What happens when you've spent years building a life around achievement, productivity and professional success — and then you become a mother and suddenly feel like everyone else is moving forward without you?

Today's guest is Jacqueline Lantzen, a Motherhood & Identity Coach, former international corporate leader and passionate advocate for mothers.

Before motherhood, Jackie's identity was deeply connected to her career. She was ambitious, driven and used to fast-paced days filled with meetings, targets, problems to solve and goals to hit. She knew what success looked like — and she knew how to achieve it.

Then she became a mother.

Suddenly, her days looked completely different. The pace of her external life had slowed dramatically, yet she was more exhausted than ever. She would reach the end of a day caring for her newborn and find herself wondering: what have I actually done today?

At the same time, the professional world she'd left behind continued moving. Colleagues were progressing, getting promotions and achieving the things that had once been so important to her — while she felt as though she was standing still.

In this episode, we explore why motherhood can be particularly confronting for ambitious, high-achieving women whose sense of self has become closely connected to productivity, performance and external validation.

We talk about the fear of falling behind, watching other people's careers progress while you're on maternity leave, the discomfort of slowing down, and what happens when the tools that helped you succeed professionally don't necessarily help you navigate life with a newborn.

We also explore matrescence and the wider identity shift of motherhood — and why perhaps the goal isn't to get back to the woman you were before children, but to understand and make space for the woman you're becoming.

• What matrescence means
• Identity loss after motherhood
• Why high-achieving women can struggle with the transition
• Productivity, achievement and self-worth
• The pressure to "get yourself back"
• Motherhood and career ambition
• Returning to work after maternity leave
• Workplace support and parental transitions
• Relationships and identity after children
• Learning to embrace the woman you're becoming

About Jacqueline

Jacqueline Lantzen is a Motherhood & Identity Coach helping ambitious women understand one of the biggest transitions of their lives: becoming a mother.

After more than a decade leading international teams in the corporate world, she realised that while we prepare women for birth, we rarely prepare them for the profound identity shift that follows.

Today, she helps mothers make sense of who they're becoming and supports women navigating the intersection of motherhood, identity and ambition. She is also passionate about changing the way we support women through matrescence at home, in healthcare and in the workplace.

Website: www.jackielantzen.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackie.lantzen/

Connect with Lou..

Website: www.lounevitt.co
Instagram: @lounevitt.co

If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review The Mothership Podcast — and if you know a mother who would enjoy this conversation, please share it with her. Every follow, rating, review and share helps us reach more mothers who deserve to know they're not alone.

Because every mother deserves a Mothership — a place for connection, support and community. None of us were meant to do motherhood alone.

If you'd like to explore matrescence coaching, find out how I support organisations through parental transition and leadership consultancy, or enquire about speaking and collaborations, visit www.lounevitt.co.

Hannah Swales is a yoga teacher, birth preparation practitioner and mother with more than 15 years of experience supporting women through pregnancy, birth and the transition into motherhood.

In this episode of The Mothership Podcast, Hannah joins Lou Nevitt for a wide-ranging conversation about birth preparation, self-trust, motherhood and what it really means to feel informed and supported as you bring a baby into the world.

Lou shares her own experience of preparing intensely for her first birth and becoming so attached to the idea of the birth she wanted that, when things didn't go to plan, feeling as though she had somehow failed.

It opens up an important conversation: how do we prepare women positively for birth without creating another version of the "perfect mother" ideal before motherhood has even begun?

Hannah believes good birth preparation isn't about promising women a particular kind of birth. It's about helping them understand their options, ask questions, recognise what makes them feel safe and make informed decisions for themselves — even when birth takes an unexpected turn.

They also explore what happens after the baby arrives: the physical and emotional adjustment to motherhood, why women can feel forgotten once the focus shifts to the baby, and why community can make such an enormous difference during those early months.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why Hannah sees birth preparation as an "unlearning"
• The difference between preparing for birth and trying to control it
• Lou's experience of feeling she had failed when her first birth didn't go to plan
• How to prepare for medical interventions without approaching birth from a place of fear
• Why feeling heard, informed and involved in decisions matters
• The role birth partners can play in creating a supportive environment
• What Hannah has learned from supporting women from pregnancy into postpartum life
• Why new mothers need support too — not only their babies
• The importance of community during the transition into motherhood
• Why Hannah's biggest message to women is simple: trust yourself

About Hannah

Hannah Swales is a yoga teacher, birth preparation practitioner and mother with over 15 years of experience supporting women through pregnancy, birth and the transformative journey into motherhood.

