Finding work-life balance as a parent entrepreneur

An African textile entrepreneur raising twins

Dinzi Amobi lives in Melbourne with her five-year-old twin daughters. She swapped a legal career for running a vibrant lifestyle brand Ulo, inspired by her African heritage.

“Ulo is your typical ‘kitchen-table’ business story. I was hosting a dinner party for friends in Sydney shortly after moving from London. I wanted to share what Nigerians call a real ‘naija’ style experience, which is a combination of good food, joyous music, vibrant décor and lots of laughter. When my guests arrived their faces lit up – they encouraged me to bottle up the evening and turn it into a business. From there came my first collection, Ulo Living, which was a collection of vibrant placemats and napkins – design replicas from the dinner party.

I started working on the product during the evenings while I worked in a corporate governance role in the city. I would attend free business workshops to build up my knowledge and use weekends to display and sell my designs at markets and events.

I decided to step away from my legal career, not for Ulo but to have a moment to pause and reflect on what my next steps would be. I knew Ulo had legs but I was still testing my designs and product ideas. A few months after making the leap, I discovered I was pregnant with twins. A few days after that, I gave myself a good talking to and said it’s now or never and I launched the website. The rest is history.

Like Ulo, my twins have just turned five years old. My children have been an incredible driving force. They push me – and Ulo – through challenging times, late nights, utter exhaustion and moments of doubt and fear. The girls make Ulo and I thrive – their positive outlook on life, their fresh eyes and their ability to push me to be the best parent I can be at any given time is an undeniable driving force.”