Full-time CEO to Full-time MOM
by Linda Potgieter
After 25 years in business, I was promoted to Full-Time Mom in 2014 and boy was I ill prepared for the Rookie boot camp I had just walked into! I picked up the phone to many full-time Mom friends and asked their forgiveness because I had NO clue what it took to run a marriage, a home, and a homeschool successfully. And I had judged my friends previously for what I thought was an easy role. I had joined the world in looking down on the Full Time Mom, and I was heartbroken at my mistake. So there I was either on my knees doing the laundry, crying again, or hiding in the loo (the restroom!) just for those few moments of silence.
But in all His wisdom, He used my business experience to show me the one thing that had changed since my promotion to FTM…
I had stopped dressing up. I was accustomed to being suited and booted in the boardroom, and now in my new job, I was wearing my tacky tracky, a T-shirt (I don’t even like T-shirts), hair sort of done and no make-up. He used my passion for fashion to expose my heart, and to show me that I under-valued my new role. I did not recognize how valuable, significant and spiritual my promotion was. Because if I did, why then was I dressed like this?
And so a whole new path was forged in a whole new season. And later, a part-time fashion business was birthed that hails the Fabulous Full Time Mom role as the true hero she is!
So this message is for that one woman reading this article who wants to get up, dress up and live up to the powerful calling on her life, who might just need a few new tools and skills to do so. It would be my privilege to come alongside you and help you shop in your closet, and find a few new fabulous FTM outfits that will help you not only look the powerful part that you play but also a role model to your children just how significant the Mom is in the world.
As an ambassador of your faith, your marriage, your family and your business, it’s so important that you put your best foot forward. And whether that’s in a pair of red heels or a cute pair of tennis shoes, I’d love to do it with you! Leave a comment below or over on Facebook, and let’s tackle your fashion questions!
~Linda
Linda is a wife and mother, and Partner & Director of JPA Ltd, a global negotiation training firm headquartered in London. She is also Founder of LindaPaige, a fashion brand that empowers women to be a bold light on a hill in this world. Born and raised in South Africa, she currently lives in the UK with her husband and 2 children.
Linda started working at age 17 and spent most of her career in the corporate arena, often the youngest on the team enjoying powerful on the job training, learning from ambitious, accomplished executives what the marketplace wants.
Linda had the immense privilege of serving on former President Nelson Mandela’s PR team in 1998. As the final member of a team of 5, Linda and her colleagues organized the Vulindlela Water Supply Scheme in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, on Human Rights Day in March 1998. Awarded along with her team members for her performance in this role, she cites this experience as one of her distinct career highlights, referencing Nelson Mandela as her leadership standard in life, and continues her involvement today in fighting oppression and injustice.
After relocating to the UK in 2002, Linda won a national sales award in January 2006 from the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (UK) (ISMM) for ‘Best New Sales Professional in Britain’. She is passionate about sales and loves working with people, a combination that opened up fantastic career opportunities for her across geographical and cultural boundaries, working on negotiation training projects with some of the worlds largest brands such as Adidas, Network Rail, EON, Mercer, Nestle, Pfizer, Nokia, and Vodafone. Her clients cite her training style as “…highly motivational, passionate and performance impacting”.
Linda is extremely dedicated to her own personal growth and attends regular leadership training in the USA which she cites as life changing. On a personal note, she is an adrenalin junkie continuing her pursuit of the next thrill in adventure sports, she loves traveling the world exploring good food, good wine and when there are gaps, she is home socialising with her family and friends.
