Published on Career Center on ClassifiedPost.com

Freelance life offers exciting challenges

When my first child came along, I was working full-time and studying part-time for a master's degree. My time was limited but I had great support - my husband was working from home, and I had a helper. I was entitled to 10 weeks' leave, which I changed to 20 weeks' part-time. I also had a lot of accumulated holidays, so I had plenty of time off.

When my son was almost two, I started working part-time at the South China Morning Post. Then, when my daughter arrived five years ago, I left and became a freelance journalist. I hadn't anticipated it would take so much time to build a business. I spent a lot of time pitching for work, making contacts, researching publications and reading. My income was pitiful.

Writing from home with two small children around is not easy. They just don't understand why you're not available