Being a mum at Inkpact, by Nicola Willoughby

Being a mum at Inkpact

How I balance being a mum with writing and reviewing for inkpact! - by Nicola Willoughby

I started writing for Inkpact in Autumn 2017. My little girl had just turned one and I’d seen a post on Facebook where someone was asking how they could make a living out of their lovely handwriting, and in the replies, someone had recommended Inkpact. I decided to have a look online, applied, and that was that! I was a writer.

In those early days, the jobs were very different – I remember my first job was 10 A4 letters which seemed to be so long and have so many words – nothing like the jobs of today with thousands of cards to write!

I found it quite difficult at first to find a good time to write – having a small person to entertain and the risk of having freshly written letters spoilt took up most of my day! I also worked 4 days a week as a radiographer in our local NHS hospital. Eventually I started writing when she had her nap, and in the evenings as she went to bed. I once read a post on the Scribe Tribe that a mum sat in the car writing whilst her little ones slept, but I bow down to that mum, as I could never quite manage to get the hang of that skill!

In 2018, I fell pregnant again. I wrote throughout my pregnancy until December when I found my bump was just too big to carry on writing comfortably! My twin girls were born in January 2019 and the fun began.

I picked up the writing again in June with the arrival of the WaterBabies campaign and continued to pick up jobs here and there, still writing during the girls’ naps and in the evenings – made slightly more difficult with having 3 little girls under the age of 3!

I have always loved reading, and found that I pick up spelling and grammatical errors in books and written works, and always fancied myself as a bit of a proofreader! When the opportunity arose to become part of the Inkpact QA team in early 2020, I was so pleased! Balancing the quality checking in life is much easier than I thought and I just love being part of team ‘Reviewing Army’!

Although it can be hard at times to find a good balance between my family, work and Inkpact, I do enjoy the challenge. I still love posting my handwritten letters and imagining the happiness that the recipient feels. I’m so pleased I’m a part of this lovely company 😊

Nicola Willoughby - Scribe Tribe, Reviewer