Chloё Luxton is founder and creative director of Bramley - a range of natural bathroom, home and skin care products. Whilst Bramley was her first child, she is also mum to three children, all of whom she had whilst running the business.

Chloё’s calm demeanour and ‘anything is possible’ approach is reassuring for those of us frantically juggling work and children. She talks openly about the positives and negatives of running a business with children in tow and how she has been intentional about being the architect of balance in her life. She reminded me of not losing sight of what the important things are in life.

We also discuss childcare and the value of an extra pair of hands. Positive and upbeat, this podcast will inspire anyone thinking about setting up a lifestyle business alongside having children. It also highlights how often women don’t recognise their own phenomenal achievements, instead putting their successes down to ‘winging it’. Hopefully Chloё now thinks differently…!

Dr Nelisha Wikremasinghe is a psychologist, therapist and author. She’s mum to two sons – 24 and 17 – and has navigated the journey of working and parenting solo for much of the time.

Nelisha talks wisely and with deep reflection about how challenging it is to parent and work, and explores how women need to learn more about self-compassion in order to survive and thrive as a professional working mum.

We explore the importance of building in room for slippage (or a ‘fail space’) and how ‘threat’ brain drives so many unhelpful behaviours in bright, successful women who are juggling working and parenting. One of my favourite lines in this podcast is “I’m quite a good juggler but our children are not balls”. I need that written on a poster somewhere!

Insightful, searingly honest and with fantastic psychological insights, this is a wonderful podcast for anyone who wants to believe in the positive impact of a powerful woman at home.

Verity Brown is Group Managing Director, overseeing 4 media agencies for a marketing services group.

She’s mum to two children, now 7 and 4 (we recorded this a while ago) and quickly realised that she needed to create clear boundaries whilst also bringing her children into the picture to make it work. She’s an ambitious high-flyer who approached her return to work in a strategic and intentional way, rather as she would approach a pitch to a client.

As someone who is used to juggling multiple clients and a dynamic working environment, she thought she would step easily into managing the multiple channels of work and children and found it surprisingly challenging.

Honest, funny, reflective and bright – Verity brings a refreshing openness to her reflections on being a professional working mum and on motherhood in general. She also talks wisely about the role that work plays in making her a better mother.

And my favourite anecdote is one about embroidered brown moths – what’s not to love!

Gina Mellotte is a voice over artist who has, among her many accolades, been voice of the BAFTAs!

She is Mum to Frankie (9) and had the unusual experience of returning to work after 4 days. She is one of those people who brings energy into a room. She’s honest, thoughtful and wholehearted. Gina doesn’t shy away from bringing her truth to this episode – she’s an inspiration to all women (whether employed or self-employed) about the reality of being a professional working mum.

In this episode we explore the challenges of being self-employed and the fear that often accompanies taking time off work. Gina speaks frankly about the emotional and mental impact of taking such a short time off work and shares her reflections about how she might do it differently if she had that time again.

She also shares her insights around setting boundaries and being clear with clients about when she is or isn’t available. You’ll also enjoy listening to her fabulous voice!