The Divorce Chapter

EP89 The Hayley Keeber Chapter: From Single Mum to Business Queen (and Still Doing the School Run)

• Sarah Elizabeth • Episode 89

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What do you get when you mix:

  • an unexpected pregnancy at 22

  • a sh*tstorm of a breakup

  • a house she refused to lose

  • and some serious don’t-mess-with-me energy?

You get Hayley bloody Keeber…. business simplification strategist, ex-single mum, multi-business boss, and walking proof that your plot twist can be your power move.

In this juicy episode, Hayley joins me to talk about how she went from overachieving young mum with the weight of the world (and nursery fees bigger than her mortgage) to running not one, but two successful businesses…. all while managing three kids, a marriage, and a serious case of "I will not settle for basic."

We talk:

👑 The realities of young single motherhood (spoiler: it’s not cute, but it is character-building AF)

👑 Building businesses that actually fit around your life (not just Instagram fairy tales) 

👑 Why your ex’s opinion can do one 

👑 What happens when you lose your vision (literally) and still launch a business from a hospital bed

👑 Letting go of societal BS and choosing your own version of success…. sleep-deprived mascara smudges and all

Oh, and if you’ve ever been bottle-shamed by a health visitor, this episode is for you 😒🍼

Hayley spills the real tea on what it actually takes to grow a business as a single parent, how to stop trying to prove yourself to everyone and their nan, and how to lean into your strengths (instead of trying to be a perfectly polished Pinterest mum who also runs a six-figure empire).

Whether you're divorce-deep and thinking "WTF now?" or you've got a business dream buried under the school run, this one’s for you.

Links for Hayley

Follow Hayley on Instagram: @hayleykeeberstrategist
Check out her signature program: Seriously Simple Success
Website: www.hayleykeeberstrategist.com

Hope you enjoy (and if you do, PLEASE rate and review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Loads of Love,

Sarah x

🌸

P.S. In May in the Divorce Book Club, we’re not only celebrating our first birthday 🎉 but we’re also reading How to Heal After Narcissistic Abuse by Caroline Strawson…..And It’s a Must-Read for Anyone Healing from a Toxic Relationship.

If your ex made you feel like you were the problem…
If you’re still replaying conversations wondering, “Was it really that bad?”
If you're done with gaslighting, breadcrumbing, and walking on eggshells...

💡 Then May’s Divorce Book Club pick is for YOU.

✨ Whether you're still untangling from a toxic ex or rebuilding yourself from the inside out, this month’s read will support your healing, one chapter at a time.

So if you want to join us, check it all out HERE ⬇️

And use code BIRTHDAY50 for 50% off your first month 🎁

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SPEAKERS

Hayley Keeber, Sarah Elizabeth

Sarah Elizabeth  00:00

Hello and welcome to the divorce chapter podcast where we turn the unexpected divorce plot twist into our new happy ever after. And this week, we have another fabulous guest to help us do just that, the lovely Hayley Keeber. Hayley is a business strategist, or should I say business simplification strategist, that's a mouthful, helping anyone, but particularly super busy mums, in streamlining business so that you really can have it all. Hayley has been a single mum in the past, so she knows just how hard it is to overcome these Goddamn plot twists when everything has turned into a shit show, and so has been exactly where you are. Welcome. Hayley, 

Hayley Keeber  00:45

Hi, how are you doing? 

Sarah Elizabeth  00:47

I'm very good. I've been pleased to have you on. 

Hayley Keeber  00:50

Thank you for having me. 

Sarah Elizabeth  00:51

It's exciting. So can you tell us a bit about yourself? Hayley, because obviously I know that you are now married with three beautiful mini humans, but it hasn't all been plain sailing, has it? 

Hayley Keeber  01:04

No, 

Sarah Elizabeth  01:05

Can you tell us about it? 

