From Maternity Leave to Building Your Village | Jessica on Supporting Women Back to Work

In this episode of the Built By Her Podcast, Georgie sits down with Jessica, founder of Your Village a coaching programme designed to support women returning to work after maternity leave.

As a mum of four and someone who has lived the reality of returning to work after having children, Jessica shares why she started the business, the gaps she saw in support for working mums, and why the return-to-work phase can feel just as big as the transition into maternity leave itself.

Together, they talk about the confidence wobbles, identity shifts, mental load, childcare pressures and emotional challenges so many women face when stepping back into work and why businesses need to do more to support them. Jessica also explains how her coaching works, why community is such a powerful part of the process, and how better support can help businesses retain brilliant women.

They also dive into Jessica’s own journey of launching a business while raising young children, the reality of juggling motherhood and ambition, and why finding your village matters so much.

This is an honest, thoughtful conversation about motherhood, work, confidence, community and creating a way of working that actually supports women.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Returning to work after maternity leave and why it can feel so overwhelming
• The confidence, identity and mindset shifts that happen after becoming a mum
• Why businesses need to better support women before, during and after maternity leave
• How coaching can help women advocate for themselves and move forward with clarity
• The power of community and connection for working mums
• Starting a business while raising a family
• Why women need a village in both motherhood and business

This episode is a really honest conversation about motherhood, ambition, support and building a life and career that works for you.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome, Jess, from Your Village. Please can you go ahead and introduce yourself? Yes, of course. So I'm Jessica. Yeah, I am the founder of Your Village, which is a uh coaching program for women returning to work after maternity leave. Ooh, and what got you into that? So I am I'm a mum of four. I've got two older stepkids and two younger ones, four and a half and nearly two, which is crazy. Um, and so I've lived the experience myself and I know how limited the support is out there. Um, and I decided to do something about it.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

Ooh, that's done. And what got you into like, so what were you doing prior to doing this?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

So my background has always been in people, so customer service initially, hospitality, um, and then learning and development HR. So I've always done a lot of informal coaching in my work, um, and it's always been the area that I have come away from finding the most rewarding, whether it be in a managerial role or within a learning and development role, um, kind of supporting other people and helping them in that place has always been something I've been passionate about.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yeah, and so then obviously you started your business. How long ago was that?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

So I registered it in the summer last year. So very, very new. Um, but it was off the back of finishing my second maternity leave. Yeah. So I was really in the thick of it when it was all kind of coming together. And is it something that you definitely struggled with then going back in? Is that where it's all been founded from? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, first time round, I did officially go back into a work a workplace, my previous workplace that I went into. Um, I had been promoted before I left for maternity leave. I was going back into a new team. It was all really, really exciting. Um, but you can't, it's really indescribable until you've had a child, you don't know. But the the lens that you suddenly see the world through and experience life through is just so totally different and nothing prepares you for it. So going back into the same workplace, it didn't feel the same.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

And unfortunately, the support that I received wasn't what I needed. The business itself wasn't to blame with that with that, it was essentially a manager-dependent situation. So if you had a really, really great manager, you had a great experience. Yeah, but unfortunately, the manager that I had was very new to the business herself. Um, and so it was it was a tricky experience, I think, for both of us to kind of navigate the setup, and ultimately it just wasn't right for me. So the learning experience from that was that actually I didn't need to go through that, the business didn't need to go through that, and actually, if the right support had been in place, it could have been prevented.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

