Flexibility for me and my family
As dads across the country celebrated Father’s Day at the weekend Travel Counsellor and busy father of two David Ashworth talks about how he is able to achieve the ultimate work life balance – and why his work as a Travel Counsellor means he can be the very best Dad he possibly can.
“After 23 years with a national retailer I decided to look for a new challenge but still within the travel industry. Top of the list of priorities was being my own boss and spending more time with my young family. My wife Joanne works full time Monday to Friday, and with my day off varying week to week, the only guaranteed family day was a Sunday.
I always left the house before Joanne so it was always left to her to get the kids up, ready and dropped off wherever they needed to be. Plus with being manager of a retail shop I was always last to leave whenever the last customer had gone, or would have to complete managerial tasks after also being a sales consultant during opening hours. Arriving home after the kids had been picked up, fed and ready for bed made me realise I was missing seeing them grow up, talking about their day and spending quality time with them because they were too tired to talk to daddy (no different than any other family I hear you say).
What could I do? I wanted to challenge myself – I’d been a successful manager for over 10 years, always turned around underperforming shops, but in this day and age you were only as good as your last day. There was not enough focus on the positives and too much on the negatives, plus we’d forgotten about customer service and longevity – it was all about how much we could make out of the customer in front of us.
I remembered an ex colleague who had left a few years before me. I gave him a ring and he introduced me to Travel Counsellors. From the day I ÜinÌ voÀ mÞ inÌiÀÛiiÜ Ü>Ã LloÜn >Ü>Þ - Ìhi hi>` ovwVi ÃÕ««oÀÌ Ü>Ã fantastic, the training opportunities endless and guess what? I didn’t have to report to anyone. My mind was made up. I was going to be my own
boss. I was going to determine my own future. I could work the hours I wanted. I could work the hours my customers wanted. I would sell a product to my customer that was right for them. I was going to spend the time with my family they deserved.
If I wanted to go to the school nativity play, I would. If I wanted to go to the sports day, I would. If I want to take my kids to school, pick them up, spoil them with a sneaky ice-cream that mum doesn’t know about, I would.
It’s been four years now since I made the decision – do I regret it? Not in the slightest. My business going from strength to strength. Every day I receive a phone call from a new customer who opens with ‘you’ve come highly recommended by’. I now look forward to starting the day because I know I’m not going in to work to get a phone call from my regional manager for being slightly down on something, as that is totally irrelevant Ìo Ìhi Li} «iVÌÕÀi° }iÌ v>nÌ>ÃÌiV ÃÕ««oÀÌ vÀom Ìhi hi>` ovwVi Ìi>m] h>Ûi access to the very best technology and commercial deals, but ultimately I am in control of my destiny and it drives me every day.
As a family we’ve grown much closer to each other, the kids think it’s cool daddy works from home. In the four years I’ve spent more time with my family than I had since Lauren was born nearly 12 years ago! I get to dress the kids, take them to school, pick them up, and be there to see them collect Headmaster’s Awards. I also now run my son Corey’s Under 8s football team on a Saturday and Sunday, which based on my previous life I would never have done – and would have only seen once every four to six weeks.
Making the move to run my own business as a Travel Counsellor has not just changed my life for the better, but the lives of my whole family.”
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David
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