I'm fascinated by founders and business owners like Mukti, because she's been incredibly successful with her skincare brand Mukti Organics, but she totally flies in the face of the highly corporate, suit-clad, city dwelling business person that we often associate with success.

Instead, she does things a little differently. She gave birth in a tee pee, for one. Her mum was - in her words - a crazy hippy woman who renounced everything and went off to India. She was a young mum, and she founded her business before the certified organic movement was even a thing. Before social media was even a thing.

She's funny, she's honest, she has some incredible tales to tell, and as someone in the earlier days of navigating parenthood and paid work, I value the wisdom of those mums that have come before me to no end.

From storing products underneath tarps hanging off the back of her house and navigating separation to reflecting on 16 hour days and what she regrets, here, she covers it all with generosity and humility.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

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From the world’s first microbiome certified water based lube to their new oil based natural tingle balm, this female-founded company has made it their mission to welcome open, shame-free conversations about all things intimacy.

Head to bedintentions.com to shop their natural, self-care products. We spend a third of our lives in bed, and these products are designed to make things safe, fun and easy.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

We Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Doctors and health professionals may have called Snuggle Hunny chief Julie Mathers geriatric on more than one occasion, but in my opinion, she's fit a hell of a lot in to a short amount of time. With her husband, she founded and sold an incredibly successful business in Flora and Fauna. She's experienced miscarriage and after trying for some time and some failed rounds of IVF, both of her sons ended up being conceived naturally, to her surprise. Her older boy Woody has Down Syndrome and a heart condition that will require surgery one day soon. He was born at 34 weeks and spent some time in the special care. She returned to work just four hours after his birth. And to their surprise, she was pregnant with her son Alfie just six months later.

Now that all might sound overwhelming at best and incredibly stressful at worst, but that's not the story you're about to hear. Julie's story is magic. Her boys run their own races, that's for sure. But, she's not too phased. Woody is Woody and Alfie is Alfie.

This is an incredible story regardless of whether you're navigating disability or not and we all need more of Julie and these stories in our lives.

From Flora and Fauna to Snuggle Hunny, from Woody to Alfie, from her working class background collecting milk money to big business sales, this is one of the most colourful stories I'll ever bring you.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode of Ready or Not is brought to you by Mukti Organics, results-driven and award-winning skin care products made with certified organic ingredients & powerful actives.

Purchase the revised and expanded second edition of Mukti’s bestselling book ‘Truth in Beauty’ for $89 via www.muktiorganics.com and retailers Amazon, Booktopia and QBD Books.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

We Pay The Rent and you can too here.

U-Fhern Chang was on a plane for a work trip when she had a pretty profound AHA moment. And while she didn't immediately act upon it, it would eventually lead her to completely revamp her priorities when it came to her career. Add quitting her job at a big four, four kids, and a few businesses into the mix, and it's fair to say that she's had a bit on.

After her children, I think it's fair to say that her other baby, Elan House of Wellness, the business dedicated to nourishing and supporting mothers, is one of her proudest projects to date. And as a paying customer, I think it should be. Her dry sweet and savoury packs were a staple in my early postpartum pantry, and her messaging encouraging rest and valuing the transitions of motherhood are incredibly important.

Here, we talk disappointing parents, postnatal depression as a pretty fair response to the way we're meant to mother in western society, and how she navigates four children and a business.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode of Ready or Not is brought to you by Mukti Organics, results-driven and award-winning skin care products made with certified organic ingredients & powerful actives.

Purchase the revised and expanded second edition of Mukti’s bestselling book ‘Truth in Beauty’ for $89 via www.muktiorganics.com and retailers Amazon, Booktopia and QBD Books.

---

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

We Pay The Rent and you can too here.