Episode 395: Did Alan Sugar Fire Me For Being A Mum? with Sam Saadet
Parenting while nurturing a business is an admirable feat that combines vision, drive, and a lot of strategic balancing. Sam Saadet’s journey from being an aspiring teenager driven by the entrepreneurial flair from her parents to creating a thriving business in fitness for mothers, while managing a family life, offers a blend of inspiration and practicality.
In this episode, Adam Stott talks to Sam Saadet, a dynamic entrepreneur recognized from her stint on The Apprentice. Sam opens up about her journey from a young entrepreneurial background to creating The Mummy Movement, a fitness initiative aimed at pre and postnatal mums.
Drawing on personal experiences, Sam discusses the balance between being a successful businesswoman and a dedicated mother. Sam and Adam navigates her early career in sales and recruitment and the pivotal moment she decided to pivot into the fitness industry.
Show Highlights:
- Starting a business as a mother requires passion to fuel drive and long-term commitment.
- Sam emphasizes the importance of taking action and not dwelling on fears as a pathway to entrepreneurial success.
- Sam shares how personal experiences and losses have shaped her resilient mindset.
- Insights into how participating in “The Apprentice” impacted her business perspective and growth.
- Through The Mummy Movement, Sam seeks to empower mums to integrate fitness and well-being amidst the challenges of motherhood.
Links Mentioned:
Get your Business Growth Secrets SUCCESS PLANNER for FREE and profit like a pro: https://adamstottplanner.com/free-book47315172
Adam’s website: https://adamstott.com/?el=Pod
Watch the Episode on Adam’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/adamstottcoach?el=Pod
Connect with Adam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamstottcoach/?el=Pod
Join Adam’s network on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-stott-coach/?el=Pod
Coaches, consultants, and business owners – lower your marketing costs, increase ticket prices, and get more high-ticket clients: https://3daybrandbuilderworkshop.com/start-here?el=Pod
Transcript:
Please note this is a verbatim transcription from the original audio and therefore may include some minor grammatical errors.
[00:00:00] Sam Saadet: There’s a lot of controversy that could come with it, but when I left, when I did actually leave the process, he, but he did say, he said, oh, and I know he said this from the bottom of his heart, but he went, you know, off your p And he goes, go home to the two babies to me, go on to the two babies.
[00:00:19] And they aired it. Social media.
[00:00:27] Adam Stott: Hey everybody. Welcome to business growth secrets. I’m really excited. He’s got a great guest on today, Sam Sedat. You may recognize her from the recent series of the apprentice, which she was on and she did really well. What I’m going to be talking about today with Sam is she is the brains behind the mummy movement, which is a fitness, art, App and fitness business for mums, both pre and postnatal.
[00:00:51] She’s going to talk to me today all about what it’s like being on the apprentice, what it’s like building a business, what it’s like being a mum in business, which I know is going to help many of you that listen to the podcast. So welcome, Sam. How are we doing?
[00:01:03] Sam Saadet: I’m well, thank you. How are you?
[00:01:05] Adam Stott: Very well.
[00:01:05] So you’re super smiley today. We had a great chat before we’ve come on. And I really love. Your message. And I’m looking forward to getting into the depths of that. So why don’t we just start off and tell us a bit about you. You’ve created this business, the mummy movement which is, you know, a great business for a great purpose.
[00:01:21] I know you’re really passionate about it, but where did this all start from for you? What made you want to get into business in the first place? Before we talk about your stint on The Apprentice, building the business, launching the app. I’d love to know a bit about your background. So where did you start off?
[00:01:34] Are you naturally entrepreneurial or where did this all start? Yeah.
[00:01:37] Sam Saadet: Absolutely. I mean, I’ll try and keep it short and sweet, but I’m a bit, I tend to blab on. So do forgive me. So basically I’ve always been naturally entrepreneurial from both my parents. I think my dad he always had an actual entrepreneurial flair.
[00:01:52] I always saw it firsthand. I had me and my two young sisters and he was always out grafting and kind of trying to do lots of different businesses. But. My, yeah, but equally my mom. So my mom and him actually divorced at a young age when we was a young age. So we didn’t have a lot of money. My mom was single parents.
[00:02:12] So she used to go out and graft and do loads of different jobs. And she had three kids at the time. So obviously you know, it’s kind of seen that firsthand from a young age that. you know, mums can go out and do so much still when you have the kids. What sort of
[00:02:28] Adam Stott: things did your mum do that you watch?
[00:02:30] Sam Saadet: Yeah. So, well, long story short my dad actually passed away when we were younger, when I was young. So I was eight when he passed away. So it left my mum in a position where she had no choice but to obviously work for her kids, single handedly, where he was such a, you know, busy start. He didn’t leave much and we were left, you know, not with a lot of money.
[00:02:51] So bless my mum, she was on her own. She had three different jobs, so, but she had to take us with her. So she, first and foremost, she was a fitness instructor. So obviously later on down the line, You know, I’ve ended up taking that on, which I’ll chat about later, but we used to go when it was at Redfriess folk center and we used to run around and just like me and the girls were so young, but they used to just let us run around while my mom would spend like literally hours each evening, teaching classes to make sure she had enough money for us.
[00:03:21] She used to book, bookkeeping in the day at home while I was at school for my uncle’s company. And then she even used to, I remember days that she used to go to Be a cleaner and we’d go to like these big offices and she would clean and we’d have to just sit and like, you know, sit in and sit in the office chairs and swinging around on the office chairs, you know, she had to do what she had to do as a mother and I think watching her and how much she grafted to provide us just a life, not even like a, you know, an expensive life, but just to earn money to put food on the table for us and it really, I think it really And obviously naturally I had it from my dad.
