Show Notes
AHHH this is a big one!! In this week's episode, I sit down with the legend herself, Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed and now Growth Spurt, one of the UK's most relentless advocates for parents in the workplace. After being fired by voicemail two days after announcing her pregnancy, Joeli turned her personal story into a movement, one that has changed laws, secured billions in government investment, and supported hundreds of thousands of mothers.
And the timing couldn't be better. Brand new ONS data just dropped showing that mothers lose £65,000 in the five years after their first baby, and £125,000 if they have three children. When people say "of course you'll earn less, just be grateful you have a baby," what they're actually saying is your financial freedom doesn't matter. But Joeli's here to tell you: it absolutely does, and it doesn't have to be this way.
This conversation isn't just about documenting the problem—it's about the solutions. From why parental leave is the single biggest lever we have to change everything, to why companies that hide caregiving are shooting themselves in the foot, to what Growth Spurt is doing to support the return-to-work transition that breaks so many of us.
This is essential listening for every working mother who's been told she should just accept less.
More from Where Did I Go...?
Welcome back to the final episode of WDIG for this year, and we are ending with a BIG one as I sit down with the author, activist, podcaster and all round legend that is: Elliott Rae.
Anna Pawlowicz's life looked like so many others: a fulfilling career, a happy family, one son at home and another on the way. Then her second son, Matias, was born with an ultra-rare genetic condition causing lifelong disability, followed later by an autism diagnosis. Everything changed.
Hey — grab a cuppa and settle in. This episode is a heartwarming, kick-in-the-pants reminder that motherhood doesn’t have to mean the end of you. Zoe and Claire, founders of The Bored Mums Club, walk us through how two friends turned a midlife identity slump into a joyful, messy, welcoming community at the skate park.
As working mothers, we're told that flexible working is the solution. Work from home two days a week. Do compressed hours. Start at 10am instead of 9am. But if these solutions actually worked, why do we still feel like we're constantly drowning? Why are we still apologizing for our lives? Why does the motherhood penalty persist?
How do we raise kind, thoughtful boys in a world that still tells them they have to be tough? What happens when we realise the systems we’ve grown up in don’t serve any of us... including our children?