Hayley Keeber  01:07

My story started when I was quite young, so I became a mum at 22 and like, I'm gonna be honest, it wasn't in the plans. Always wanted children. Always wanted kids, but not at 22 right? I sort of was still living at home and all the things, and I had this career in recruitment, and I became pregnant, and I was like, right, okay, it is what it is. She's coming. So I had her, and it was like the biggest shock to the system that I think I've ever experienced in my life. But what it also showed me was that with keeping of the podcast was that I was with the wrong person, yes, to be totally honest, yeah. And so I became a single mom at 23 so at 23 I was a single mum. I had this little girl. I was working 60 hour weeks, I had a house that I had to decide whether I was going to buy him out, whether I was going to sell it. And I'm such a determined person. I was like, No, I'm buying him out. I'm not losing my home. And so yeah, and that's what I did, and it really sent me on, like a journey. I'm not going to lie,

Sarah Elizabeth  02:18

yeah, it's really hard, isn't it? I mean, I was pregnant at 18, so I completely hear you on that it wasn't in life's plans, but I would like to say it's not a mistake. It was a surprise, it was a change of direction. That was all so that sounds really, really hard. So you ended up being able to buy him out. 

Hayley Keeber  02:35

Yes, thank goodness I had a really good job at the time, and I literally just pulled my haunches in so much. I lived like hand to mouth all the time, but I was so determined. I just wanted my little girl to have her home that was, like, so important to me. And I never wanted, even at 23 I never wanted that stigma of, oh, you know, she's 23 she's had a kid. You know, it's that thing, isn't it? And I wouldn't be like, No, I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm going to be like every other mum out there if I'd have had her at 30. I'm going to be the same. You know, it's that, 

Sarah Elizabeth  03:12

That's totally it. I did exactly the same, you, overcompensate, to try and prove to everyone in a way that people that have children in their later 20s and 30s, they don't seem to do the same thing in the same way. One of my best friends was same age as me when she had her son as well, and she was exactly the same. And it just you know become this kind of almost over achiever, because everything has to be just right, just to show that you are not just another single mum to teenage mum, whatever the label is, you know,

Hayley Keeber  03:52

Do you know what? That's so true. That's so true like that overachiever, I think that is so true, and I probably still carry that through to today. Look, I'm 36 now she's 13, and I still carry that with me today, like, still trying to prove the fact that I'm a good mum regardless.

Sarah Elizabeth  04:08

Yeah, yeah, no, I totally get it, because I think, you know, like, say I've definitely done it, and I know people that have done it, and it's just one of those natural progressions, isn't it, because it is so hard. And how did you get on with her dad

Hayley Keeber  04:20

At first, it was like, you know, it was kind of, it's messy, isn't it? At first, it's like, you know, everyone wants everything and and I think there was a lot of outside influence. There was a lot of like, because we were young friends, we still had big friendship groups, because you do when you're young, don't you like? You're still going out, you're still doing the things people at work. Because I worked with all of his best friends as well. So, 

Sarah Elizabeth  04:42

Oh, wow, 

Hayley Keeber  04:43

Yeah. So my directors, my managers, they were all his best friends. That's how I got the job in the first place. And then I was like, I can't leave, because it's paying me really well, and it's paying my mortgage, and I can't leave. And I had nursery fees that were higher than my mortgage, so I was stuck in this never end. In cycle of they would feed stuff back to him that he would then feed to me, but then I'd still have to go into work and deal with that, and it etched into every part of my life, but I had to keep really focused on, I'm doing this for her. Yes, you know, so, I mean, after the first couple of years, I think everything sort of, you know, we both family, partners, we were both very happy, very settled, and then it sort of just worked from that. But the first few years were not as easy. No,

Sarah Elizabeth  05:30

it's really hard, isn't it, and especially when you are young, you need that just support around you. Side of it can be super challenging. Yeah, when you've got a little one. So you then went on to meet your now husbands, 

Hayley Keeber  05:46

Yes, I went on to meet him. So Sydney was, she was two when I met him, but she was four when we moved in together. So, yeah, he didn't have any children of his own at the time, and he was around my age. So we were, what, 2625 26 that sort of age. So still quite young, really, when I look back at it, and yeah, it worked, but we just took our time with it.

Sarah Elizabeth  06:10

And he didn't have children. So how did that work with introducing Sydney? 

Hayley Keeber  06:15

So,we did it quite strategically. It probably goes to my strategy brain. I was quite strategic with it, so he was only allowed to meet her over the phone. At first, he had to talk to her on the phone, and he had to get to know her. And I lived in Luton at the time. And then my my husband, is from Northampton, which is where we now all live, yes, and he would like meet her over the phone, whatever. And then eventually we decided to have a day out. So we went to London Zoo and we saw how, you know, the interaction went, and then we built it up from there. So, yeah, it was, it was slow and steady, but it worked for me as well, and it worked for him. So that was good.