So then when I came back off my second maternity leave, I actually didn't have a job to go to because the job beforehand was a maternity cover itself.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Um, so I basically had the decision of okay, do I go and find another job or do I take the plunge and kind of provide this support to people that I know is needed and I'm really, really passionate about. Um and so I started to kind of get the cogs turning and yeah, step by step kind of built what I've what I've got today.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Oh, and what do you think the biggest challenges are then for women coming back into the workplace and the other way around, like businesses taking women back on maternity leave?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yeah, well, I think I suppose if I look at the business side first, I think there's a lot of um fear around it because there is so much legal protection for women. So I think particularly managers are really scared of you know doing the wrong thing. So actually, what happens is they don't do anything rather than doing the wrong thing, they kind of just completely step back. And I think actually there's a lot of support that can be given there. So some of the work that I do with my clients at the moment is actually supporting line managers and helping them to provide um, yeah, the kind of tools that they need to help. Um, so I think that's a big part of it. And also the the maternity cycle starts from the minute somebody tells work that they're pregnant to actually 12 months after they return. There's stats around women leaving their jobs. I think there's something like 36% of women leave their jobs within a year of returning to find better supported work. Um so there's the you know there is data to support it, um, so it can be fixed. And then for women, I mean, the every woman is different and every experience is different. You know, there's real pressures around the cost of childcare. Um, so that that's the kind of they're navigating. Do I go back full-time? Do I go back flexibly? Is flexibly an option? I've also got confidence issues, I've got identity issues, imposter syndrome's massive. I'm imagining managing this juggle, you know, there's there's so much to it, um, and it's overwhelming and it can be quite isolating as well.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

I guess as well, you're coming back into a job which beforehand you knew, like probably like the back of your hands, and now you're like, a year's a year is quite a long time for a lot of stuff to happen in a business. So you come back in, like you said, you have always other things to contend with, but also you're like, I don't remember my job. What do I do?

SPEAKER_01 4:36

The word for this sentence, you know, and the sentence has gone, absolutely, yeah, I can't remember my passwords, or you know, this is a whole new team, and yeah, actually, you kind of were almost frozen in time with the work where you left it, but you get back and actually it has moved on. Um, so yeah, absolutely, it's it's overwhelming.

SPEAKER_02 4:51

I guess you're also contending with the fact that you're probably a bit sleep deprived. Massively. Massively. All you can think about is like, have I given my kid lunches?

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Yeah, exactly. And that like the I mean the hormones in your body as well stay in your body until your child is two as well. So you're you're dealing with all of this stuff, and your brain is this massive like superpower. When you have a child, it actually does like physically change to make room for these new skills that you need. So I think a lot of people use mum brain as like a derogatory term, but actually, it's amazing. It's just that when we go back to work, we're then adapting it back to you know, using well, we've just made more room for it essentially for extra things that are in there.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Um, so yeah, sometimes you forget the word for I don't know, banana.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Not quite sure what I still used to keep on two years ago. You still got the hormones just yeah. Like the whole women in business and like mums and stuff, like especially like the built-by-hevents, like a lot of people talk about like juggling. Like, I remember speaking to someone and they were like, Oh well, I run like a practice, and like in most worlds, that practice would be run by a male, and their wife would be supporting. Um, but she was like, That's not the case, so I actually run the practice, I also run my family, yeah, because he's got a full-time job doing something completely different to what she does. And she was like, I literally run around like a mad hatter, and she was just there, like, it's just wild, like trying to run your business, and you don't want to let the balls drop at home either.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

That's the thing, you can't let the ball drop either in either place, yeah. But actually, I mean, so for me, I was it's very much I am not letting the ball drop at home. Like, that is the one, like for me, that is I can't. So, actually, work is fitting around that, and that's the like boundary I've made for myself. But yeah, it's it's it's so hard, and I think being a woman in today's world is quite an overwhelming position to be in, you know, politically, socially, everything that's going on. So, actually, where you can find a feeling of safety and connection and support, you you gotta do it because yeah, it's it's yeah, it's a hard time.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Yeah, it is hard. I think as well, like the whole like like managing the home and the business, like you want both to succeed. Absolutely, and it's so hard.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Like we're a generation of girl power, like we were told you could do everything, and then you get there and you're like, Oh, actually, yeah, you can do everything, but we're not gonna help you do it, you just gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

So we've got to help each other hard.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah, I think as well, like obviously you've got a husband, I guess he's super supportive with all that. Sure. He's amazing. Yeah, yeah. So like that would obviously matter.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

