Working Mumma

How to reduce the stress of meal planning

The age-old question "what's for dinner?" is something that haunts every parent. In this episode, I share with you a simple but effective framework to help you meal plan a month in advance in under 30 minutes.
Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.

How to approach maternity leave with confidence

This week marks a big milestone for me & that is that it's my first week of maternity leave. It's my second maternity leave & I have to say I've approached it differently from my first leave and had 2 very different experiences.
Whilst things are fresh and before I have baby number 2, I wanted to share with you tips to help you prepare for parental leave with confidence.

How to build your personal brand & progress your career with Sarah Makris

Looking for ways on how you can build your personal brand to have your dream career. Have you recently returned from maternity leave and looking to position yourself for future opportunities. Or wanting tips and advice on how you can develop your career. This episode with Sarah Makris will provide you with tips and advice on how you can do just this. Sarah helps senior executives elevate their professional brand, be recognised and valued in their industry, and attract their dream role. Throughout this podcast she helps you do just this.
During this episode we cover:
* How Sarah designed a career & business that fit around her family
* Why you should set goals at the start of the year that aren't too easy but may put you out of your comfort zone
* How to set career goals that you may not achieve in the next year, but taking steps to achieve in the next few years
* Talk about staying relevant and employable whilst having a family
* Why you should be always taking steps to build your personal brand and identity - even when you are on maternity leave
* Tips and tricks on how to use LinkedIn to develop your personal brand and value
* Suggestions on how to position yourself for part-time work
* Discuss Sarah's actionable framework on how to build your personal brand
As Sarah mentions during the podcast - if you have built your brand, you can have whatever career you want. Connect with Sarah Makris on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/sarah-makris/ or Instagram @sarahmakrisaustralia. Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.

Navigating identity shift and mum guilt with Taryn Wrezounik

In this episode I speak with Taryn Wrezounik - a sleep consultant, mum, wife & business owner. She is a huge believer in the power of turning inward and empowering yourself to be, do & have everything that you could dream of - as well as being a mum.
I speak with Taryn about navigating the identity shift after becoming a mum. We talk about loosing your sense of self as a new mother and how we can regain our identities. Hear how you can take steps to regain your identity and define what parenting means to you.
We also talk about mum guilt and how we can change our mindset and the stories we tell ourselves around this topic that impacts all mothers at some stage. Taryn shares strategies on how to overcome mum guilt.
I like this quote from Taryn in the episode "There is nothing to stop us from following our dreams, only our own limiting beliefs and mindset "
Connect with Taryn Wrezounik via Instagram at @themotherload_co.
Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.

Strategies to reduce the overwhelm of motherhood with Mim Dart

This week I speak with Mim Dart who provides strategies on how to reduce the overwhelm of motherhood.
Mim is a lifestyle coach who focuses on the overwhelm of motherhood. She explains that motherhood doesn't have to feel overwhelming and as mothers, we are allowed to have a positive experience of motherhood. We get so many mixed messages about motherhood, especially from social media, and this leads us to compare ourselves to others and increases the feelings of overwhelm and believe that we "should" be showing up in certain ways. These feelings can be debilitating, but as you will hear during the episode with Mim, they don't have to be.
We discuss strategies you can use immediately to manage the overwhelm. A big part of this is about reflecting on what is important to you and your family and staying focused on this and blocking out all the external messages. Mim explains the season of motherhood can last >18 years and we don't deserve to spend this time feeling exhausted, burnt out, and unhappy. We deserve to live over a quarter of our lives happy and living our best lives possible.
The good news, you can choose how you want to feel in motherhood and curate a life that aligns with this. It is ok to feel good during motherhood.
We also talk about the importance of self-care and looking after ourselves as mothers. So much of the family's mood and culture comes from the parents, particularly the mothers. If you are feeling good Mumma, then it is likely that the rest of the family will feed off this energy. This shows the importance of filling your cup and the impact this has on those around you.
Connect with Mim Dart via her website, Facebook or Instagram.
Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.

How job sharing advanced Melinda Chaponnel’s career

In this week's episode I speak with Melinda Chaponnel to learn about job sharing and how this has advanced her career.
Mel has a corporates finance background in large corporates. She has experienced 2 successful job share arrangements, across 2 different companies and multiple roles. During this episode she shares her experiences, advice and tips for all topics relating to job sharing. You will quickly discover why Mel is an advocate for job sharing and why it should be more widely considered by organisations and not just for working mothers.
Connect with Melinda via LinkedIn.
Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.
Share your experiences as a mum managing the juggle in the annual Working Mumma Survey. Survey closes Tuesday 3 November.

When your career ambitions change after motherhood with Yvette Sitters

This week on the podcast I speak with Yvette Sitters, founder of Manage My Wedding.
Yvette had a long career working in hotel events, spending a large portion of her career at the Hilton London on Park Lane. Prior to kids she had aspirations of becoming the GM of a Hotel. But, 6 weeks into her maternity leave she came to the realisation that she didn't want to work for someone else and wanted to create a life and business around her family. Over the next 2.5 years she developed an app that she launched when her 2nd daughter was 12 weeks old.
During this episode Yvette has many great tips and advice for fellow working mums (not only if you have a business) around productivity, managing the mental load and self-care.
We discuss:
* Yvette's career journey to date
* Managing identity shift once she became a mum and how her priories changed
* Challenges she has overcome (including her inner critic) to create her business
* How she has created a business around her family
* Planning approach to align to her work/life harmony
* Managing the mental load
* Advice for working mums looking to start their own business (including when is the right time to start - now!)
* Mindset shift with having own business
* Important of self care and how Yvette goes about this each day
I like this quote from Yvette during the podcast on the realisation she didn't want to go back to her corporate role "the driver was to be at home with 2 girls and make decisions for family to be where I wanted when I wanted and not on someone else's terms"
Connect with Yvette and Manage My Wedding via her website, Facebook or Instagram.
Continue the conversation and join the free Working Mumma Community on Facebook, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.
This episode is supported by a free e-Book "10 steps to help you transition from parental leave to pay day" . I'll also be launching a mini course early in 2021 on Returning to Work that will support you through this process in much greater detail. Click here to join the waitlist.

