This is the first solo episode of Mum Means Business. No guest, no carefully crafted bio to introduce, no one else to bounce off. Just me, unfiltered, taking up space in my own podcast for the first time.
This episode marks the start of a new weekly format. Each Friday, I’ll share a short and honest reflection on whatever is on my mind that week across my photography business, my work teaching photographers to lead with print in the digital age, the podcast itself and my role in the family business my father established over twenty years ago. Layered on top of all of that – as always – is family life with its highs, lows and everything in between.
In this first instalment, I open up about why it has taken me so long to talk about my own work on a podcast built to celebrate other mothers in business and what finally shifted to bring about this new chapter.
Key Reflections:
- Why building a podcast to celebrate other women’s businesses made it feel almost impossible to talk about her own
- The internalised story that to be accepted, women should dim themselves rather than take up space, and how deeply that belief can sit beneath the surface
- Why authenticity is hard precisely because it asks us to override a lifetime of conditioning that we are too much
- How the conversations on this podcast have become a genuine source of comfort and solidarity while navigating her own identity shifts in early motherhood
- The decision to start these solo episodes as a way of practising what she preaches, and giving herself permission to take up the same space she encourages other mothers to claim
Listen If You’re:
- A business owner who finds it easier to champion other people than to talk about your own work
- Holding back from showing up online or promoting what you do because it feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar
- In the thick of an identity shift in early motherhood and looking for a sense of solidarity
- Curious about the honest, behind the scenes reality of building a business rather than the polished version that makes it onto social media
- Ready to give yourself permission to take up a little more space, wherever that shows up in your life
Takeaway for Mums in Business:
The more we normalise the mess that’s going on behind the scenes, the better and that’s why this podcast exists. The fact is that business-building takes time and when you’re a Mum, it can take even longer. It’s a rollercoaster, but we’re all riding it together!
About the Guest and 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!
If You Enjoyed This Episode:
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Share this episode with a fellow Mum in business who you feel would resonate with my ramblings.
Episode Transcript
NOTE: This is the transcript from the original recording, rather than the edited episode so timings may vary.
Victoria (00:03)
Hello and welcome to the first solo episode of the mummies business podcast. This is just me. Not hiding behind a script that I’ve written or a carefully crafted bio. Not having a conversation with anyone else. No one else to bounce off. Just taking up space.
And I feel really nervous about it. I’m going to be honest. I’ve had such a difficult time grappling with the idea of taking up space in my own podcast. This was established with the objective of talking with other brilliant mothers in business and learning from them, hearing their stories and
celebrating everything that they’re doing and shining a light on them. And I’ve learned so much and I’m so grateful for all the incredible conversations that I’ve had. And I’m going to keep on having them because I absolutely love it. But I’ve been asked a lot of times like, why don’t you promote what you do on your podcast? And I had so many reasons why it
It just doesn’t work. It’s a different audience. It’s not what people want to hear. It’s not for me. And the response is, well, you’re putting so much time and energy into this and you’re not even at a stage where you have sponsorship. Surely it would just make sense to start just talking about what you do. And there’s so much resistance to that because there is so much resistance to taking up this space.
Am I allowed to do that? It’s my podcast. I’m asking myself if I’m allowed to take up space on it. And it’s this thing of authenticity and authenticity is really hard. is hard to be yourself and to be unfiltered when actually you’ve internalized this story that you are too much.
from a thousand conversations over your whole lifetime. And actually you’ve internally decided subliminally, subconsciously, I don’t know what the right word is, that to be accepted, you should dim yourself a little bit and you should not take up that space. And to counter that in this world where we’re trying to build businesses,
and we need to market ourselves, our service, our product, it’s really difficult for millennial mums who have heard these stories. And they’re going against everything that they’ve been told to put themselves in front of a camera or to speak solo on a podcast just about them. And that’s what holds me back. And…
The thing about business is it forces personal growth. And I have found just the last 18 months have been extraordinary in terms of personal growth. Coming out of the fog of matressence, those early years when my girls were babies and redefining who I am in this role as mother and also as Victoria.
And it’s been really hard and the conversations that I’ve had in this podcast have been such a source of comfort to me because there’s so much solidarity with other women who are grappling with the same identity shifts, the same struggles, the same challenges, trying to navigate all of this stuff within systems that are setting us up to fail. And so I think the conversations have fast tracked.
my own rediscovery and I hope that they have helped some of you too. And that’s the reason why I’ve decided to do these solo episodes short and sweet, just take up a little bit of space because I want to practice what I preach. I want other mums to feel that they are allowed to take up as much space as they want to take up to shout from the rooftops about their businesses, about their
passions, their goals and what they want to achieve in this life and the world that they want to create and improve for their children. And so this is me unfiltered, no script, nothing, talking about myself and what I do. And it’s the 50th episode just gone by where I invited my
oldest, kindest friend, Sarah, to interview me.
That felt challenging in itself, but I did it and it marks a new chapter where I am going to take up a little bit more space and share each week what’s on my mind in this roller coaster ride of business building whilst raising your kids.
and I’d be so interested to hear your take as well. So every week I’m gonna talk about…
what’s going on in my photography business, what’s going on in my online business where I teach photographers how to lead with print in the digital age, what’s going on with the podcast, and what’s going on with my role as well in the family business that my dad established 20 years ago, 21 years ago. Because all of these things make up my working week. And then we layer on family life.
what’s going on as a mum. The juggle, the struggle, the challenge, the highs and the lows, the joys, the wins, the fails. I wanna share it all and I want to build this collection of businesses, projects with you. I wanna build it in public and I wanna share it with you. And I am an open book. So.
If anything I talk about in these solo episodes resonates with you, I want you to come and find me and let me know on Instagram. So it’s at mum means business podcast on Instagram, or you can find me at Victoria Phipps MBE. And I’m really terrified and excited to share this journey with you in some short episodes that hopefully will resonate with you because I think
The more we normalise the behind the scenes, the stuff that doesn’t make the Instagram reels, the better. Because stuff takes time. Because our businesses have to also accommodate everything that is going on in our personal lives.
Some days we have energy, some days we don’t. Some days we need each other to help us pick ourselves back up and crack on, try something different, pivot, change a strategy, or just have that pep talk that we need to keep going and to have that resilience and tenacity that in the end allows us to reach our goals.
So I hope you’ve enjoyed this intro and I hope I get better at this because it feels deeply uncomfortable right now. But I will see you every Friday with my thoughts of business building that week. Speak to you soon.