I started Motherswhowork.co.uk back in 2011, when our eldest child was just two years old.
At the time, I was working in the media, full-time, for one of the biggest global business publishers. I worked on their law journals. Yes, very sexy indeed!
I remember dropping our eldest off at nursery and making the frantic sprint to catch the train and, once settled on my commute into the office, I would hear horror stories from mums or expectant mums speaking to a friend about how badly their line managers were treating them. Many of them shared how hard it was to get their boss to agree or sign off on their antenatal appointments etc. I was mortified – but I also knew it was illegal because I basically worked in employment law journals and knew the laws on maternity back to front.
So, after interrupting a few conversations to give free ‘legal’ advice, I decided that it might be better to direct them to a website, where I would put all the information that mums like them would clearly benefit from. I tried searching online and couldn’t find anything that sounded consumable (unless you worked in law!). This assured me that a website like the initial Motherswhowork.co.uk site would be perfect!
And that is how this website was born! I wanted to help mums navigate the workplace and not get ripped off or bullied by their employers.
Now, a mum of two delightful children, an entrepreneur and many other things in between, I see the life of mums through so many different lenses.
Little did I know that this journey would unfold into one that looked at mums in business, work-life balance, products to make being a working mum manageable and all of those fun things we have covered in our almost two decades of existence!
Since starting, I have been on many TV programmes, radio shows and magazine interviews, flying the banner for working parents in the UK!
Our content is ever-evolving, so who knows where the future will take us, but I love being a part of the rollercoaster ride of working motherhood!
Joycellyn