[00:04:01] But when he passed, my mom had to step up and really show us, this is how you get it done. And I think that, that instilled it in for me from an early age. And I think naturally as well, I was the eldest of three kids at the time. And I had to grow up very quickly, had to grow up very quickly. I had to.
[00:04:20] You know, as soon as I could make money, I was out making money. So I think I was about 14 and I got a job as a pot collector in a local pub in Chinkford, which is where I grew up in East London. And I mean, thinking back to it now, I think bloody hell, how did my mom let me do that? It was this dirty old man pub, like pot collecting, but I’m probably on like four pound an hour at the time.
[00:04:42] And they used to get a cab home at 3am, like the next morning. But I was, I loved it because it was like making my own money. I was able to buy more things, help my mum out a bit. And I was always working. And then obviously that was while I was at school, got to the age of 16 and my mum
[00:05:00] Adam Stott: Did you do well at school?
[00:05:01] Sam Saadet: I was really clever, you know, not to like blow my own trumpet, so clever. But I always wanted to just get out and make money, always had it in me, I just wanted to get out and make money, obviously I wanted to have a bit more than what my mum, bless her, could provide for us as well, I’ve always like, had that itch, and so, as much as I did well at school, I just wanted to get out and leave, so when I turned 16, my mum was like, go to sixth form, I want you to go uni, you know, it’d be such a waste, And I was like, Oh, fine.
[00:05:30] I’ll do six film, started six film. And I just had such an itch to get out and work. But although I was academic and I was great, I just couldn’t, I couldn’t fight like this feeling of just wanting to get out and, or start something, do something or. And so it was just, it was funny actually, because even though I was such a grafter.
[00:05:54] I was voted. I just hated sixth form so much because I just wanted to leave and I just wanted to get out of it. So like I barely went, I used to like, just, I used to literally go, I used to palm off and at the time I was, I had a job at M& S in Epping in the women’s wear and I’d always say to them, just give me some, any shifts that are coming up, let me know any shifts that are coming up, let me know.
[00:06:16] So I used to palm off sixth form all the time just to get some extra shifts and get some extra money. And no one really know, but. I was voted laziest girl of six form at the end of the year because I never used to go because I didn’t want to do it. But little did they know I was actually out grafting, like being the complete opposite.
[00:06:35] Adam Stott: And you hear these types of stories a lot. I mean, I was the same. I left school at 15. Wasn’t, you know, I only got one GCSE. I went to college for about an hour, I think, but it just doesn’t literally suit some people. And I think that’s what the education system is very different. And the education system probably needs to address that because it suits some people, but it doesn’t, certainly doesn’t suit everybody and it sounds like that drive you had, it didn’t suit you very well.
[00:07:02] So what happened next for you? Where, what did you do then? you. You didn’t quite make it at sixth form or you finished your sixth form. You went out and started working. Where does this entrepreneurial streak come in? Did you have many more jobs before you started your business? Did you have some businesses that you tried that didn’t quite work out?
[00:07:18] What happened next?
[00:07:18] Sam Saadet: Yeah, absolutely. So obviously turn 18, I thought, right, I can get a full time job now. Took the first thing I could find. And it was, Some sales job, naturally, I was like good at sales part of it. And I, you know, I was kind of thriving off that, but I actually got it through a recruiter.
[00:07:34] So you can see where this is going to go. I got it through a recruiter and he, I found out he got a fee for placing me. I thought. That’s bloody easy there. So I was in this job for like, probably I’d say eight months, I’m 18 years old, eight months, and I just thought I could do that. I could do that.
[00:07:53] I left after eight months because it was, you know, we just weren’t fulfilling me. Like I loved the sales side of it, but it was niggling at me. I was thinking, No, I always had that entrepreneurial in me that I could just do it on my own. Plus the fact I hate people telling me what to do. So it’s like, it’s one that you can probably relate.
[00:08:10] It’s like, you just got it in you, like, and so I left and I started taking, I just basically, Started taking the people that I used to, that used to work with me. And I used to phone up sales companies and say, look, I’ve got really good sales guy, I didn’t have a clue what I was 18 years old, just about 10, 19, no clue what I was doing, completely blagged it, and I just started placing these sales guys for like a few hundred quid a pop at the time.
[00:08:40] And then I, and I started my own sales recruitment business. At what age? This was like 18, 18 years old and
[00:08:48] Adam Stott: Very young. I remember this. Yeah. Very
[00:08:51] Sam Saadet: completely clueless. So obviously as time went on, I was like, Oh my God. And the thing is, and I feel like, you know, as you obviously move on in business, you realize there’s so many cogs to it.
[00:09:02] I was very good at the. Going out and getting it, going out and getting it, networking, chatting, sales part of it. But, you know, I had to then write my mum, I’m like, mum, what do I do with all this money? How do I pay my tax? How does this all work? I don’t know what I’m doing. So she had some bookkeeping experience.
[00:09:17] Yeah, exactly. So I had to, You know, sort of find that. And in the end it kind of, it was a lot and I, but then I then got I actually got approached by a company, a recruitment company in Loughton, which is local to me, and they were like, Oh, why don’t you come and work for us? It was oil and gas recruitment.
[00:09:34] So completely new ball game, but obviously recruitment. I went now and then I was like. Don’t want to work for anyone. And I went, well, we’ve got offices in Malta. Would you ever consider going to Malta? By this point, I’m 21. And I was like, yeah, love it. Why not? Let’s go Malta. Have you ever been? No.
[00:09:51] Do you want to go? Thanks for going. Yeah, let’s go for it. And. I just went out to Malta. I did a bit of recruitment out in Malta. Yeah, okay. I kind of, so with the, at the time, my sales recruitment, it was well, but you know, and it was like, I was so young. It was like, I didn’t really know what I was doing.