Sarah Elizabeth  06:59

That's good because that's really, actually quite hard to become a step parent before you've been a parent. I think that's quite challenging, right for him, for his from his perspective,

Hayley Keeber  07:12

Yeah. I mean, we've had really open conversations about it over the years. I mean, we've been together over 10 years now, but it's like he did say that he never wanted to step on anyone's toes. He never wanted to, you know, take that role of her dad when she still had her dad in her life, which I totally understood. But we also wanted that unit, and it was finding that balance. But luckily, Sydney was so young, she just accepted He was who He was, and then her dad was who he was. So I was quite lucky. But had she have been older, I don't know how I would have quite managed that. I don't know how people manage it, yeah,

Sarah Elizabeth  07:49

yeah. Because it is really hard. It's not an easy and there's no manual for these things, is there? There's no kind of rule book that you can follow to know exactly what to do, right? 

Hayley Keeber  07:59

This is the thing, especially when you're so young, like, yeah, right, you're an adult at 1822 like, yes, theory, you're an adult. But actually, if you think back on it, like, was I thinking like an adult? No way. I was thinking more like a teenager than an adult. So I was, like, thrust into this adult world where my mum was like, Well, you know, you've got this baby now, and I'll help you every which way I can. And my mum was amazing, but it was like, right beyond you, yeah, and pressure that you feel, yeah.

Sarah Elizabeth  08:30

And it's funny, I was saying this recently, I went to my goddaughter's 18th birthday party, one of my Goddaughters, and there were a few of her friends there who were probably around the same age that I was when I got pregnant. And I look at them now and think, Oh, my God, I can't even imagine you having a baby like these, these young girls. And it's like, was was 18? Different then, or was I different? I don't, I don't really know, to be honest, but it's, it's so interesting, isn't it, because you're right, you are an adult on paper, but in reality, you know, our brains haven't even completely developed until we're 25 you know, it's, it's wild to think that. You know, I was married with two kids by 21 Yeah, and it's, I can't. I look at 21 year olds now, and I think, wow, would you be able to do that? I don't know.

Hayley Keeber  09:28

Yeah, exactly like you're just starting out in life, like, and you look back and you think, how did I do it? Yes, where did I find that strength? Could I do that again? And the truth is, you probably could do it again, but it's only because you have to do it. I think when you're thrust in something you have to do, yeah, you do. You're so much stronger than you think. Yes, even whatever age it is, you just cope, don't you? We however, however you do it.

Sarah Elizabeth  09:56

Yeah, you do find a way to get through it. Yeah, 100% you. To so then you went on with your now husbands to have another two children, two Bubba's. Yes,

Hayley Keeber  10:09

haven't you so busy? So I went from being like a really young mum, so I was like the youngest mum at school, you know. And I was going to be one and done by 40, you know, that was my plan. And then I had one at 32 and then one at 34 and it was like, right, hold on a second. I've got to start again now, you know? And actually, although my the security and my home life is so much easier actually being a mum at in my 30s rather than my 20s. In some respects, it's hard because I don't have the energy I had when I was 22 that's for sure. Like, you know, I've got like, under eye bags, like Chanel. It's just ridiculous. Makeup is fantastic, fabulous. But I, you know, but then at the same time, it's exactly what you said, that pressure to be that perfect mum. And even when I was, when I had Sydney at 22 I remember the midwives and their health visitorhas been really judgmental. It was like, you know, you need to do this and you need to do that. And the pressure, like, I actually remember once, when Sidney was really young, one of the Health Visitors come round, and I bottle fed. I never wanted to breastfeed. And that was just a personal choice. Yeah, absolutely. And I had the bottles made up in my fridge, and she came in, she emptied them all down the sink. And she was like, nobody should be doing that. You need to make them up as you go. And I was my goodness, honestly, I was single, on my own, and I was like, Do you know how expensive milk is? I was like, she's just pulled it all down the scene. And I did have, honestly, I didn't have the, I didn't have the confidence back then to turn around and go, excuse you. That's not your property, you know, as I would have done now. I'll put a bit more copy now. At 32 no one battered an eyelid. No one questioned a thing I did with my boys. It's so interesting. At 22 they did. Yeah, they

Sarah Elizabeth  12:11

did. That's so interesting. Oh my god, what a horrible experience.

