Transcript
Speaker: Hi I'm Amy and I'm Emma and this is the Five Hour Club Podcast where we navigate life between the school runs.
Speaker: Hello. Hello. Are we on? I think we're on. It's recording. So come here, we just had the bank holiday weekend. How was your weekend? It was a little bit mental. Very chilled, kind of. We did a bit of London with the boys and then we had a pajama day yesterday. And then I kind of thought it was a good idea to do my post on LinkedIn that I've been putting off for the last, I don't know, for the weekend.
Speaker: You've gone viral, lady. You've gone viral. I don't know what to do with this information. I don't even know how to talk about it. Basically, you know, I put out this post that I'm doing this challenge and I shared my story basically that I am petrified of LinkedIn and that I thought that I couldn't go in there as a parent and thought I'd just talk about that and how I'm in limbo and why I'm doing the Five Hour Club.
Speaker: And then I wake up this morning with like 51 ,000 impressions, which apparently is good. And now is it, I don't know, three hours in and it's up to like 108 ,000 impressions and 2 ,000 likes and all of this stuff. I don't know how that is. It is madness. But you're starting the revolution. This is the revolution. I'm sorry, just for my view, at the time I went viral on Twitter and I got 10 followers. I couldn't handle the pressure.
Speaker: pressure. That is what I was expecting. Honestly, I was like, no one's going to read this. Your post was incredible and it's exactly what we want to hear. It just shows you I'm not the only one. Well, there are a lot of comments. I don't know. I think we've got like 200 and something comments there. I guess it's just people having the same feelings and there's a lot of men on there talking and saying how important it is and people who are doing it.
Speaker: I just, I mean, I just wanted to start a conversation. Well, you've started the conversation and it just goes to show we're not the only ones. So tell me, okay, tell me about your weekend before we get onto actually what we're doing. Okay. Okay. So yeah, it was my holiday weekend and my lovely husband has abandoned me for 10 days, which is fine, which is fine. I've got a nearly three year old and a nearly five year old. I mean, that's fun. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. So my coping mechanism is to drive for six hours. Of course, of course. Down the road for a bit. Yeah, so I braved it and I went to my sister's in Bristol to find my village. And actually, it was so great. They've got grown up cousins. It was really, really lovely.
Speaker: Did you get a cup of tea and pee? Did you sit there for a second and just watch as other people would look at your children? You know what, I did. It's surprising what a difference it makes when you've got people there who can cook and clean for you. Oh, I know. You wouldn't know that. Who wouldn't know? That makes life easier. So yeah, so the journey there I'm back with generally okay. We had a great time.
Speaker: Um, but we did have an interesting incident on the M25. Oh, yeah. Oh, obviously the M25. You're always going to have an incident. What happened? Why is it always the M25? I know it's like you. Why is it always you? It is. It is always me. So.
Speaker: So anyway, so we're stuck there for an hour in traffic, the boys have their tablets, they're absolutely fine. But of course, at that moment, my oldest son, he's only five, he needed a poo. Oh, of course. I was like, perfect timing. Okay, what am I gonna do? And I was thinking, right, with the wee, like, where's Case scenario? Okay, he's going to wee himself and it will, you know, it's not great. Yeah, be a bit wet, find a bottle, you know. Yeah, we can handle it. I'm like, I can't handle if he poos himself because we still have, you know, a while to get back home. What do you do with that?
Speaker: Well, here's what I was thinking. I was like, this is where my problem -solving skills are kicking into play. And I had to think very quickly, under pressure, and be quite creative. And what did you do? So what I did was I pulled over. Oh, and it was lashing around, by the way. Oh, of course, yeah. I see it now.