How to get organised at home with Aparna Sundar

Today I speak with Aparna Sundar on how to get organised at home.
Aparna is a KonMari consultant and in this episode we talk about how organising your home can have positive influences on your whole life. When we set up the discussion I thought the topic of home organisation was going to be about cleaning room by room, but as Aparna quickly made me realise it is so much more. We need to look at organising holistically and it is more of a mindset shift than anything else, thinking about your future self and organising is only a small part of that.
During the episode we cover:
* 6 steps to the KonMari(TM) method and how you can implement these today in your own home
* Talking about the common myths and challenges when it comes to home organisation
* Overcoming our own limiting beliefs
* Organisation tips for baby, children, food preparation and storage
* Involving children from a young age in home organisation and the benefits of toy rotation
Continue the conversation and join the Working Mumma Community, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.
Connect with Aparna via her website or on Instagram @globalmindfuljourney
Check out the free 10 Strategies to Managing the Juggle to help you navigate work, family & you time.

Getting our mojo back after maternity leave with Jo Gobbo

When we are pregnant about to go on maternity leave, we aren't really thinking about the return, instead focused on discovering our new role as a mum. Returning to work after a period of time on maternity leave is another big milestone and transition in our personal and professional lives. It is mixed with a wide range of emotions from lack of confidence, uncertainty to looking forward to going to the toilet on your own, adult conversation and everything in between.
Returning to work can have its own challenges and you aren't alone in experiencing these. During today's podcast I speak with executive coach, trainer and facilitator, Jo Gobbo on getting our mojo back after maternity leave.
Jo shares her experiences of returning to work after the birth of her son and shares her emotions in this journey. We cover a broad range of topics during the podcast episode including:
* Confidence change with motherhood then returning to work
* How to improve your confidence
* Managing and being aware of the emotions that come about in the transition back to work
* Importance of sharing the mental load with your partner
* Factors that cause women to loose confidence prior to returning to work and strategies to overcome this
* The concept of a "blended" identity for working parents merging our work and family lives - something that has been elevated due to Covid-19
* Impact of limiting beliefs and how we can overcome these
* Example of a working mum who doubted her confidence and skills but after working on these she has been able to overcome her own limiting beliefs to take on a more senior position
* How managers can support working parents, especially women, who have parental leave transition back into the organisation successfully and with confidence
* Transition back to work, requires mental and emotional preparation
We covered a lot on a topic we are both passionate about.
Connect with Jo via Instagram or LinkedIn.
Continue the conversation and join the Working Mumma Community, connect with me on Instagram @workingmummacommunity or follow Working Mumma on LinkedIn.
This episode is supported by a free e-Book "10 steps to help you transition from parental leave to pay day" . I'll also be launching a mini course later this year on Returning to Work that will support you through this process in much greater detail. Click here to register.

Navigating & managing pregnancy loss with Amanda Bowles, Bears of Hope

This podcast episode I speak with Amanda Bowles, co-founder of Bears of Hope.
Trigger warning - this episode discusses pregnancy loss and may bring up emotions. If you need to speak with someone, please reach out to Bears of Hope, COPE or Beyond Blue.
The focus of the episode is navigating and managing pregnancy loss as well as how support people can best help the bereaved family. If you are the 1 in 4 women that have experienced pregnancy loss or know someone who has and wants to understand a little more what they are feeling and how you can help, this episode is for you. This is a very personal episode for me as my husband and I experienced pregnancy loss in February 2020 when we were told at our 13 week scan our unborn child had a rare medical abnormality and we made the hardest decision to terminate the pregnancy for medical reasons. During this experience, I was sent a bear by my mother's group from Bears of Hope and this introduced me to this supportive organisation and Facebook groups to support families that have experienced pregnancy and infant loss. It continues to be my safe zone with people that have been through similar experiences. The episode covers two central themes - the first for people that have experienced loss and the second for friends & family and how they can actively support the bereaved family. During this podcast we cover: * Emotions associated with grief and loss of a child * Discuss the question "why us" * Subsequent (rainbow) pregnancies, the emotions associated and tips on how to manage this * Connection with a child you were unable to meet * Managing grief between partners * Seeking help is a strength not a weakness * Advice for support networks on how they can actively help * Tips on how support networks can help * Advice on what to say to people that have experienced loss * Discuss the magical "12 week" milestone of a pregnancy to let people know you are pregnant I recorded this episode with two intentions. The first for families that have experienced loss know that you aren't alone, and secondly to help the support network learn how they can actively help a friend or family member. I hope this episode helps you in some way. Please reach out to Bears of Hope to discover more about this supportive organisation and the resources and support they have available. If you know someone that has experienced loss I encourage you to purchase a Bear of Hope.