Working for Mind, Body and Spirit!

Emma Sunerton-Burl explains how running both a tarot reading and web design service combine perfectly with her family life!

Name – Emma Sunerton-Burl

Location – Dolwyddelan, Snowdonia, North Wales

Family – Husband and one son, Caspian, aged three and a half

What inspired you to set up Seeds of Light?

I wanted to make use of my talents to help, support and empower people, and I wanted to have some adult time to balance the time I spent with Caspian my son. I offer Tarot Readings face to face, on the phone, and by distance when the person is not there, I tune into their higher selves and guides and do a reading directly. I also offer Reflexology and Healing in North Wales. I sell guided meditation tapes which I produced about 10 years ago when I was also counselling and doing tarot. And use visualisation with people for support and to assist healing.

What is your background?

Previous to being a mum, I had a number of jobs - some computer related programming and some self employment, doing counselling, tarot and groups. So my qualifications previous to being a mother are: BSc Psychology, Trained in Counselling and group facilitation, Reflexology and Healing. I have been reading tarot for 20 years, some of the time as a professional along side my counselling business. More recently I have taught myself HTML programming and web design - initially to write my own site for Seeds of Light, then this has become a line of business for me too - www.empowering-web-design.co.uk.

How did you get all the information about setting up your own business?

When I was self employed some years ago I went on some business workshops run by the Enterprise Agency in Reading, England, so I had the information from then as well as searching out the local equivalent agency here in Wales, the Conwy Enterprise Agency (http://www.conwyenterprise.co.uk/) , where I obtained free advice, guidance and a small start up grant. They also provide business training workshops for business start ups

How did you seek funding for the business?

I needed very little to start up and the grant from the Conwy Enterprise Agency (http://www.conwyenterprise.co.uk/) covered most of my needs.

Who takes care of the accounts/tax/vat side of the business?

I do

How does it fit in around your family?

Very well, I have two days to work during the week and also can do the distant readings and web design whenever I have time in evenings and weekends. Caspian is in school two hours every weekday morning. I make sure I am not always on the go but the beauty of working for myself is that I can take some of my work day daytime out to say go running, and then work in the evening. Things are so much more flexible that working for a company. I just have to be structured and good with time management to ensure I make family time, personal time and partner time as well as work time.

What is the best thing about running your business?

The flexibility of when I choose to work and the variety of things I can be doing.

Any downsides?

Just maintaining the balance between work and play, I can get caught up in either to the exclusion of the other, but mostly it balances itself out very well.

Do you enjoy it?

I love it, all of it. I really enjoy the variety of the work I do and how each part satisfies a different aspect of myself, whilst all are about helping and empowering other people in some way. It fits with my spiritual beliefs and so feel fulfilling to a very deep part of me. I love the freedom it gives me too.

Have you learnt any lessons you could pass on to any Mum's thinking of setting up their own business?

To begin with I was worried I would neglect Caspian if I focused on myself and working, but I would say to anyone thinking of starting up, that it actually has helped my relationship with Caspian and he has benefited from having a happy mum who actively wants to spend time with him, as well as having made friends at his childminders, that being an only child, has been important to him. Also I feared it would somehow take over me....I would say just remember you are always in control and if you feel you have too much work for what you are prepared to do you can say no and state your boundaries

Any other information which you think might be of interest to Mum's?

I started slowly after having Caspian, first of all only having one day a week available when I felt he was able to cope with being looked after by someone other than close family, and only went to 2 days when I felt he was really ready to handle that. I expect to build up my hours considerably when he starts full time school in Sept 06. It suited the business too as it takes time to build a client base especially as I am working in a rural part of North Wales. Also I have not wanted to go some of the traditional routes to building psychic and holistic businesses which is to do fayres at weekends and evenings. I wanted to keep these times much more flexible than that, for the family so I can work when I choose and I am not committed to a circuit. The website has brought in some good business too which has helped balance the rural nature of the area I am living in. I love the freedom of working like this and I would recommend it to anyone who has a pull to start their own business. Just get clear what you want and don't get railroaded into thinking you 'should' be working more hours than you want to. I have felt this from people at times. But go for it, allow yourself to be guided by your passion!

Have a look at Emma's companies in the Mum's Marketplace - Seeds of Light and Empowering Web Design