Orli Cotel walked away from her creative self for 20 years. Career. Kids. Life got in the way.

Then at 42, she started painting again. Sold her first piece at 44.

She also spent two decades in the climate movement before pivoting to fight for paid leave when she became a parent and realised how broken the system is.

Here's what's powerful about Orli's story: she didn't choose between personal reclamation and systemic change. The two feed each other.

Her painting fills her cup so she CAN fight for parents. Her advocacy gives her purpose beyond herself.

In this episode: Why "unicorn space" (something solely yours) makes you a better parent. How becoming a parent shifted her work from climate to paid leave advocacy.

Why you can't spreadsheet your way out of broken systems. Redefining ambition from "who will I crush" to "what will I create."

And why motherhood is the grounding place, not the summit.

We've been told good mothers sacrifice everything. What if that narrative is what's breaking us?

Personal reclamation and systemic impact aren't competing. They make each other possible.

My daughter played with cornflour and ice for 2 hours at nursery. My kids' favourite Christmas activity? Running to the Polar Express soundtrack.

And I realised: they're giving me the permission to keep it simple.

Before I became a mum, I volunteered with Shelter at Christmas. The people there had nowhere to go. They'd ask why I was "giving up" my Christmas. But it taught me: if you have people who love you, family to be with - you've already won Christmas.

So why are we overcomplicating it?

The toys we panic-buy. The elaborate experiences. The pressure to make it "magical." We're so stressed we can't enjoy it.

At the start of December, I went to a spa weekend. Started the month by putting myself first. And I think that's why this Christmas feels different.

In this episode: What children actually remember. What mothers can let go of. And why simplifying Christmas isn't about doing less - it's about being present enough to actually enjoy it.

Simple IS magic. That was always the magic.

For 14 years, Laura Styles was an executive PA. Then motherhood became her turning point.

Her first child's crying triggered something deeper than exhaustion — it exposed patterns she'd been running on autopilot since childhood. She knew she couldn't parent the way she wanted until she addressed what was happening beneath the surface.

So she retrained as a hypnotherapist. Now she helps high-achieving, heart-led mums rewire old patterns, break free from burnout, and stop just "getting through the day."

In this episode, we get into:

→ Why 95% of your decisions run on childhood autopilot

→ The patterns we unknowingly pass to our children: perfectionism, burnout, the inability to stop

→ What hypnotherapy actually does (it's not stage hypnosis or losing control)

→ Stress addiction: Why high achievers struggle to rest and how to break the cycle

→ Christmas pressure and social media comparison — why the need to "make it perfect" is a pattern, not just stress

→ Self-compassion vs self-sacrifice: Modeling what you want your children to learn

With Christmas 2 weeks away, this conversation about breaking generational patterns and rewiring your mind couldn't be more timely.

Two different days. Two completely different choices. Both felt impossibly hard.

Monday: I closed my laptop early, stopped working, and played with my kids instead.

Wednesday: I walked 30 minutes in the snow to go to the gym when I desperately wanted to stay in my warm house.

Both required discipline. Both required courage. But for years I only thought ONE of those counted.

Because we're really good at pushing through. But stopping? That feels like failure.

The skill isn't always choosing to push or always choosing to rest. It's knowing which one you actually need in that moment. That's where wisdom starts.

And here's the truth: how we treat ourselves is what we're teaching our children. If we want to raise kids who know when to push and when to rest, we have to model that balance first.

Giselle spent 25 years co-founding, growing, and selling three businesses while raising two daughters.

Then, she hit a point where something had to change so she returned to university in her 40s and completed a PhD on women, work, and well-being.

But instead of just researching the problem, she used it to solve something in herself - and created a roadmap for other women in the process.

In this episode, we discuss:

→ Building and walking away - why she exited three successful businesses she'd built

→ The honest answer to "can women really have it all?" - after living it and researching it

→ Setting boundaries as a woman and mother - why this isn't selfish, it's survival

→ Preparing for empty nest - what comes next when her daughters (now 15 and 17) leave home

Giselle didn't just study work-life balance. She lived it, broke under it, then rebuilt differently.

:Not many women go back to university in their 40s to study the exact problem they're living. Giselle did. And what she found will change how you see ambition and motherhood.

Alex's son recorded a video inviting Tiffany's children to come to the museum with him. It was spontaneous, confident, and brave. And it got us thinking...maybe this is one of the most underrated skills we can teach our children.

The ability to go first. To invite people to do things. To ask. To put yourself out there. And most importantly, to not take it personally when someone says no, can't, or isn't interested.

This isn't an academic skill. It's a life skill. One that builds confidence, resilience, and the ability to handle rejection without internalising it.

When we look at our own lives now, we realise: we have richer, more enjoyable experiences because we invite people to things. We ask. We go first.

But at the foundation of this skill is something deeper: confidence. Our children need to know they are loved, special, and valued. That's where it starts. Because when they know their worth isn't tied to whether someone says yes or no, they can ask freely.

And that changes everything.

Lucy spent 20 years as an international TV journalist covering war zones in Iraq, Ukraine, and the Middle East. Then she became a mum to a son with autism - and realised her career wouldn't bend around the life she needed.

But instead of scaling back her ambitions, Lucy rebuilt them entirely.

In this episode, we discuss:

→ The moment she knew journalism had to end - being told to get on a plane with no notice, zero schedule control

→ The turning point - realizing her nervous system directly affected her son's, making presence essential

→ The constant pivot - from Airbnbs to coaching to courses, leveraging her existing skills (storytelling, camera presence) to build a business that sold 50,000+ courses

→ The real price of building this way - 5am starts, navigating a big life change, and why it was worth it

→ Creating passive income and flexibility - building a business model that lets you be present without sacrificing ambition

Lucy didn't shrink her ambitions to fit motherhood. She rebuilt them around it.

If you're tired of choosing between being present and being ambitious, this conversation will show you there's a third option.

When do you finally get to start living your life?

When the kids sleep through the night? When they start school? When you have a balanced day?

My 2-year-old daughter was sick last week, nursery cancelled, work piling up. I had every reason not to go to the gym.

But I went anyway — and on the way there, it hit me: I've been waiting for a full stop that's never coming.

Here's the thing: life with young children IS the trenches. The coffee goes cold. You sit down to eat and someone needs water. You haven't drunk water yourself all day. There's always another nursery event, clothes they've grown out of, another illness coming. It's relentless.

So instead of waiting for life to settle before I start living, I'm learning to live IN the chaos.

I want to know that waiting until they leave home to discover who I am means losing 15 years of becoming. That the margins aren't second-best — they're where life actually happens. That I can start a podcast in my dressing gown without makeup, go to the gym when I "don't have time," build systems that make the impossible possible. That progress beats perfection every single time. That self-compassion isn't soft — it's what keeps me going when I miss a week.

Because maybe the goal isn't to wait for the full stop... but to build a life worth living in the commas. The chaos doesn't end. But you can live anyway — with systems, audacity, and kindness toward yourself.