28 Mar Jimmy Halfpenny ~ Children’s Keepsake Art Books
The end of Term one is approaching and if you have any school aged children it is almost certain that your household is currently swimming in a range of gorgeous (and some less than gorgeous) artworks from your beloved children. No doubt they are piling up kitchen counters, overflowing school bags and taking over precious refrigerator door space.
Today The Nanny Collective sits down with Kate Boadu from Jimmy Halfpenny who came up with a great solution to all of those problems. Grab your morning coffee and have a read about Kate’s family, her journey in motherhood and how she came up with the idea for her very own business— Jimmy Halfpenny. It might just save you from tearing out your hair the next time your child empties out their school bag!
Tell me a little about your family?
Our family name is Boadu so we go by the name…The Boadu Tribe. Even our friends refer to us in the same way! It evolved after my daughter made her public speaking debut in Kindergarten where she described our house, and family members as living in the jungles of Springfield—and its stuck ever since.
My beautiful husband Jerome is a London Boy, born to a Ghanaian father and English mother – hence the “tribal” surname. We have three gorgeous multi-coloured children – Zahlia, aged 9 years, Klay – 7 years and waiting patiently in the wings, was the beautiful Ghana who graced us with her delightful, ever-happy presence some 17 months ago—completing our lively and, for the most part, very loud tribe. We also have two hairy, squashed nose, pug faced members in our tribe, the rambunctious Oscar & Otis, worthy of a mention!
Please tell me how Jimmy Half Penny came to be?
Jimmy Halfpenny was actually the name of my imaginary friend when I was a child. Jimmy was a quirky little fellow who I quite simply adored. I remember being asked by my parents as to “where Jimmy was?” whilst we were on a family holiday in Fiji when I was about 6 years old…to which I replied “Oh…he’s skiing in Canada, but unfortunately he has broken his leg!” The adventures in hindsight were hilarious, but as a mother now I see them as absolutely priceless.
In terms of how Jimmy was re-born—this is our story. My daughter Ghana was probably 3 months old when I recall “that moment”. It was the end of 2014, I was standing at the end of our island bench in our kitchen surveying the pile of artwork that I had just received in a bundle from the kids over their last few days at school. Couple that with nearly being buried alive by the already mounting pile of artworks I had from the children’s pre-school years and my creative, determined, adventurous, solution focused mind started thinking—what am I to do with these fabulous works, short of sticking them in a scrapbook, as my own Mum did in the 1980’s? Surely, they deserved far better than that. It sparked a thought…”I wonder if there is a service that exists in Australia, that deals with all of this chaotic, creative clutter and turns them into Children’s Keepsake Art Books”. I started researching frantically thinking…could I have that idea, could this be my next enterprise, surely someone else is doing it? Turns out there was no one who was delivering this complete service to parents, no one with a solution to this common dilemma. Fast forward 12 months and Jimmy Halfpenny was re-born!
Being a mother is a full time job on it’s own and you had Jimmy Half Penny to focus on. How did you make it all work?
My parents are the Dream Team. They have always provided me with unwavering support. They happily engage on every level with all three kids – picking up the slack with school drop-offs, attending after school activities and giving my husband and I time to exhale and get back to each other – super important. My brother is also in the mix – he lets me use a loft space above his double garages where I have created my JHP Studio. I’m so thankful for that!
I have so much respect to all Mummas for the job we do on the home front, but I am in absolute awe of those of us that manage to combine work & mothering – we are, quite frankly, a force to be reckoned with!
What were your greatest challenges as a working mum?
Finding the balance between The Working Me, The Mumma Me and The Wifey Me. An ongoing challenge, and one that I try to lessen the guilt I feel about my perceived failings in all three of these areas every day. I’m getting better at looking around the house and being ok with the Everest-sized washing pile that needs to be put away, or seeing the dog hairs whipping around on the deck, and half chewed Cheerios gracing our floor boards. I’m getting better at not re-living every bad word I said to my kids in frustration throughout the day, before I go to bed every night. On my tired days, I’m getting better at not biting off my husband’s head for simply breathing, trying to be mindful that he actually needs to do it at times to survive!?
I am also getting back to ME—for someone who has been a Personal Trainer/Fitness Instructor in my former life, my health & physical wellbeing keep my mental health on track in all three of my life roles – Mumpreneur, Mumma to the Tribe and Wifey! So I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, and it lets me breathe and exhale and feel like ME all over again! It presses my re-start button, so I can get on with conquering life!
What are your most treasured memories of motherhood, thus far?
The births of my children have to be three of the most cherished moments in my life – powerful, mind boggling, earthing, exhilarating and life changing beyond what words can express. All so very different… but that moment… when you have your baby placed upon your chest, for me that was a Life Peak… it’s that moment in life that changes you, grows your soul and affirms you.
Equally, I love looking at my little ones after they have all fallen asleep every night… still to this day my husband and I take ourselves together, room by room, to each one, to visually breathe in their beauty and gorgeousness, it gives you a little flutter to face another day, to leave behind the not-so-spectacular mothering moments of the day and figure that at the end of the day you are doing a pretty fantastic job on some pretty amazing Little Tribal members!
Where can we find out more about Jimmy Halfpenny?
Find us at www.jimmyhalfpenny.com.au
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest
The entire process is super easy and simple.
- An order is placed by the customer on jimmyhalfpenny.com.au and a Jimmy Halfpenny Postal Package is sent direct to the customer’s doorstep.
- Customers simply package up all of their little Artists’ creations and return the parcel of masterpieces to the Jimmy Halfpenny Design Team.
- Jimmy Halfpenny does the rest!!! The next parcel customers will receive is our completely original, gorgeous Children’s Keepsake Art Books. It’s that easy!
