March is all about our women artists, illustrators and designers!

March is the month full of women's celebration with International Women's Day (8th) , Mother's Day (15th) and events and happenings surrounding Women's History Month.

Here at EAST END PRINTS, we are celebrating our fabulous creative women artists, illustrators and designers by showcasing their latest works as prints in our March special features.  Being both a woman and a mother, I wanted to share a little of our personal story with our audience.....

An awful lot has happened since 2010! We have grown, our print range has grown and those fresh faced artists and illustrators we originally signed up have grown their families!

A lot can change in 5 years but primarily its been the patter of tiny feet in and around the offices of East End Prints. Starting a business then having a child was never such a good career plan, but sometimes you just have to enjoy those challenges in life!

When my son was tiny I found myself balancing him on one knee whilst being on the phone organising deliveries for one of our key customers ! It hasn't been easy and as I am quite an impatient person, I haven't been able to grow the business as fast as I wanted to! All in good time....

Now, with a nearly three year old on tow, my son has started to enjoy and understand what mum does when she goes to work in the morning.

So whilst I divide my time with looking after my son and juggling the business our artists have been doing the same with their own design practice.

"It certainly makes you more driven to succeed ,I think thats the beauty of having a child and running your own business, it gives you drive, a legacy as you do really want them to grow into the business with you!....plus if I had still been working for someone else, I would probably have been sacked by now for all the sick days I have had to take to look after the many colds and fevers an under 3 year old has! " Helen Edwards, Owner East End Prints.

We have built a very complicated world for ourselves where immediate family live hundreds of miles away for us to pursue a career that we really care about and juggle all the childcare that is needed to ensure you have lots of quality time with your little ones.

Big, big pat on the back to all those working mums out there, March is your month to celebrate you and your ability to succeed in every facet of your life!

Helen Edwards, owner of EAST END PRINTS with George (nearly 3) March 2015