You can have kids and a career…

By Kelly Dunn

I have always worked in the corporate world, initially within Banking and Estate Agency and then latterly for a large Recruitment Agency with offices all over the world.  

I worked for this recruiter for 10 years’, initially being based in Scarborough and then latterly moving to work in their York office and commuting an hour each way on top of a 9.5-hour working day.

I had my son at the age of 23 and felt the time was right to move my career to the next level as he started school. So, when the opportunity to work in York came up, I jumped at the chance. It’s a beautiful city and a fantastic city culture for a young 20 something.  

At this stage, I was already working full time as it was frowned upon to work part time and this wasn’t too many years ago. Back in 2005 maternity leave was only 6 months (4 for me as I left work early for health reasons) and you were expected to get back to work as if the kids didn’t exist.

I spent 7 successful years working in York, building the office back up during the last recession and loved every minute of it. I was climbing the career ladder and became a senior manager and within the top 5 consultants nationally for my specialist area. I was growing my team, hiring, training and coaching other people that came into the business, getting involved in key projects and going out to present at a variety of tender projects. Things were going really well, and I had nothing to complain about……….

I had my daughter in 2015, and when I returned to work after maternity it wasn’t the same as before. I felt like a lot had changed culturally within the business and although I had reduced my hours to the minimum 30 hours allowed, I wasn’t seeing enough of the kids and the time away made me realise that I wanted different things now, my priorities had changed.

I didn’t want to do the long commute to York anymore.

I found that I was just another number in a large business, and they didn’t see me for who I was.

I had always worked in a man’s world throughout my career, and this company was no different; most of the senior directors and the board were male, as were the clients I went out to meet day to day where I had to prove myself all the time.

I knew that I wanted to leave but was also aware of the competition around and knew that I didn’t want to fall into the same trap with someone else. I took the big step to leave and take some time out before I decided what to do. I knew that there was no one else in the area with my drive, passion, skills and expertise to really make a difference and set up a recruitment business that would eventually support others who felt the same as me.

So, I set up my own recruitment agency back in 2017 from an office at home with nothing more than a laptop and a phone. However, from day one I was so humbled and surprised to find that businesses I had worked with previously were really happy to hear from me and immediately let me work with them. They loved my personal approach and preferred this to working with a large corporate PLC.

I was getting referrals from other people I knew in the area and very quickly the business got underway and was becoming a success. Soon after I was able to get my own lovely office in Scarborough Town centre and after 12 months, I recruited my first employee to join me on this exciting journey.

I wanted to be as inclusive an employer as possible, as I had not experienced this myself, and the perfect person came to me with some fantastic experience but was looking for part time work as she was a single mum with a toddler. We discussed the role and the hours and worked out what would work for both of us. She has been brilliant since day one and has really made a difference. Since then, I went on to recruit our second employee in February 2020…. 

2020 was going to be our year to really grow and make a difference…….

We all know what happened in March, however, I am really pleased to say that as a business we diversified our service offerings and listened to what our clients needed and wanted from us and are still here to tell the tale.

Since the business started I have made sure that I have been able to attend all of the kids assemblies and parents evenings as well as being there to put my youngest to bed on an evening. The business has not suffered, I have just managed my time between the two and will continue to be the there for my children when they need me and this is the reason I decided to be my own boss! I am in charge of my own destiny.

As well as running KD Recruitment, I have also been involved with the Inspiring Women since 2018 and part of the team that organised both the 2019 and 2020 events in Scarborough. I love these events, as I am so passionate about supporting women in their lives and careers and enabling them to believe in themselves. By having this belief, you can achieve anything.

I have hopefully proved that working mums can be successful in business and have a family at home.

Being successful never comes easy but with the support from friends and family, you can be anything you want to be!

Kelly Dunn, Managing Director of KD Recruitment | Inspiring Women Coordinator

kelly.dunn@kdrecruitment | inspiringwomenkelly@gmail.com

www.kdrecruitment.co.uk

LI: @recruiterkellydunn