Hi everyone, welcome to My Babylog Blog…I am the creator of My Babylog – and it is so exciting to finally see that something which was in my head many, many moons ago finally reach the Market Place… not in a big way…YET – but we will get there – because I never give up… I never give in… and I never take ‘No’ for an answer. Besides I have the secret ingredient…Internal Motivation. So call me Mrs Tenacity if you like.
Here is one of my all time favourite little verses.
Hold fast to Dreams
For if Dreams die
Life is a broken winged bird…
That cannot fly.
Let me tell you a little about my journey so far…
I come from Dublin – and my heart is green without a doubt. You know the old saying… ‘You can take the child out of Ireland – but you can never take Ireland out of the child’ that’s me and very proud of it. I sometimes spell my name Barbragh instead of Barbara.
The reason I left at the age of sixteen was because I came from an extremely dysfunctional family – which in later years became even more toxic – so the emotional intelligence kicked in at a very early age at around 7 years of age when I planned on leaving the family I was born into. I dreamed of living in England and to marry a well educated respectable man – who would not feel ashamed to push a baby in a pram… something that back in the sixties no man would be seen dead doing… in Dublin anyway. I never ran away from Ireland…just the family.
My plan was also to also live in Switzerland and Canada… what makes you think I like the snow!
I worked as a Nanny in Toronto Canada but prior to this I worked in Switzerland as a barmaid cum disc jockey for a winter season in Leysin… Wow! Now there’s a story all by itself. You see the young man who I fell in love with – and still hold very fond memories of today is Alex. I did not know who he was. We worked in the bar at nights together and skied during the day. He kept his identity from me – hoping I would love him for himself and not because his father was the Lord Mayor of Bern. He became the successful lawyer which was always his dream to follow in his father’s footsteps and now he too is the Mayor of Berne – Capital of Switzerland.
Coming from a family of eight the ‘flight factor’ kicked in pretty early as a means of survival and here began my real journey.
We have a Designer…followed by my brilliant PR & Marketing friend Darren… Graphics… Web Designers…Social Media Guru & lots of strong contacts to drive this dream forward by creating a Brand – why only recently I got down from over 1000 candidates in London – down to the final four in our category in Maidstone Kent for the recently BBC 1 programme ‘High Street Dreams’
Since then – an Investor (Angel) has come forward and someone amazing who can help create the branding has also come forward.
I have also set up my own group of people… we meet once a month to help each other – one stands out from the rest including me… and she is Sheila… she reminds
me of Brenda Lee… in that – what did they used to call her? Yes… ‘Little Miss Dynamite’ and this is what she is… Dynamite. A sentence or question or problem has not even completed its time before Sheila has the answer … she thinks on her feet and is a problem solver – with her helping me on this journey oh boy…we will no longer be on foot… coach…or train… but we will be flying high through cloudless blue skies – and much more down to earth… but still flying… we will be on the first page of Google because she is a true professional in Social Media and… well just follow our journey and watch this space. I’m both proud and pleased to call Sheila a friend.
I have kissed the Blarney stone three times… so I will always have something to say. BFN.
I did all the cooking – with an average of 26/28 covers for dinner bed and breakfast – I also did all the laundry late into the night. Of course I had staff but I was very hands on – I had to be – as David was still running the family business. David was brilliant – he would walk through the door with his briefcase – put it down and I would hand him soup plates – he would just turn round and walk into the dining room – besides this he also did all the accounts etc…The hotel had had all the blood sucked out of it – consequently all ten rooms had to be gutted and all ten bathroom/en suites had to be replaced… so quite apart from having a teenager at this time – also trying to gut the hotel out of season and pay back huge commercial loans was a big eye opener.
I have written a book about this experience which I may try to get published when time allows…The best thing about this hotel was… Location…Location…. Location
As it had wonderful sea views – and that’s why we bought it. Throughout the winter months with rain flooding from balconies into the dining room – we took Pilots from F.R.A at Bournemouth Airport – I don’t think we would have survived without them
Thanks Guys – and for the wonderful memories.
So, as you can tell from the above I am not afraid of hard work and never have been.
I’m a good person and have great compassion – and I’m a good friend with great loyalty. And here we are at another crossroads in life – still with the fire in my belly and the internal motivation as strong as ever.
Siobhan is happily married with a son of her own. David’s Business hit the skids because of the death of the high street… but he’s happy to be out of the rat race. Now we have the time and contacts and money to focus on my dreams. I helped David for thirty years in his business and was always there for him – apart from the hotel years – now its pay back time … which seems fair.
Our First My Babylog…
The logistics of taking the dream from the initial stages and getting help with the design – then having it manufactured in China… this was a huge step and fraught with many, many problems from importing to storage and from marketing to selling.
We made some serious mistakes along the way… but hey… they make you stronger for the second round. If you cannot learn from these mistakes then you should not be in business in the first place.
The cost to date has been heavy in pain and tears and time. We even had to fold the company once and begin again because we allowed the wrong person to become involved as a partner.
Now we are on the threshold of a dream and we are free of any third parties promising what they cannot fulfil.
Everything is now in place to take this to another level… and this time we are ready.
I’m a Pisces and a Dreamer which results in me also being an Innovator. I have created many product ideas…however My Babylog is the biggest and most costly to date…there will be more to follow … trust me.
Have I made mistakes… oh boy! Tons of them – but this is what makes you stronger. I can dust myself off and start all over again – and that’s what it’s all about… staying power and believing in yourself and in your dreams.
People come into your life for a reason…some good reasons and sadly some bad. I believe that if you grow with the good and learn from the bad… so overall a good balance to move forward with. You see, even the bad was good in its own way because these lessons in life you cannot buy – this is all part of your journey.
My Babylog began as a dream when my own daughter was a baby – because like most mother’s we save all the precious memories from that time. I even have the dressing gown which I took into Boscombe Hospital to have my daughter. I also have her Hospital I.D. her last milk bottle – all her Birth Cards – the Babygrow which she wore on the day we left hospital ten days later. A picture of her in her first little dress, all her favourite toys…I really could go on for ever – come visit me sometime in my loft and you’ll get the picture.
So, this will give you some idea as to where MyBabylog arrived from. My first prototype was in the name of ‘Mother’s Precious Memories’ this was a plastic case and had potential – but the cost of tooling up in plastic was not viable – besides we did not have the money. Life got in the way… helping David run the family business and running a home with students etc… always moving home and doing up each property to gain a better footing on the property ladder.
I knew one day when our main priority which was our daughter Siobhan – had everything i.e the best education that time and money could buy – that I would return to my dreams – until then I tried to improve my own lack of education by doing many courses.
I took French for a short while – followed by Spanish for a year. Three years upholstery…I even paid to do a secretarial Course. Three years writing classes. Vegetarian Cookery Classes. Then one full year at Bournemouth University in Catering Management before buying a ten bed roomed hotel in Southbourne and hit the ground on the May Bank Holiday…running. running…running and did not stop for a five years – then sold at a very nice profit.
