Meet the blogger encouraging women to empower themselves through motherhood

Heera Muslam, from Bolton, is a 28-year-old regular traveller and still manages to hold down two jobs at the same time.

Mum of 11-month-old Adam, Heera works as an optometrist three days a week, and as an MUA on weekends.

Heera talks to us about how she makes it all work and why she finally decided to launch a platform on Instagram.

She said: “After much deliberation, I finally decided to start my mummy blog.

“I found I’m one of many working mums, trying to juggle having a career, children, housework, a social life, and travelling.

“Apart from the sleep deprivation, there’s the lack of me time, feeling out of shape, forever trying to figure out why your baby is crying and constantly questioning whether you’re a good mum or not.

“I wanted to voice all of this for all mums out there and let them know we are not alone.”

The MUA is also a fan of jetting off around the world, now with baby Adam in tow, including travels to Thailand.

She said: “Luckily, being self-employed means we can travel whenever we want.

“As you get older and busy, schedules struggle to match for even a quick coffee date let alone a holiday away.

“The girls group holiday was perfect, especially for those going without children, or those who don’t feel safe going alone.”

But, Heera has also experienced post-natal depression due to over-exerting herself in work and social life, as she struggled to become more than just a mum.

She said: “You can have a huge family and lots of friends, but still feel like so alone.

“I tried to mask it by being extra sociable, joining numerous sensory classes to interact with other mums and throwing myself back into work, but I overdid it.

“The main support was right in front of me, my health visitor.

“Don’t be afraid to speak to them, because after telling her how I was really feeling, she signposted me to many baby groups to visit.”

Heera also wants to challenge the stigmas especially around British Asian women being frowned upon for going back to work or trying to still lead a normal life.

She said: “Culture plays a part in this, as girls spend a large portion of their lives studying to pursue careers and just because they marry, shouldn’t mean that they have to give it all up.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t value our culture, customs or family responsibilities, it just means we want to do more.

“Most households need two incomes to live a comfortable lifestyle and there’s no harm in that.

 “Too often people who are still stuck in their ways, will point fingers and judge us because it’s not how they think a mother should behave.

“The older generation especially need to understand that it’s not always easy, but we’re trying to do the best we can.”

Working as an optometrist and MUA is something Heera finds gives her the freedom to do more than one thing and gain new experiences.

“I’m lucky enough that I enjoy waking up for work, whether that being an optometrist or MUA.
“I love the different type of people I meet from all ages and backgrounds.

“But rest assured being an MUA isn’t all glitz and glamour, there’s unsociable hours, early morning starts, carrying around heavy luggage, and being stood up for hours on end.”

Nevertheless, the mum blogger loves both her jobs.

Heera also talked about what she would like to do in the future, and as busy working mums would say, she said: “To be an advocate for other mums to do the same.

“I work towards being the boss mum I always envisioned myself being and adding a few mote stamps to my passport along the way.”

Follow the mum’s Instagram blog to stay up to date @heeramuslam