Roma Norriss is reshaping what success can look like, proving you don’t need a university degree or a full-time job to earn a solid income. While working just four to six hours a week, she brings in over £50,000 a year – a figure made even more remarkable considering she’s been dealing with a neurological condition for the past four years.
With her current rate set at £290 per hour, she’s been able to build a sustainable business on her own terms. And when her health allows her to return to full-time work, she expects to more than double that amount, predicting annual profits of around £120,000.
Her career path has been far from conventional. Back in 2002, she enrolled in a Midwifery course at King’s College London, drawn to the subject with genuine passion. But after a steep decline in her health, she had no choice but to walk away from the course.
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She made plans to return to study years later but discovered she was pregnant with her first child, Zephyr, and chose to put motherhood first.
Another opportunity to pursue a degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Sussex came up, but instead of heading to campus, Roma followed her instinct and traveled to Japan instead.
She remembers her time at King’s vividly, especially the tension between her love for the course and the toll it took on her physically. There were times she found herself retreating to storage cupboards between classes, trying to hide her pain while staying on top of assignments. These moments shaped her perspective and pushed her to rethink how she wanted to approach life and work.
Instead of forcing herself to fit into traditional systems that didn’t accommodate her needs, she carved her own path – one that blends flexibility, purpose and financial freedom.
Now a parenting consultant and mother of three, Roma is clear that while she didn’t finish a university degree, she’s far from unqualified. Her credentials come from a year-long professional training with Hand in Hand Parenting and certification as a breastfeeding counsellor through the National Childbirth Trust.
She’s spent nearly two decades working with families, helping them through some of the most intense and emotional periods of parenting – and charging a premium for her expertise.
Her work doesn’t just pay the bills – it leaves a lasting impact. Roma describes parenting consultancy as “the most rewarding job out there,” and she means it. She’s regularly contacted by families who want to share how her guidance helped them shift from crisis to calm, from conflict to connection.
It’s a job that goes beyond surface-level advice – it’s about truly understanding what families are going through and helping them create new ways of being together.
She encourages others who are drawn to this kind of work to dive in and not let the lack of a degree hold them back. According to Roma, there’s immense value in real-world experience and emotional intelligence, especially in a field as nuanced as parenting support.
She urges aspiring consultants to take the role seriously, reminding them that parents today are often overwhelmed with conflicting advice – and thoughtful, well-informed guidance can make all the difference.
Roma’s story is a powerful reminder that the standard route isn’t the only route. Through a mix of personal resilience, intuition and a commitment to helping others, she’s built a career that’s financially sustainable, emotionally fulfilling and completely on her own terms.
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