[00:10:09] And I thought, right, maybe if I go into a proper recruiter, cause I hadn’t worked in a recruitment company, I came from sales. I can have a look and see how it’s, you know, how it’s actually going to work properly. And I get to go live in another country for a bit, why not? And my mum thought, right, go and give it a go.
[00:10:25] She’s like, Oh, what now? Kind of thing. Cause I can’t keep up with her. And I went on a six month flight, obviously six month contract went out for six months. Absolutely loved it. More so probably the party inside of it. And like, just, you know, having that freedom of like being out in another country.
[00:10:43] And it was amazing. And I did learn a lot. Recruitment sort of side of things while I was out there. And then when I came back I was like, right, okay. I don’t really a great experience, but really confirmed to me. I don’t want to work for anyone else. I want to do my thing. So I went back and I started another recruitment company, learned from the stakes on my first one, learned from the stint I had in Malta.
[00:11:07] And then I had a company called Flying Frog and it was It was a, you can tell I’m flying frog by my movement. My first one was raspberry recruitment. I love a bit of alliteration clearly. And yeah, and I just started doing sales recruitment again and always done my own thing, but I started doing rec to rec, which if some people don’t know, obviously is.
[00:11:31] Sounds crazy, but he’s recruiting recruitment consultants into recruitment companies. So.
[00:11:37] Adam Stott: So James Conn made a lot of money, right? Well, it was his he pioneered that.
[00:11:40] Sam Saadet: Exactly. So yeah, I’d done that and I just, you know, I work with loads of different clients and I was really good at doing that. And I kind of managed to kind of.
[00:11:49] nail lots of different bits. So that’s where kind of my pre children career was. I was sales, I was recruitment. I was going out. I was just,
[00:11:58] Adam Stott: How successful did you get from flying frog to the point where was it a successful business? Did you feel successful, you know, where did you push it to, or did you get stuck at a certain point?
[00:12:07] Sam Saadet: Yeah. So I think with any business, I think the key for me and what made me successful in my business is as a woman as well. Particularly within sales is that I was very strong minded and I was very this is what I want to do. I’m just going to go out and do it. I didn’t really think about anything else.
[00:12:29] You know, I was a bit of a risk taker, but also very strong. So I think when you are. I’m not going to say, but a woman in business as well, a young woman in business. They’re looking at me, you’re 18 years old. I’m not going to take you seriously. And you’re Essex. Like you have to be so strong minded. And I think if you’re coming up against one word of advice, let’s say if you are a young woman and you are starting a business, especially sort of like in the corporate world or within certain industries, if you’re coming up against blokes that might kind of prejudge you.
[00:13:04] If you come with the confidence and you don’t let them get to you, not rudely or anything, but like, you know, your knowledge and you go with them, well, I can do this that, that. Shock them a bit and then it’s like, okay, right. She knows what she’s talking about. If you know what you’re talking about and you say it with confidence, it doesn’t matter where you are in life, how old you are.
[00:13:25] And I think that’s what got me success, the success as a young woman, particularly in sales as well, working with a lot of in a male environment. And yeah, unfortunately it, it does take a lot of confidence and without it. Yeah, you strike me
[00:13:43] Adam Stott: as, we obviously, we train thousands of business owners. We have many, and a large percentage of them are women.
[00:13:50] You know, probably a larger percentage of women that we train than actually men. We’re probably like 60, 40 women to men and actually women. are very coachable very open to learning. But often you do find both with men and women. I’m not going to take it to one particular gender, both men and women have a lot of fears when it comes to starting a business.
[00:14:11] You don’t seem that fearful to me. It seems like you’re missing a little bit of the fear. Was there a time that. You felt fearful. Was there a time you felt worried, you know, about going out, doing business, going and having conversations, or is there a way that you managed that fear yourself personally?
[00:14:27] Sam Saadet: I mean, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t feel that fear. And I think it’s whatever it’s. You know, like anything, if you sat there and you think of an idea and you think, you know, I’ll talk about going into the mum movement because obviously I went into a whole new career. But you’re naturally going to have that fear, like, where do I even start?
[00:14:44] And I think what got me through that is the initial stage of, I just didn’t overthink it. I just went and done it, see what happened. And I think it does help if you know, financially, I think that’s a concern for people that think, Oh God, what if it fails? What if I, especially if you have got a big responsibility, but if you’ve got that kind of sorted or, you know, you’ve got the confidence in yourself and you think I can do this, I think it is a matter of just having that self confidence and think, you know, effort, life’s too short.
[00:15:16] I’m going to go out and do it. I’ll go out and do it and. If it works. If it doesn’t. I’ll try something else. And I think people can overthink it. Oh, if it does this, if this could go wrong, this could go wrong. But instead I was like, this is going to go right. That’s going to go right. I know I can do it.
[00:15:33] I believe in myself. And I think for anyone looking to start that business, having that fear to overcome it is just to be like, just don’t overthink it, just go and give it a go. If it works out. If it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.
[00:15:46] Adam Stott: It’s definitely a trait from having spoken to and interviewed hundreds and hundreds of really successful people and, you know, built a lot of successful businesses myself, as well as helping a lot of people is the people that are able to take action in the way you describe.
[00:16:01] Achieve so much more success than the people that don’t take the actions. You’re, what you’re talking about, there is a lot of mindset elements of like, Hey, you know, I was aware that I could be afraid, but I also was aware that I could choose to not be afraid. And I chose not to, but I’m really would be interested to know from you, from yourself specifically.
