Olivia Mioni always knew that her mum was an inspiration, but when she stepped into motherhood herself, she appreciated her even more. Her mum was single, she worked full time, she made a career when she was 40, and Olivia never felt like she was left to the wayside.

And as a lawyer, Olivia was always worried about how she'd make work, work alongside motherhood. It wasn't necessarily the career stuff. More so, she was worried about how she'd be able to dedicate herself to family life while navigating a demanding job. But as she's here to tell you, working five days a week doesn't mean she has no time with or for her daughter.

Here, we talk about the plot twist that was taking on a new role while on parental leave that would lead her back to the workforce five days a week and her husband reducing his paid work schedule, why being a full time working parent doesn't mean you love your kids any less and how motherhood has influenced her relationship with imposter syndrome and confidence for the better.

I'm Lucinda, this is Ready or Not, and here is the kind and clever Olivia Mioni.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode of Ready or Not is brought to you by La La Noon, a children’s store founded by two mothers offering a range of local, sustainable brands with a focus on well made, timeless and stylish clothing, toys and gifts.

From brands like Olli Ella to The Wholesome store to Lenn Label, you’ll find one of a kind quality pieces that can be played with and worn again and again and then passed on to loved ones. Shop their thoughtful edit now at lalanoon.com.au.

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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.

Nine pregnancies, two living babies and three businesses: Keira Rumble, the founder behind Krumbled Foods, Habitual Beauty, and Mini and Me, has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And as her many Instagram followers will know, she keeps it incredibly real. I think that's why her story is so compelling; why she's so loved and admired by mothers and business owners across the country.

She's navigated IVF, hyperemesis, both perinatal and postnatal anxiety and depression. She's had the sort of rage that has scared her, received an ADHD diagnosis, and she's done it all while navigating three growing businesses.

And while her businesses might look glossy on the outside, it has not been without its trials and tribulations. Sending emails from the floor of your bathroom while just trying to get through another day of pregnancy meant that her businesses sometimes were hurting as she was.

So, she's not exactly sure how she got through it all, but luckily for us, she's here to tell her incredible tale.

Here, we talk about how each brand came to be, how she's navigated tumultuous conception and pregnancy journeys alongside business, and what she's most proud of now, as she begins to process it all.

And just to note, this episode discusses pregnancy loss and suicidal thoughts. So, please take care when listening.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

In this episode of Ready or Not, we are excited to partner with Youha, trusted and loved for premium breast pumps since 2010. Their portable and wearable designs provide comfort and convenience. They empower you to pump effortlessly anywhere, keeping you connected to what matters most.

Discover the complete collection of Youha Australia’s premium breast pumps and handy accessories and use the code READY15 during the month of July for 15% off the Embody pump here.

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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.

When Neha Ruch decided to take a career pause for family life, the mothers that she met weren’t exactly the image that society had painted of them. These mothers weren’t baby-obsessed, one dimensional people without a clever thought and they weren’t people that didn’t know how to do anything outside of changing a nappy.

These were smart women with thoughts and passions and ideas. They were choosing to shift gears. Ambition was not left at the threshold that they crossed when they entered the door marked motherhood, in fact, dedicating themselves to motherhood was able to coexist with their ambition, despite what the world had told them.

Cue Mother Untitled, Neha Ruch’s business that has been on a mission to update the perception of stay-at-home motherhood in America since 2017. Neha has become an absolute champion for the grey area of motherhood, because as she knows well, we’re not just working mums or stay at home mums. There’s so much space in between.

Here, we talk about the problem with aligning our value to our titles and our productivity, the outdated stereotypes that mothers face, and how to return to paid work after a career pause.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

In this episode of Ready or Not, we are excited to partner with Youha, trusted and loved for premium breast pumps since 2010. Their portable and wearable designs provide comfort and convenience. They empower you to pump effortlessly anywhere, keeping you connected to what matters most.

Discover the complete collection of Youha Australia’s premium breast pumps and handy accessories and use the code READY15 during the month of July for 15% off the Embody pump here.

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Thanks for listening to Witching Hour! 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.

Sally Branson doesn't believe in balance when you have young kids, and as I write and record this at 8pm on a Monday night ahead of inevitable overnight feeds, before a day of having both kids tomorrow, and making sure I pump enough to get to the city for paid work the following day while my husband has our five month old while he tries to get as much work done as he can, I can't help but think that she might be right.

She's worked as the Press Secretary to the PM, she's run a political party and she's held high diplomatic positions with the US. And in continuing the theme of taking on big roles, she had her two boys in quick succession, too. In her own words, she's one of the older school mums, and for a long time, she wasn't sure that motherhood would be her reality, even though she always ached for it.

Here, we talk the new and different pressures that mums face today, the conversations we should actually be having about the reality of motherhood, and why whatever works for you is okay.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode is brought to you by Second Scout, home of the original magnetic timber daily Routine Helper & Little Agenda weekly planner, designed to make life easier for busy families.

With easy visuals, their routine helpers, weekly planners and home organisation solutions speak a language the whole family can understand (even the non-readers).

Kids get to rock their day with confidence and predictability, while us parents get to save a little sanity. Once a task is completed kids get to flip the tile over to reveal a star which gives them a sense of achievement, encourages responsibility and provides positive reinforcement.

Head to www.secondscout.com.au and say hello to smoother days.

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Thanks for listening to Witching Hour! 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.

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

This episode is brought to you by Bed Intentions, a modern wellness brand that celebrates the evolving spectrum of pleasure.

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.

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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.

Since I last interviewed Phoebe Simmonds over a year ago and Ava Chandler Matthews just under a year ago, the two business owners, mothers, and friends have had just a bit going on. Ava is getting ready to launch her business Ultra Violette into the US and she's actually launching herself into second time motherhood very soon, too. So soon, I'm surprised she even let me convince her to come back on the show.

As for Phoebe, The Memo is having a big year. They've just opened their Fitzroy store, and they're opening their Highpoint store in just a few weeks' time. And as you'll hear here, they have no plans to slow down from there.

I wanted to get Ava and Phoebe back onto the show for many reasons. Firstly, you loved both of their episodes, which I'll link in the show notes, and secondly, they had sons at the same time as I did. They're also friends who have being co-founders in common, and as women in business who I really look up to, I wanted to know what's changed for them both as they continue to move through navigating career and motherhood.

So, this episode is a bit hodge podge by design. It's less of an interview and more of a check in. I wanted you to feel as if you were part of the car talk that mum friends have on the regular as they make their way to or from the office.

Here, we talk about the delight of two year olds, the things we still don't have the answers for, what Ava will grapple with until the day she dies and why Phoebe doesn't believe in imposter syndrome.

ORIGINAL EPISODES:

• Listen to the interview with Phoebe on Apple here and Spotify here.
• Listen to the episode with Ava on Apple here and Spotify here.

THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode is brought to you by Our Pilates – an online, physio led library of classes that you can seamlessly fit into a busy life. With prenatal and postnatal programs as well as membership options available, Our Pilates has every busy parent covered. Start your free 7-day trial now at ourpilates.com.au

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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.