Amy Lewin is in the thick of it—Marketing and Commercial Director at Girls in Marketing, mum to a toddler, and pregnant with baby number two.

She gets it. The juggle. The ambition that doesn't fit into naptime. The choices you make when you refuse to wait for "someday."

In this episode:

How becoming a mother shifted her from defining herself in "boxes" (career achievements, professional identity) to full integration: work, motherhood, ambition—all overlapping, all real.

Second time around: halfway through her pregnancy with baby number two, Amy reflects on what she's doing differently this time (spoiler: less pressure, more permission).

The choices you make to focus and prioritise in this chapter of life: Amy works from home, and she won't consider an in-office job. That's a hard line.

Here's why.

Community building professionally vs. personally: she builds communities for a living, but making mum friends? That required courage she didn't expect.

Redefining ambition: what it was before (career ladder, achievements) vs. what it is now (building something her son would be proud of).

This is a conversation about integration over perfection.

About building career and family—not choosing one over the other. About second chances and doing it differently.

For mothers who refuse to wait for "someday" and are intentionally building their version of life today.

My 3-year-old daughter is living in two realities at once.

Fiercely independent one minute. Needs mummy the next. Mature beyond her years in one breath, hysterical over a lost doll at 3am in the next.

And watching her made me realise that So am I.

We're all living contradictions. Strong AND struggling. Capable AND falling apart. Confident AND completely unsure.

But somewhere along the way, we decided that as mothers, as women, as adults who "should have it figured out by now"—the contradiction isn't allowed anymore.

In this episode we explore:

Why the contradiction in us isn't weakness—it's human. Why watching our children live so freely in their contradictions can give us permission to do the same.

How to give yourself the same grace you'd give a 3-year-old in a princess dress who just woke up at 3am crying for her doll.

Because if we don't judge her for needing mummy after declaring independence...then why are we judging ourselves?

Alex and I are in the thick of it—children aged 3-5, so we were excited to ask someone on the other side: Rachel, who raised 4 kids while building a business over 25 years.

"Looking back—what actually mattered?"

Not achievements. Not milestones. Relationship.

Rachel: teacher → founder of Reading Matters → 25 years raising 4 kids (now 15-24) → the long view.

She chose slow growth to be present. Built a business ahead of its time. And now looking back, she reflects out loud.

In this episode:

Why relationship is the foundation of everything—without connection, you can't influence or teach.

How teaching emotional regulation starts with regulating your own (and why their prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed yet).

The iceberg framework: all behavior is communication—what you see is just the tip.

Helping her children navigate their own grief taught her when to guide and when to hold space.

Why reading together isn't just education—it's connection, windows into other worlds, relationship through story.

This is wisdom from the other side. From someone who's already raised the kids you're raising now.

Timely note: It's Children's Mental Health Week—this conversation about emotional regulation and seeing behaviour as communication couldn't be more relevant.