Bump to Business Owner

Caroline Marshall shares her personal journey through redundancy, motherhood, and building confidence. She offers practical insights on overcoming challenges, external validation, and the importance of time and perspective in healing. This podcast is the third in a three part series all about redundancy. You can hear Part 1, here https://pod.fo/e/433a31 And Part 2, here https://pod.fo/e/4392e1   K...

Caroline Marshall shares her personal experience navigating unfair redundancy, highlighting the importance of support networks, strategic responses, and self-care during career crises. This podcast is the second in a three part series all about redundancy, you can hear Part 1, here: https://pod.fo/e/433a31   Key topics: Handling unfair redundancy Building a support network Negotiation strategies i...

Caroline Marshall shares her personal redundancy story, highlighting the importance of fair treatment and systemic issues in startups. This episode offers insights into navigating redundancy with dignity, supporting women and mothers, and understanding systemic flaws. This podcast is the first in a three part series all about redundancy: stay tuned for advice on how to manage the process, and how...

In this episode, Caroline Marshall interviews Sophie Catto and Nicole Goodwin, leaders of AllBright everywoman, about supporting women in their careers, motherhood, and leadership. They discuss the impact of motherhood on career confidence, the importance of community and corporate support, and initiatives like Motherhood Works to empower women at key life stages. Resources: The All Bright Yellow...

In our final episode in our collaborative mini series with Lucy Legal, Caroline chats to Rachel Childs. Rachel is a relationship coach and founder of Parents That Work, and shares insights on maintaining connection, equality, and emotional support in relationships after parenthood. This episode explores the impact of COVID, gender norms, and practical strategies for healthier partnerships. This ep...

Caroline and Lucy Legal explore the multifaceted use of AI in business and daily life, addressing misconceptions, legal considerations, and practical applications. They discuss how women are navigating AI's challenges and opportunities, emphasising responsible use and strategic integration. This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Lucy Legal and her Get Legit Hub. Don't trust ChatGPT f...

Sophia Jarvis, CEO of Mia Wealth, shares her journey through high-risk pregnancy, neonatal intensive care, and building a fintech startup while navigating motherhood. Discover insights on balancing ambition, personal resilience, and innovative approaches to children's financial futures. This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Lucy Legal and her Get Legit Hub. Don't trust ChatGPT for l...

In this conversation, Caroline Marshall and Lucy Legal discuss the often unspoken realities of maternity leave for business owners. They explore the differences between expectations and reality, the challenges of maintaining identity while navigating motherhood, and the importance of flexibility in work-life balance. The discussion also touches on shared parental leave experiences, the impact of d...

Trigger Warning: Discussion of Sudden Infant Collapse and PTSD In this special episode Lucy interviews Caroline as she reflects on her journey through motherhood, entrepreneurship, and overcoming challenges, sharing insights on balancing business and family, mental health, and the importance of community support. This episode is brought to you in collaboration with Lucy Legal and her Get Legit Hub...

In this episode, Caroline Marshall and Lucy Legal discuss the transformative journey of designing a career around family rather than conforming to traditional work structures. Lucy shares her experiences transitioning from a conventional legal career to creating a flexible business that aligns with her values as a mother. They explore themes of success, personal challenges, societal expectations,...

Amy Grilli shares her inspiring journey from teacher to co-founder of Five Hour Club, a platform revolutionising flexible work for parents. Discover how her viral LinkedIn post sparked a movement, the importance of flexible careers for mums, and practical tips for balancing work and family. Topics: The origin of Five Hour Club and its mission Amy's personal career journey and challenges as a mum T...

Caroline reflects on the challenges of maintaining momentum in business, especially during tough times, and shares practical tips on resilience, human connection, and self-care. She emphasises the importance of showing up, normalizing rest, and pivoting when needed, all while celebrating her podcast milestone. Topics: Consistency is key - keep showing up even when it feels hard Normalise taking re...

In this episode, Caroline Marshall interviews Olivia and Tanyka Davson, sisters and co-founders of Cubbi, the UK's first parental leave discount platform. They share their journey from no-code MVP to national platform, navigating entrepreneurship during early motherhood, pitching on Dragon's Den, and building a mission-led business that supports new parents financially and emotionally. Topics: Bui...

