My guest this week is Julia – a freelance creative director, copywriter, and mum of four.

Julia and I dive into what happens when women try to build a career in an industry that was never designed with mothers in mind. From being a burnt-out agency copywriter, to navigating the confusion of returning from maternity leave, Julia shares honestly about what it feels like to step off the “ladder” and rethink ambition on her own terms.

We talk about:

• The lack of support for women returning to advertising after having kids

• Why part-time work still feels like career suicide

• The quiet exodus of mothers from creative departments

• What sparked the Mums in Ads campaign

• The emotional toll of juggling four kids with freelance life – and the moments of perspective that come with it. As Julia put it: “I’ll see something with my kids and think, I remember this. You forget that what you’re experiencing in the moment, they’re on the other side of you experiencing it in the moment.”

• And the question we always circle back to: can women really have it all?

Julia puts into words what so many of us feel but rarely say. Let me know what parts of this episode stood out for you.