Online Lives: Lucy O'Connor
Lucy O’Connor from Dublin took a career break from her job in human resources in 2012 and since set up her own digital media company and two parenting blogs, writes .
“When I took my career break, blogging gave me an outlet away from being Mum. It kept my brain busy and, of course, now I am trying to establish the whole digital media area as my new career,” she said.
The mother-of-three has two blogs which both focus on parenting and pregnancy advice: learnermama.com and csectionmums.com.
“‘Learner Mama’ is very much about general parenting and my motherhood experiences whereas ‘C-section Mums’ is exactly what it says on the tin and purely about C-section births.”
As well as her blogs, Lucy uses social media to connect with others and share advice with minimal effort: “I love being able to interact with like-minded people so easily.
She set up the ‘Irish C-section Mammies’ Facebook group to offer support and encouragement to other mothers preparing to give birth.
“There are over 500 mothers [in the group] who have given birth or are about to give birth by C-section.
“The peer to peer information and support is incredible — real-life practical advice you just wouldn’t get it from a medical practitioner despite having carried out hundreds of C-sections.”
Lucy says blogging is a more difficult career than many people expect and adds it is not a get-rich-quick career choice. “I think there is a massive misconception about bloggers in Ireland. That can be frustrating.
“Bloggers, particularly those trying to make some money out of it, work hard yet get accused of being ‘blaggers’ by those who probably don’t know how much work goes into blogging or creating content.”
Lucy has forged friendships with some of her fellow bloggers: “Some I would refer to as friends which, without social media, I would probably have never even met.”
She has found their support of her fellow bloggers invaluable, adding that they her fellow bloggers happily offer advice and support to other bloggers.
“The Irish blogging community is great, very supportive, particularly the Irish parenting bloggers. They are always there to lend an (online) ear, whether it’s blogging related or you are having a difficult day parenting-wise.”
She says blogging has a lot of offer for anyone interested in pursuing it.
“Whether you want a fun hobby or to make a full-time career out of it, blogging has so much to offer and if you enjoy it just keep doing it.”
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