My old job was stress to the max, not only dealing with the gargantuan bureaucracy of the NHS, but I have dealt with some really ****ty situations in people's lives. Going home not knowing whether the person you've been working with that day is going to kill themsleves that night. Wondering whether the woman who came to you crying about how her partner was beating her up was going to be safe. Knowing that some people didn't even have a home to go back to and would be spending the night on the street. No matter how much you develop professional boundaries, anybody with a soul cannot simply switch off from that stuff.
When I started my own business, I knew I had a good idea, as I was a customer previously. But I thought I could improve on what was available in the market and make it more ethical and sustainable. I import a lot of ingredients from Peru and Ecuadorian rainforest, and my business is one of only a few who make sure everything is fair trade, 100% organic, uses sustainable methods and works closely with the growers. I even use a company that does transatlantic crossings by sail, and the growers use no petrochemicals on their farms, so no tractors or petrol powered machinery. Everything is grown and exported to the highest ethical and environmental standards. So that makes me unique in the market.
On a personal level though, working for myself means that every hour I put in is for me and my family and everything that I do is my own decision working toward my own goals. The flexibility is great, I can go for a surf, swim, cycle etc when I want to and more importantly I've got time for my daughter, so I can take her to the park, go down the beach, take and pick her up from Nursery, be around for dinner, bath, bedtime stories etc, then I can go and do some work and don't mind working until 11pm - midnight. I've got my own premises, it's like my man den. I can stick the radio on, listen to some footie or current affairs programme and get on with my work, and I'm like a pig in ****