Anna Louise, 37 from Edinburgh, was a corporate lawyer before leaving her job to have children. It was during pregnancy that a new business idea came to her.

Anna Louise was on maternity leave when she was inspired to launch Mama Tea. She was 42 weeks pregnant and looking for a warm drink to sip on. Anna Louise was nursing an awful ‘hairy’ bag of raspberry leaf tea when her idea came to her. After researching and looking into new teas she could try, she found there was a gap in the market for tasty herbal teas for pregnant women and breastfeeding mums.

Mama Tea launched in April 2009 and offer various teas to combat the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. “We have a tea for morning sickness, a tea for heartburn, a birth preparation tea and a breastfeeding tea. All of our teas have been blended by a Master Tea Blender to taste good and are very well researched; we worked with one of the UK’s top medical herbalists to advise us on the blends.” explains Anna Louise.

Time to enjoy my children

Although stressful, launching Mama Tea allows Anna Louise time to enjoy with her children, “Having children made me want to find a flexible way of working that would allow me to utilise my drive and ambition, as well as letting me still spend time with my children.” Working from home on her new business was a perfect way to watch her children grow whilst she maintained her own life goals.

Since starting in 2009, Anna Louise’s life has changed dramatically. “Seeing my products on the shelves in Waitrose and Tesco is fantastic! Life is very hectic as we are trying to grow the company quickly and expand overseas this year, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

For other mums thinking of launching a business, Anna Louise advice is simple; Do it!

“Do your research. Planning is essential. Once you have done that though – just go for it! Inaction does not start a business! Finally, focus! When you are working, you have to be extremely focused on your business, mainly because you have less time than everyone else.”

Mama Tea herbal teas can be found in Tesco and Waitrose and further information on the range can be found on the Mama Tea website.