Mother in the C-Suite

Working motherhood, entrepreneurship and burnout recovery. Building a business before becoming a parent is one thing. Learning how to keep building once motherhood changes everything is something else entirely. In this conversation, we explore how becoming a mum forced a complete rethink of ambition, productivity and what success actually looks like. From starting a business at 18 to launching mul...

Most founders believe relentless hustle is the only path to success. But working yourself to the bone has a hidden cost that few are willing to admit. Lauren Lovett chased wealth across multiple industries before a severe health scare forced her to rethink everything. She reveals why adopting a purpose-driven mindset attracts more financial success than pure grind. The conversation explores the hi...

Becoming a parent at 19 changes the trajectory of a career before it even begins. This episode explores the raw reality of moving from childhood straight into motherhood while trying to navigate male dominated industries and corporate structures that were never built for parents. It highlights the systemic failures that often force ambitious women to abandon secure roles to find the flexibility th...

Many working parents struggle with the daily juggle of children and careers. One terrifying medical emergency completely changed how this director approached her life, work and leadership. We explore the raw reality of suffering from severe pre-eclampsia and experiencing full body organ failure at 30 weeks pregnant. We discuss the transition from financial planner to operations director. The conve...

Authentic confidence, imposter syndrome and the inner critic in working mothers and female leaders. Confidence therapist Gemma Holmes shares why “fake it till you make it” is not only exhausting, but unsustainable - and what to build instead. Drawing on her experience in corporate leadership and therapy, she explains how imposter syndrome shows up in high-achieving women, why it keeps you stuck an...

Financial independence, motherhood and resilience after financial loss. Sacked after maternity leave. Two weeks before giving birth, scammed over £200,000. No safety net, no time to pause just the reality of starting again while responsible for three children. Katie’s story is a stark reminder of how quickly security can disappear, and what it really demands of you when it does. Long nights, impos...

Building a business in the margins of motherhood, work and everything in between. Suziey’s story is not one of neatly balanced routines or perfectly timed ambition. It’s one of fragmented days, a constantly full mind and the quiet determination to keep going anyway. While caring for a baby, returning to an employed job and navigating life as both a mum and a step mum, she is building Mum Bloom - o...

Working motherhood, ambition and boundaries — the reality of the choices we make. Michelle Hoskin built a successful career transforming businesses and speaking on stages around the world. But behind the success sits a question many working mothers quietly carry: what does ambition cost at home? In this honest and deeply human conversation, Michelle reflects on the choices she made while raising h...

Early in her career, someone told Anna she was “underwhelming, underqualified and really f*cking annoying.” Not exactly the kind of feedback that builds confidence. And yet she went on to build a career leading people and building high performing teams anyway. This conversation explores what values-led leadership really looks like in practice - including creating psychological safety, setting boun...

Limiting beliefs, leadership confidence and rewiring your inner narrative. Hayley Mitchell, founder of Human Edge Development, shares how subconscious beliefs shape our careers, our relationships and the way we show up as both leaders and mothers. From a 20-year corporate career in HR and Learning & Development to becoming what she calls a 'spiritual CEO', Hayley explains why mindset w...

IVF, fertility grief and breaking the silence. This is a deeply personal conversation about longing, loss and identity. Ana shares her experience of years of fertility treatment, the injections, the waiting, the hope, the heartbreak and the silence she carried at home and at work. She speaks honestly about the loneliness of IVF, the hormonal and emotional toll and the invisible grief that so many...

Behind every promotion is positioning. Behind every setback is a decision. Behind every working mother is a set of trade-offs no one sees. Linh Slater, Head of Research at NatWest, shares how visibility at Jaguar Land Rover led to her sponsorship, how redundancy at Dyson reshaped her trajectory and why she believes the biggest barrier to promotion is often time served inside one organisation. She...

In this conversation, Astrid shares her journey from creative leadership roles and entrepreneurship to hitting burnout during a period marked by motherhood, redundancy, family illness and the pressure to hold everything together. She reflects on the motherhood penalty, losing work while pregnant, redefining ambition and why redundancy ultimately became her turning point rather than her downfall. A...

Michelle became a mother in an era where stepping away meant being left behind. In this episode, she reflects on moving country, becoming a mother and returning to work early driven by the fear of being quietly held back. She speaks openly about why work felt like the easier place to be and how she continues to carry the guilt of not always being there. Now parenting teenagers, she reveals how the...

Redefining success, ambition and identity after motherhood and burnout. Ruth, founder of insight agency Pinch, shares what it really felt like to reach global board level while raising young children and why having it all eventually became unsustainable. From post maternity pressure and workplace guilt to anxiety, identity loss and the invisible mental load, this conversation goes beyond surface l...

Flexible working, redundancy after maternity leave and the reality many ambitious mothers face when returning to work. In this conversation, the founder of Mother of All Jobs, Evie Squires, shares her journey from a career in recruitment and financial services to being made redundant on her first day back from maternity leave, while pregnant again. She explains how that experience became the catal...

Building a service-based business while raising young children requires constant adjustment often without clear rules. In this episode, chartered financial planner and founder Olivia Shipstone shares her journey of starting her firm at 24, navigating pregnancy through covid, working through maternity by choice, and building a family business with her husband. She speaks honestly about flexibility...

Senior leadership doesn’t pause when you become a mother — but your definition of success often shifts. In this episode, our guest, Mandy Rawlinson , reflects on navigating a high-profile career alongside motherhood, from managing travel and boardroom expectations to being honest with her employer about emotional pressure and family transitions. She shares how mentorship, supportive partnerships a...

Welcome to Mother in the C-Suite - the podcast where ambition, leadership, and motherhood collide. Hosted by Michelle Wilson-Stimson & Shaunagh Wilson , a mother-and-daughter CEO/COO duo on a mission to help women reach their potential. This is for mums and aspiring mums who want more — and sometimes feel stretched by it all. Through honest, real conversations, we explore the realities of moth...