[00:16:20] Is there any way that you’ve managed that personally? Did you work on yourself to work on your confidence? Is it a natural confidence? Did you have mentors or coaches or anyone that you feel that you look to? Did you have a good support system? Any other elements that you could look to in that way?
[00:16:37] Sam Saadet: I think from personal experience, I do feel like if you have had a bit of trauma in your life, e.
[00:16:47] g. for example, when I, you know, my dad passed in, it does give you more of a Life’s too short.
[00:16:54] Adam Stott: That’s not the first time. You know, you know, my other half had experienced that, not with the dad, but with her mum. You know, many people I know, and that trauma. Often does change the frame of the mind. Right. So it’s interesting.
[00:17:07] Yeah.
[00:17:07] Sam Saadet: Massively. And I think, and I talk about my, I talk about this with my husband a lot because my husband, he’s like, you know, he’s the polar opposite to me in the business sense and it probably why it works because he’s been in the same job for probably 10, 12 years. He’s worked his way up. He’s, he does very well and he is successful, but he’s not a risk taker.
[00:17:28] I’m Every year he’s like, I’m going to start my own thing, but he never takes that action. And then he overthinks things and he’s had a great life. And not to say that I haven’t, but like he, he’s not of that mindset of life’s too short. Let’s go. He has to plan out every single detail and it will take him like a year and then he’ll end up never doing it.
[00:17:46] Whereas I’m like, I don’t want to sound morbid, but I’m like. I could die tomorrow and I’ll be well regretful that I Do you know what, I think
[00:17:53] Adam Stott: it’s actually an empowering frame. Yeah. I often say, it’s interesting, we’ve got a guy here that’s been really successful with us, but when he joined and he came on and he started working with me directly he was exactly as, as you described, talented, clever, smart, and he was I couldn’t get it done.
[00:18:09] And I just said to him, I said, look, this is the reality. You can walk out this door and get run over by a bus and you’re never going to achieve anything that you wanted to achieve. And how would that feel? And he said, every time I think about not doing it, Adam, I just think I’m going to get hit by a bus and now I’ll do it.
[00:18:23] Sam Saadet: I love that. So it’s exactly what you’re saying, right? Which is interesting. Exactly.
[00:18:28] Adam Stott: But I think it’s an impact. I always talk about, you know, the, what we think and what we say is either empowering to move us towards what we want. Or disempowering to move us away from what we want.
[00:18:38] Yeah.
[00:18:38] Adam Stott: And it sounds like that you’ve got some things there that you’re using to drive you.
[00:18:42] Sam Saadet: Yeah.
[00:18:42] Adam Stott: In the right way. Yeah. Rather than.
[00:18:45] Sam Saadet: I think it, you, I think if anything, you can, you’re your own worst enemy or you’re your biggest, you know, advocate, you can really talk yourself out of things. I think people are like no, I can’t do it. Stop saying that. Stop saying that, you know, you need to start saying, yes, I can do it.
[00:19:02] I can do it. You know, what’s the worst that’s going to happen if you have to be analytical about it, sit down, write out what really is going to happen if this fails, what’s the worst that could happen. And honestly the pros will always outweigh because if anything, you’re going to learn something from it and that will help you be better at the next thing or the next thing.
[00:19:21] And I think it’s easier said than done because like you said, like not everyone has that in them, but for me personally, I just feel like. I haven’t necessarily, it’s not necessarily, I suppose I have had the confidence throughout my life and I have had the trauma in my life that’s kind of led me on the journey I have so far, but at the same time, it’s also me giving myself more, just always self belief and just in sealing it.
[00:19:51] If things go wrong, I’m like, no, don’t give up. You’ve got this, you’ve got this, you’ve got this. And this is what I now do on with my mummy movement. And I also do actually run a Instagram page called the mummy motivator. I do. All right. Yeah. So I motivate mums. To not just in a fitness sense, but in an everyday mother sense, because sort of going into that, obviously I’ve come from this business background, business woman background.
[00:20:21] When I became a mom and my mindset as well, it does completely change your worries that you had before having kids and going into a business. I was way, you know, I had that, let’s go for it. Let’s go for it. When you have children, you do have to be a bit more mindful. You do have to have a bit more, okay, let’s stop for a minute.
[00:20:42] What if it doesn’t go to plan? I’ve got two little people relying on me here. We’re not necessarily like, obviously I have a great partner, but you are a bit more. Yes, you’ve still got that mindset, but naturally you you know, you’re not as frivolous. You’re not as risk taking because you’ve got to consider them.
[00:20:59] So yeah, I suppose sort of going back to what you said, like, is there anything like mentally, I think it is just like, Self talk and motivating, keeping yourself motivating, putting yourself as a priority as well and just giving yourself that self belief that you can, writing out what’s the worst that could happen and just going for it.
[00:21:18] Adam Stott: I love those elements. Let’s dive a bit deeper into the mummy movement.
[00:21:21] Sam Saadet: Yeah. So
[00:21:21] Adam Stott: I’m also interested now in the mummy motivator, right? Yeah. So tell me, if I’m a mum, how are you motivating me? What’s the, what would you be saying to a mum that’s listening right now?
[00:21:31] Yeah. I think
[00:21:31] Adam Stott: it’s really good.
[00:21:32] To chat about this. Cause there will be moms that are listening that, you know, want to build businesses that are working really hard. And I think that, you know, it’s injured. I actually, I was traveling home from our gold circle event yesterday and I go into a subway and I end up buying a subway.
[00:21:46] Cause I was just like, I haven’t had nothing to eat all day. I’ve just been speaking. And this lady behind the subway counter says, I’ve seen you on Instagram. She starts talking to me and she talks about being a mom, talks about wanting to start her own business. And she said, I’ve been listening to your stuff to sort of, I’ve Motivate me, but you know, I just think I’m a mom and you know, I’m just off when I’m not a mom, I’m working here and I don’t know how to do it.
