I
t all began with a baby sleeping bag, recounts Bloom and
Grow CEO Alexandra Dickson Leach, as the Hong Kong-
based company celebrates its tenth anniversary. With offices
in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Australia, her brainchild is
now the leading distributor of internationally renowned mother
and baby brands in Asia.
“My daughter had outgrown her Grobag and I couldn’t
find the next size up. A friend suggested I should start
importing them!” says Alexandra. “We found ourselves in a
unique position at the right time as China opened its doors
to foreign brands. Hong Kong is an amazing place to start a
business, because its people have a great work ethic and
you can get everywhere quickly, so you learn to juggle to fit
it all in.”
Juggling work and her personal life is more challenging
however, admits the mother of three. “I try hard not to let
work come into the home, but it is inevitable, especially as
my husband now works in the business. We try to get home
to eat dinner with our children, help with homework and put
them to bed. If needed, I continue working after they go to
bed.”
With Alexandra often working 18-hour days and mulling
over her to-do list at night, she relishes the rare opportunities
she gets to relax. “I love to go out on the water. Getting
away from Hong Kong on a boat for the afternoon is
perfect, or going for a swim. And we all love going for a foot
massage!”
Whilst switching off entirely is not an option for Alexandra,
she recently enjoyed her first work-free holiday since the
inception of Bloom and Grow a decade ago.
“Last summer, for the first time, we went to the US and
stayed on a dude ranch for five days. Phones were very
much frowned upon and on about day three, I thought I
wasn’t going to make it! But, actually, it was a great lesson:
everyone survived, and probably flourished, in the office
without me and I finally had a proper break.”
Running your own successful business while raising kids?
It’s all in a day’s work for this mum, writes
Angela Baura
.
It
’
s in the bag
February 2015
59