She has built a strong community in Ibiza through her prenatal and postnatal groups, creating a space where mothers can connect, share and feel supported.

Hannah also creates and leads luxury wellness retreats in Ibiza, combining yoga, breathwork, meditation, movement and connection to give people space to slow down, reset and reconnect with themselves.

She offers online birth preparation classes for expectant parents around the world.

Connect with Hannah

Website: www.hannahyogaibiza.com
Instagram: @hannah_yoga_ibiza

Connect with The Mothership

Website: www.lounevitt.co
Instagram: @lounevitt.co

If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review The Mothership Podcast — and if you know a mother who would enjoy this conversation, please share it with her. Every follow, rating, review and share helps us reach more mothers who deserve to know they're not alone.

Because every mother deserves a Mothership — a place for connection, support and community. None of us were meant to do motherhood alone.

If you'd like to explore matrescence coaching, find out how I support organisations through parental transition and leadership consultancy, or enquire about speaking and collaborations, visit www.lounevitt.co.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself WHY??

Why do I feel guilty about this?

Why am I so angry?

Why am I putting so much pressure on myself?

Why do I think being a good mother means giving up parts of myself?

And perhaps the biggest question of all: what do I actually want?

In this episode of The Mothership Podcast, I’m joined by feminist author and coach Rebecca Hogan, author of ME to WE: How to Rediscover Yourself and Truly Thrive in Motherhood.

Rebecca believes one of the most powerful things we can do as mothers is get curious about what we're feeling rather than simply accepting guilt, resentment, overwhelm or loss of identity as inevitable parts of motherhood.

We talk about the tension many women experience between wanting to be a good mother and still wanting ambition, independence, creativity, work and a life that feels like their own.

We also explore seasonal living — moving away from the idea that we should operate at the same pace all year round and learning instead to recognise our own seasons, energy and rhythms.

• Why we've normalised "mum guilt" — and whether we should

• The impossible expectations created by the perfect mother myth

• Why motherhood can leave ambitious women feeling split in two

• Being a human being rather than a human doing

• Why asking "why?" can uncover what's really underneath anger, resentment and overwhelm

• Identity and the ongoing transformation of matrescence

• Why becoming a mother doesn't mean giving up the rest of who you are

• Beauty standards and questioning the expectations placed on women

• Seasonal living and working with your energy rather than constantly pushing against it

• Why resentment and frustration can contain useful information

• The importance of community and honest conversations between mothers

• Why vision work can help us hold onto big ambitions without needing to achieve everything right now

Rebecca Hogan is a feminist author, coach and rebel leader for mums. She's on a mission to make matrescence mainstream so women stop feeling lost in motherhood and start truly thriving in it.

She is the author of ME to WE: How to Rediscover Yourself and Truly Thrive in Motherhood and a life coach for mothers ready to unlearn the guilt, reclaim their identity and confidently become the whole woman they desire to be.

Rebecca weaves vision work and seasonal living into everything she does, helping women hold big goals while honouring their own pace as an antidote to the burnout and bounce-back culture that exhausts so many of us.

Website: www.rebeccahogan.co.ukInstagram: @rebeccahogan_

Rebecca also runs Dream & Do, her monthly online community, and shares her weekly Weekend Wonders email with reflection questions inspired by seasonal living.

Connect with Lou Nevitt & Co & The Mothership

If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review The Mothership Podcast — and if you know a mother who would enjoy this conversation, please share it with her. Every follow, rating, review and share helps us reach more mothers who deserve to know they're not alone.

Because every mother deserves a Mothership — a place for connection, support and community. None of us were meant to do this alone.

If you'd like to be a guest on The Mothership Podcast, explore matrescence coaching, or learn how I support organisations through parental transition and leadership consultancy, I'd love to hear from you.

Website: www.lounevitt.coInstagram: @lounevitt.co

Together, let's change the conversation around motherhood.

What happens to your confidence when motherhood changes your body, your priorities and the way you see yourself?

In this episode of The Mothership Podcast, I sit down with Aye Ben, an Argentinian mother, entrepreneur and founder of Benhart Cosmetics. Aye is one of the most naturally confident women I know—but that confidence did not arrive automatically. After becoming a mother, she had to question old beliefs about what a mother should look like, how she should spend her time and whether her own dreams still mattered.

We talk honestly about the pressure to ‘bounce back’, the judgement women can feel for caring about how they look, and why self-care is not the same as chasing perfection. Aye shares the questions that helped her rebuild her relationship with her body and identity, and explains why confidence is not about having flawless skin, a certain shape or perfectly done nails. It is about knowing who you are in every version of yourself.

