What happens when you realise you can’t pre-book a taxi in Pisa, Italy — not even 15 minutes before your 6am flight — and you’re travelling with two small children?
Why does the idea of “we’ll sort it when we get there” send some of us into full-body panic?
In this episode, I can laugh about it now — because we did make it home in plenty of time. But it’s really about control, planning, and parenting.
About how having children makes us crave certainty — because so much already feels unpredictable — and how travel has a way of exposing just how tightly we hold on.
From light-switch chaos to taxi trauma, this story is about learning to let go, trusting it’ll work out, and remembering that the best moments often happen when the plan falls apart.
Maybe the real growth isn’t in mastering the logistics… but in surviving them with humour intact.
Vanessa Rio built Mothering Minds—the UK's first online network of perinatal therapists—after her own postnatal depression revealed the massive gap in maternal mental health support.
But even while doing meaningful work, she and her husband felt stretched thin, disconnected, and stuck in Cambridge's competitive rat race.
So they left. Packed up and moved to a remote island in the Philippines.
This is a conversation about matrescence, building alongside motherhood, and knowing when to stop optimizing the life you have and start creating the one you actually need.
We talk about competitive parenting culture, the unique mental health challenges of new motherhood, financial trade-offs, and what it really takes to choose intentional living over what's expected.
If you've ever felt like the life you built doesn't quite fit anymore—this one's for you.
Two funerals in two days. Both women, 90 years old. Long lives—celebrations, not tragedies. Both deeply loved.
Sitting in those services, I heard "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole twice. "Unforgettable, that's what you are..."
Back-to-back funerals bring an overload of emotions. Death forces us to slow everything down and bring what's important into sharp focus.
In this episode, I talk about what I observed. The stories told. The pictures shared. The love remembered. At the end, what truly mattered wasn't possessions or achievements—it was how they made their loved ones feel. The love they gave. The light they brought.
Before motherhood, I was individualistic. I thought being anchored would limit me. But sitting at these funerals, seeing families show up—I realised: being anchored isn't a limitation. It's a blessing.
My children are 2 and 4. The days feel long, but the years are short. So I'm establishing small intentional practices now: dinner together, phone away in the mornings, presence over presents, capturing memories.
One day, my children will stand somewhere and remember me. What will our life together have represented?
That's up to me. Right now.
Homeless at 17. First property at 18. Multi-million-pound portfolio by 25. CEO of 7 businesses.
And Michelle Niziol will tell you: motherhood was harder than all of it.
The woman who could build empires struggled to be present with her own children. She didn't know another way yet. The business felt like it would fall apart without her.
But here's the breakthrough: when she finally stepped back, the business grew. Exponentially.
She hired a therapist. Not for productivity. For presence. To learn how to be fully there with her children.
In this episode, we talk about:→ Why stepping back from her 7 businesses made them grow faster→ How she went from daily office to monthly board meetings—while doing every school pickup→ Why visibility = credibility—and the price she's willing to pay for success→ Why she's petitioning to make childcare a legitimate business expense (1,700+ signatures)→ The financial literacy gap keeping self-employed mothers trapped
Michelle eliminated the full-time nanny. Does all school pickups. Runs 7 companies from monthly board meetings.
She's not afraid of hard things. Or paying the price for what she wants. That's how you build both empires and presence.
This isn't about choosing between ambition and motherhood. It's about integration.
Five hours at York Railway Museum with my 2 and 4 year old kids. Countless moments of just... waiting. But in those margins—while our children explore, play, chase each other—something unexpected happens: we find our people.
Dr. Seuss called it "The Waiting Place" in Oh, the Places You'll Go! A place where everyone's stuck, just waiting for something to happen. It sounds depressing. Unproductive.
But for parents? The waiting place is where we find each other.
In this episode, I talk about the silent agreement between parents: our time is at the mercy of our children, so we skip small talk and go straight to the real stuff. Within minutes, strangers become confidants. We talk about tiredness, impossible juggling acts, guilt, identity—the things we're scared to say out loud anywhere else.
