Ready or Not

Picture this: you're a mother of one, you're newly pregnant and you're at your dating scan. The sonographer goes a little quiet. There's not one baby in your tummy, there's not even just the two. You're pregnant with triplets. This is what happened to now mother of four and litigation lawyer Silje Andersen-Cooke. I can physically feel the shock and worry of it all: wondering what this means for yo...

Alison Rice is a mother and a journalist turned career and business mentor. She cut her teeth at The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism before going on to lead and launch some of the world's largest digital women's media titles into the Australian market. To some, she had it all. But, a realisation that her work was perpetuating a kind of desire culture and leading women to question t...

Tina Randello is the Chief Commercial Officer of global skincare brand Alpha-H. She’s also a mother of two and the founder of The Encoreship — a return-to-work program providing opportunities for women and mothers who have been out of the workforce for an extended period. She’s held down massive roles, she’s worked both full time and part time alongside her parenting journey, and she’s learned a l...

Elise Addlem is a feminism and philosophy educator for mothers and parents. She's also a mother herself, and through her work, she breaks down complex topics into digestible bites. She makes the daunting interesting and she is deeply passionate about educating others on the intersection of motherhood, feminism, patriarchal parenting, and neoliberal capitalism. Here, we talk about the perfect mothe...

Publicly, a burgeoning business that led her to New York for a meeting with Anna Wintour and to sharing the stage with Richard Branson on multiple occasions. And privately: eight years, 18 rounds of IVF, and a friend willing to carry her baby, all in pursuit of becoming a mother. This is an incredible story of how Collective Hub founder Lisa Messenger has made work alongside her challenging journe...

Sophie Walker is the host of hit podcast, Australian Birth Stories. She's also a published author, the creator of the birth class, and a mother of three boys. It was Sophie's traumatic first birth that inspired the podcast, which at the time of the interview had over 11 million downloads, but at the time of publishing, she's up to 12 million. That's nearly half of Australia. The expansion of her b...

Vomiting 30 times a day while trying to run a shop. No parental leave after the birth of her son Remy. Owning a retail business in Melbourne during a pandemic. Navigating her husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. And then, after falling pregnant with the baby that the doctors said would be nearly impossible to conceive without assistance, a pregnancy loss. Navigating motherhood and career for...

When I tell you that journalist and mother of two Melanie Dimmitt’s son has cerebral palsy, what kind of life do you imagine? Do you imagine someone that’s a bit angry at the world, do you picture their life at home to be a little sad? If your answer is a shameful yes that you don't really want to admit to, you're not alone. Melanie would've said the same once upon a time. But, her life is actuall...

Erin Phibbs is a midwife, childbirth educator, and mother of four. She has a twin sister who seemed to fall pregnant at the drop of a hat while it took her years, and she's had some very different births and maternity leave experiences. From a traumatic first birth and an intense and lonely first postpartum, to a healing second birth and her husband taking six months of parental leave, she's exper...

Alexandra Collier is a writer, mother, and the author of Inconceivable: a newly released memoir about her journey into solo parenthood. In a former life, she lived in a light-filled Brooklyn brownstone in New York with the man she loved. But when she woke up to a ravenous hunger to have a baby that her partner didn't share, her life took a sharp turn. She found herself back home in Melbourne at 37...

Justine Cullen is the editor in chief of InStyle. If, like me, you’ve been a devoted consumer of Australian magazines some time over the past three decades, there’s a good chance you’ve pored over some of her stories, for the likes of Girlfriend, Marie Claire, Dolly, Shop Til You Drop, and Elle. Her formative magazine years were during those heady days of long lunches, fabulous parties, and luxuri...

We planned to release a special episode with InStyle editor Justine Cullen today, but daycare sickness had other plans. From gastro under two weeks ago, to fresh colds for my son and I this week, we are a bit behind and this low production episode is the best we can do for this Tuesday's release. My favourite part of this episode is a tip from a very good friend of mine. It's made my day much more...

Max Jahufer is the founder of creative agency, Future Studio. He’s also a proud trans father who will make his film debut in an upcoming comedy drama about a trans woman returning home for Christmas, and all the tension, secrets and lies that come with it. Having always felt like the different kid, Max is open about the extra layer of what it means to bring up a child in a family that is perceived...