This is a lively, uplifting conversation about beauty, motherhood, entrepreneurship and learning to model the confidence we hope our children will develop.

What we cover

• How motherhood can change the way we see our bodies and ourselves
• Why the idea of returning to a pre-motherhood self can be so damaging
• Questioning where our beauty standards and insecurities come from
• The difference between self-care, self-improvement and self-rejection
• Making space for ambition and identity alongside motherhood
• Why children learn confidence from what we model, not only what we tell them
• Aye’s journey from Argentina to Costa Rica and the beginnings of Benhart Cosmetics
• Finding a realistic balance between natural living, beauty and enjoyment

Aye Benhart is a mother, entrepreneur and creator of the Ancestral Glow Method, a facial massage practice inspired by ancestral beauty rituals. She is also the founder of Benhart Cosmética, a conscious skincare brand helping women reconnect with themselves through natural beauty, self-care and daily rituals.

Connect with Aye

Instagram: @benhart_belleza_ancestral

If you've enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review The Mothership Podcast.

And if you know a mother who would enjoy this conversation, please share it with her.

Because every mother deserves a Mothership — a place for connection, support and community. None of us were meant to do this alone.

If you'd like to be a guest on The Mothership Podcast, I'd love to hear your story.

If you're navigating motherhood, matrescence or identity after becoming a mother—or you're an organisation looking to better support working parents—I'd love to help.

Instagram: @lounevitt.co

Website: www.lounevitt.co

Do you ever feel like you're failing as a mum because you can't do it all?

Between the pressure to raise happy children, build a career, maintain relationships, stay healthy and somehow keep the house running, motherhood can feel like an impossible balancing act.

In this episode of The Mothership Podcast, I'm joined by child development specialist and parental coach Romy, whose mission is to challenge one of the biggest myths in modern parenting: the idea that we have to be perfect.

Together we explore where this pressure comes from, why social media has raised the bar to impossible heights, and how constantly striving for perfection can actually model unrealistic expectations for our children.

Romy also shares an example around maternal overwhelm, parental rage and the importance of recognising when it's the parent who needs support- not because they're failing, but because they're running on empty.

This episode is a powerful reminder that looking after yourself isn't selfish, in fact it's one of the greatest gifts you can give your children.

• Why there is no such thing as the perfect parent

• How social media fuels unrealistic expectations of motherhood

• The hidden pressure mothers place on themselves

• Why children don't need perfection—they need connection

• Maternal guilt and the importance of filling your own cup

• The impact of sleep deprivation on motherhood

• Why asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness

• Understanding maternal rage with compassion instead of shame

• Why changing the parent often changes the child's behaviour

• How coaching helps parents build confidence instead of perfection

• Practical ways to lower the bar and enjoy motherhood more

Romy is a child development specialist and parental coach based in Ibiza. Originally from the Netherlands, she supports parents to better understand their children's behaviour while helping them become calmer, more confident and more connected parents.

Rather than chasing perfection, Romy's work focuses on giving families practical tools, compassionate support and the confidence to trust themselves—because when parents thrive, children do too.

Connect with Romy

Instagram: romy.charlotte.pedagoog

If you're enjoying The Mothership Podcast, I'd be so grateful if you could subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with another mum who needs to hear it.

If you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, get in touch via

Instagram @lounevitt.co OR @themothershipibiza

or at Lou Nevitt.co

If you're navigating your own identity shift through motherhood and would like coaching support, I'd love to hear from you.

And if you're an organisation looking to better support parents through the transition into parenthood, I also work with businesses to improve parental retention, wellbeing and leadership development through evidence-based matrescence coaching.

Thanks for listening, and remember…

Motherhood changes everything. You don't have to navigate it alone.

Denise Wolf is a registered psychotherapist based in Ibiza, working with adults navigating anxiety, burnout, and major life transitions. 

In this episode of The Mothership Podcast, Denise joins Lou Nevitt to discuss matrescence, motherhood, mental health, and why asking for help is often one of the hardest (but most important) things we can do.

Together, they explore the emotional and identity shifts that can come with becoming a mother, the pressure many women feel to cope alone, and how we can begin to create a culture that better supports mothers through every stage of life.

Topics covered include:

• Matrescence and the transition into motherhood

• Anxiety, overwhelm and burnout

• The stigma around asking for help

• Identity shifts and changing relationships

• Perimenopause, menopause and mental wellbeing

• Building support systems that help mothers thrive

Denise's work is grounded in both professional expertise and personal experience, bringing warmth, compassion and understanding to the women and families she supports.