Then the kids run off, the conversation ends, and we'll probably never see each other again. But we knew that going in. So we cram intimacy into stolen minutes—because that's all we've got, and it's all we need.
The waiting place isn't where we get stuck. It's where we find connection. The margins aren't empty—they're full of people who get it.
7am. Freezing beach. 700 strangers. And we're about to get completely naked and run into the North Sea.
This episode isn't just about a skinny dip. It's about flexing the muscle of getting comfortable with discomfort.
Doing new things, scary things—not despite being mothers, but alongside it.
Here's the truth: so many women are so conscious of their post-baby bodies that they hold themselves back from living. We wait to feel ready. We wait for our bodies to look different. We wait for confidence to arrive.
But someday isn't guaranteed. So we said yes to something terrifying—afraid, unsure—and did it anyway.
And how we felt after? Phenomenal.
We talk about:→ Why "ready" is a decision, not a feeling→ Standing naked with 700 people and realizing your post-baby body is capable, not broken→ How obsessing over what people think of our bodies stops us from making life what we want it to be→ How discomfort compounds—the same muscle that got us into the water is the one that built this podcast
This is Mambition in action: saying yes while terrified, because the feeling after is worth it.
What's your skinny dip? What are you waiting to feel ready for?
A fire engine whizzed past me yesterday, and I instinctively said "WOW!" and waved. Then I realised—I wasn't even with my kids.
My 2 and 4-year-old have completely recalibrated what joy looks like for me. Their threshold for delight is impossibly low: a puddle can make their entire morning.
Meanwhile, I had trained myself that joy needed to be earned through massive achievements—big promotions, major milestones, spectacular moments. I was always waiting for the big wow, completely missing all the small ones happening around me every single day.
In this episode, I explore what happens when we let our children teach us how to notice wonder again. Joy isn't an interruption to the chaos—it's woven into the ordinary moments.
If you've been waiting for something spectacular to feel joy, this episode is your permission to find it in the small moments instead.
"If I'm leaving my child, it has to be worth it."
That one question led Jools Tyrer to completely reinvent her career.
Flight attendant → teacher → defense sector → transformational coach and podcaster (Mama's Flightpath).
She took redundancy twice. Once by choice to travel the world. Once unexpectedly—losing her identity and security overnight. Both times, she turned the space into opportunity.
In this conversation:→ How motherhood cracks us open and reveals what we're actually tolerating→ Self-care as the path back to yourself after losing yourself in early motherhood→ The motherhood penalty is real—so how do we navigate what works for us NOW?→ Living life alongside your children instead of waiting for "someday"
Jools isn't here to tell you to "have it all."
She's here to show you how to build something that doesn't require leaving yourself behind.
My 2-year-old daughter is genuinely upset every day that she's not yet 3. So this year, I'm taking a page from her book and celebrating my birthday loud and rebelliously.
Mambition light me up so it makes sense that I record an podcast episode sharing 36 lessons from 36 years.
I reflect on loss and perspective, motherhood and identity, resilience and action, self-care in the trenches, building and creating, growth and change, and knowing your worth.
From losing my mum at 9 to learning that integration beats balance, from embracing the cringe of starting a podcast to understanding that prepare your child for the world, not the world for your child—these are the truths that have shaped how I show up as a mother, a creator, and a human being.
If you're navigating the beautiful chaos of ambition and motherhood, feeling restless even after reaching life's "goals," or wondering how to live fully right now instead of waiting for "someday"—this one's for you.
This is how I celebrate: by creating, by sharing.
Life itself is the gift.
Another year is the celebration.
My daughter can't wait to be older.
I'm learning to be grateful I get to be.
Elena Shirokaya spent 12 years crushing it in private equity - until her body forced a reckoning. Now she teaches high-achieving women what she learned the hard way: your nervous system speaks a language most of us ignore.
