5 Minute Mum

TheFive Minute Mum

WHEREVER catches up with Daisy Upton aka @Fiveminutemum.

With 254k followers on instagram, she’s turned making easy, fun games and activities for busy people to do with little kids into a business.

Once upon a time, Daisy Upton was a teaching assistant working in schools, where she drank hot cups of tea. But when she had her own children, she found she never quite managed to drink a brew while it was still remotely warm. So, she started putting her TA skills to good use and coming up with fiveminute games, not only to support her children’s learning, but also to buy her time for that cuppa. She shared those games online and it turned out quite a few other people wanted to join in too. Daisy now has a large social media following, a website and four books, including a bestseller. Daisy likes to celebrate this fact by eating copious

quantities of chocolate oranges and creme eggs - season dependent - and dancing in the kitchen.

How did the social media mum career come about?

When my children were three and one, I was a stay-at-home parent and I started playing games with the kids to keep us all busy and entertained, whilst also stealthily including things I knew would help with their development. My friends asked me what I was doing, as they knew I had teaching experience, so I thought I would start a little blog to share with them. My husband came up with the name Five Minute Mum when we were on a rare night away without the kids - just shows what your brain can come up with when you’ve had a full night’s sleep! Once I had the name, I decided to share the blog on social media, and it just went from there. It’s now been four-and-a-half years and still going strong. I feel incredibly lucky that I just happened to hit upon it at the right moment.

Tell us more about your books?

I have three books out in the world. They feel like my other children, as I take so much time and care to create them all! The first is called Give Me Five and it is for roughly ages 1-5 preschoolers. It’s all the games and activities I did when they were both at home with me to keep them busy and give me some peace! The second book is called Time for School and it is a breakdown of why children are taught what they are at school, how this is taught and quick and easy ways we can support this at home with five-minute games and fun - so ideally for children aged four and above. The third book is called On The Go and it’s basically for all ages. It’s travel entertainment ideas and hacks, it’s quick ideas for ways to keep the kids from moaning that they are bored when you’re out and about, and it also includes a chapter on games for friends and families to play together: perfect for Christmas!

Are you a pro at multitasking? Or is that a motherhood myth?

I think I am pretty good at multitasking; I always have several things on the go at once, but I don’t think it’s down to motherhood. I think busy people just find ways to get stuff done! I live by my five-minute rule. I try to do things little and often. It’s always much easier if you can break a task down into small bits - and it’s the same with anything. If we are learning something new, just start tiny. Teach your kid the first letter of their name in lots of fun ways. Build it up slowly five minutes at a time. It’s the same for me. I won’t write a book all in one go, I’ll write a few pages a day. There’s always the washing machine beeping or the doorbell ringing or a kid asking for a snack. I never get more than five minutes for anything anyway!

Can you pinpoint key turning points in your life?

Yes, when I decided to leave my career in sports broadcasting. I had a really good job, which I had built up to over a few years, but I knew it wasn’t what I had hoped it would be

“ I live by my five-minute rule. I try to do things little and often.”

and it wasn’t fulfilling. I quit one day and decided I would like a career in teaching, so I started back at the beginning - volunteering in schools, going to college in the evening, working as a midday assistant and at after school clubs while I studied. But I loved it. I went home happy and satisfied and that is worth a lot.

When I started Five Minute Mum, I called on so many of the skills I learned from those days. How to start at the beginning and take my time, how to work with others and use their skills and knowledge collaboratively. It all felt like those other careers had led to this.

Any words of wisdom? Or lessons learned you can share? Life motto?

It will often go wrong. Nothing will ever look exactly how you think it will. But if you can learn to adapt and just give it a go, then it will always feel worth it in the end.

What are the plans for 2023?

Making reels! Ha! Social media takes a lot more time and effort than it used to, so I am figuring out how to make videos that will reach the people that want to see it. I hope to help parents or carers who are at home with kids, don’t want to create a big mess or spend money, but want to play quick, easy games that are good for child development or education without them even realising. If I can keep doing this, then I’ll be happy. And I’ve been writing again so watch this space… Follow Daisy

@fiveminutemum

FUTURE PROOFING

FAMILY MATTERS

Of Singaporean origin, via London, Chitra Stern is making her mark on Lisbon, from hospitality to property and education.

hitra Stern is the recipient of the prestigious Deloitte Institute Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the London Business School in 2014. Chitra is of Singaporean Indian origin, an Electronic Engineer, Chartered Accountant and MBA (London Business School). Between 2017 and 2019, Chitra was on the Committee of Portugal IN, a special task force created by the Portuguese Prime Minister’s office to further enhance Foreign Direct Investment into Portugal (portugalin. gov.pt). She is also an invited professor for Luxury Marketing at the Nova School of Business and Economics, is on the board for Internationalisation and Innovation at Catolica School of Business and Economics and is the current President of the Entrepreneurs Organization (eonetwork. org) in Portugal. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Portuguese Association of Tertiary Education Institutes.

Owner and founding board member of Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts (martinhal.com), Chitra is a passionate entrepreneur and realestate developer, working alongside her businesspartner and husband, Roman, on their projects in Portugal. The Martinhal group has a luxury collection of four resorts and hotels in Portugal. The fifth Martinhal is in construction and will open later this year. Martinhal Residences is a 5-star branded hotel residences project and apartments with serviced living (. martinhalresidences.com) in Parque das Nações in Lisbon. Chitra and Roman have had four children during the process of building up their businesses. population of over 500 children across 30-plus nationalities (unitedlisbon.school). The school won the prestigious ‘Lisbon Prize’ at the World Architecture Festival recently for its features of repurposing defunct industrial buildings for the higher purpose of education. The rest of the hub with office spaces, further education spaces and accommodation is being built out in the next two years.

Their latest project, the United Lisbon Education Hub (.eduhublisbon.com) is a large rehabilitation project and is being developed as an innovative ecosystem for education. The first piece of the project, a world-class international school – the United Lisbon International School - opened in September 2020 and already has a student

What first brought you to Lisbon?

We moved to Portugal in 2007 – first to the Algarve, where we lived for 15 years. The people, opportunities, weather and connectivity are all brilliant in Portugal. Lisbon was the natural progression for us to expand the Martinhal brand after having opened two resorts in the south successfully. Lisbon is the capital city and is unparalleled in being an authentic yet modern European capital. It’s surrounded by a river and the Atlantic Ocean and is wellconnected to the rest of Europe, the Americas, as well as the Middle East and “WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT EDUCATION BEING THE DRIVER FOR GOOD IN THE WORLD.” Africa. In 2016, we opened two hotels in the Lisbon area – one in Quinta da Marinha, Cascais and the other in Chiado, old town Lisbon. In 2017, we started to diversify our real estate business interests into commercial and education as well.

Was it a childhood dream to become a successful entrepreneur with multiple businesses under your hat?

Not really! I was meant to become a doctor! And then I chose to pursue engineering for my undergraduate degree. Chose to enter Finance and Business by becoming a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and after six years with PW, I left to pursue a full-time MBA at the London Business School. It was really when I was 28 that I started thinking about becoming an entrepreneur with my husband, whom I had met at the same time.