Connect with Denise:

Instagram: @psychotherapydenisewolf

Website: www.denise-wolf.com

If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another mother who might need to hear it.

Interested in being a guest on The Mothership Podcast? Or looking for support with motherhood, matrescence, identity, confidence or life transitions? Contact Lou via Instagram @lounevitt.co. or via the website www.lounevitt.co

Thaina is the Brazilian-born founder of RISE, a conscious swimwear brand created to help women feel confident, magnetic, and fully expressed in their bodies.

While building a successful career in law in Luxembourg, Thaina felt a growing desire to create something that celebrated women on a deeper level. After becoming a mother, that calling became impossible to ignore.

In this conversation, we explore identity, ambition, motherhood, and what happens when you give yourself permission to pursue a dream alongside an established career. We talk about female confidence, self-expression, building a business from the ground up, and why motherhood can often be the catalyst for stepping into a more authentic version of yourself.

This episode is for any woman who has ever felt pulled between a career & a personal goal.

Find Thaina and RISE on Instagram @risegirl and discover the collection at Rise beachwear.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review The Mothership Podcast. And if you know a mother who would enjoy this conversation, please share it with her. Because every mother deserves a Mothership — a place for connection, support and community. None of us were meant to do this alone.

If you have a story, insight or expertise that could support other mothers, I'd love to hear from you. Connect with me on Instagram at @lounevitt.co or visit Lou Nevitt & Co to learn more.

What if everything you're feeling in motherhood is completely normal... but nobody ever gave you the language to understand it?

In this episode, Lou sits down with matrescence educator and founder of The Matrescence Project, Beth Bellingham, to explore the life-changing concept of matrescence — the psychological, emotional, physical and identity transition that women experience when they become mothers.

Together they discuss why so many women feel lost, overwhelmed or disconnected after having children, and how understanding matrescence can help us make sense of the changes we experience. Beth shares her mission to give women a word, a framework and a roadmap for one of the biggest transformations of their lives.

This conversation is for any mother who has ever wondered:

• Why do I feel so different since becoming a mum?

• Why did nobody prepare me for this?

• Is it normal to feel like I've lost part of myself?

• How can I navigate this transition with more understanding and self-compassion?

If you've ever felt alone in your experience of motherhood, this episode will help you realise that you're certainly not the only one.

Beth Bellingham is a matrescence educator and founder of The Matrescence Project (TMP), a platform dedicated to supporting mums through one of life's most profound transitions: becoming a mother. 

Beth's mission is simple but powerful: to give women a word, a framework, and a community to help them understand that what they're feeling is normal ~ through education around matrescence ~ the psychological, emotional, and identity shift that comes with motherhood. TMP offers guides, workshops and talks to support mums navigate the transformation, and give them back the thing no one offered them an explanation, and a map of matrescence to give them visibility of the road ahead.

Find Beth:

Instagram: @thematrescenceproject

Website: www.thematrescenceproject.co.uk

If this conversation resonates with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another mother who needs to hear it.

Welcome to The Mothership podcast! In this first episode, meet your host- Lou Nevitt - the founder of The Mothership community in Ibiza and Lou Nevitt & Co; a platform to support Mothers & workplaces with transitions into Motherhood.

She shares her own personal experience of becoming a Mother and what lead her to create both a local community of mothers & an international support system for organisations, families & mothers.

Lou shares her honest take on what has been missing in the world of preparing to become a parent, and how changing the way we talk about Motherhood could lead to an easier transition for the next generation of Mothers.

You can find out more about Maternity transition coaching & support within Motherhood at:

www.lounevitt.co

&

Instagram: @lounevitt.co & @themothershipibiza

If you would like to be a guest on The Mothership podcast, please contact me via instagram or the website.

Motherhood changes everything …... in ways you never saw coming. It can leave once independent, ambitious & adventurous women questioning how we see ourselves, our work, our relationships, and what we want next. It isn’t just a life change. It’s a complete identity shake up. 

Welcome to The Mothership podcast, with me Lou Nevitt….expat mum (raising 2 kids in Ibiza), matrescence coach, and founder of Lou Nevitt & Co.

After a high pressure career in luxury events, I thought Motherhood would be a walk in the park. Guess what?...…I was wrong! 

Having children turned my world upside down - in ways I never expected…. Turns out Im not the only one…

Join me as I host honest conversations with inspiring women and expert voices to make sense of this crazy journey through Motherhood.

From building businesses to redefining ambition, each episode shares real stories and powerful insights into life as a mum.

This is more than a podcast. It’s a space to feel seen, supported, and  a new way of decoding life as a mother.