She's not here to tell you to meditate more.
She's here to explain why your chronic fatigue, anxiety, and Sunday night dread are data - not weakness.
And how somatic practices create the kind of resilience that mindset work can't touch.
In this episode we explore how your body signals career misalignment before your brain admits it, what nervous system regulation looks like in real-life chaos, and why your regulation affects everything from business decisions to your kids' emotional development.
Her message: You don't have to choose between ambition and wellness.
Sustainable success is built from the body up, not despite it.
Topics: Nervous system regulation • Burnout recovery • Somatic practices • Ambitious motherhood • Emotional resilience
Nobody told me that going back to basics would feel this radical.
A month ago, I started a daily walking habit. 5,000 steps. Nothing fancy. Just trainers on and out the door.
In this episode, I share why this one small thing has made such a big difference—and why doing something for yourself, even something small, makes you a better parent.
Going through major life changes right now, being outside every day without planning has been exactly what I need.
If you're waiting for permission to do one small thing for yourself—here it is.
We did a thing! It's called Manbition! And Dr. Hasan Merali fits right in! He's not here for parenting advice, but to share what toddlers taught him about living.
This pediatric ER physician spent 15 years watching children maintain joy in their worst moments. Turns out, they were teaching him about curiosity, persistence, presence, and fearless question-asking.
In this episode we explore why kindergarteners outperform MBA students in creative challenges, how neuroplasticity means we can reclaim childlike wisdom as adults, and why his 6-month paternity leave became "the best period of his life."
His research validates what mothers already know: children don't wait for "someday" to live fully. They show us that fulfillment comes from being completely engaged in this moment, this season, this beautiful chaos.
From Harvard Medical School to his daughter Arya - discover how childlike wonder fuels adult achievement.
The science is clear: we once had these qualities naturally. We can return to them.
Topics: Child development, neuroplasticity, paternity leave, integration over balance
What happens when a stranger on the train says "You have such an amazing mummy" and it makes you glow for hours?
Why does recognition about our parenting hit differently than praise in any other area of life?
In this episode I explore the feedback vacuum of motherhood - where there's no performance review telling you you're succeeding. We dive into why effort doesn't equal outcome with children (you can parent perfectly and they'll still have a meltdown), and how the unpredictability makes us doubt our instincts daily.
Stop thinking you need to have it all figured out.
When someone affirms your parenting, they're cutting through the internal doubt spiral that never stops.
Motherhood is the only job where logic goes out the window and you're winging the most important role of your life.
That validation you crave? It's not weakness - it's the feedback system motherhood naturally lacks.
Most ambitious women hit motherhood and immediately start negotiating with themselves: "I'll get back to my real goals when my children are older."
But what if that entire premise just keeps you waiting?
This episode challenges the foundational lie that motherhood puts your life on pause. Instead of waiting for this season to end, and for your true life to begin, I'm showing you how to recognise how motherhood can be the very thing that unlocks your next level of clarity, connection, and purpose.
The deeper truth:
This isn't about productivity hacks or time management. It's about completely reframing what it means to be ambitious after children - and why the women who figure this out don't just survive this season, they use it to build something they never could have created before.
Your children aren't pausing your story. They're demanding you write a better one.
Ever felt torn between loving your children fiercely and chasing your own ambitious dreams?
This is for you. Inspired by Dr. Seuss, 'Oh the places you'll go'.
Ahhh the beautiful chaos of modern motherhood - 46 browser tabs constantly open (should I start that business? Write that book? Launch that podcast?) to the moment you realise constraints actually show you the way forward.
Sometimes you just have to close all tabs and keeping only the two that light up your soul.
In this chapter of life you might need to
This isn't about the impossible choice between being utterly devoted OR wildly free - it's about mastering the beautiful art of being both.
You're not disappearing into motherhood; you're becoming an integrated version of yourself - strong, loving, and divine.
