This week we're chatting to the absolutely fab Elizabeth Willetts. After being made redundant during the pandemic, she founded Investing in Women, and she has since written her first book, Flex, which is now available for pre-order. In this episode we discuss her journey, tips for returning to work, Elizabeth's personal story of feeling like she lost herself and her confidence during 4 years of fertility struggles and IVF, but also how she regained her confidence in motherhood and found fulfilment in using her recruitment experience to change the working landscape for mothers and parents for the better.

In this episode we chat about:

• Elizabeth's why behind starting Investing In Women
• Tips for finding and getting good part time roles
• Defining flexible working
• Importance of flexible working for all genders - men, women, dads, mums, carers
• Biggest misconceptions about flexible and part time working
• Motherhood making you more productive, time as the most precious commodity
• Productivity crisis and how flexible working and part time working could be the key to fixing this
• The transition from being employed to starting your own business
• Working more hours starting her business, but working around the kids, working school hours and structuring her time
• Difficulties starting your own business
• Why being made redundant was the best thing that ever happened to her
• Advantages of entrepreneurship and the juggling act of building a business with young children
• Putting your hand up, articulating your value and advancing your career whether you want full time or part time roles
• Conditioning of women to keep their heads down and waiting to be recognised
• Learning to blow our own trumpets!
• Don’t be afraid to take up space, stop making yourself small
• Assertiveness and writing emails as women
• How and why motherhood made her more confident
• Losing herself during 4 years of fertility struggles, having her daughter through IVF, the resilience she found because of it
• Advice for anyone going through or considering IVF, finding a doctor, the dangers of the google rabbit hole
• What’s helpful to say to someone going through IVF, and what not to say
• Tips to rebuild your confidence
• Self development
• Thinking about your definition of success
• Elizabeth’s new book Flex!

Flex is available for pre order from Waterstones here. You can connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn here and via her website here.

Follow the podcast @themorethanmamapod + @brionywrites

Reminder and disclaimer

This podcast is for entertainment, educational and informational purposes only and does not provide (or purport to provide) medical, legal, financial, business, nutritional or other advice. Please always consult the appropriate professional for such advice.

This podcast is a judgment free space sharing a range of views, experiences and perspectives and those expressed in these conversations are not necessarily those of the host or any brands or corporations referenced.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was so lovely to have my wonderful friend Becky McCann on the podcast this week!

Becky, who stepped back from a magic circle law career to be a stay at home mum raising 3 amazing children, chats all things motherhood and marathon, as she recently ran 10 half marathons in 10 weeks raising money for the children of Gaza and is now training for the London Marathon 2025 (her second marathon but first post babies!) fundraising for Save the Children.

Her instagram giveaway with some ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE prizes goes live TODAY so don't forget to head over to her instagram to grab your shot at winning some amazing prizes.

In this episode we get into so many things, including:

• Stepping back from law for motherhood
• Identity shifts and external praise / society’s judgement of stay at home mums
• Legacy and what she would like to leave behind, and how stay at home motherhood supports this
• Transitions - 0-1 baby, 1-2 babies, 2-3 babies
• Logistical challenges juggling kids
• Favourite phases and challenging phases
• Getting more me time back
• How marathon training looks different post kids
• Becky’s training week structure
• Modelling positive relationships with fitness, physical and mental health and body image for kids, raising active children
• Good runs vs the tricker ones, not tracking pace
• Motivation for running, not being competitive and only competing against yourself
• Tracking baby stuff in the early days (feeds, nappies etc)
• Training plan for the marathon
• Marathon goals
• Top playlist tip for the marathon
• Tips for anyone wanting to run their first marathon, and/or start running post baby
• Realistic training plan tips for busy mums who can’t do huge complex running plans
• Importance of fuelling
• Loving our post partum bodies
• Becky’s love of fashion

Find Becky

IG: @marathon_mum25

Follow the podcast @themorethanmamapod + @brionywrites

Reminder and disclaimer

This podcast is for entertainment, educational and informational purposes only and does not provide (or purport to provide) medical, legal, financial, business, nutritional or other advice. Please always consult the appropriate professional for such advice.

This podcast is a judgment free space sharing a range of views, experiences and perspectives and those expressed in these conversations are not necessarily those of the host or any brands or corporations referenced.

This podcast stands for supporting mothers (parents and carers too!) and lifting them up, whatever their journey looks like. Where guests and the host have made certain choices does not mean we believe everyone else should do the same. You know your family best.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I chat to Eloise Rickman, and I LOVED having this conversation.

Eloise is is a parenting educator, author of two brilliant books, children’s liberationist, home educator and course creator and leader known for her work in children’s liberation and rights-based, peaceful parenting. Through this work she has guided so many families around the world and she raises absolutely fascinating questions and points to reflect on that will change not only the way you parent, but the way you see children and society and many of the things we take for granted (I have said to my husband I feel like much of her work has been the red pill that revealed to me that we're in the matrix when it comes to so many ideas about children, education, parenting and our wider societal institutions).

In this episode we discuss Eloise Rickman's latest book, 'It's Not Fair: why it's time for a grown up conversation about how adults teach children', and just some of the things we touch on include:

• Introduction to Eloise’s work
• Her book It’s Not Fair: Why It’s Time for a Grown Up Conversation about how adults treat children
• How Eloise came to children’s liberation
• The treatment of children, parenting, punishment, the need for nuance
• How aligned children’s interests often are with ours (i.e. better childcare options, maternity and paternity leave options, education options)
• The dance of meeting everyone’s needs
• Room for nuance and messiness
• No-one gets it right all the time!
• Giving children the language to talk about power dynamics
• Children’s rights and talking to children about their rights from a young age
• Listening to children
• Votes for children and arguments for and against
• What is a child?
• Children and childhood in different cultures
• There is no 1 way to be a child

And lots more!

Connect with Eloise:

IG: @mightymother_

Eloise's substack newsletter 'Small Places'

Her latest book: It's Not Fair: why it's time for a grown up conversation about how adults treat children

First book: Extraordinary parenting: the essential guide to parenting and home educating at home

Eloise's website where you can find her courses here

& follow the podcast on @themorethanmamapod + @brionywrites

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.