This week’s solo episode is a natural follow on from episode 77, where I dug into resilience and shared some of my favourite business fails. This time I want to talk about something I hadn’t quite clocked before: that resilience is not linear and that as cyclical women our hormones shift how we experience our businesses from week to week, sometimes from hour to hour, no matter how well practised our resilience muscles are.
Shout out to Nicky Denson-Elliott and Morin Glimmer who both get a mention.
I share the wobble I had about the podcast around ten days before recording this, the flat feeling of pouring hours into a reel that reaches 231 people, and what it actually felt like to sit with the very real question of whether this passion project is worth the time and energy it demands. And then I share the unexpected piece of news that arrived just when I needed it most.
Key Reflections:
- Why Q3 can feel like such a challenging stretch, as the optimism of January meets the reality of fourteen weeks left in the calendar year
- A replay from Maureen Glimmer’s session inside The Wilder Collective and the reminder that as cyclical women, our hormones genuinely shift how we feel about our businesses day to day, regardless of how resilient we are
- The honest wobble around download stats dipping over the summer holidays, even though it was fully expected, and why being prepared for a knock does not always soften it
- Admitting to the flat feeling of a reel taking two hours to make and reaching only 231 people, and questioning whether that quiet inner voice claiming not to care about metrics is entirely true
- The unique loneliness of being a solopreneur who has to be your own operations, marketing, accounting, therapist and cheerleader all at once, especially when carrying the mental load of motherhood at the same time
- The moment the news arrived that the podcast had been shortlisted in the Business and Culture category of the Independent Podcast Awards, and what a relief that felt like after a genuinely tough stretch
- Why entering the awards back in a more optimistic Q2, inspired by Pippa Gordon’s PR advice from episode 17, is a reminder that the work we do in good moods can carry us through the harder ones
- Reflecting on the journey from zero to over 6000 downloads and a national award shortlisting in just fourteen months, and why that is worth celebrating regardless of the outcome on the night
- The Wilson Phillips inspired takeaway that holding on for one more day, even through a bad mood or a flat metric, can be exactly what it takes for good news to land
Listen If You’re:
- In a season where your business or passion project feels harder to sustain than usual and you are questioning whether to keep going
- A cyclical woman who has noticed your mood and motivation around your business shifting through the month and wondering if that is normal
- Feeling the particular loneliness of being a solopreneur without a team to lift you out of a low moment
- Someone who claims not to care about metrics but privately feels that flat sting when something does not land the way you hoped
- In need of a reminder that good news can arrive exactly when you need it most, if you can hold on a little longer
Favourite Takeaway for Mums in Business:
We all have days when we feel like putting our business, our side hustle or our passion project in the bin. That is normal. But if you can hold on for one more day, you never know what might land in your inbox and change your mind.
About the Host:
I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, charity co-founder, photography business educator, marketer and now podcaster! My career has wandered all over the place and is becoming a bit of a complex tapestry as I head into this middle phase of life, but I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it so far.
I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It’s a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams!
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Episode Transcript:
NOTE: This is the transcript from the original recording, rather than the edited episode so timings may vary.
Hello and welcome to this solo episode of the Mum Means Business podcast. Last week I did a bit of a deep dive into resilience and shared some of the times I’ve tried something different in my photography business and that big effort hasn’t brought in the results I hoped it would. So if you haven’t listened to that one, perhaps go back to episode 77 and catch up, because this one is a bit of a natural follow on.
I talked about the importance of bouncing back from our failures, and given that the fails I shared last week were just a select handful of favourites, I consider myself to be very well practised at this. My resilience muscles have had exponentially more workouts than my actual muscles since becoming a mother, and I can usually process the disappointments quite quickly and get back on track.
That being said, I want to acknowledge the fact that over time it can be really draining. And I know from off the record conversations I’ve had with guests recently that this has been a really tough year for a lot of small business owners. I think Q3 can be a challenging one, because we can reflect back on the hope and optimism we felt back in January around all the expansive ways in which we were going to grow our businesses in 2026, and then look ahead at the fourteen weeks we have left in the calendar year and wonder how much of that can feasibly be achieved at this point. If you resonate, then I assure you, you’re not alone.
I’m going to go off on a tangent here, but stick with me. I’ve just watched a replay from the confidence project that Nicky Denson-Elliott is running throughout 2026 inside her community, The Wilder Collective. It was with Maureen Glimmer, who is a feminist brand strategist who supports female founders to use a cyclical approach that aligns their brand, their business and their body. I’ll link her website in the show notes because she is brilliant.