But he also has a really like well, he has a very high power job, really important job. I'm really lucky that he works from home. Yeah, and he's an absolutely exceptional dad. Um, but yeah, for sure, as with most most homes, the like the mentor load and the like lead parent, so they say, Yeah, it does, it does fall on me. Yeah, um, and that's okay. I work, you know, my business is being run in two days a week, and that's what I'm choosing for it to be. But yeah, absolutely, I think running a business or starting a business yourself, you don't your brain doesn't turn off. You know, I'm cooking dinner or I'm changing an appy and I'm thinking about what my, you know, what what my next thing is gonna be. So yeah, it does it doesn't switch off.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yeah, so yeah. That is quite hard. I definitely find that when I go to bed, I'm like thinking of all these things, and I'm like, I just need a notepad.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Yeah, and I write it down. I have to write it down. I can't put it in my phone either.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

I have to use a pen and paper. No, I've started getting my phone at night, going in the notes, you know how it's got that like ticket. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, and I just write down everything, which I'm like, that's really good. Like that for me worked. My partner, on the other hand, he time blocks his calendar with tasks. Oh wow, and then he like moves it because he hasn't done it, he's like moving it across, but he puts everything on there, like everything, even like to the point of like I need to book dinner.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Remember, maybe that's what she gave my husband to do. Stop doing it in the diary, book a date night.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Yeah, so like, and like we blocked out like date nights to be like, that's our date night, don't move it. But it's so interesting because for him, he has to time allocate and he blocks it out. For me, I'm like, dump it all. Yeah, just brain dump. And then I'm like, where do I start?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

That's the problem. I tend to go, but I tend to I'm in the middle of both of you. I tend to do that big brain dump, and then I'm like, okay, how do I organise the chaos? But I am the sort of person that will brain dump, even if I've already done it because I like to be able to tick it off.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

That's the worst thing. I know when you've like done a task and you go to your list and you're like, was it on there? I can't even tick it off. I did that. I literally did that yesterday. Regular occurrence. Oh my god, I need to take this.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Makes me feel better.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Honestly, but it is funny, like how people like how they manage their time, their days. Yeah, yeah. We're all so different. All of that. I know, yeah. But it is really interesting because I definitely have spoken to people in like the community and they've gone, I do this, I do that.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

And I'm like, hmm, should take that away with me today. Well, that's it, it's trial and error, isn't it? I think. And like we said, especially when you're working on your own, yeah, it can be quite isolating. So actually getting some inspiration from other people, even if it doesn't work, it's just trying something different, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 9:44

And it's I think it's like trying to be open as well. Like, obviously, with your community, when all these women come from different businesses and they start having a conversation about it, they're like, oh, they have it too. Like, oh, that's great. Yeah, and I think like you can think, oh, is it just me? Am I the only person feeling like this? And Chat GPT is not gonna help you with that. No, no, no, no, no. It's gonna be like, Yeah, you are alone. It's sometimes savage. You are the problem, Jordi. I'm like, okay, fine. But like it is nice to know that like it isn't just your feeling, everyone else has the same feeling, and it's okay, and like there are workarounds, and I think like obviously coaching is probably like so helpful for that because you can kind of come quite I guess actually, probably the first session they're not as vulnerable. I bet by session four, it was a very big difference between the finished sec well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

In terms of the program, yeah, for sure, there was a lot of like uncertainty at the beginning, or like you're not sure what it was. A lot of people haven't heard of coaching, especially the women that I'm working with, because they're c they're not usually in those executive positions, and those executive positions have likely had coaching. Actually, I'm working with the women before they get to that stage, so they've never been offered it, they've never had exposure to it, and even if they think they understand it, they sometimes will come and they'll ask me for the answers. Yeah, that's not what coaching is. Um, and it's about helping them get the answers out of themselves or figure out what they're wanting to do. Um, so I think there is a lot of uncertainty around it because it is it's a relatively new field, it's probably been like 20 years or so. Yeah, what is like what actually we should have asked is like what is coaching?

