About

Hi, I’m Anne-Marie.

I help business owners who have experienced the devastating and unexpected loss of a loved one pick up the pieces and create a full, happy life alongside a business that works for them.

I know first hand how difficult life after loss can be.

On the morning of Monday 7th May 2018, I found my husband in the garage of our then family home after he had taken his own life. That day completely changed my life.

It’s the day we went from a typical family of 4 who had just spent the bank holiday weekend celebrating birthdays and were preparing to attend a fundraising event for the children’s school to a family of 3 trying to understand and cope with the loss of a husband/father all in what felt like the blink of an eye.

He left with no life insurance policy, an eye-watering amount of ‘joint‘ debt I had no clue about & he left behind two amazing children, 10 & 13 at the time.

Every single detail of that day is still firmly etched in my memory. It was completely and utterly devastating. Honestly, there were days I wasn’t sure how I’d carry on; it all felt too much.

It’s by no means been an easy journey, but with resilience, a desire to make the best life possible for my boys, and the fortune of some amazing people who were in my life or who came into my life at the right time, I now have a full and happy life that I couldn’t even have imagined back then.

Today, I have cleared that debt; I’ve raised two remarkable children, 17 & 20, who are full of hopes and dreams and possess the skills and independence to make their lives incredible. I have met a wonderful, supportive man who accepts me for who I am, and we live in a beautiful farmhouse in the Dorset countryside with breathtaking views out to the sea, and we have a child on the way. I have a successful 6-figure design business producing work for global corporate giants, and which has taken me to some incredible places in the world. It’s not been an easy path here, there have been many lessons learned along the way, but with a large dose of tenacity, coupled at times with some dark humour, and an unerring belief I can make it through, I’m here and it’s been a valuable journey.

Once Upon a Monday exists because I believe that it’s possible for others to find their way through that darkest day to their version of success and happiness with practical advice, systems, and guidance from someone who has experienced her own dark day and found a path through it.