This month a Cheshire-based award-winning Business Coach, Mentor, Author and founder of women in business network Mpower – Nicola Huelin – has reached out to other mums to share their lockdown realities to a) gauge the temperament of the nations’ working mums and b) to help her identify the areas they need support on so she can offer it in her new Bounce Back Podcast series which has been established to help inspire, support and uplift other mums in business across the globe, many of whom have been hit hard by the pandemic. The first twelve episodes went live last week and they are already soaring up the charts (in second place as ‘top show’ in business charts category and third in the kids and families) beating podcast heavy weights including, Gary Vee and Tony Robbins. The podcasts feature incredible working parents who bravely share their own stories of bouncing back – including, Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton.
Nicola Huelin, a proud mum of four, who over the past few months has had to pivot her own businesses thanks to lockdown; sets out on a mission to find out the reality of lockdown for working mums, to gauge the current mind-set of mums across the country and identify what areas working mums would like to focus on in order to bounce back from lockdown.
The survey revealed that 74% of working mums said that their mental health had suffered during lockdown, with 93% of working mums admitting that during lockdown they have had times when they felt overwhelmed and 79% of working mums said they did feel more anxious during lockdown. 81% of working mums during lockdown said they felt their energy levels had been lower than normal and 76% of working mums felt that they didn’t have enough ‘me time’ for self-care and reflection.
The results of this survey have now fuelled a podcast series Nicola is launching in partnership with Bounce Network the UK’s fastest growing insurance referral network, aptly named the ‘Bounce Back Interview Series’ via the Mpower Podcast. The podcast shares inspiring interviews that cover the areas and issues identified, including subject matters such as; bouncing back, overcoming adversity, ups and downs of business, anxiety, overwhelm, self-care, reflection, routine… to uplift mums in business that may have been hit hard by the pandemic.
As for many across the UK, work life balances have been affected drastically with 71% of working mums missing routine during lockdown with only 18% being able to maintain their normal working hours.
With two thirds (66%) of working mums missing their usual office/work space during lockdown there is evidence that working at home isn’t the dream for all but 78% of working mums said they did still felt connected and supported by others outside of their household during lockdown. However, the survey also revealed that a huge proportion of working mums have missed regular companionship with 91% of working mums missing friends during lockdown and being able to chat with fellow mums at the school gates, café, coffee morning, play gym…
In 2012, Nicola founded Mpower and embarked on her mission to empower one million mums in business. She has over 20 years’ experience in combining business success with family life and has connected, coached and mentored 1000’s of women internationally. She said; “I am looking for other mums to link arms with me so together we can continue to build a community of mums to lean on, support each other and guide one another through the journey of being a mum in business post-lockdown and beyond.”
Nicola said: “Balancing family life, work life and business success is never a straight line journey, we all have our ups and downs and life can throw us a serious curve ball or two along the way… but, this is one huge global curve ball! As part of my global mission to empower one million mums in business, after having to pivot myself cancelling our annual awards, UK events, and my own speaking gigs I knew that I needed use my contacts and community to not only help uplift Mpower mums, but also reach out further to other mums in business who maybe feeling alone and isolated having being hit hard by the pandemic.”
The Mpower ‘Bounce Back Interview Series’ kicks off with Bounce Networks Founder and CEO, Ashley Reading – Ashley bravely sharing his story of bounce back and how he went from being a 9-figure business owner to becoming homeless and penniless almost overnight following the financial crisis, sharing how did he bounce back from losing everything to creating a passion-led business that supports thousands of mums in business earn a great income, whilst protecting their families.
Ashley said; “We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Nicola and the Mpower community. Success is not always easy and life can sometimes feel challenging – I am so happy to kick this series off by sharing my own story of bouncing back and hope that my story, alongside many other extraordinary stories from our guests, helps to inspire, empower and equip mums across the UK and beyond, to not just bounce back from tough times but also to bounce forward even stronger. This collaboration came about as both Bounce and Mpower share the same values around empowering others and ensuring all parents can be both the best mothers/fathers whilst also having great business success too. Bounce Network is all about providing people with the right insurance products to ensure they, their families and their business are protected and can bounce back from unforeseen setbacks and challenges. Receiving the right knowledge and support and having peace of mind when it comes to home, family and business is something I see as invaluable.”
86% of those surveyed have enjoyed having more family time, 77% of working mums enjoyed having their kids at home more during lockdown with 74% promising themselves that they will spend more times with their kids post-lockdown.
The Mpower ‘Bounce Back Interview Series’ will be sharing stories of balancing family and work life and also bravely sharing the challenges the guests all faced launching new businesses and careers.
You can listen to the podcast via iTunes, Spotify and Google.
Natasha Hamilton – Ex-Atomic Kitten superstar reveals her secret to bouncing back from rock bottom. What happens when you’re a global superstar travelling and performing all over the world, loving what you do and living the dream with your band mates who have become your family, and then you become a mum? Despite initial efforts to carry on and make others happy, a brave decision and a series of events took this Natasha to rock bottom. Hear the remarkable story of this mum’s desire to be with her child, be accepted for who she is and her courageous journey to reinvent herself and create what success needed to look like in her new world.
- Gemma Cockrell – how breast cancer battle was the making of my business. Three-times cancer survivor and mum of three shares how her multiple battles to fight breast cancer and heal after a double mastectomy took her courage to new heights. From topless photoshoot in the Daily Mail to empower other women, to putting her scientific expertise into building an award-winning natural skincare range now sold in 18 stores around the UK.
- Saffron Jackson – Never give up – how single mum overcame massive barriers to achieve global success. This mum could not have imagined how struggling to find a black doll for her beautiful baby girl was going to lead to a business venture that would change the course of her life and change the lives of other young girls around the world. Faced with monumental challenges in the early years it would have been so easy to give up, but today Zuree Dolls (derived from the Swahili term Zuri, meaning beautiful) is a global success. Hear about the challenges Saffron faced, what she learned and her story of never giving up on what you believe in.
- Colleen Wong – How a government hacked my startup and how I survived – There is always more than meets the eye when it comes to headlines in the national media. Discover how this mum took 3 years to learn about cyber security in order to save her brand and clear her name.
- Danusia Malina-Derben – The secret to raising 10 children and smashing your business – When prodigy performer with legs insured for £1M becomes a young mum at 17 the noise of everyone else’s limiting assumptions and narrow-minded predictions fell on deaf ears. In fact, it was rocket-fuel for this now mother of 10 who went on to smash her C-suite career and explosive business success right out of the ballpark.
- Sian Young – Homeless to happiness – how to come back from the depths – can you imagine being homeless at the tender age of 15 and subjected to 7 years of daily abuse and rape living on the cold streets of Scotland? Recovery from this gruelling life started with 2 years bedridden and battling PTSD. How do you recover from these hellish experiences, let alone bounce back to create a loving family home and build an award-winning business that has helped thousands of other women across the UK.
Alongside the launch of the Mpower Bounce Back podcast interview series, Mpower is providing as much free and additional support as possible via the Bounce Back hub, Nicola said: “We have launched the Bounce Back Hub alongside the podcast series which is filled to the brim with free resources to help mums and families and businesses through this to ensure they are in the best possible place to bounce back and thrive again, as we move through these times together.”
