Nicola Bird
Tell us about Jigsaw Box.
JigsawBox is an online platform which provides a home for people to create products and services that they can sell online. Through JigsawBox, people can package up their expertise and deliver it online so that they can create more time, money and freedom to do the stuff they love.
JigsawBox can house virtual workshops, bootcamps and training/coaching programmes and allows people to create bespoke packages, which they can then sell to a global audience.
You have a diverse range of experience, so tell us about this.
I have a Psychology BSc and Occupational Psychology MSc. I trained as an NLP practitioner and I am soon to be a certified Money Breakthrough Coach. My expertise lies in Business Mindset and Marketing and Online Coaching and juggling business and family. I also have experience at presenting and have spoken in Las Vegas and on London and Irish stages at events. I’m also a good talker and have interviewed hundreds of people, as well as being interviewed a few times myself!
You are a mother of three, so how to you juggle motherhood with your job?
I originally created JigsawBox as a way for my clients to access my expertise online in a flexible and affordable way, whilst leaving me free to concentrate on growing my business and spending time with my young children.
It means I’m able to make money literally whilst going out for the afternoon swimming with my children. I’m no longer the, stressed, exhausted working mum that I used to be and that’s all down to putting technology and social media at the core of my business offering.
I really believe that social media is opening the door for women and men to work from home and gain the income they really strive for whilst also having the family life they want too.
You went from earning nothing to 500,000 online, so tell us about this process and how it felt.
I found a way to package up my expertise in a way that enabled me to create an income without having to deliver it in real time. When I found how well it worked for me, I decided to offer the same solution to other coaches to help them achieve a better work-life balance and that’s when JigsawBox took off.
I get feedback every day from users of JigsawBox telling me how it has totally transformed their lives and businesses and it gives me a real buzz to know that something I’ve created is having such widespread impact on people’s lives and ability to earn money.
What is a normal day like in your world?
A normal day for me will involve a brief period of checking emails and touching base with my remote support team, who help to keep the JigsawBox offering up and running on a daily basis. I still do some private coaching as well as running JigsawBox, so I may have a coaching session to conduct. Or I may have an interview to take part in or an article to write, in which case, it is very likely I will still be in my pyjamas with a cup of coffee whilst I am doing it! When that’s all done, I’ll still have plenty of time to spend time with the children and we like to go out swimming or go to the park for a few hours. When I come back, I’ll touch base again with my team and check emails before settling down for the evening. I have free days every week where I don’t do ANY work related tasks, and the weekends are spent with my husband and children doing the things we love to do as a family.
Why is it important to have a work/life balance?
Like for many mothers who are professional coaches, being a life coach suited my circumstances when I started out. It meant I could work around my children and pick and choose the times that I wanted to work. At first, working evenings was great for me, as it meant I could spend time in the day with my children and focus on work whilst they were sleeping. The trouble really comes when you fall into the trap of working too much and suddenly, all the reasons you started coaching in the first place seem to be the very things you then start missing out on.
The reality is that whilst you can have the best of both worlds, you do have to find ways to do things differently to achieve that perfect balance. If not, your business, your relationships and even your health could suffer as a result.
Why is it essential that although women become mothers they don’t lose sight of their careers?
It is important because society often makes women feel like they have to choose one or the other. The reality is that most families need a joint income to live the life they want and to provide for their children. I believe very strongly that women shouldn’t have to give up on their career aspirations or that society needs to miss out on the benefit of their expertise simply because they choose to have children.
What JigsawBox has proven is that there are hundreds and thousands of women out there right now, being successful in their chosen careers AND are raising their children too. It’s all about how you apply your skills to the market and how you choose to deliver that skill to ensure you have both the time and the money you need to live your life the way you want to.
What is next for you?
My business focus for the immediate future is to continue to develop JigsawBox to ensure it helps more people to package up their expertise online and making more money for less of their time. Life is too short to be the busy fool and so I want more people to stop being caught up in the cycle of working all hours for little return.
Of course, this means that I won’t be working all of the time either, so I will be looking forward to spending time this year with my children and family!