[00:22:06] So what would you, so I think that the frame that you said with with your mom working the jobs is obviously a lot of challenges and psychologically there are some challenges. What’s kind of things that you say to people like that to try and give them a lift or try and nurture them the right way?
[00:22:20] Sam Saadet: Yeah, I think I mean, more so when you first become a mother, it’s like, Wow. Like it’s a complete lifestyle change. And as much as you want to believe that you could go and go back into the job that you had before back into create or start a business, it’s just not that easy. And I’m not to say always sort of lies on the mother, because there’s some, you know, there are some circumstances where maybe they’re, they go out and they’re the main breadwinner and the husband looks or they’ve got childcare in place.
[00:22:51] But if you are a bum. And you are, you know, the main child carer as well. So you’re a full time mom. You’re a full, you know, you have to work full time as well. Another job to be able to provide for the family and help with the kids. If you are then looking, think, you know what? I want to start a business that I can fit around my kids as well.
[00:23:14] You get a lot of like, unfortunately you get a lot of people like saying, Oh, come and start this business. You can work at home. Can’t, you know, a lot of these schemes, which, okay. It can work for some people, but I feel like it’s a lot of moms go for it because it’s the easier option, my thing. And the thing that makes me successful as a mom, yes, I’ve created a business now that.
[00:23:39] I’ve managed to fit around my kids, but the key to it now maybe versus to what I didn’t have before is I have a real passion for my business. That’s what keeps me going, and I think the first step, if you want to start a business as a mum, because mum life is so overwhelming and it is so full on. You have to be able to have a passion for that business to hold on to that business, not just for the money you have to be able to want to do it.
[00:24:09] I
[00:24:09] Adam Stott: think that’s a really good really good thing to say because the bottom line is after I’m a dad, right? Not mom, but I’m a dad and I’ve got little boys you know, and sometimes after I just took him to Centre Parcs last week and I’ve had a full on, we’ve been there. Yeah. Oh yeah.
[00:24:24] Sam Saadet: But I know what you’re going to say that
[00:24:26] Adam Stott: I was tiring, right?
[00:24:27] Yeah. So it really goes to bed. You’re just like, Oh my God, let me lay down. I’m absolutely ready to pass out. Do you know what I mean? After you’ve been running around and swimming for four hours and doing everything for a week. But it would be quite easy. Like you said to say, well, I’m doing my job, looking after my kids.
[00:24:41] Now I’m just going to go and watch TV and I’m not going to do anything. But if you have got a passion, that’s going to get you to make different choices. That’s definitely, I think that’s a really good piece of advice.
[00:24:51] Sam Saadet: And it is something also it gives you something that you want to do. You’re excited to do it.
[00:24:56] I
[00:24:56] Adam Stott: love that.
[00:24:56] Sam Saadet: And it gives you something for you. Cause I think a lot of the time mums, they’ll start jobs and, you know, give it a night. It’s easier said than done. You know, sometimes you need to go out and work and you need to go and do this, but genuinely, like it’s, Yeah. I just feel like for me personally and what I say to my mums as well, it’s like, if you ever do want to start a business, it’s not easy, but if you have that passion for it, it will keep you going and it will be, it will keep you wanting to keep going through the motherhood, through the that tough part of it as well.
[00:25:31] So yeah, I just, I think that is the key to it. And yeah, obviously there’s just so many things with you know, Long story short, when I became, obviously came, became a mom, I was very much like, I’m going to go straight back to my business. I’m going to, I’m going to go back to work as soon as I can. I’m going to get childcare.
[00:25:50] I’m going to whack her in nursery. Bish bash bosh had a, yeah, had a, and I was like, wow, no, I’m not leaving this baby. The motherly instinct, I’m not saying every mother’s like this, because I’ve got a lot of friends that were like, yeah, get her into nursery. Everyone’s different. But I was like. I don’t want to go, but I don’t want to work anymore.
[00:26:12] I, I said, like, I don’t want to go back to my business anymore. Didn’t even like it. Yeah. It’s great for the money, but my whole, as much as I still had that business, my whole mindset changed. And I was like, given I still very business minded, but I was like, I’m going to create something I can do, but still be a really, you know, still be a mom, still have my little girl with me.
[00:26:34] And it’s. A lot of people are, Oh, it’s so annoying that when you turn into, you know, when you become a mom, you’ve got to find a career that fits around the kids and this and that you can have a negative mindset with that. Alternatively, you could see it as a blessing because it’s your opportunity now to start something that if you want to, you can start a business that fits around the kids.
[00:26:57] You’re probably better off in the long run because you’re not paying for childcare. You able to look after your children, you’re able to start this business. And I see this, I see now what I do is something like having children and starting a business around my kids, even though I’ve had to completely change my career just because I’m a mother is actually being the biggest blessing in disguise.
[00:27:19] Like the biggest blessing I’ve ever had, because now I’ve got a business. I absolutely love, I never would have thought of creating before. I would have carried on doing what I was doing. And I’m able to be, I’m able to raise, I mean my oldest is five now, my youngest is three. Not having a third, absolutely not.
[00:27:36] But, either way, it’s amazing. I’ve done five years now and she’s gone to school and I’ve done those five years on my own. I’ve had near the end, she had a couple of days of preschool, but I was a full time mom. Plus I’m able to create a business now that I absolutely love. So I’ve seen it as something amazing that I would never have done.
