{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"YDGM Ep 019: Samina Courtin","description":"\u201cI think subconsciously I was looking for an outlet. I think I wanted a way out, and I wanted something more in my life, a creative outlet because I knew I wasn\u2019t getting that from my career. So I was happy to take that time away, and then I had Noah and then it was just me at home with Noah and Yasmin. And I look back at that time and oh my gosh, it was so special.\u201d Samina Courtin is the creator and owner of Mon Dessert, a London-based patisserie company. She specializes in beautiful and delicious macarons, and she has also designed cooking kits which she sells in Fortnum and Mason, Harrods, and other high-end specialty shops. Samina is a mother of two adorable happy children, a girl and a boy, in primary school in Southwest London. Her husband is French and they met through mutual friends. Her career started in a very male-centered in an e-commerce digital marketing company, using her interests in math and science. But she felt that something was missing. Working in the marketing industry wasn\u2019t allowing her to explore her creative side. \u201cIt was strange. I was the first person to become pregnant in my company. It was a very young industry. You know, you\u2019re thinking, it was 2009 and that\u2019s when I first went on maternity leave. The internet world and how to monetize that and how to create e-commerce platform, it was just exploding. It was still a very young industry and I was one of the oldest there and I wasn\u2019t even 30. And when I came back (from maternity leave), I think it was the financial crisis, literally I walked into the office and I didn\u2019t recognize anyone. I felt like I was being given shoddy work, the stuff that nobody didn\u2019t want to do. When I became pregnant with Noah, and I took my second maternity leave, obviously one after the other during a financial crisis, and they were like, \u2018uh, we really would like you NOT (to do that) \u2026\u201d Motherhood is what opened her natural artistic and creative side. Being at home with her two small children inspired her to start exploring her home skills, especially baking and cooking. She shares about how she started her company Mon Dessert and how she is living her multi-passionate and amazing life with her husband and two children. Check out my episode with Samina listen to her fabulous and interesting story. It\u2019s so amazing and colorful and \u2018tasty\u2019. Oui Oui! Visit Samina\u2019s website http:\/\/www.mondessert.co.uk\/. Connect with her on Instagram @mondessert and Twitter @mondessert ","author_name":"You're Doing Great Mom","author_url":"http:\/\/youredoinggreatmom.com","html":"