A young mum told how she wanted to be an inspiration to women struggling to juggle a successful career with an enjoyable home life – after landing a senior job with a top cosmetics company at the age of 19.

Natalie Cox turned to beauty product company Avon just four months ago as a way of earning some extra money and beating post-natal depression following the birth of her son Aidan in September 2009.

Now Natalie, of Lime Tree Avenue, Wymondham, has landed a role as sales leader and is urging other mums in the area to follow her lead.

Natalie, who lives with her boyfriend Lewis Wisken, 24, soon noticed the benefits of her new flexible hours which allowed her to deliver catalogues across the town and organise a handful of parties each month without having to sacrifice precious time with her son.

She began to encourage other women to give the job a go and was soon promoted to sales leader by her area manager so she could officially recruit people into the company as part of her own team.

Over the last six weeks Natalie has attracted an additional eight people to Avon who she now advises and manages.

She is hoping more people will join with the aim of building on her success within the company and to show young parents they can enjoy work while caring for their children at home.

'I used to work in sales in Norwich so when I was deciding whether to go back, I decided I would rather stay at home while he (Aidan) is young,' she said.

'I got post-natal depression quite badly. I got back to nearly being what I was and I needed something that would get me out of the house.'

Natalie said her recruits so far have all been mums looking to juggle raising a child at home while continuing to work and maintaining some financial independence.

She added: 'I missed working; I missed the social side of work but I could not have both. If I worked I would want to be at home and if I was at home I would want to be at work. But this means I can be me and have time away from Aidan and be a mum as well.'