What happens when you realise you've been climbing someone else's ladder for 15 years?
Kate walked away from her Chanel executive role to build something entirely her own. Now recognised in Small Biz 100's most inspiring businesses for 2025, she reveals the messy truth about reconstructing your career identity after motherhood.
This conversation will challenge everything you think you know about "having it all."
What we're unpacking:
This isn't feel-good career advice. This is about the identity reconstruction that happens when motherhood refuses to be compartmentalised.
About making peace with integration over balance.
About the courage it takes to stop following scripts and start writing your own.
For every woman who's ever felt pulled between who she was and who she's becoming - this one's for you.
The wisdom we think we're teaching our kids? We need to hear it ourselves.
Reading to my 2 and 4-year-old every night, I've realised these aren't just bedtime stories - they're life lessons I desperately needed to hear.
Here are four of our favourite books and what they're actually teaching me:
🐠 The Power of Belief (Tiddler) - We all need that one person who believes our story matters when everyone else dismisses us.
🦁 Courage Reveals Truth (The Lion Inside) - Sometimes the thing that terrifies you is equally afraid of you.
🐨 Comfort vs. Growth (The Koala Who Could) - Nothing interesting happens in comfort zones. Life's unexpected challenges force necessary change.
🏠 Gratitude Through Perspective (A Squash and a Squeeze) - Where you are now is where you once wanted to be.
Bottom line: The gift of motherhood is that as we're raising children, they're quietly raising us too."
Listen for the unexpected wisdom hiding in your bedtime reading routine.
What happens when my 4-year-old son believes he can fix a broken train? Or when Alex's son gets asked to design planets for his nursery?
We let them try - and discover the confidence-competence cycle in action.
In this episode we explore how these "successful" moments create evidence their ideas work, why confidence builds neural pathways for learning, and how today's pretend fixes and planet designs could spark tomorrow's real passions.
Stop seeing your childrens' wild ideas as entertainment.
When you say "yes, and..." you're building real competence.
Your job is to fuel their belief that their ideas matter.
From train repairs to planet designs - every creative moment is building future problem-solvers.
What if the random chapters of your life weren't random at all - but quietly building the exact mother your children would need?
From suing a major corporation to helping a friend escape abuse, from quitting a soul-crushing job to starting a business with just my savings and hope - I'm sharing six of mine.
Looking back I realise that every brave thing I've done became an invisible superpower that now shows up for my kids.
I explore how taking on that bully corporation built my advocacy skills, why my "you can always go back" mentality teaches my children resilience, and how they're not just watching me be their mum - they're watching me be me.
The truth I've discovered?
I am not starting from scratch as a mother.
Every time I stood up for myself, every leap I took, every moment I chose courage over comfort - it was all preparation for this role.
This episode is perfect for mothers who feel like they're winging it, anyone wondering if their past matters, and women ready to recognise their own invisible superpowers.
My story shaped me into exactly the mother my children need - and yours does too.
What if your toughest moments aren't roadblocks, but deposits in your children's emotional bank account?
Picture this: You're crying in your car after another rejection, wondering if you should just give up. But what if that breakdown is actually preparing you to sit with your teenager when their heart gets shattered?
Every struggle you face - the career pivot, the business launch, the relationship that didn't work out - isn't just something to survive. It's wisdom in the making.
This episode flips the script on how we view our hardest seasons. Instead of obstacles, we explore how they're building the exact mother your children will need - one who knows real resilience, can challenge any authority figure, and yes, might know how to bury a body if necessary!
From learning to advocate fiercely to knowing when to let them struggle instead of swooping in - every challenge you're banking today becomes tomorrow's superpower.
Perfect for: Ambitious mums in tough seasons, anyone building something while raising humans, and women ready to embrace being beautifully unhinged in their protective love.
Because the best mothers aren't the ones who had it easy - they're the ones who learned to laugh while plotting and find joy after the storm.