Have It All

Feeling burned out, stretched thin, or stuck in survival mode? In this episode, I chat with Lisa Walker, a qualified nutritionist, about the everyday challenges facing busy women—particularly mums—and how stress, nutrition, and self-care all play a role in reclaiming health and energy.

Lisa shares practical tips for eating well as a family, the importance of postpartum recovery, and why small lifestyle changes can have a profound impact on gut health, sleep, and overall wellbeing.

Whether you're navigating motherhood, balancing work and life, or just looking for ways to feel better in your body, this conversation offers relatable insights and actionable advice to help you thrive.

Tune in for an honest and heartwarming discussion on finding joy, avoiding burnout, and making your health a priority—one small change at a time.

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In this episode of Have It All, Emily sits down with Erin to explore the emotional realities of becoming a parent and balancing a career. They discuss the often-overwhelming transition back to work, managing feelings of guilt, and navigating lack of family support during early parenthood.

Erin opens up about the isolating experience of being the first in her friend group to have a baby. She reflects on the emotional weight of tackling major parenting challenges without a village, and how this can leave new parents feeling alone with their struggles.

This heartfelt conversation sheds light on the harsh yet transformative realities of early parenthood and emphasises the importance of community, self-care, and redefining personal fulfilment while navigating the demands of work and family.

In this episode, I sit down with Rebekah Fraser, The Back To Work Coach, to explore the crucial steps for navigating parental leave and career breaks. We discuss key moments to plan for—starting before you're even pregnant—and how to approach conversations with your employer about taking time off.

Rebekah shares her expert insights on overcoming self-doubt and negative self-talk, redefining success on your terms, and finding ways for dads to take on more of the mental load. Whether you're a parent, planning to be, or simply navigating work-life balance, this episode is packed with actionable advice and thoughtful guidance to help you thrive both at work and at home.

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In this heartfelt episode, Kelsey shares her journey of navigating grief after losing her dad just seven weeks into her pregnancy. She reflects on how this loss has shaped her approach to motherhood and the intentional steps she and her husband have taken to create greater equality at home, particularly around childcare and the mental load.

Kelsey also opens up about the tough decision to step away from her teaching career after having her son, explaining how the demands of full-time work and a young baby felt impossible to balance.

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Content Warning: This episode includes discussions about grief and loss.

This week’s episode is a special one as I finally sit down with my best friend, Sharon, to talk about her journey through miscarriage and the challenges of navigating anxiety and depression during pregnancy.

Sharon opens up about her experiences, including how her incredibly supportive and family-friendly workplace stood by her through these tough times. She shares how they provided opportunities for career growth, even as she openly expressed her desire to expand her family. We also dive into how showing up to work each day helped her feel a sense of "normal" amidst the struggles of PND.

Thank you for listening to Have It All in 2024, I appreciate you!

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When Steph had her daughter five years ago, even with her background as an investment banker, she came up against unexpected financial challenges.

This experience inspired her to create Crayon: a startup dedicated to reducing financial stress during life's most important moments.

Focused on new parents, Crayon developed New Zealand’s first-ever Parental Leave Register and Financial Baby Prep Program, helping families navigate this transformative time with confidence.

In this episode, Steph and I dive into:

- The biggest misconceptions employers have about the value of paid parental leave.

- How companies can better support parents returning to work, and why it’s worth the investment.

- Tips for initiating conversations with your employer about parental leave and returning to work.

- The powerful ripple effects when dads take parental leave, including benefits for the parent-child bond.

LINKS

Visit Steph’s website and find helpful resources for parents and employers here: https://www.gocrayon.com/

Follow Crayon on Instagram: @gocrayon

Follow Have It All podcast on IG & TikTok: @haveitall.podcast

This episode is the first in a mini series from experts and thought leaders.

As a mum of four grown-up children, Helen brings wisdom from both the boardroom and the home. We dive into everything from empowering women in leadership to applying these lessons in raising confident, capable kids.

I'm so grateful to Helen for her generosity in sharing not only her own 'working mum' journey, but also snippets from her keynote presentations that I feel so lucky to have heard firsthand.

LINKS

- Visit Helen’s website: http://directorly.co.nz/

- Follow @haveitall.podcast on IG & TikTok

Former fashion buyer for the Boohoo Group, Emily never planned to become a stay-at-home parent. However, a neck injury causing chronic pain left her unable to return to full-time work. While unexpected, this shift turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing her to spend over two years at home with her daughter, Billie.

Now that Billie is growing up, Emily is pursuing another career path and rediscovering her passion for acting and modelling - something she first started at 19.

And she says she now enjoys it even more than her previous role in fashion.

Follow Emily on IG @emilyclarkson and please let me know in the comments what you thought of this episode!

This week’s guest, Katie, is a powerhouse in the fitness world: an ex-professional dancer, Pilates instructor, and co-founder of The Method, an award-winning and internationally recognised teacher training module for fitness instructors. But this episode isn’t just about her impressive career; it’s about the personal challenges and transformations that come with starting over.

Earlier this year, Katie and her family made the bold move to Hamilton Island for her husband’s new job. Leaving behind her successful at-home Pilates studio, Katie found herself in an unfamiliar place with no local connections and the added challenge of a transient community.

In this episode, Katie opens up about adapting to island life, navigating loneliness, and stepping into her first corporate role as an Executive Assistant - a stark shift from her comfort zone in fitness.

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When Ivy became pregnant at 18, she faced the heavy stigma around teenage pregnancy. A comment from a colleague: “I’m not saying congratulations to her; she just ruined her life”, has stuck with her. While these words stung, they also fuelled Ivy’s drive to prove everyone wrong.

In this week’s episode, Ivy opens up about what it was like watching her now-husband build his career while she stayed home with babies, seeing her friends go off to uni or travel, and feeling the isolation of having no one around who understood the realities of parenthood.

We dive into her journey of creating a photography business that allowed her to work around her kids, and the lingering imposter syndrome that’s still present, even after creating a life where she can choose her own hours, work on her own terms, and do something she loves.

As she nears the end of the baby and toddler season, Ivy reflects on this new phase, one where she’s learning to focus on herself and figure out who she is beyond “just a mum.”

Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this episode!

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