Hayley Keeber  12:16

Yeah, it really knocked me. I was I'm such a bad mum. And my mum was like, Absolutely not make them up again back in the ridge.

Sarah Elizabeth  12:24

Yeah. I mean, I was very, very lucky, because I started to breastfeed my eldest, and I just, I just didn't have enough milk coming in. And after, I can't remember how long it was, it was about two or three weeks. And in the end, it was actually the health visitor was, that was like, he needs like you, he needs a mum more than he needs that milk like you are of no use to him when you are like I was exhausted. I was absolutely exhausted, and I think that's probably what led to me getting postnatal depression, because it was just such a lot. And so I had a really lucky experience that the health visitor was almost like, Just give him a bottle. Yeah? The boy needs to eat

Hayley Keeber  13:08

all you want to hear that's here, isn't it? It's just

Sarah Elizabeth  13:11

like experience, yeah? But you

Hayley Keeber  13:15

know, you hear these things, don't you? And I really do think it was just that judgmental thing of like, another 22 year old. Here we go, you know? Here we go, yeah, young mum,

Sarah Elizabeth  13:25

yeah, yeah. I know it's people's judgments are absolutely wild on what you do when you you know you can, if you marry, if you don't marry, if you a single mum, if you have more than 2.4 children, if you have don't have a dog like Jerry. It gets ridiculous. It does. People judge you for and you've just kind of took on to do your thing right 100%

Hayley Keeber  13:48

like, I think as a society, I mean, I think we do so much better now, but definitely, like, I was born in the 80s, you know, like, you look back now and it's like, you have to get married, then you, like, you say, you get the dog, then you get, you know, you get your you get your baby, and everything has to be planned, and it has to be a certain way. And then as soon as you go off piece slightly to the societal expectation, yeah, it's like, you're this rebel person, like every your whole life's gone. And it's like, well, it's not, yeah, and it's like, actually, I would love to show everybody her now, because I'm like, she's getting great grades. She's a great kid. She's never in trouble. Like,

Sarah Elizabeth  14:30

yeah, yeah, you've done it. You've done a good job.

Sarah Elizabeth  14:40

And so obviously, you've got married, you've had two more, and at some point in all this, you know, because you haven't got enough to do, you've started a business with your husband, right? The first business was with your husband, is that? Right?

Hayley Keeber  14:53

Yeah. So my husband's a carpenter by trade, and somebody approached him and said, Look, why don't. You start your own company, like, You're brilliant at what you do. You've got loads of work. You'll get, you know, you can charge what you want. So he come home, and he was like, What do you think of this? And me being in recruitment is, like, is very business based anyway. And I was like, right on it. I was like, yes, let's do it. So we just started this business. I just went straight on, created this limited company, and off we went, within the hour. Yeah, literally within the hour. No business plan. We just had a limited company in our name. And he was like, right hang on a second, that's the way I am. I'm very like, right if we're going to do it, we're going to do it now. Don't talk about it, because we'll talk ourselves out of it. So let's just go for it. Very true, yeah. And we went for it. And within 18 months, it was like a multi six figure business. And it just, it just, but I was still in recruitment, and we were going through fertility treatment to have my middle son. Oh, my goodness, for whatever reason, I was struggling with him. And then COVID hit, of course, and then all the contracts got pulled from under our feet because everything shut down right and there was nothing we could do about it. So I did what every sane person does. I quit my job, the only income we had. Person I am, I quit my job.

Sarah Elizabeth  16:16

I love the way you just said that, I did what every sane person would do. I quit my job. 

Hayley Keeber  16:21

I did. And my husband was like, What are you doing? I was like, because we can make more money doing the business, and that's exactly what we did. Everything opened up, like building wise opened up. Within the two months, he went back to work, and we were, we were all right.

Sarah Elizabeth  16:33

It was all right, yeah. And then at some point in all of this, you've started a second business, yeah.