Rosie Nixon, former editor-in-chief of Hello Magazine, shares her journey from high-profile journalism to coaching and retreats. This episode explores her career pivots, overcoming burnout, and redefining her identity and values in midlife. Topics: Career transition from magazine editor to coach Overcoming burnout and stress management The importance of values and self-awareness in reinvention Cha...

How was your first Christmas with a baby? Mine was…not as I had hoped. And I think that's the same for everyone. Your life has changed fundamentally, but Christmas just keeps being Christmas, with the same old family dynamics. And I found that rough, I definitely had a Christmas Crash - if that is/was you too, you're not alone Christmas is a triggering time for everyone, and we all need to do what...

There's a lot of expectation when you become a mum: how it will be, the friends you will make, the support you'll have, what work will look like; what Christmas will look like. The gulf between our expectations and reality is very real, and Dr Tuesday Watts-Overall is here to tell you: you're in the messy middle, and that's OK.  Dr Tuesday shares her tools for navigating the huge pressure we put o...

What do you do when your boss tells you your pregnancy is "inconvenient"?  Start your own business. Alice Holland-Lu used her 15 years of experience in luxury fashion to launch her own brand, based on her own experiences and struggles as her body changed throughout pregnancy and beyond.  Alice has built a hyper-local business model, a community and an emotionally-led brand, whilst carting her kids...

Trigger Warning: there is a brief discussion of maternal mental health and suicide. 2025 has gone really fast, and it has been A Lot. There have been a lot of lessons, and I'm sharing 3 of mine in the hope that it will encourage you to reflect, celebrate how far you've come and recognise the challenges you've faced. Bonus lesson? Don't ask ChatGPT to tell you what you've learnt, before you ask you...

Kira Mahal has never taken the conventional route - from holding a marketing event in lieu of interviewing for jobs, to leaving a lucrative finance career with no plan, no savings and no clear vision. Self-described as "barking mad", Kira and her husband went all into their business. On the cusp of a life and business changing corporate contract, the world went into lockdown and they lost £1.8mill...

Rachel and I met on the Goldman Sachs 10KSB programme in February and instantly gravitated towards another. Both mums, both struggling with being away from family, but determined to grow our businesses, despite all the challenges that motherhood/founderhood bring. My conversation with Rachel is almost excoriatingly honest about the impact of motherhood on her business, and herself. These are the c...

I don't do New Year's Resolutions. December isn't a straightforward month for me, personally, and my energy levels in January after juggling school holidays and all the Christmas fun just aren't up to "starting the new year strong". So I've restructured my business year, and my mindset to fit my realities. In this episode I'm sharing: Why I'm so anti end of year hustle culture Why we should all be...

Something a little different this week. I was at the UK Virtual Assistant awards last week celebrating the industry and gratefully receiving a couple of awards, on behalf of the business and the podcast team! While I was there, I did some live interviews with some incredible VAs and business women, who also happen to be mums, my industry peers and friends. They are sharing their wisdom and experie...

Trigger warning: This episode was recorded during Baby Loss Awareness Week and includes discussion of miscarriage and baby loss. Please take care of yourself. This conversation is long overdue. Amanda Johnson, or The Amanda Johnson as she's known in the Virtual Assistant industry, is founder and coach at the VA Training Academy, host of the UK VA Awards and my mentor. Before becoming a Titan of th...

We're wrapping up the Assistant miniseries with a big-picture conversation, the future of the assistant and VA industry. I've been in this world for over 15 years, and in that time I've seen the role change again and again, from the 2009 crash, to the explosion of tech tools, and now to AI. In this episode, I'm talking about where I see things going, what makes our work truly irreplaceable, and wh...

Onboarding is my area of geek, my Mastermind subject. In this week's episode I am sharing my best practice tips for creating a great onboarding process, why it's so important, where your focus should be throughout and why you should be trying to remove yourself from it as much as possible. This is episode three of a four-part mini series for the Assistant community, each episode is accompanied by...