Women in Business: Success, Motherhood and the Space In Between

4 days ago
3 min read

March always feels reflective. International Women’s Day arrives first, celebrating women in business, leadership and progress. A week later, Mother’s Day follows, celebrating women in a very different, deeply personal role.

For me, those two dates aren’t separate. They’re connected because my journey into business didn’t happen before motherhood. It happened after.

Becoming a mum before building a business

I became a mum young. At a time when many people were just starting careers, travelling, figuring out who they wanted to be I was figuring out nappies, routines and responsibility. There’s a particular kind of strength that comes from becoming responsible for someone else before you’ve fully figured yourself out. Motherhood forced me to grow up quickly. It taught me resilience before I knew I needed it. It gave me focus before I had a formal career plan.

When I eventually stepped properly into business, I wasn’t starting from zero.

I was starting as someone who already understood responsibility, sacrifice, time management and what really matters.

Finding my place in business

Entering the business world after becoming a mum felt slightly backwards compared to many traditional career paths. I didn’t have the luxury of endless overtime or saying yes to everything. I didn’t have uninterrupted evenings for networking or “just staying late to prove a point.”

What I did have was clarity.

Clarity about why I was working.
Clarity about what kind of life I wanted to build.
Clarity about what I wouldn’t sacrifice.

There were times when I found myself in male-dominated spaces, quietly aware that I needed to prove competence before I was fully trusted. I learned quickly, adapted and held my ground.

I also realised something important along the way:

Strength doesn’t have to look like aggression.
Leadership doesn’t have to look like volume.
Success doesn’t have to look like exhaustion.

Building a business around real life

When I eventually ran my own businesses, I had the freedom to shape them differently. Motherhood had already taught me that life isn’t predictable. Children get poorly. School events land in the middle of the day. Sometimes emotions matter more than efficiency. So I built a business that allowed for that. One rooted in:

Flexibility
Compassion
Listening
Responding

If a child is unwell, they come first.

If someone on the team needs space, we find it.

If a client is overwhelmed, we listen before we advise.

For a long time, business culture often rewarded rigid, relentless drive. But I’ve learned that empathy and professionalism are not opposites. In fact, they work incredibly well together.

The quiet reality of mum guilt

Let’s talk about mum guilt. There are days I feel pulled in both directions. Days where I leave early and wonder if I should have stayed. Days where I stay and wonder if I should have left.

Sometimes I feel like a capable business owner and an average mother. Sometimes I feel like a great mum and a distracted professional. The truth is, most women I know live somewhere in that space in between. The guilt is rarely about failure. It’s about caring deeply about both worlds.

Redefining success as Women in Business

When I was younger, success felt measurable. Qualifications. Growth. Income. Recognition. Now, it feels more layered.

Yes, I’m proud of the businesses I’ve built. Proud of navigating challenges. Proud of carving out space in environments that didn’t always feel designed for women. But I’m equally proud of:

Showing my children what resilience looks like
Demonstrating that work can be built around values
Choosing flexibility when it matters
Building something sustainable rather than performative

International Women’s Day celebrates visible achievement. Mother’s Day celebrates invisible care. The truth is, many women carry both at the same time.

What I hope my children see

I find myself thinking about what I hope my children take from watching me work.

I hope they see that success isn’t just about money or titles.
I hope they see that building something aligned with your values matters.
I hope they see that it’s possible to work hard and still be present.
I hope they understand that becoming a mum didn’t limit my ambition, it shaped it. It made it more focused, more intentional and more human.

The space in between

International Women’s Day comes first this month celebrating how far women in business have come. Mother’s Day follows reminding us of the quieter, foundational strength that often fuels that progress.

For those of us who became mothers before entrepreneurs, or who built careers around family life rather than instead of it, success doesn’t sit neatly in one category. It lives in the space in between.