Hayley Keeber  16:39

And that's a story. So I, honestly, I don't do anything by halves. My mum is like, every time she comes in, there's a new story. I don't want to talk to you about any more stories, but yeah, so then I had my third son, and I'd already decided I wanted to do strategy. That's what I was going to do. I was going to work for myself, and I was going to because I always thought, You know what, I missed out so much on Sydney, working, you know, 60 hours a week, being on my own. I missed her, walking, talking, all the things I was refused to do that with the boys. So I was like, I'm not missing out on anything. And I think that's what was really ingrained in my head. Yeah, so I had my youngest, but the C section went wrong, and I ended up in hospital. And I was there, in and out of hospital for about eight weeks. I was really sick. They didn't know what was going to happen. I was on every ward you can imagine I was they just didn't know why. Really, we found out eventually that the spinal block had gone wrong, and it had caused a load of adverse reactions. But I actually lost my sight for like, two weeks. 

Sarah Elizabeth  17:46

Oh, my life. 

Hayley Keeber  17:47

Yeah, it was like it was coming and going. It was the weirdest thing. It was, like the weirdest thing I've ever, ever experienced. But it was so scary. So I remember being in a hospital bed, and I was on like, an assessment Ward, and there were five other ladies around me, beautiful ladies, all elderly, like, really poorly ladies. And I remember laying there, and I thought, is that it like? Is that what life is like? That's the end like? And I had this realisation that I was like, that's not going to be my story. Like, I just don't want to get to the end of my life and think, God, I wish I'd done X, you know, 

Sarah Elizabeth  18:23

wow. 

Hayley Keeber  18:24

So I then did what every same person does and started my second business,

Sarah Elizabeth  18:32

new baby, and all those health complications. Oh, what else would you do? No sitting watching Loose Women for you?

Hayley Keeber  18:41

No, and I know. And when my husband come to visit, I said I started a business, he's like, No, you actually haven't. I was like, I genuinely have.

Sarah Elizabeth  18:50

And that's what I did. So you started it in your hospital bed. That's amazing. What an amazing story. And so what does it tell us about being a business strategist. What does that mean? What does that look like? What do you do? 

Hayley Keeber  19:03

So for me, I'm a Business simplification strategist. So I help women who have online businesses to grow and scale their businesses from startup up to like, you know, six figures, small six figures, if that's what you where you are, but I help them in a lifestyle first way. So it means that we take your lifestyle. So whether you're a single mum, whether you've got multiple children, whether you've got a nine to five job, whatever it is and you want to leave it, and we help you to build your business around your lifestyle. I just, don't believe, fundamentally, especially from my own experiences, I don't believe that you have to work 12 hour days to get success. And in fact, I'm actually living proof that you don't. I only work about 20 hours a week, and I've got two successful businesses, and that I run around three kids consistently, exactly. That, yeah,

Sarah Elizabeth  20:03

yeah, that's so much so almost like a live to work not work, to live 100%

Hayley Keeber  20:07

Yeah. We live in a society where it's still that industrialised belief, and even school education still teaches you this, like, you know, you have to work hard in order to earn money, like everything is like, you've gotta keep pumping the the iron type thing in order to make your money. And it's fundamentally not true. Like, we've got the internet at our fingers, like, how many of us did you see on phones all the time? Imagine if we didn't scroll social media all the time, but we were building businesses from our phones like we would earn, everyone would have success.

Sarah Elizabeth  20:39

Yeah, totally, you're right. Is another form of societal expectation, isn't it? That judgement and what you go to school, you get your good grades, you get to go to university, you get a degree, you go to work, you work your way up, and then you retire, go on a cruise and die. Basically, that's the expectation and the norm, because that's what everyone just does, right? So, so when you say about online businesses, that could be anything, yeah,

Hayley Keeber  21:06

yeah. So it's namely service based businesses. So it could be other coaches, other you know, people with podcasts, for example, that are, you know, anybody that that has anything that's online where you're a service to people would come under that so

Sarah Elizabeth  21:24

you would help them work through a strategy to grow and build that business, right? 

Hayley Keeber  21:30

Yeah, so I've got a framework that I teach, and it's called the seriously simple success framework. And we teach you from strategizing, then we streamline your business, and then we systemize it. Because when you systemize your business, you save a lot of time, because you're taking that heavy lifting off, especially with people that are like solo business owners, right? Because you know you're wearing so many hats. It's not like in corporate, where you get given your job role, you gotta do it x, y z, you get used to doing X, Y Z, you've got a manager to lean on. Actually, when you have your own business, it can take up a lot of time. So it's about simplifying it and making sure that we always come in at it from a lifestyle first point of view. So any of your non negotiable school run, you know, other like, I say, your nine to five jobs, whatever that's that's your first priority, then you build your business around that. If that makes sense, that

Sarah Elizabeth  22:25

makes total sense, yeah, because you're absolutely right. Because, especially when you are a solo business, there is so much more to it than the actual business. Like, you know, even starting my business, there's so much more than actually coaching on divorce, mentoring on divorce, you know, particularly like all the social media stuff, or the content stuff, you know, the the books, that there's just so much to learn. So you make that really easy in a way that people can do it right?