It was fascinating, because it reminded me that we are cyclical women whose hormones shift from week to week, and sometimes from hour to hour. No matter how much we exercise that resilience muscle, we are going to feel differently about our businesses and the actions we take within them at different times of the month.
So for example, around ten days ago, I was feeling wobbly about the podcast. I’d been warned by some of my podcasting buddies that downloads would likely dip over the summer holidays, and I expected mine might plummet even more, because my listeners are mums who will inevitably have far less time to listen in over late July and August. I saw my highest download stats to date in mid-July, which was so exciting, but as predicted they took a bit of a nosedive during August. September has seen them slowly but surely climb again, but the dip knocked me more than I thought it would, especially given that I was prepared, and especially since I am one of those people who doesn’t measure their success by such metrics. Or am I? Sometimes it takes real work to be the version of yourself you want to be.
And if I’m honest, I do feel that flat feeling when a reel that’s taken me the best part of two hours to put together reaches a grand total of 231 people. I did get excited when my Instagram account finally crossed the 1000 follower threshold, and yes, I know that’s nothing to write home about, but it was to me. There’s no escaping these metrics in this day and age, and watching them limp along for days, weeks, months or years, when you’re pouring so much energy into nurturing them to grow, is hard.
So I was asking myself big questions about the podcast, because as much as it lights me up, it is a lot of work. It’s time and energy I could be pouring into my business that instead is going on a passion project that isn’t monetised, and is that sensible? When you’re pouring your heart and soul into a project in isolation, there are times when you miss having allies in your team to lift you out of moods like this, to remind you of the positive impact you’re having, the conversations you’re sparking, and all the potential that project has going forward. Not only does the solopreneur wear all the usual hats of operations, administration, accounting, marketing and sales, they must also be their own therapist and cheerleader. And when you’re also steering the ship at home and carrying the mental load of motherhood, and due on your period, there are times when you just don’t have the capacity to play those roles and give yourself the pep talk you need. And that’s kind of where I was at.
Then last week, the universe interrupted my bad mood with some news: that the Mum Means Business podcast had been shortlisted in the Business and Culture category of the Independent Podcast Awards. WTF. I had entered the awards way back at the start of Q2, in a much better mood and filled with the joys of spring. I didn’t expect anything to come of it, but motivated by Pippa Gordon’s advice inside the PR Set, I was in a season of pitching for things that stretched my comfort zone, and entering awards I was sure I wouldn’t come close to winning was on the agenda too. I highly recommend you go back to episode 17 and listen to my conversation with Pippa if you fancy some PR inspiration.
I won’t say that I hadn’t thought any more about it after I entered, because that would be a lie, but it certainly wasn’t at the forefront of my mind over the summer. I had asked Google when they usually release the shortlist and was reliably informed that this would be mid September. So I was gearing myself up to bounce back from the disappointment, when I saw the email with the subject line: you’ve been nominated for an Independent Podcast Award. Such a happy surprise. And do you know what else it was? A relief. It was a relief that professional people who spend their days in the podcasting and audio entertainment space thought that my little podcast was okay. And a relief that I wouldn’t have to lift myself out of another disappointment. Because as strong as my resilience muscles are, and as tenacious and relentlessly hopeful as I am, there is a limit. Of course there is. And I’m not even saying that I’d reached it, because I know from experience that in a few days time, that bad mood may have lifted of its own accord.
The fact is that I love this podcast, and I love the response I get from listeners who are navigating the same challenges in motherhood and business. It would take a lot more knocks to make me call time on it. I suppose what I’m saying is we all have days when we feel like putting our business, our side hustle or our passion project in the bin. It’s normal. But if you can make like Wilson Phillips and hold on for one more day, you never know, a bit of good news might land in your inbox and change your mind.
I’m now super excited about going down to London for a child free twenty four hours, grabbing an early dinner and a glass of wine or two somewhere, and being in the room with fellow podcasters on the night. Win or lose, I honestly don’t care, because I could so easily have talked myself out of ever starting this podcast. And what a thing, to have gone from zero to 6000 downloads and counting, and be shortlisted for a national award fourteen months in. That will do me nicely for now.
I do just want to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you for supporting Mum Means Business and following along as I share the stories of marvellous mums chasing their dreams, and inject some of my own experiences too. If you have a moment to leave a five star review, then that might help the judging panel look favourably on us, and also helps new listeners find the podcast too. Not that I’m at all interested in such shallow metrics. Thank you so much, and I will speak to you soon.