Tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do, how old are your children and what happens with your kids when you are at work?
I’m the Founder of Clementine – a confidence boosting app for working women. I have two gorgeous boys. Louis is 5 and Kingsley is 20 months. Louis is at school during the day and Kingsley goes to the nursery from Monday’s to Thursdays. On Friday’s Kingsley and I hang out. My husband is a teacher a Music teacher at a local school.
1. One word to describe how being a WoMo makes you feel?
Privileged. I love working. I’m a bit of a workaholic. My Mum always worked. My Nana worked. But on the flipside, I’m always tired. And having kids is a privilege too.
2. What’s the funniest experience you have had juggling kids and work?
I have quite a few. I’m dropping balls all the time, but I’ve got more comfortable with the fact that I need to drop balls as there is no way to stay on top of everything. My eldest has been to sleep in his swimming nappies on more than one occasion as one of us have forgotten to buy more nappies. My son has been to school on numerous occasions in the wrong clothing as we have either forgotten a dress up day or plain clothes day. I went to an interview with my youngest when I was still breastfeeding, he pooed on me and when I went to sort it out, I realised I had my shirt on inside out. Not the best of looks.
3. What is the one piece of advice you could offer another WoMo?
People always tell you when you have a newborn to sleep when the baby sleeps. Well I’ve continued power napping ever since I’ve had kids. I have one at least every second day and it is a total life saver.
4. What’s the least amount of sleep you’ve gone to work on and how did you cope?
Probably about 1 hour. Powernap on the train to and from work. Plus, I would hide in the loo’s a lot and listen to a 5 minute take a breather session from the Clementine app.
5. What have you learned about yourself as a WoMo?
That I am capable of anything I put my mind too. That I have a secret reserve of energy that I never know existed and that sometimes I take life way to seriously. Having kids has helped me to lighten up a lot. To have fun. To take it a bit easier and to let go of perfection.
6. If you had a working mother’s anthem or mantra, what would it be?
Progress not perfection. This was my mantra for 2018 and I love it.
7. What is your guilty pleasure to combat WoMo guilt the best?
Honestly I try really hard to reframe guilt into positive thoughts as I’m happiest when I’m working and adding value back into the world. This means that sometimes I can’t be everything to everyone and that includes my kids. I do really believe that I have to look after my own mental health and that sometimes means prioritising me over others. So I tend to not feel too guilty about stuff. I take a lot of baths. I had 3 in one day a few weeks back. I needed them.
8. Would you rather be dealing with a tantrum or presenting in a board meeting?
Ohhhh good question. I would say dealing with a tantrum. I’m not even sure why. Perhaps I feel like it’s part of my job as a Mum to help my kids through these so it feels like a more purposeful task.
9. If you asked your child / children what your job is, what would they say?
It’s a business called Clementine. Mummy goes to meetings in London.
10. What’s the one thing you wish you’d known before you became a WoMo?
Honestly, I’m kind of glad that I didn’t know how tough the juggle would be. I’m an eternal optimist and like to find my own way to do things so I try to not give too much advice to other WoMo’s unless they ask for it.
11. To date, what has been your best WoMo achievement?
Starting my own business whilst working in a full-on job and also having our second baby. That was a really full on time. I worked every night and weekend for about 2 years. I suppose it was a bit like having a third baby. I’m super proud of this
12. What do you want to teach your kids about working mothers?
I don’t try to gloss over the fact that it’s hard juggling work and life with my kids. They see the full plethora of my emotions and I think that’s important. I don’t want them to have a glorified image that working mums can do it all – even though we do try to do it all. I want them to see that if they work hard then they can achieve anything. For me to be able to achieve great things in my business it means that my husband and I have to work in true partnership together – this means equal split of all the household chores, cooking, cleaning, admin etc. This is very important for me – I want my boys to grow up knowing that everyone in the household needs to help out.