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Coaching, like because you know what therapy is, you know what counselling is, like coaching.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, it's interesting actually that you should say that because when I did my um qualification, you don't have to have a qualification, it's actually an unregulated industry. But as a woman, I wanted to go and get a qualification, you know? I felt like it gives you that, you know. So I went to I did Henley Business School and it was absolutely exceptional, met a fantastic bunch of people. But the first thing they got us to do is write down there was a like five whiteboards around the room, and it was okay, what is coaching not, or like how is coaching similar to this, but not? So, like, for example, as a therapist, we had to write down how is coaching similar and how is it not? So we had to be really, really clear for ourselves. And if I was talking about pure coaching, I am literally just asking you questions. That's all I'm doing is asking you questions upon questions, upon questions, upon questions, upon questions, which can be really frustrating. What's the first question you ask? Oh, it depends. Usually it's where's your name? Where do you want to start? That's it, exactly. And that is it, is where where do you want to start? So it's and it's working through with people from that. And some people want just time to think and they think out loud, they want you as a soundboard. So, what's interesting with the maternity coaching, particularly if I'm doing four one-to-one sessions, those first two sessions, the pre-leave and the pre-return, are usually less black and white coaching because they are in need of more support at that point. They do want more of a soundboard, they do want more of an empathetic ear. But actually, those last two sessions are more forward-focused, and that's what coaching is. Coaching is forward focused. It's about where what's the goal you want to get to. So you've returned to work now. What is your driver? You know, what what is moving you forward? But it's not, this is what this is what's so interesting, is that everybody's got different priorities. Some of them, okay, I've had this is my third kid, this is it now. My career is my career is my focus. I want to be in that executive chair in five years' time. How do I get there? You know, or it would be someone that will come back and say, right, I'm back for 18 months, I'd really like to try and have another kid, but I want to move my career forward in the next 18 months and I want to get to that point. So it's, you know, it's working out what their goal is and it's forward focused. So those that's why the four are quite different. And the coaching that I do is probably less traditional than an executive level coach because I meet them where they need to be at that time.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Yeah. And like you said, everyone's got different different goals, different priorities. 100%. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

So you're not giving you're giving like the guidance and like I'm giving them the platform um and I'm challenging their thinking. Yeah. So for example, someone might say, um, oh, I'm I'm really scared about having a con I know I need to have a conversation with my manager, yeah, but I'm really scared to have that conversation. And then I will unpick what they're scared of. So, okay, what's making you scared of that conversation? And once we've got to the bottom of that, okay, so how are we going to move that forward? What if I if we were to practice the conversation, you know, can you practice it with me? And it's it's things like that. It's it's very specific to the individual.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

But that's so hard as well, because if you said, Oh, what are you scared of? I someone should just have a oh no, yeah, I just don't want to have it.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah, and then you'll talk about things like okay, so has there been an experience in the past that's made you feel like you need to be scared? You know, you know, whether you've had a conversation with that person before, so it's it's helping them to understand the layers that they can't reach on the owner. Wow. It's powerful. That is. Yeah, I remember when I was watching my doing the doing the training, they gave us a lot of demonstrations. Yeah, and you literally be mind-blown at the end of it watching these professionals that have been coaching for 25 years. Yeah. You just think that's like magic.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

So do you think you'll stay doing like going back to like maternity, sort of going back into work coaching, or do you think you'll expand out like women in in business?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

I can coach any, but I can coach anybody. You know, I've done a lot of coaching with lots of different people. Interestingly, actually, the people I um have really enjoyed coaching have been men in their 60s or you know, in CEO positions, absolutely, because we're so different from each other. Yeah. So actually that works quite nicely because I can be a completely impartial coach. Yeah, but for right now, I'm I'm so passionate about supporting women. I'm I guess I'm so in the thick of it.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

And I'm so passionate about supporting women back into the place where they want to be, in a world that they are not getting the support that they need, in a world that actually is pushing them back down to where we've been previously. I'm refusing to accept that. And where I can help lift, you know, the fact that I've given myself this freedom by starting to work for myself, and actually the job that I'm doing is helping other women find that freedom within themselves. It just makes it that much sweeter. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

So if a woman is looking to go back into work, would she come to yourself?

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Like how would how does your process work? It's interesting actually. So if I'm talking about it from kind of like building a business perspective, I've actually shifted my approach.