Hayley Keeber  22:56

Yeah. So we just take out the fluff when you look at social media, especially when you're in business, and you probably find this yourself, that there's so much information out there. You know, I made one post and I made 10 grand. But what they're not showing you, you know, I see it all the time. They're not showing you the real, the raw and the honest. They're not showing you that. On the outside, on social media, everyone looks like swans, like everything's amazing. But underneath you've got, like, your your little feet going like 10 to the dozen, and actually, people fail more than they succeed. So it's about cutting that fluff, getting rid of the overwhelm, getting rid of that procrastination, and actually just getting that really streamlined strategic plan that we can rinse and repeat over and over and over again to make you that income that's coming in without you having to work every hour. God sends,

Sarah Elizabeth  23:47

yeah, that makes, that makes total, total sense. But I guess for people listening, it's quite scary, you know, like starting your own business, especially if you are a single mum with all the load on your shoulders, you know. So how would you suggest to someone like say, there's someone like me going through their own divorce shit show or break up, and they might have been screwed over financially? I was. They have zero idea how to get some cash rolling in. So might be sitting there listening, going, Oh, okay, so what? I could just start an online business. What would you say to them about the possibility of that?

Hayley Keeber  24:27

So I would say, have really realistic expectations. Obviously, I did it, but I was married when I done it. Like I'm not going to lie, I would 100% have done it when I was a single mum. 100% I would have done but I would have remained in employment whilst I was doing it, like it's there's no get rich quick scheme, like there is just isn't. There's with all the will in the world, there just isn't. Some businesses do take off really fast. Some don't. So I think it's about having that really realistic expectation and really finding. What it is that you're good at, like, double down on your own strengths, your knowledge, the knowledge in your head. It's not not everybody knows what you know in the way that you know it. And I think that's really important. So I would like really look at how you can take the knowledge that you know, maybe it's from experiences. Maybe it's from previous jobs. Like my job's very much based on my past experiences with my daughter being a single mum. It's not really got anything to do with my job in recruitment as such, although there's elements that I can bring into it, a lot of it is on lived experience. So look at that and think, you know, what could I help? So like yours is lived experience. Yours. You help people with divorce, if you've been through it, yeah, exactly the same situation, and then double down on your strengths. And then start small, start testing the waters and see what you can do.

Sarah Elizabeth  25:55

That's amazing. So what would you be able to offer someone? So you've you've mentioned your framework for doing this, if you've got course or that people could contact you and get some you know, what would they what would they come across if they were to find you and speak to you? What would you say to

Hayley Keeber  26:12

them? So, if you came, if you came to me like fresh I haven't got a business, for example, or I've been toying with this idea you can, 100% come and work with me. I've got, actually got a 12 month course called seriously simple success, that you can come and work with me and we do everything, so we double down on you as a person. So your own self belief, your own confidence, because when you've been through divorce, guess what gets knocked? Your confidence, your self belief. So we 100% work on that. We work on your strengths and where you can go. Then we look at your lifestyle, and then we build that business in and around your lifestyle, and then we look to grow and scale it as it goes on. But yet you can find me on Instagram. So yeah, you'll find me over there. You

Sarah Elizabeth  27:01

do most of your stuff on Instagram, don't you? I see you. Obviously, I'll follow you on Instagram. I met you at actually, a business event last year, didn't I, and we walked to the station together. And I love the stuff that you put on Instagram, because it does, it does make you feel that no matter how busy you are, there's options that you can do this stuff, you know, because I think it's, was it Beyonce said, we've all got the same 24 hours in a day, or whatever. Well, yeah, you have, but not when you've, you know, technically, we've all got the same 24 hours. But actually, what goes into that 24 hours for busy young mums, particularly when you're on your own, is a hell lot different than what it is to a 50 year old bloke, 100%