Speaker: So I pulled over on the hard shoulder and of course my oldest doesn't want to, I don't really blame him, doesn't want to poo on the side of him. Yes, I don't think I'm 25. I mean, look at this. He wouldn't know. And I was like, it's okay, it's okay, you know, I'll get the jacket off, but we're getting lashed on. And he was like, no, no, no, no. So I was like, right, what am I gonna do? And luckily enough, we've got nappies from like three roads. Yeah, okay, well done. So I was like, right, how about put the nappy on?
Speaker: I can't imagine, I can imagine his face. I don't want to put a naffy on. I know, I know. Did he? So yeah, so he did. He put the naffy on and went to do the cart. Oh, he did it in the cart. Yeah, so did his business and managed to sort it out. Oh, that was a nice smelly cart. It was a delightful, yeah, it was a delightful car during my home. But it did the trick, but it did make me think, okay, transferable skills, thinking under pressure, problem solving.
Speaker: in a high risk situation. You always want to poo places. You don't want to scare the poo in it. I know, it's quicker that way. When it makes you hold his hand when he's pooing, I'm like calm. So I love that this is like podcast everyone already.
Speaker: I mean, where else are we going to go from there? That's the reality. Yeah, exactly. It's like, if you want to listen, that is the reality of it. Exactly. Sorry, you know, it is what it is.
Speaker: Oh, come here, Aimee. What are we doing? I don't know. We should probably introduce ourselves. Right. I'm on number one. I'm on number one. And I have a son who's the guy. No, yeah, we probably should introduce ourselves and what the hell we're doing. So what the hell are we doing? So what the hell are we doing? So I'm Aimee. I have two boys who are nearly, yeah, two and a half and nearly five.
Speaker: And yeah, I'm here to start the five hour club, I guess, which is a bit mental. But tell me about you first, and then we can talk about that. So I'm Emma. I am. Yeah, so I think I am Amy's biggest cheerleader, I suppose. This is true. You are a good cheerleader. I would not have done this without you. I will say so.
Speaker: The reason we started this was because Emma, very kindly, on her birthday, I invited her round and we had no plans so she gave me a life coaching lesson and I looked at all my options and she was like, yeah, you seem fired up by that one. Maybe you should do that and hey, should we do it together and let's do a podcast? And yeah, and I was like, yes, that's a great way to spend your birthday. We've got the Post -its hour.
Speaker: That is my dream birthday, get the flip track paper out, get it posted. I know how to show you a good time. That's my dream, that's my dream birthday. That's true strategy. No, but we've been talking about this for a while and for me, so I've done quite a significant career change kind of, and it all kind of came together at the same time. So I used to be a teacher, got pregnant, became a mother, pandemic happened, all of these things kind of happened together at the same time.
Speaker: and I think it was like becoming a mum I was like hang on a minute how on earth am I supposed to I suppose at that point it was like be a teacher at the same time and have kids going to school like this doesn't make any sense to me like I don't
Speaker: I don't know how this is going to work. So I think become a mother was kind of the final nail of the coffin for teaching. And I was like, now I want to get a job that's flexible, that works around the kids. Yeah. And so it was that and I was trying to think about kind of what I could do to do that. So I think I was really interested in hearing people's stories and how they did it and.
Speaker: then I think for me, so I transitioned from teaching and now I've got a job in tech. And my number one reason for changing was to be flexible around the family. But I think what also has incidentally happened and I feel very lucky and grateful is I found a career that I truly love and I find a company that's really positive. I find managers that are amazing. And I just think like it can be done. It doesn't,
Speaker: You know, again, for so many reasons, and I'm sure we'll go into this, but for so many reasons, just I really genuinely think our infrastructure is broken. Like I just can't comprehend how people are supposed to.