SPEAKER_04 15:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

When I started last year, I was very much looking at um target targeting the women, going to the women and um showing them what I can do for them.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

But actually I'm quite quickly realized when you get to the end of maternity leave, you don't have any money left. You know, you're you're working on a tiny, tiny amount. Most of it cuts out at nine months. Um, and even at night before nine months, you're earning just the you know the limited amount. So, as much as I want to kind of be that connection for the women, what I realized was if I'm gonna be able to provide them with the support they need, I'm gonna have to go to the source of the money. So, actually, what I've been doing now is connecting with local businesses who really want to support these women but haven't necessarily known how to do it. Yeah. Um, and so I'm working with a few clients now who actually have brought me on, and any anytime somebody lets them know that they're pregnant, yeah, I'm entered into the process. Um and I've been working with them. So the idea is of essentially to build a regular running group program. So bringing women together from different businesses around the local area, coming together into one program to do some group coaching and build a community and a connection. Um but at the moment, as I'm still just kind of getting enough businesses on board and working with enough people, I'm lucky enough to be able to offer one-to-one support.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

So I'm offering women a session before they go on leave, when they're on leave during a kit day, and then two when they come back.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So they've got that full support. And then as well, working with the line managers to make sure that that's like fully holistic. Exactly, that full holistic circle is done.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Oh, the community thing reminds like baby groups.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Like it was like the equivalent, but like the the mummy group. That is totally where it started, Georgie. And that was that was exactly the brainwave I had. I remember lying in bed with my husband one night and we were just chatting different things, and there's so many antenatal classes that you can do. Um, and the support when you're on maternity leave is amazing. You know, there's buggy fit classes, there's you know, coffee mornings, there's all sorts. Yeah, and then you get to the end of maternity leave, which actually essentially is as big a transition moving out the end of maternity leave as it is moving into maternity leave, and there's nothing there, there's no support. You know, all your friends from your baby group have gone back at different times or in different capacities. Some have gone back full-time, some have not gone back at all, some have gone back part-time, and you're suddenly in this situation where you're quite isolated. So I thought there's got to be something there that I can get these women together and send them off in a WhatsApp group. In fact, I piloted it in September last year, and they're getting together again tomorrow night. They literally reached out to each other because a couple of them are struggling with a few different things, and they said, Is anyone around to go for dinner? So, you know, that's it's amazing. It's and that's that's the whole point, is that you've got this ongoing connection. So, do you do you attend those as well then? I have been invited to go to this one, so yeah, yeah, whether I can always go, I don't know. But yeah, I am going tomorrow night as well, which I'm really looking forward to. It'd be nice to see them again. So nice.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Yeah, it's really cool. So that's the goal then is to kind of get into businesses, help from that side back, build a community for mummies to kind of connect and for working.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Yeah, working women, exactly. And and it's the juggle that they're experiencing and being able to support each other with the juggle, um, for sure. So so yeah, I mean, whether businesses choose to put their individuals or give them the option to go on the community program, that would be great. But if there's individuals that would rather that one-to-one support, or if the potentially there's not enough people to go on the programme at a time, yeah, I can do the the one-to-one support. But yeah, the the community program that we piloted in September was magic. So that would be that would be the dream to be able to keep going with that. That is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

So, do you think that as a result of like doing what you're doing, the return to work process is retaining the staff as well? Because obviously, like if you come back with that support, you're probably more likely to stay, aren't you? So, do you think from like a business point of view they're really seeing a difference?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah, I hope so. I mean, the bottom line is is it's a massive, massive difference. So, in fact, I met with a client yesterday and they were saying how well received the work already has been, um, which is brilliant. And and yeah, absolutely, you know, this affects the gender pay gap. It affects the number of women in leadership positions. You know, we're talking about all these all these buzzwords in business, but actually it starts here. Women are having children later in life, and so their skill sets are greater than they were, you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago, because they are having children later into their 30s and even in their early 40s. So when they come back, actually they've got this huge amount of talent. What a waste it is, you know, not to support it and not to kind of keep it growing. So actually, if we can support it at this stage and make it accessible to everyone, you know, that's the other thing. I think there's a lot of maternity coaching out there, or there's bigger businesses that might have their own program internally, but actually it's not accessible necessarily for your administrators and for your secretaries and for your middle managers. You know, they're not gonna pay for coaching. So actually, what I'm offering is accessible financially for everyone to be able to be offered it. And absolutely, if you're supporting women from that level, they're gonna grow and they're gonna stay and they're gonna appreciate it. Actually, women, it's there's stats around women value that support and that are much more loyal to businesses that give them that rather than the financial rewards they would choose.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

