If you’ve watcher Netflix’s The Diplomat and wondered if it’s a true reflection of life in the diplomatic service, this is the podcast to listen to.  Jen is an extraordinary woman who overcame rejection three times to join the foreign office and follow her dream of becoming a diplomat.  Perhaps even more impressively, she noticed when the time for her to move on had come rather than staying in a job that was no longer fulfilling, despite the ‘sunk costs’ of everything she had put into getting there.  She spent over 2 decades in diplomacy, which included posts in Pakistan and Egypt. She’s also raised a family in the midst of this phenomenal career, which involved evacuating her very young children twice during two revolutions.

Jen now runs her own business called ‘How to Diplomat’ where she uses the incredible lessons she’s learnt over years of working alongside world leaders and distils these lessons into accessible, useable, often funny and jargon free videos and posts to help us all learn the skills of diplomacy.  Throughout our conversation I was struck by Jen’s thoughtful and pragmatic approach to the situations she found herself in and how incredibly honest she has been in her reflections about how she showed up at work at various stages of her career. From tear gas in the embassy gardens whilst pregnant to moving to Cairo because she fell in love with Egypt in Raiders of the Lost Ark, I challenge anyone not to feel inspired after listening to this phenomenal woman.

Mel Clarke is a force to be reckoned with! Recently awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list for her services to women (among other things), Mel is the definition of a powerful woman.  Mum to three, Mel took on the role of main breadwinner when her husband was made redundant and went from strength to strength in her career at National Highways. Not one to shy away from a difficult conversation, she challenged her bosses when she was overlooked for promotion and succeeded in getting them to stop, think and change their approach to working mums. Now as Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing, she is in a position to shape the experience of thousands of women below her.  Her legacy has been setting up the Women’s Network which now has over 1000 members.

But this journey hasn’t been without it’s challenges.  From prejudice at school, to mum guilt, to her husband feeling isolated, Mel talks with honesty and openness about the highs and lows of their experiences and how their unusual family dynamic has impacted on her children. She also talks really positively about how she now pays this forward in the way that she champions women of all ages and stages at work.  This podcast is a must for any mum who is holding down a big job and who sometimes feels that they are not achieving the balance they had hoped for.  It’s also for the women out there who are taking on the less traditional role of the main earner in their family and how to navigate this with dignity.

Chloё Luxton is founder and creative director of Bramley - a range of natural bathroom, home and skin care products. Whilst Bramley was her first child, she is also mum to three children, all of whom she had whilst running the business. 

Chloё’s calm demeanour and ‘anything is possible’ approach is reassuring for those of us frantically juggling work and children. She talks openly about the positives and negatives of running a business with children in tow and how she has been intentional about being the architect of balance in her life. She reminded me of not losing sight of what the important things are in life.

We also discuss childcare and the value of an extra pair of hands. Positive and upbeat, this podcast will inspire anyone thinking about setting up a lifestyle business alongside having children. It also highlights how often women don’t recognise their own phenomenal achievements, instead putting their successes down to ‘winging it’.  Hopefully Chloё now thinks differently…!

Dr Nelisha Wikremasinghe is a psychologist, therapist and author. She’s mum to two sons – 24 and 17 – and has navigated the journey of working and parenting solo for much of the time.

Nelisha talks wisely and with deep reflection about how challenging it is to parent and work, and explores how women need to learn more about self-compassion in order to survive and thrive as a professional working mum.

We explore the importance of building in room for slippage (or a ‘fail space’) and how ‘threat’ brain drives so many unhelpful behaviours in bright, successful women who are juggling working and parenting. One of my favourite lines in this podcast is “I’m quite a good juggler but our children are not balls”. I need that written on a poster somewhere!

Insightful, searingly honest and with fantastic psychological insights, this is a wonderful podcast for anyone who wants to believe in the positive impact of a powerful woman at home.

Verity Brown is Group Managing Director, overseeing 4 media agencies for a marketing services group. 

She’s mum to two children, now 7 and 4 (we recorded this a while ago) and quickly realised that she needed to create clear boundaries whilst also bringing her children into the picture to make it work. She’s an ambitious high-flyer who approached her return to work in a strategic and intentional way, rather as she would approach a pitch to a client. 

As someone who is used to juggling multiple clients and a dynamic working environment, she thought she would step easily into managing the multiple channels of work and children and found it surprisingly challenging.

Honest, funny, reflective and bright – Verity brings a refreshing openness to her reflections on being a professional working mum and on motherhood in general.  She also talks wisely about the role that work plays in making her a better mother. 

And my favourite anecdote is one about embroidered brown moths – what’s not to love!

Gina Mellotte is a voice over artist who has, among her many accolades, been voice of the BAFTAs! 

She is Mum to Frankie (9) and had the unusual experience of returning to work after 4 days.  She is one of those people who brings energy into a room. She’s honest, thoughtful and wholehearted. Gina doesn’t shy away from bringing her truth to this episode – she’s an inspiration to all women (whether employed or self-employed) about the reality of being a professional working mum. 

In this episode we explore the challenges of being self-employed and the fear that often accompanies taking time off work. Gina speaks frankly about the emotional and mental impact of taking such a short time off work and shares her reflections about how she might do it differently if she had that time again. 

She also shares her insights around setting boundaries and being clear with clients about when she is or isn’t available. You’ll also enjoy listening to her fabulous voice!