When you run your own business alongside raising your brood, there can be many times where you feel guilty for âneglectingâ your children. Weâve all had to put another film on or give them extra time on their iPads to continue working. The anxiety and guilt from doing so can be quite overwhelming. When youâre working you feel like you should be with the kids, and when youâre with the kids, you feel like you should be working! It can be a never-ending cycle of feeling like you are failing in some way, every day. But what if your hard work and juggling everything was inspiring your children? What if instead of focusing on things we havenât managed to do as parents, we focus on the things we have done? What if we are paving the way for showing our children that they can be or do whatever they want? That their dreams are achievable. This is exactly what happened with the entrepreneurial power couple – Oliver Dunn â better known as âOli the Chocâ and his wife Kim Minchin Dunn, of Kim Minchin Lifestyle. Both Oli and Kim grew up watching their parents chase their dreams. Their memories of their childhood around their parents growing their business are fond ones, and it gives food for thought that maybe we need to stop being so hard on ourselves. Oli and Kim have been climbing the ladder success for some years now, both building well respected businesses and personal brands. Oli is a real-life Willy Wonka, inspired by his own chocolatier father – Simon Dunn. Oli is a regular on Stephâs Packed Lunch and has also appeared on Blue Peter donning his incredible chocolate skills â fulfilling a lifelong dream to appear on the show. Kim started off her entrepreneurial journey through launching her own successful jewellery range â worn by many celebrities. Kim has also entered the world of interiors in the last few years, a natural progression as those following Kim will know that she has incredible style. The couple welcomed their first child Romy-Star last year and we sat down with them to see how different business life is now that they are juggling a baby too. And do they hope to inspire Romy just as their parents inspired themâŠ
How different is it running a business as parents, compared to before Romyâs arrival? Kim – âVery different!â Oli â âIt takes a lot more planning obviously, but in a way, it helps you to stop procrastinating. Kim â âWhen you donât have her, you can literally get so much done! It makes you think what you did with your time before! So itâs just about utilising the time you do get productively. Also it helps that my store is next to Oliâs and Oliâs parentsâ shop.â Oli â âYes, weâre altogether so weâve got a little bit of help.â Kim â âSheâs got her highchair and duplicates of her things at the store so that works well. But thereâs no formula.â Oli â âNo weâre just winging it and hoping for the best! We take each day at a time. Weâll work in the evenings if we have to and just do whatever we need to do to get things done!â Kim â âI think overall weâre more efficient. Like, before having Romy, I would sit at home, have a cup of coffee and probably scroll through Instagram for an hour whereas now when she has nap Iâm like, âRight, quick, what can I get done!â.â
What has been the hardest or funniest moment that youâve experienced as Parentpreneurs? Oli â âWell a big part of my business is creating content and videos and this one day, I went out on my one wheel which is like an electric skateboard kind of thing, and I was making videos down my by the canal and Kim was at the shop with Romy. And I had kind of got lost in this creative flow and when I stopped, I had all these messages off Kim saying can you get back quick, Iâve got a shop full of customers and Romy will not stop screaming!â Kim â âAwww, yes, I was so embarrassed and stressed. Although everyone was great with her and saying âAh weâve seen her on Instagram so itâs great to meet her.’ But I just felt like I wasnât giving them the shopping experience that they were probably after. But they have been back so it obviously canât have been that bad.â
Both of your parents are entrepreneurs too. How much has watching them inspired you both within your business ventures? Oli â âI saw how my dad created something out of nothing, purely out of something that interested him â and that was making chocolate. He had worked in sweet factory and making sweets can take weeks sometimes, whereas chocolate you can make quite quickly. And he went on this course in Germany to learn how to make chocolate and he just fell in love with it. So I saw that passion in him and I wanted to create something myself out of nothing so I took the slightly different direction of entertaining people with chocolate – showing them how to create chocolate themselves. Kim â âYou always talk about being a child, being with your sister whilst your mum and dad were making chocolate at home. I think that inspired you to carry on that magic, of having a business yourself. So, you can be at home, and you can bring your children into the world of your business.