[Warning: I swore in this episode] A bonus episode looking at the first month of daycare. I slapped this together very quickly, so expect absolutely no production brilliance or good advice, because I am figuring out the whole daycare thing as I go. This is simply how the first month or so of daycare played out for us so you can feel a little less alone or a little more prepared. Spoiler alert: day...

Anna Commons is the founder of The Autism Collective and mother of two delightful boys, Jackson, who has nonverbal autism, and Hunter. Her life has been one of incredible experiences and serious growth. Her career began in marketing, then somewhere in the middle she waited tables, and now, she's a motherhood mentor and coach who also works with families navigating the NDIS. In this episode, Anna s...

Lael Stone is a Parenting Educator, TEDx speaker, author, and the co-creator of Woodline Primary and The Aware Parenting Podcast. She has a son and two daughters ranging from their late teens to early adulthood, and in many ways, her career trajectory has mirrored her parenting journey. Now I don’t know if it’s that soothing voice or the way she holds space for those around her, but either way, an...

[CW: Episode discusses pregnancy loss, cancer and postpartum depression] Ambika Gautam Pai is the Chief Strategy Officer at Mekanism. She lives in Chicago with her two children and husband, and when she’s not splitting herself between her equally busy paid and unpaid roles, she’s writing about the intersection of motherhood, mental health, equity and business ( read her newsletter here ). As much...

[Content warning: we swear in this episode!} Jessica Prescott and Vaughne Geary are the founders of Mama Goodness, a business dedicated to nourishing and nurturing mothers. They’re also the authors of Life After Birth, a new postpartum bible published by Hardie Grant. Having launched Mama Goodness just before the pandemic, they learned about the intensity of small business fast. Working so closely...

When former first lady Michelle Obama was on a book tour for Becoming, she famously swore in a candid, off the cuff moment. She caught herself off guard, but the crowd went wild as she shared a sentiment so many of us feel so deeply. Now I won’t deliver this as coolly as Obama, but this is what she said (and be warned, I do swear in the episode): “I tell women, that whole ‘you can have it all’ — n...

Phoebe Simmonds is the co-founder of The Memo and the founder of The Blow . She’s worked for some of the biggest beauty brands in the world, has lived in London, Singapore and Sydney, and now works and lives in Melbourne with her partner Shaun, Shaun’s son Tyler, and their son Remy. Shaun lost his former partner, Tyler’s mother, many years before he and Phoebe came to be, so her introduction to pa...

[CW: episode discusses postnatal depression and pregnancy and postpartum struggles] Gemma Smith is a perinatal counsellor and a mother of two. She’s also a recovering perfectionist who was rocked by the intensity of new parenthood. She did all the prep you can imagine a perfectionist doing - she hired a birth doula, did pregnancy pilates, birth classes, yoga for labour and birth, hours of reading...

Shterna Glick is a midwife, lactation consultant and mother of five. Through her Instagram page, @melbourne_lactation , Shterna has gained a following for her knowledge and experience as both a mother and a professional, and for her practical, informative posts on all things breastfeeding. Her approach to supporting breastfeeding parents is sustainable and supportive, and what I love most about th...

Amy Bradshaw is the head of Australia at global media agency, Vayner Media. She’s worked in New York, London, and now back at home in Sydney, where she lives with her partner and two children. What I loved about my conversation with Amy is how pragmatic, honest, and genuine she is. She doesn’t dramatise the struggles of being a working parent, but she doesn’t over simplify it, either. In this epis...

CW: this episode deals with loss, illness and hospitals. You'll also hear the odd swear word. From the outset, the focus of this podcast has been the working mother or primary caregiver. But, what happens to your career and identity when you lose your own mother? Last week, a LinkedIn post by Jaala Alex had me questioning this. Many mothers naturally link part of their identity to their children a...

Rana Hussain is a social inclusion specialist, broadcaster, presenter, writer and one of the Outer Sanctum podcast crew. She’s also a program director at Champions of Change and makes regular appearances on ABC radio and television. She’s also a mother and a very good person. She does the sort of work that I can’t help but think it’d be hard to switch off from, because the scope is so big and the...