MY STORY – The Accidental Entrepreneur, 2.0
(A note before you start: this isn’t your average “About Me” page. If you came here expecting inspirational quotes, a list of awards, and me pretending I have my life together – you’re in the wrong place. This is more “truth with good lighting”)
So who the hell is Maggie?
I’m Maggie. Forty-something, mother of four, accidental entrepreneur, professional system-fixer, and serial doer of things I probably should’ve thought through a bit more.
Once upon a time, I built Maggie & Rose – the original family members’ club – on a £5K credit card with three kids under five and no business degree, no clue, and definitely no plan.
It worked. Until it didn’t.
I helped turn it into a £25 million global brand, then walked away when it stopped feeling like mine.
After that, I launched b_together – a beautiful post-COVID attempt at rethinking family clubs and nursery – just as the world fell apart again. Perfect timing, really.
When I finally came up for air, I realised I didn’t want to run another club or nursery, I wanted to fix the system that breaks them.
The Accidental Mother (and why it made everything make sense)
I became a mum young – twenty-one, living on the other side of the world, absolutely winging it.
There was no five-year plan, no family nearby, no sleep, and definitely no “self-care Sundays”.
What I did have was a very real need for spaces and systems that didn’t exist.
That need made me an entrepreneur long before I had the language for it.
Every business I’ve built since – every design decision, brand, and product – has come from that first, messy, sleep-deprived spark: there has to be a better way to do this.
My kids made my career.
Literally.
They’ve been there through every pivot, pitch, and panic.
They’ve stuffed envelopes, worked café shifts, scrubbed playrooms, and watched me juggle meetings with school runs and global expansion calls.
They’ve seen that work isn’t glamorous – it’s gritty. And that showing up, even when you’re exhausted, is what changes everything.
But what I do have is a career built from motherhood – not in spite of it.
Because the thing about being a mum is: you become an expert in the impossible.
You learn how to plan, pivot, multitask, and lead – often on zero sleep.
And honestly, no MBA teaches that.
Two of my girls have inherited the same fire. All four of my kids know what sacrifice looks like, and what work really means.
And while I don’t believe you can “have it all” – at least not all at once – I do believe the juggle is worth it.
Motherhood didn’t hold me back; it built me up.
The Ofsted Plot Twist
Here’s the short version:
We had an unannounced Ofsted inspection.
We got a bad rating.
And it broke us.
Not just emotionally – financially.
A bad report kills sales, tanks morale, and in a small business, that’s basically the beginning of the end. Watching it unfold was like standing on a beach and realising the tide’s already taken the sand from under your feet.
So I started thinking:
What if we built something that actually helped people prepare?
What if we could use tech to stop the panic and make compliance feel – dare I say it – doable?
That idea became Otii – a platform to help early years settings stay inspection-ready, reduce stress, and actually feel good about it.
It’s Ofsted, but make it less scary.
The Company for Doing
While Otii simmered in the background (and I was still half-pottering, half-panicking), people kept calling.
“Could you just help me with…?”
“Would you take a look at our brand?”
“Do you know someone who can actually get this moving?”
And suddenly I was unofficially running a small consultancy – so I did what any self-respecting entrepreneur with ADHD would do: I made it official.
The CFD – The Company for Doing – was born.
It’s a collective of big thinkers, designers, and operators who actually get sht done*.
We step in when things are messy, unclear, or stuck – and make them work.
No waffle. No decks gathering dust. Just results.
We take on projects that interest us, confuse us, or make us laugh – and then build systems around them.
Otii was the first. There will be more.
Get Set Go (Because I can’t sit still)
As if I wasn’t busy enough, I also took on my first board role.
I became a Non-Exec Director for Get Set Go, a family swim school doing brilliant things in water but needing a bit of structure on land.
From January, I’ll step into the Executive Chair role – helping their CEO, Claire, scale, raise, and reimagine.
We’re overhauling brand, interiors, and strategy – with The CFD leading the creative transformation.
Basically, I’m back in the chaos – but this time, it’s intentional.
What I’ve Learned (So Far)
“Do it scared” is better than “wait until you’re ready.”
Lawyers are not your friends.
Vision boards are fine, but spreadsheets make dreams real.
No one’s coming to save your business – but they might invest in it.
Fear + purpose = momentum.
Mantra (Because “vision and values” make me itchy)
Innovate. Evolve the thing you’re bored of.
Create. Make it useful, make it human.
Inspire. The next person watching.
Do. Always.
Epilogue
If you’ve made it this far, congrats – you either have the same attention span as me or a morbid curiosity for entrepreneurial chaos.
Either way, thank you.
I’m still learning. Still building. Still accidentally reinventing things I swore I was done with.
And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.