I have just subscribed to My Child online magazine.

Not one to purchase many magazines due to the cost and what to do with all those glossies after you have read them, but I do subscribe to a few online … it’s just finding the time to read them!

I find it can be very overwhelming wading through the plethora of information out there about pregnancy, babies and toddlers – I only wish I had picked up this magazine when I was pregnant with Poppy.

Being a visual person I love the layout and am impressed with the range of information beyond pregnancy, the editorials, the product reviews and especially the web links provided.  I especially enjoyed reading the My Child Excellence Awards – feeling chuffed when I saw some of the products we use, adorned with a star!

Subscribe now … go on!

My Child magazine came about after I gave birth to my beautiful son, Duncan, in May 2004. My husband Brian and I were both in our 40s (I had Duncan at 41!) and had given up on the idea of having children so Duncan really was a kind of miracle for us!

At school I was a bit of a rebel and when I left, I ended up working in exactly what I had never wanted to do – secretarial! Plus it was in the corporate sector – merchant banks and chartered accountancy firms – which did not suit my personality at all. Mind you, I was pretty good at it and ended up running conferences around Australia. Then in my late 20s I finally went to Macquarie University to do a double major in English Literature before moving into magazine publishing.

I’ve now been working in magazines for over 20 years across weeklies, monthlies and quarterlies including That’s Life!, Elle, Family Circle and CLEO. I’d never looked at parenting magazines until I fell pregnant, however I found none of them were my cup of tea. Their features were too superficial to learn anything substantial from and their design unappealing.

I’d also decided I wanted to be around as much as possible for the first few years of Duncan’s life before he started school. I wanted to be there while he was little to experience his first steps and all those sweet (but often challenging) growing-up stages. But I also needed to work.

These factors, plus my wonderful husband’s support, were what prompted me to start up my own magazine, which is still run from my home! The mag has been produced as a quarterly print publication since 2006 and has now transitioned to a free digital-only monthly format – our June issue (the first digital-only magazine of ours) went live on 23 May.

I just love my job but have to say that I’ve also never worked so hard in my life. We didn’t have enough money behind us when we started and that’s made things tough at times – especially when it came to cash flow in the early years – but it really is the best thing I’ve every done. Running my own business has surprised me too in how creative it is. There are new challenges every day, particularly in my role as advertising director. I had no sales background at all and so this really has been a steep learning curve!

Another difficult aspect is getting enough sleep. I used to be a solid nine-hour-a-night girl but now, to ensure I’m there for Duncan after school (he’s 10 now and in year five at school) until he goes to bed, work nights in addition to the school hours.

It’s all worth it though. Producing the magazine (Brian manages our IT, website and accounts) is like completing a huge jigsaw puzzle. And I love puzzles!

It’s amazing today to look back on how far the business has come, especially as it’s continually evolving as we’re always trying to improve what we’re doing. I don’t think I could ever work for anyone else now and it will be interesting to see where My Child goes in the next few years. We’re certainly planning on bigger and better! Most of all, though, I love being able to balance my work life with being a mum to Duncan. I feel very grateful for the opportunity and really appreciative of my husband’s support and that of my awesome staff!

Lise Taylor – Editor