Bianca Arenas hasn’t had an easy ride in the last few years, as setting up a business requires an abundance of time — a valuable currency when you have five young children at home to look after.

Despite being in the nail beauty industry for 16 years, Bianca had to take time off when she found out she was pregnant with twins, which meant losing her clientele and having to rethink her future.

As a result of this break, Bianca found clarity when it came to what she wanted to do – she was determined to launch a business in her own backyard, and she wouldn’t stop at anything until she had realised this goal.

“I was able to build a salon in my garden into the blueprints of our house. This streamlined the whole process and meant I could get things set up as soon as I moved in, rather than having to convert at a later date. Things started to fall into place when we moved and I began to realise this moment I’d been planning was truly going to be brought to life,” Bianca explained.

Creatifingerz is now building momentum on a daily basis thanks to the growing network that Bianca’s effectively established. Moving to a new estate has resulted in a wave of new customers for Bianca, due to residents wanting professional and accessible, conveniently-located treatments.

“There are a host of facebook pages and catalogues available to me through my community, which has allowed me to get my name out there again. If someone searches for nail treatments on the local catalogue search engine, my business comes up. These little things have allowed me to build my client base from a mere handful of loyal customers to a solid stream of appointments.”

Despite Creatifingerz gaining momentum, success hasn’t at all been handed to Bianca on a plate. Her confidence was knocked when coming back to the nail industry after taking time off to care for children, and realising that new technology had meant she was faced with a brand new challenge.

“I know that I’m talented at what I do, and I was pretty sure I’d get the hang of things, but having that two year break really felt like I had been left behind for a while. It was tough to push myself to start up my own company and invest in building a salon, rather than say a playroom for the kids.”

Moving out to Melbourne’s West was an exciting time for the family, but re-establishing herself professionally, uprooting and relocating her children, while still being present enough at home, has been a tough code to crack — even the most efficient time-management gurus would struggle with such a task.

Despite the challenges she’s faced along the way, business is booming for Bianca and she’s excited about what the future has in store.

Regaining confidence lost during maternity leave is a huge problem which many women are faced with. Not only can we start to doubt our abilities but it can be a real struggle between a woman and her identity.

Bianca’s ability to pick herself up and throw herself into the deep end should be an inspiration to all women, especially those struggling to come to terms with embracing re-employment and feeling out of orbit with the working world.

“It’s common, I think, to feel guilty for wanting to have a career when you’re a mother. We often feel as though we should be spending every waking moment doing things for our kids. Of course, this is true to an extent, but it’s so vital that we keep in check with ourselves too. We may be mothers, but we are also people with interests and aspirations that need to be nurtured as much as our little ones do,” Bianca explained.

Bianca’s story is part of Humans of Woodlea, an initiative by the fully-integrated, master-planned community to highlight the unique stories of its residents, while illustrating its diversity and spirit.