Because you get it at the start as well, like from the minute you tell them you're pregnant, not when you come back, because actually, like you could be fearing coming back, and then you get that support, which is great at that point, but knowing that it's coming probably massively helps like the women come back to work. Do you find that a lot of people shift what they want out of their workplace?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah, massively. The the priorities are completely different, and it's funny when you sit with women who are just about to go on leave and you know they're the concerns that are coming up for them at that time, you then meet with them just before they're due to return, and actually those conversations they're not irrelevant, but they are it's they're amazed in themselves the difference in actually where their priorities sit and what the challenges are that are coming up for them and the way things land, and like I said to you earlier, you can't explain it until you're living it. Yeah, and that's what's I feel so privileged about in my role is that I can go through that journey with them and and we can kind of support them with what they need at that time.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yeah, yeah. Do you think that's hard to like navigate back to the like the business? Because obviously when they've gone, oh well, I want to come back and I want to come back into the same role, whatever they say, like I I want to do four days a week, and you're going, okay. So you like obviously go to the business and be like, they really want to come back, they're really and then they come back after a year and they go, I actually only want part time.

unknown 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

And probably don't want to be so such a high level, like I want to like transition back into it. Yeah. But that's quite a hard conversation to have back the business because I I guess they had this like assumption, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

They were going to come back as one thing and I've actually had to maybe fill that gap there.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Exactly. Yeah. And in terms of my role, my role isn't necessarily that communication between the two. But what my role can be is to provide the individual with the tools to be able to advocate and negotiate, you know, for what they need. But in terms of the business, I can actually provide them with the information that will help them to make an informed decision in the way that they move forward with it. And actually, most businesses now are quite good in knowing that that is not a conversation you need to have before someone leaves because that individual themselves doesn't know. You don't want to put that pressure on them. The business doesn't know either. Things change massively in a year's time. Then business might not need them in the same capacity in a year's time, so there might be more flexibility. Um, so yeah, I think the big thing is actually not having any expectation up front on both sides, um, is is quite a good message to deliver, I think.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

And in terms of like companies that you're working with or your ideal client, like where would that sit?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Oh for me, it's about it's about connecting the area. Which Heltenham is made up more of small and medium-sized businesses than it is big businesses, and that's why I feel like the community program fits really well here because you've got these small and medium-sized businesses that may only have women go on maternity leave, you know, one a year or you know, one every two years, or you know, even less potentially. And so they've not got the infrastructure to support that person coming back, um, and they've not necessarily got the yeah, the time to kind of support them where they need it. So actually, to be able to pick up these women from different areas uh around the you know the area, around the surrounding area, um, is going to be really lovely because it's gonna bring those businesses together, you know, it's it's all it's networking those businesses as well, um, and it's creating a kind of community of these working women locally. So I don't think there's necessarily like a dream client because everybody's got women that are having babies, right? You know, it's actually being able to support people that don't necessarily have the ability to do that um or the need because they've not got the demand. Um so I'm hopefully kind of providing a yeah a space for that.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Amazing, and community is obviously like incredible, like whether it's for mummies, whether it's for business, like a community can really help grow your society. Oh, live around you, yeah, and everyone, like you said, has different experiences. So, like actually bringing people from different businesses will just yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

I mean, my when I piloted it in September, I had a solicitor, I had a forensic accountant, someone from the NHS, the MOD, we had head of marketing, you know, it was a complete like span of people. And within five minutes of being in the room, everyone was just like like it was, you know, everyone everyone just a bunch of women, don't know, right? And it did not stop for four weeks. Every single session we came together. And you could, but what was uh really quite powerful about it is that you could see how needed it was, yeah, how there was just such a gap for it because the conversations that were happening they hadn't been able to have and the support that they were receiving, and the difference between session one and session four in their confidence, in their relationships with each other, in the connection, in their perspectives, it was it was so powerful. It was it was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