Hayley Keeber  27:48

and the thing is, I teach time management as part of it, and I just did a four day course on this, actually. And yes, we've all got 24 hours, but we actually have really different responsibilities and priorities, and that's why the lifestyle first business comes in. Because, you know, yeah, she's got 24 hours, like I have, but I haven't got millions of pounds to pay for a cleaner, a chef, you know, a nanny, so I guess who does it or C, you know, and I've got to do the business around it. So it's about having, like, I say, that realistic expectation, but having a really strategic plan that you can execute and not burn yourself out at the same time

Sarah Elizabeth  28:29

and still enjoy it, because it is a lot about the mindset as well. You know, you've got to have the belief in yourself that you can do it. And because it is hard, it can be tiring. And you know, we see people that we think of an overnight success, but actually, we haven't seen the three, four years they've put into working all hours, God's sends and, you know, sitting up at night and worrying and thinking and planning and plotting and all of that, you don't see that. And you just see the success and think that it's an automatic thing. And that's so not the case. So, yeah, I love that. So what would you say would be one key bit of advice that you would give to someone listening now that's maybe just going through a breakup, maybe going through a divorce on their own with little is trying to work a way through the shitshow. What would be one key bit of advice that you would give them. 

Hayley Keeber  29:24

So, my key bit of advice would be to find someone to lean on. Like, don't be afraid to ask for help. Because I think as women, and especially as mums, we are like no head down. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. Actually, there is strength in our skin for help. And I would, I would honestly find the people that you can lean on. I

Sarah Elizabeth  29:49

think that's amazing advice. Find your support squad, that that you need, and it's and again, I think it can be for those of us that are a little bit overachiever. It can be that fear of asking for help makes us look like we can't do it, and it's nothing like that, right? It's nothing about that. It's, it's, it's that we all need support, exactly,

Hayley Keeber  30:12

and even in business, like there is no such thing as a successful business owner that done it on their own there. It just isn't. There is not one successful business owner that got there completely on their own. They've all had mentors, you know, peers, loads of people you know around them that have created it. And I think it's about remembering that the that it all comes from, the support

Sarah Elizabeth  30:38

totally couldn't agree more. One last question for you. Hayley, I run the divorce book club, as you know, which is a monthly membership podcast based book club on divorce, books, relationships, all things personal development. Have you ever had a personal development or non fiction book that has had an amazing impact on you, and can you tell us about it? And why? Yeah,

Hayley Keeber  31:02

so I actually read Carrie Green's how to start a business. 

Sarah Elizabeth  31:10

Oh yes, I've got that, yeah. 

Hayley Keeber  31:12

And that was one of the first business books I ever got, and it just seemed so simple, like it really simplifies business and makes you think, like, oh my goodness, yeah, I could do that. I actually read it on holiday. I was like, Oh yeah, I could do that.

Sarah Elizabeth  31:26

you know, it's a good book for that. 

Hayley Keeber  31:28

It is a good book. And actually, that really got me started. So I think if you're in that stage of thinking about it, that's a book that I would definitely recommend. 

Sarah Elizabeth  31:38

Yeah, I would agree with that. I'd read it, and it's very step by step, or the sort of different things to think about, isn't it? It's, it's, and it's a nice read as well. It's, it's a, you know, because some business books can be a bit tough, can't they? They're a bit like, yeah, I don't even understand what that means. But that book is very easy to read as well, isn't it, yeah, 100%

Hayley Keeber  31:59

I think sometimes they can be a little bit, you know, a little bit sort of information heavy, whereas Carrie's book comes more from a mindset point of view, like you can do this, it's okay and it's okay to feel uncomfortable, because that's where your growth comes from. So allow yourself to feel that

Sarah Elizabeth  32:18

I love that. I love that. So Instagram is the best place for people to find you. Yes, at Hayley keeber strategist, brilliant. I will leave all the links in the show notes. Is there any other place like website or anything? Yeah. So

Hayley Keeber  32:33

I've got a website which is just Hayley keeber strategist.com,

Sarah Elizabeth  32:37

Amazing. I will add all of that to the show notes. So thank you for coming onto the pod it's been an absolute pleasure.

Hayley Keeber  32:45

You're welcome, Thank you so much for having me. I listen to your podcast. I love it. 

Sarah Elizabeth  32:49

Oh, bless you. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. I will be back in your beautiful earbuds again next week for more on our post divorce rewrite. So until then, I'm sending you so much love. Bye.


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Sarah Elizabeth

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