Inspiring women in business - Louise Archary of Bumps and Bundles of Joy

Louise Archary of Bumps & Bundles of Joy

One of the perks of being a blogger is to meet inspiring people all the time. Sister Louise Archary was sitting next to me at the recent MamaMagic New Products Awards. She has her own family wellness business. I wish I knew her when Little Miss was small, as I had a few awful encounters at my local clinic. They managed to always make me feel like a bad mother. We as moms need all the help we can get while being pregnant and especially helping us keeping the little ones "alive". This is exactly what Louise does.



Louise was kind enough to answer a few questions.

Louise Archary of Bumps & Bundles of Joy

Louise, who are you? (The elevator pitch ;-) )

My name is Louise Archary or ‘’Sister Louise’’ as my clients call me . I am a wife and proud mother of two and a private practicing registered nurse and midwife, qualified for about 15 years already.  I have achieved qualifications in: General Nursing, Psychiatry, Community Health and Midwifery. My aim is to support mums during and after pregnancy and to assist in the facilitation of overall family wellbeing.  I also consider myself to wear the hats of Prenatal Educator, Wellness Coach and Specialist in Immunizations.

How did your career progress, and why did you decide to start your own business?

My passion for mother and childcare began as a student nurse during my midwifery training and from there on out I always took an interest in everything pertaining to mummies and babies, starting from pregnancy.  Having a family of my own added to this passion.  Before I decided to go out and practice privately I managed a baby and family wellness clinic for one of the big hospital groups for nearly 4 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.  My reason for taking  this decision was mainly to  be able to be a more hands on mother, to spend more time with my kids and to have more flexibility with my time.  The flexibility now allows me to drop off and collect my kids from school and  to attend more school and sporting events with them.

I also wanted to take a more personalised approach to caring for my clients giving them more individual attention.  As a mum myself I understand the needs, concerns and fears that new parents have and feel that a clinic visit should not be rushed so that parents can feel more informed,  confident and empowered by the time they leave my rooms.

My clinics or main office  is based in Fourways on Kingfisher drive but I also have a another office in Saxonwold for the convenience of some of my clients.

I offer the following services at my practice:

·         Antenatal classes (Saturday classes offered)

·         Postnatal support

·         Breastfeeding

·         Childhood Immunizations

·         Childhood growth and develop assessments

·         Baby stimulation and exercise classes

·         Advice and training on Introduction of baby’s first foods

·          General health education

·         Vitality wellness checks

·         Adult Flu and Vitamin injections

Give us some tips about juggling being a working mom, and having children

Being a working mum is not easy but it is oh so rewarding.  The best advice I can give is to prioritise.  For me it is family first then comes career and making money.  When you feel fulfilled as an individual and a mother you are more productive and creative.  I keep a diary which allows me to plan my days  and to plan my work schedule around the kids school times, holidays and other family activities.

I prepare my diary in November for the new year, this has helped me to put in what is important to me and my family in advance for the whole year before any work commitments are booked.  I also keep the school  D6 communicator app on my cell phone, this is handy in that I am notified  and reminded of events, test or even cancellations of activities so I can rearrange my schedule if need be.

Do you have some tips for business? What are you doing that is making your business successful?

On the business management side, it has honestly been a learning curve for and a lot of on the job training as I have no formal training in business.  However  being a nurse and mother I am naturally more of  a care giver which is one of the qualities, along with my passion that stand out and forms the foundation of my business.  I put most of my focus on customer care and meeting the needs of my client.  I consider my small business to be dynamic in that I am always changing things up according to what my clients need, appreciate and also take note of their suggestions.  Another thing I find helps a lot is to find a mentor or someone who does what you do and have been successful in it for a long period of time.  I meet regularly with my mentors and other small business owners practicing in a similar field and we share ideas and discuss systems that work well for each of us.  Attending networking events and workshops pertaining to my field of work help a great deal as well.


Thanks so much, Louise. I love the fact that you already start doing your planning for the next year in November. (Note to self!)


Did you also have a bad experience at your local clinic?