold, corporate “robots have taken over” way.
But in a:
✨ warm
✨ human
✨ steady
✨ reliable kind of way.
Lead magnets still delivered. Emails still went out. Content still posted. Enquiries still received real re-
sponses.
And I? I stood in a ballroom at 6am with a lukewarm coffee thinking: “Oh. This is what support feels
like.”
Because this wasn’t hustle-culture automation. This was gentle, human-first workflow design.
And it changed everything.
How Automation Protected My Presence (Instead of Replacing It)
There’s a myth that automation = impersonal. That systems = cold. That workflows = corporate.
But here’s what actually happened:
Instead of scrambling behind the scenes trying to respond and post and follow up… I got to be fully
present.
For six whole days.
No laptop guilt. No inbox buzzing in my ear. No panic-checking socials like a frantic pigeon.
Just me, my girl, glitter, and the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
And, crucially, my audience still felt held.
Because of the actions I’d normally take? They were mapped out in advance.
- Warm welcome emails
- Gentle check-ins
- Helpful resources
- Meaningful touchpoints
All written in my voice, with my values, my tone, and my humanity.
It didn’t remove me. It multiplied me.
Why This Matters More Than Any Marketing Strategy
I don’t talk about business automation as a gimmick. I talk about it because:
Women often carry the invisible load. Mothers don’t clock off. Carers don’t get annual leave. Life
doesn’t wait for your schedule.
And if your business model collapses the minute you rest… it isn’t freedom you’ve built. It’s another
dependant.
I don’t want to be essential to my business. I want to be available to my life.
And that includes:
- children
- horses
- laundry
- doctor appointments
- long drives north
- dance shoes abandoned in hotel corridors
The Simple Systems That Made Six Days Off Possible
I didn’t do anything dramatic. I simply:
✔ Created a warm welcome workflow , new subscribers received genuine, helpful emails that felt
personal
✔ Built a short nurture sequence , existing audience members got valuable content that
moved them forward
✔ Scheduled core content , social posts went out consistently without my daily involvement
✔ En-sured lead magnets were automatic , people could access resources immediately, any time of day
✔ Set expectations gently , my audience knew I’d be away and when I’d return
✔ Made sure re-sponses happened , even when I couldn’t personally reply
The result?
Calm. Consistency.
Relief.
And the quiet joy of knowing… I’m not the power source anymore. The systems are.
The Real Trophy Wasn’t on the Podium
Here’s the thing.
There were trophies being handed out in Blackpool. Medals. Placings.
Moments of pure magic.
But my win wasn’t on a podium.
My win looked like this: Me , sitting on a hotel bed at the end of a long day , hairpins everywhere,
heels abandoned, daughter asleep beside me… and realising:
I didn’t feel torn. Not once.
If You’re Reading This Thinking “I Want That”
Good.
Because you deserve a business that gives back to your life. One that respects:
- your nervous system
- your children
- your responsibilities
- your humanity
- Not a business that constantly demands more.
- This isn’t about scaling louder. It’s about designing smarter.
The truth? You really can build systems that hold your business steady while you live your actual life.
Systems that feel warm, not robotic. Automation that protects your presence rather than replacing it.
And yes : you can do this working just ten hours a week.
I’m living proof. ✨
Ready to design business systems that give you back your time? Discover how AI Alchemy helps women
entrepreneurs build sustainable, automated businesses that run beautifully without constant hands-on
management.