[00:27:56] Possible. And I think,
[00:27:57] Adam Stott: I actually love, I think the advice that you’re giving is really powerful to people in that situation, following the passion really powerful and very empowering. The mindset. Aspects that you’re saying can certainly empower people as well. When we look at the app that you’ve created now I love the mummy motivate a bit, cause I think that in itself is a great opportunity for a really good business down the line to help moms start their businesses.
[00:28:20] I mean, we’ve been helping businesses start their businesses. Start growing scale since 2016 thousands, and we have had hundreds and hundreds of mums that wanted to start businesses and do that. And these little tweaks that you’re talking about can be the difference that make the difference.
[00:28:34] So well done on that.
[00:28:35] Sam Saadet: Thank you
[00:28:36] Adam Stott: on the mummy movement.
[00:28:38] Sam Saadet: Yeah,
[00:28:38] Adam Stott: that I really like that idea that you’ve identified a problem because if someone was gonna. When we are training business owners to go and start, one of the things we’re talking to them about is identify a target market, which has an identity.
[00:28:53] Well, you’ve clearly done that, right? So we’ve got mumps, right? So we’ve got the identity. Be clear on what you’re going to offer them. So what is the product range that you offer them? And you’ve been very clear on that as well, in terms of it’s fitness for mums, pre and postnatal. So where did that idea come from?
[00:29:09] How did you how did you come up with that? And did you ever doubt yourself when you was coming up with it? And how did you push it on? Yeah, there’s a load of questions for you
[00:29:17] Sam Saadet: there. No, that’s fine. So bring it on. Obviously, as I said, I didn’t even, I weren’t even in the fitness field before. Having said that, I.
[00:29:25] My mum was a fitness instructor growing up and I always watched her do it. And I always used to see how much women would look at her and mums as well in her classes, obviously at the time it wasn’t online. It was all, and I always used to think they always used to like really look up to my mum and I used to think like, wow, like that’s inspiring.
[00:29:45] So I always had like a keen thing, obviously growing up in my twenties, I was more interested in going out drinking rather than going to the gym. So I. I got to being a mom and it wasn’t actually until I became a mom that I was like, right, I need to start looking after myself here. And I not only sort of got into my own fitness journey then, but it also was really helping my mental health with like, you know, you’ve just had this baby.
[00:30:11] Oh my God. And then I started doing little workouts and I just had. My baby sort of like on the floor. And then I’d do my little work, do like my pushups at home. I’m in my PJs. I’m looking after my little one, but I’m moving. I’m kind of, you know, I’m making myself feel better in myself as well, because obviously a lot of women, they go through pregnancy, they have the baby and they look down at themselves and they think, Oh my God, where have I gone?
[00:30:35] And like, you know, I don’t look the same mentally and physically. So I started doing that and I. And I, I then started my mummy Instagram and I just started documenting like what I was doing and loads of mums were like, Oh my God, how do you find, you know, like, how do you motivate yourself to do that? And I was like, I’m just doing it because it makes me feel good.
[00:30:58] I’m just doing it. I’m not doing it to try and get a six pack or anything. I, you know, I’m just doing it to make it feel good. And then obviously the business woman kicked in me and I thought, Oh, okay. I’m getting quite a few, a bit of traction here started to, you know, look half decent. And I just had a baby and everyone’s like, how’d you do that?
[00:31:15] And I’m like, well, I’m just, I’m not really think I’m doing that at home. And that’s when so we were 2019 at this point, then obviously the 2020 kicks in COVID times and I just doing it. I mean, I missed a trick on that one, really, but. That’s when I decided to then take my qualifications to become a fitness instructor.
[00:31:33] I thought if I’m going to start doing my little videos and tutorials online, so I’m going to need to do this a bit properly now. So I took my qualifications on my pre and post natal fitness and, um, fitness instructor qualification. And then I just started sharing my videos. I wasn’t starting a business by this point.
[00:31:54] I was still kind of like half on maternity leave. And I still had this, my little one. And I just started, yeah, gaining traction with it. And then I thought, right, okay, I’m going to do a couple of challenges and see how it gets on. So I charged for a challenge, like a month challenge, four weeks, just not nothing too expensive.
[00:32:10] And I’ve got tons of moms on it. And I thought, yeah, okay. We loved it and it was great. And these times it was literally simple as I had a Dropbox account. I’d record my vid. I’d record it on my phone. I’d do it with the kids as well. Like do it with my little one. And And then I just send it out weekly.
[00:32:29] We do a few a week and I just always used to say, just don’t overthink it, just get it done. Wake up with your PJs, get the kids involved. It’s not, you know, you don’t have to overthink it. And they loved it. And so as time went on, I, yeah, I then decided to brand myself as the mummy motivator motivating through fitness.
[00:32:48] But then I also started posting things on my Instagram about, you know, Mental motivation and motivation to just day to day that they’re not alone. We’re in it together. Brad in my fitness business as the mummy movement. So by the mummy movement being double kind of double meaning, you know, movement and,
[00:33:10] And
[00:33:10] Sam Saadet: yeah.
[00:33:15] Yeah. And then. Obviously it went on, I then became pregnant with my second child. So then I was in demonstrating, I kept fit through my pregnancy and I demonstrated what I’d qualified in. And then that brought in loads of pregnant women to come and train with me. And it was just like, I was showing, I was leading by example that you can get it done.
[00:33:37] And they loved that. And that’s what encouraged it. And then that’s what then encouraged me to then apply for the apprentice. So, so yeah, that’s kind of where, that’s where the mummy movement and the mummy motivator just kind of. And what did you learn
[00:33:52] Adam Stott: from that experience? What did you learn from being on The Apprentice?