So, in those sessions, are you just like talking or do you have workshops and like sort of tools to kind of change the mindset and give you the confidence and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yeah, it's a whole amalgamation of things, to be honest with you. So it's it's centered around coaching. Yeah, um, so it's very much kind of you get out of it what you put into it. Yeah. I'm not here standing up giving you the advice because what worked for me doesn't necessarily work for you. What I'm doing is guiding conversations and discussions, um, and I'm absolutely providing tools to be able to help you with certain things. So whether it be, you know, we've got like a self-care menu, for example, which sounds, you know, maybe sounds a bit fluffy, but actually there are certain parts on it of we've kind of got to the point where you now know what things you can be delegating and what priorities you don't actually need, and actually part of that self-care menu is what don't I need to do, you know, it's things like that. Or it's we do an activity around imposter syndrome called Take That Court, take that thought to court. And they do, they sit in their partners and one of them pays the judge and one of them pays the person, you know, putting it all out there. Um, so yeah, it's really interesting, and then they come back together as a group and and share. And actually, the common theme is oh, okay, we all feel the same way.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

We all have imposters. Absolutely, even if we can't delegate it was exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

So there's there's loads of tools around the mental load, um, but it's yeah, it's guided conversation. So whilst it's coaching, it's structured coaching that they kind of do together. We do as a group, there's individual activities as well. Um, there's there's loads in there, it's it's great. It was funny if after the fourth session, they were saying, Can we just make this go on all year? I feel like there's so much more we can cover, and it's you know, it's absolutely oh, that's so good.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

I like that. I guess actually, once you're in it and you're going to have your second child, that's probably another level of coaching to having your first child because there's a whole different remake.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

Yeah, well, we had ladies in there who had one child. In fact, it was a complete spectrum. We had one lady who had a three-month-old baby, and then we had one lady who had a 10-month-old who was her third child. You know, we literally covered the spectrum, and actually, we were you even when you're on your third child, you're still experiencing the juggle just in a in a different way. Um, and so yeah, it was yeah, amazing. It's it's relevant to mothers at all stages essentially of that kind of return process. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

That is amazing. And in terms of running your own business, let's go on to that. So, how have you found setting up, running your own business, managing your kids and your business?

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah, it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Are you okay?

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Do you need a drink? Yeah, bottles.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah, do you know what? It's been it's been a ride. It's I've I've I've loved it. I think there's been a few things I haven't necessarily anticipated. So if I take myself back to summer last year when I was setting up, it was just this idea, right? It was this concept, and the concept initially was the program. So my background being in learning and development, I was in my element, you know, building this program and making things work and working towards the pilot in September that I was testing. So that was my main focus.

SPEAKER_03 28:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

The pilot went brilliantly. I made everything look beautiful, it was all great, it was, it was perfect, loved it.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Um, and then all of a sudden it was okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

I need to make some clients now. I need actually some more people to come on the frame because I'd had my pilots, which were which were brilliant, but obviously that was the test and I needed to keep going. And so that business development piece that is the area, that self-promotion, that marketing, business development, that is the area that actually, of all the experience I've had in the past, I've not touched on that. And suddenly that hit me like a ton of bricks. Okay, I'm on my own here. I'm gonna have to put my face out there, I'm gonna have to talk about this, I'm gonna have to figure out the best way to kind of yeah, network and meet people.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Um, so that has been really, really interesting. I've met some amazing like people along the way, and the mum, working mum or mums in business community has been incredible. You know, they're so like we've met I've met with so many for coffees, and they're just full of advice and full of support and just all wanting to each other to do well, which has been incredible. Um, so yeah, that's helped me. But yeah, that that's been the biggest, I think, unexpected challenge.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yeah, which is silly because I absolutely should have known that was coming, but I'm too excited on the the beginning of it to get it.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

That's the problem though, you've got this idea like, oh yeah, I'm gonna make this look fantastic. And like I I'm probably very similar. Like, I'm like aesthetically, we're gonna do this, we're gonna make this look beautiful. And I'm like, okay, now I need to make money. Now I need to make this work, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