Oli – âYes, we used to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night, into my mum and dads âchocolate factoryâ and take a handful of chocolate buttons up to our bedrooms! Thatâs some of my best memories as a child being surrounded by chocolate, so I think it was inevitable that I would explore that. I think I resisted it at first as it seemed to obvious that I would go into the family business and then I think I realised that I could be missing out on something that could potentially be fun. Thatâs what Iâm really for as my dad has given me this tool to be creative and have fun within your work. I have got a lot of motivation from my parents. If Romy can find something that is her passion too then Iâll be happy. We used to sit watching movies at Christmas so that they could get on with the orders. They made the office next door really cosy, and they could watch us through a clear glass window. They would actually even give us a few Christmas presents early so that they could get work done, but as much as they probably felt stressed at the time, they are really good memories for me and my sister.â Kim â âIt has helped with mindset of knowing that you can have a child and still do what you want to do. So, it wasnât a scary daunting prospect for us. My parents had their own business too, so they had a massive influence on me as a businesswoman. My Dad had 136 branches of his business, he was and still is an amazing businessman and he has always guided me and my brother, any doubtâs I ever have always reached out to him. Parents have always shown me that you can follow you dreams and that you get out you put in. So, for me growing up I always wanted to have my own business, I didnât want to work for anyone else. And my mum has the most amazing taste so that has definitely helped me from an artistic point of view when Iâm designing my jewellery and picking homeware etc.â
You both have strong identities -individually and as a couple; How do you feel your identityâs have changed since becoming parents? Kim â âWell, I kind of felt like I lost my identity a little bit when I had Romy. I feel like Iâm a gradually getting it back, but I do feel like that is a really tough thing for mums. You get so absorbed and consumed with the baby, as your whole life is about them. But, when youâre tired and youâre trying to juggle everything and keep everyone alive, but I think there is an internal thing for mums that the dads may or may not understand. But I remember she was only a few weeks old and I said to Ol, âCan you just have her for an hour? I wanna go to home sense â on my own.â Oli â âYeah, and you had like the best hour!â Kim â âYeah, I didnât need anything, but that was my regular routine.â Oli â âYes, you needed that, to feel that freedom and step into your creativity. So I guess thatâs what we need to be mindful of, making sure you get that time to keep your identity. I think that has been your driving force in opening the store.â Kim â âYes, the opportunity came along, and I thought, âYes, itâs the right timeâ As we said earlier Oliâs place is there and his parentâs shop is there, and I can pick and choose the days that I want to do there. And having the shop has made me fall in love with fashion again, as Iâm getting dressed for work and doing little videos whilst Iâm there. So instead of constantly wearing my activewear and not having any make up on. Now Iâm thinking about buying clothes again and that was something I had stopped doing after Romy was born. So, yeah, I do think that is something that people need to talk about more. And with the fashion side of things, I try and buy things that a practical but then other times I think â I want that Jacket etc, because I know Iâm a mum, but I still want to be me.â Oli â âFor me Romy has changed my identity in that now Iâve become a father and a husband. Sheâs made us a family. People say, âWelcome to the best club in the world.â And you really do feel a part of that and a way that strengthens your identity a bit, as everything you do has more meaning and in way that makes you feel more confident really.â Kim – âI think weâre such a good team though and we have a strong network of people around us so that is something that can help you when youâre having those low moments, Oli was always there so I think that helps remind you of who you are and your strengths.â And finally what advice would you give fellow Parentpreneurs? Oli â âI would say embrace the challenges that it brings, because it helps you to grow as an individual, you donât always realise that how much it can you to evolve. And rewards far outweigh the challenges. You will more than likely surprise yourself, nature is a wonderful thing and a lot of it is more intuitive than you think.â Kim â âI think mine is to just enjoy the journey and keep telling yourself that you are amazing at what you are doing. Iâve learnt to be a bit more relaxed and stop comparing yourself and then you can think clearer.â Oli â âYes, thatâs a big thing for anyone, be inspired by others but donât compare yourself. Just be good at being you.â
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