[00:33:55] And, you know, because look, I love this, your entire story, The Apprentice is, you know, comes in, but you’re actually really on a trajectory anyway, aren’t you? Right? You’re seemingly going in the right direction and following what you want to follow.
[00:34:10] Sam Saadet: Yeah. So
[00:34:11] Adam Stott: what made you do it? And what happened from there?
[00:34:14] Sam Saadet: Well, obviously, naturally, as I, you know, pre key. What did your
[00:34:18] Adam Stott: husband say about you applying for the apprentice?
[00:34:20] Sam Saadet: He was, he’s like, to be fair, I’ll give it to him. He’s my number one fan. He’s all for it. So he knows that I’m, you know. The only reason
[00:34:27] Adam Stott: I asked that is because what you said earlier about him being very logical, very detailed.
[00:34:31] Yes.
[00:34:31] Sam Saadet: Which is why he’s like, you leave me to be the secure one. You go out and do your thing. So he’s really good. He’s like, he lets me do my thing and he knows that. I love doing all that. So he’s a really good supporter. And as long as he knows, and he said that he’s doing the, you know, this, it’s all right.
[00:34:50] But naturally before I even become a mom and I had the mommy movement where I had my businesses before everyone always used to say, Oh, you should go on the apprentice, you should go on the apprentice. I’ll be like nah, I’m not doing that. I’m not doing that. Not for me. I just want to crack on, make money.
[00:35:02] I don’t care about all that. And to be honest, I didn’t really watch it. I watched it now and again in it dipped in and out. And then I become a mum. The only thing I watched was pepper pig and cocoa melon, , but it’s like, you know, I didn’t really do it. But then, yeah, when I start, when I found this business I had a real love for, I had a purpose as well, will say that as well.
[00:35:22] Having a business as a mother, you’ve got E and you’ll find that as a father. You’ve got a much more bigger purpose in life. So it’s like, it kind of drives your business even more. Cause it’s like, I’ve actually got a purpose here to do well. So I was like, I’ll blow it at the time. The that my little ones were really little.
[00:35:40] So my youngest was like a year old and then my eldest was three. And I thought, you know what? If I don’t apply and do it now, I won’t ever do it. I need to do it now while they’re still young, before they start school. And if I get it. If I don’t. Course I’ve got it, you know, course I’ve got on.
[00:36:00] And luckily for me, I’ve got great support unit. So. For those that don’t know, when you do go on the apprentice, you are completely shut off from the world. So you get your phone taken away from you, you get everything, even your passport taken from you. You are theirs for however long, up to 12 weeks. So you get put in a house and you have 15 minutes a week FaceTime to your family.
[00:36:25] So before I went on there, they were like, this is how it’s going to be. We know you’ve got two young children, how are you going to find that? And I’m like, you know, I wouldn’t have even started this process if I hadn’t have thought about that. They’re the reason I’m doing it. They’re the reason I wasn’t, I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t have my kids.
[00:36:48] So you’re asking me if I’m going to be okay leaving them. Well, I’m actually doing this because of them. And they’re the reason that I’m going to do well in this process. And it’s, they’re the reason that’s going to push me. Yeah. So they, it was a worry for them, but it was actually, they should be happy that I had the kids cause that kept me going.
[00:37:02] That’s what motivated me to do better. So went on it and I think, yeah, I just, do you know what it’s so nonstop you filming 12 hour days and everyone’s like, Oh, I preferred that. Kept my mind off the kids. It kept my mind off my business, which by the way, I pre recorded 12 weeks worth of.
[00:37:24] Workout videos for like I had everything in place. I had like everything so that it still kept ticking over and I didn’t let my mom’s down while I was away. And yeah, and it was a great experience and I just kept busy and. I just gave it my all and I think the week I left, so I got to week six, should have got further, but by that week I remember it really well because I FaceTime with the kids and I think it was the first week I had a bit of a cry and I thought, bear in mind everyone had broken by this point.
[00:38:00] I was very heads in the game. I think that’s, You know, that’s what I’m quite good at and I broke a bit and I thought, Oh God, this is really tough now. Like I’m really missing the kids. I mean, they were living their best life. They were with my mum all week, my husband, my mum in law, they were getting treated left, right and said, no, they didn’t really understand what was going on.
[00:38:18] And I think. I struggled by the end of it with the kids, of course, because I was a full time mum as well, so I’m used to being with them. And I don’t know whether, I’m not, you know, I won’t go too deep into it, but I don’t know whether that was the reason why I kind of Got to that point where I left at week six and, you know, there’s a lot of controversy that could come with it.
[00:38:41] But when I left, when I did actually leave the process Lord Sugar, who I’ve got a lot of respect for, you know, his local Essex boy as well. He, but he did say, he said, oh, and I know he said this from the bottom of his heart, but he went right, you know, off your pop and he goes, go on to the two babies to me, go on to the two babies and they aired it.
[00:39:04] The mums and social media. Oh my God. And it was like, I didn’t really think about it at the time. They were like, you wouldn’t say that to a dad. You wouldn’t say, go on, off you go home to your babies. Go home to your babies. And I think a lot of mums, it got riled them up a little bit. As in, like, why, like, why does she need to go home to her babies?
[00:39:24] If you don’t think she was good at the task or if you don’t think, you know, she was, you know, you got so
[00:39:28] Adam Stott: So interesting that creates controversy. ’cause when you said it I actually, ’cause it could be took in one or two ways. Yeah. It could be took in a way of compassion.
[00:39:36] Sam Saadet: Yes.
[00:39:37] Adam Stott: IE actually shown some compassion.
[00:39:38] I know that you’re missing your children and Yes. You know, with the end of the road and so, so it could be took compassionately and it also could be took as. You know, in, in quite insulting.
