2012 – I’ve been waiting all year for you!

Last night, as the clock struck 12, I had a text from one of my best buddies:

“Happy New ‘your’ Year chick. Hope you’re smiling it in. Loves ya! Xx”

At that precise moment, I knew exactly what I should do and plastered a huge great big smile on my face to welcome 2012 in. As you already know, so I won’t go on about it, 2011 was a tough, challenging year for me personally. All I wanted to do was get it out of the way and start afresh. Now my chance has arrived and I am grabbing this New Year with both hands, ready to take control.

Already, I have got lots in the pipeline. This is going to be a fantastic year for Tykes Tights – so many wonderful plans and goals to be achieved. If I ever doubt myself, I look back over some of the wonderful emails I have received in the last few months – words of thanks, praise and encouragement from so many customers. In fact, it was one such email that I received a few days ago that inspired me to do a bit of creative writing for a national newspaper. Watch this space!

The most important thing to remember as we start a new year is that life is what you make it. It will try to knock you down, it will try to squeeze the air out of your lungs but you are in control. If you let it beat you, it will. If you take each challenge, no matter how big, with a smile and a positive mental attitude, you can get through it. I have already proven that to myself. So, yes, this is ‘my’ year and I am ready to rock and roll so fasten your seatbelts, put that smile on your face and let’s enjoy the ride!

Wishing you all a positive, happy and successful 2012!

"People become really quite remarkable when they start

thinking that they can do things. When they believe in

themselves they have the first secret of success."

~Norman Vincent Peale~

"When I thought I couldn't go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck." - Estee Lauder

At the end of last year, I was celebrating my wedding anniversary and looking back over 5 years of wonderful life with a man I loved. Just weeks later my world was blown apart and I found myself facing a scary future as a single mum. Looking back now, I don’t think I have any real recollection of the first quarter of this year. Most of it was lived through a haze, a basic survival instinct and nothing more. My only reason for getting up each day was Toddler Tyke. Despite what was going on in our lives, he still needed his mummy, still needed to be fed, dressed, nappy changed etc.


As we head towards winter and the end of 2011, I keep reflecting upon this year and how it has changed me. When things were tough, everyone kept telling me I was tougher, a strong person who could get through this. It is only when you really need it do you actually realise how strong you can be. Your inner strength comes from somewhere, deeply hidden and takes over to carry you through.

Tykes Tights took a major battering at the start of the year. Like I said, I could barely function let alone work on a new business, devoting the time and energy it needed to send it into it’s first spring and summer. I spent a lot of time wondering how other people do it, how do other’s cope?

I read about Rebecca Taylor, who at 23 was a single mum sleeping on her Grandmother’s sofa. With a lot of determination and hard work, she turned her life around and is now owner of The Original Lash and Nail bar in the North of England with an average annual turnover of £200,000.

You may have heard of Sharon Wright, inventor of magnamole, a magnetic cable device to help put cables through walls. Another single mum who worked hard to achieve her dream. She is now an award winning inventor with a hugely successful business and has published books.

And of course, there can’t be anyone who hasn’t heard of Kirsty Henshaw of Dragon’s Den fame. Single mum who created a dairy and nut free desert for her young son. Since then, she has developed a range of products available on the supermarket shelves and Worthenshaws Freedom is set to become a huge name.

And that’s when I realised. Troubled times are sent to put us down or ruin our plans, they are sent to give us determination, to build our characters and help us to find the motivation we need to move on to a brighter future. So here I am, Winter season 2011 building a brighter future for me and my boy 