You are my clients. Yeah, yeah. And you do, you hit a wall and you're like, oh my gosh, where do I go now? How do I do this? But the answer's always there. You've just got to connect with people or like just look in a slightly different place, just flip it on its head. Um, and that's where I kind of got to the point at the back end of last year of okay, and I kind of think I always knew actually I need to be connecting with the businesses rather than the individuals. Yeah, um, and then it's that's from there it's kind of really like taken off, which is great.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Yeah, that's amazing. So, do you feel like coming into the like the new year in 2026, you're like, right, I'm ready to go, I've got my vision, I've got my plan, I'm like in this now.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Yeah, I'm feeling a lot more like that. I mean, I'm still always gonna have to be finding clients, right? So I'm still always gonna have to be connecting in that way. Um, but I feel much more confident in what I'm offering uh and what that product looks like. You know, there's there's a lot more to it, you know, whether it be training line managers, whether it be looking at an overall process for a company, so you know, supporting them in that consultant consulting way. There's lots more that actually fit into it. And so when I'm now sitting down with businesses, I'm very clear on what I can offer and how I can help um with their bottom line.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

And how do you find the whole juggling your own family with the business? I mean, practice what you preach, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:49

It's it that it's it's really, really hard, and I have to be really disciplined with myself. The whole reason I did this was to be able to fit my work around my kids and not the other way around. How's it going? Yeah. So yeah, it's it's it's interesting, and I I am being quite disciplined with it, but there are moments where you just have to flex and you have to bend and you have to fit, you know, a coaching session in the middle of a nap, you know, and you just that's you just do, and it's do you find it harder though with the line because you're more passionate about this?

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Like, do you think that you'd be more flexible if you weren't it wasn't your own business and you weren't self-employed with it, or like because you've actually got the passion of like, oh, I do all the time.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Yeah, well, do you know it's interesting you say that actually because in a way, no, I found the the nine to five and the work beforehand, it's like it's so rigid. And after COVID, we had this flexibility of working from home, but so many people are getting called back into the office now. Yeah, and it's it's really, really hard for working mums. You don't never hear working dad, but for a working mum that it's really, really hard because you don't have that flexibility. So actually, being able to do this this way feels like a little rebellion, yeah. You know, it's a little bit of a little bit of freedom that I can in a system that doesn't work for working mums, I've found a way for now for it to work for me.

SPEAKER_02 32:06

Yeah, um, though. Yeah, that is amazing. So if you had to give someone two tips one, if you're a working mum returning to work, yeah, what would you give them? And two, if you're a woman with an idea and you're starting a business, what would you say?

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Okay, so mums, you've got to find your village. You've got to find your, and I don't just mean like me, my, your village, like you have to find a like connections because it's really, really hard. The system is not set up to support us, and so we have to help each other out. And we have to, if you're struggling, it's not it's not a failure to ask for help, it's not a failure to ask for support. Your business should be part of your village, the company that you work for should be part of your village, and they should be helping you. Go to them. You know, if you hear about what I'm doing, go to them, let them know, ask for that support, you know. That's that's the biggest thing, and you know, your family, your friends, the connection is gonna get you through for sure. And it's a very similar answer, I suppose, for women in business. Like, do it, you know, do it. It's it's not gonna work if you don't. If you've got this idea and you're frustrated by whatever's going on in your life right now and the restrictions around you, and you're wanting to do this business for whatever reason, whatever your motivations are, do it. There's you know, it's it's it's scary, but there are as soon as you're in this community of women building businesses, you realize actually how many of you there are and how unique we are as women in that we really want to help each other and we really want to support each other. So again, I do feel like particularly in a world of AI and tech, actually human connection is just so important. So if you want to be doing this as a woman in business, go out and find a community to help you do it because you can.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's actually really important. Like, like you mentioned with like AI and stuff, like it's really easy to just go to Chat TV T or go to Google be like, I have this problem, but you forget that like it doesn't really know like the whole situation. And I've definitely found like with the community of like women in business, there's issues that I've had and I've gone, oh, can you like yeah, have you ever done this? Like even like imposter syndrome, like how do I deal with that? Like, and someone's gone, I know it's like super difficult. I've had the same thing, and I'm like, Okay, good, not just me.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Absolutely, it just makes you like it's just yeah, it just makes you feel yeah, just makes you feel better. It's yeah, a hundred percent. Like you you can do it. If you want to do it, you can do it. It's gonna be hard, but you don't have to do it alone, right? Yeah, a hundred percent. Well much for your time.