[00:39:48] So
[00:39:48] Adam Stott: it depends on how you take it. I suppose that comes down to the edit. Now, the more interesting question is.
[00:39:54] How did you take it?
[00:39:56] Sam Saadet: Do you know what? Did
[00:39:57] Adam Stott: you take it as compassion or as an insult?
[00:40:01] Sam Saadet: I’ll be honest with you, just because I had a little cry that week, I weren’t ready to go, I wasn’t ready to go. And I felt like, I mean, you know, I was quite happy with, I was very happy with how I’d gone and like, you know, how I’d done throughout the process to that point, but I knew I was better than after the candidates left.
[00:40:21] And I’ll say that confidently. I knew I could have given more to that process. And so. I’ll admit it did pay me off a bit. And I just felt you, are you really seeing me for a business woman? Or have you just been seeing me as a mom on this process? Because that is a massive thing as well. I go, Oh, I go into, that’s a whole nother sort of story.
[00:40:43] You know, in the working world, unfortunately. P women, as soon as they, as soon as someone says they’re a mom in business, their mindset changes about them. It’s a natural thing. And I admittedly had that mindset before I had kids. Cause you naturally think, Oh, you know, they’re going to have to go home early, they’re going to have to do that.
[00:41:07] So that’s another conversation. But with regards to your question, I think at the time, I probably didn’t really think about it cause I thought, yeah, right. I’m going to go over and get to go and see my baby. Swear for me, like, see you later. But then I did think about it and I remember thinking like, that was a bit, that was a bit like, I just thought, yeah, I just thought, nah, like the I could have given a lot more to the process and obviously since being out and stuff, like when I did come out, obviously it’s not in real time, it’s actually filmed the year prior.
[00:41:41] So when I come out, I’m doing the school runs still every day and all the moms are like, oh, I watched you last night. The day I came up, they’re like, no way. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. And I had strangers come up to me. I can’t believe you left. I remember being in gales in, down the high road and I had full grown men saying, well, I can’t believe you went out last night.
[00:41:59] What’s going on? And I just think, and you could really overthink it, but I did. Part of me does feel like one of the reasons why. I went that week was because I started to show signs that I was missing my kids. And I’ll, you know, be all into probably not even the case, but that’s. Being honest with you, that’s naturally my thought process.
[00:42:21] And I
[00:42:21] Adam Stott: think that in, in that, whether that was the case or wasn’t the case there’s nothing wrong with that, right? If somebody’s missing their kids and you should stay true to that and that’s your business, isn’t it? You know, you built your business around your children and that’s what you wanted to do.
[00:42:34] And that’s a good thing. And I think that actually, if that was the case, then that wasn’t the right thing for you.
[00:42:41] Sam Saadet: This is it 100 percent and genuinely when I say hands on my heart, I, it, for me, it was quality over quantity. I got, I achieved everything I wanted off that show. And had to do half the stint, if that makes sense.
[00:42:58] So I didn’t have to give the whole full 12 weeks to do the whole wax. So really,
[00:43:03] yeah,
[00:43:04] Sam Saadet: exactly. So I went in, got the job done, come out. And the reason I really went onto it was to give my business exposure and show again, as well, that mums can do it too. And this is exactly what I’ve done.
[00:43:16] Adam Stott: Yeah. Which is awesome.
[00:43:18] And I think it, you know, the mummy motivator. And the mummy movement. I definitely, I think you’re going to do very well. Thank you. That’s my feeling just listening to you is that I think you could actually be a really inspiring person for people to follow and to buy into that. So, you know, my final question is the podcast is called business growth secrets.
[00:43:35] Yeah.
[00:43:36] Adam Stott: Having had multiple businesses, been through it, you know, and you’re doing your thing and your mummy movement’s growing, what would be your business growth secret you’d want to share with somebody that’s listening? What would you say has been the essence of, for you the secret to doing well in business from your journey?
[00:43:53] What would you suggest to the audience that would be?
[00:43:55] Sam Saadet: Don’t overthink it.
[00:43:58] Adam Stott: Love it.
[00:43:59] Sam Saadet: That’s it.
[00:44:00] Adam Stott: Keep it simple. Right.
[00:44:01] Sam Saadet: Don’t overthink it.
[00:44:03] Adam Stott: Yeah. Don’t overthink it.
[00:44:04] Sam Saadet: Yeah, absolutely. Go for it.
[00:44:06] Adam Stott: Just go for it. Well, look, I’m, you know, so I’ve really enjoyed having you off. Absolutely brilliant. You know, thanks for coming on and being a guest.
[00:44:13] Where can people follow you? You know, I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of people that have been listening that’d be really keen to follow your journey even more. What’s, where’s best for people to go and touch base with you?
[00:44:22] Sam Saadet: So Instagram is at the mummy. motivator and my app is at the mummy.
[00:44:30] movement. And then you can find the mummy movement on Apple and Google. So yeah, nice and easy.
[00:44:36] Adam Stott: Well, thanks again. You’ve been brilliant. I really enjoyed the chat. Yeah. Super excited. Go and follow the Mummy Motivator. And if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode of business growth secrets, I think this can resonate with a lot of people.
[00:44:48] So go and share this with someone. Go and click the three dots or hit the share button and go and share this with somebody. They could get some real value. I think Sam’s got really inspiring story there and a lot of things that could help a lot of people. And maybe you did watch The Apprentice.
[00:45:01] Tell me in the comments if you’re actually watching this on YouTube or tell us what did you think, you know, about what we discussed in terms of how that impacted you, if you watched it and tell us your biggest moments in the comments of today’s episode. Thanks again, Sam, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all very soon.
[00:45:18] Sam Saadet: Thanks, Adam.