Speaker: work and do the nine to five and juggle around and work around the children. Well no this is the point isn't it and this this is the thing Emma this is why I wanted to do this with you because I mean we have been talking about this for a long time just voice noting each other I did a podcast and I saw so we were we made friends at NCT and we sort of gone through this whole early new baby thing together and I saw the change in you from being a teacher and trying to struggle and
Speaker: know figure out one kid then two kids and going back to work and I saw this change in you and honestly I would look at you when you've got your new job and I mean you do it with a bang you're like you your eldest went to school in September your youngest started a new child minder and you just started this new commit you know and you it's what I do it is what you do and you do it well and this is why I love you and this is why I want to share your story because I think
Speaker: like it is possible and you've done it and hopefully it will give you know a lot of other people the the backing and the confidence to put up they can do it too that and they're not stuck because honestly I would and I still do I look at you and I listen to you over our kitchen table and I I was jealous like I was really jealous I was also a teacher pre you know babies and I knew that wasn't a forever career for me I did it so I could do other things and then when I got to having babies and then
Speaker: I felt really stuck. I didn't know what to do since then. The career that I thought I wanted in psychology didn't seem to fit and then everything else. Then I'm like, where do I go from here? And I was listening to you and how happy you were and all of these work stories and all of the positive things that were happening for you. I was like, how can I get what you've got? Honestly, I was really jealous for time and I would sit there and listen and I think, I have nothing else to talk about.
Speaker: I have poo to talk about. That's all I had to talk about. I don't want to talk about poo from here. I also clearly have poo. We're always going to have poo to talk about, let's face it. And I honestly was jealous of you and not in a bad way. I was so, so proud of you. How can I... Without something that you want.
Speaker: That is something I would like. For me, I love my children dearly and they have been. I have chosen to take this time out from my career for them. I wanted to focus on that and honestly, I don't know, especially after the second one, whether I would have been able to go straight back into a job. I really struggled there. I think only now, two and a half years out of the second one, that I feel like I'm in a place where I can go back to work.
Speaker: I'm like well what do I do? And that is the problem for me and I feel very stuck. I feel stuck in limbo and I know that I don't think I'm the only one. Like clearly from that post I don't think I'm the only one that's gonna stuck in this limbo and not. I'm thinking how do I even get back
Speaker: into work, whereas, you know, I Google school hour jobs or flexible jobs, and there's nothing, but there's nothing there. There's so much to it, because I was exactly the same. And I couldn't find anything that I am, you know, I did, you know, via certain groups, I did the Code for a Girl's degree, and it was amazing. And that was adapted kind of in a way that enabled me to do that transition. But there's so many things too, because we're trying to find our identities, mothers, we're trying to find your identity, how we can
Speaker: fit our workplace around the kids. Like how on earth do we do it? How do we keep our house clean? How do we do a long juggle? And I feel purpose and sense of fulfillment, like not being funny. I don't want to spend my time between the school ones cleaning the house. That is not me. Like I need something more than that as a mother. And I know that when I have something,
Speaker: I even just these last few weeks working on this, that I've been responding to them better. I am energized when I pick them up from the school run. I have so much more to give them as a mother because I feel more fulfilled. But 100%, because it's not like on one hand, we shouldn't feel ashamed to want to do something. We've previously done education or work experience or whatever it is. Why is it that just because we've becoming mothers, we're like, oh, well, I have to stay at home.
Speaker: we you're still who are we are and that so that's one side of things yeah and then the other side of things is we are in a position now where the majority of families they both have to work so again how are we supposed to make that work and yes there may or may not be child care provision that and you have that wraparound care but is it good enough is it what we want to do i think the key thing is is
Speaker: making sure that we do what best and works for us but again there's a gap. Well this is the thing and like you said it's like there is you know we go on about this pet gender pay gap and we go on about the child, like with child care provision these are all very true things however we're not seemingly looking at how we can actually or use what we already have or to change you know the way we look at working with parents it's like
Speaker: We actually do have, you know, there's a school day there and women, parents are very efficient, particularly after having children, they're very effective and they've got all this experience, you know, if you put, you know, forgive them jobs where they can work within that school time and not then make them feel guilty and return and do an 8pm call or an email, then, you know,
Speaker: hopefully then these people will be better worker for you, they'll be able to stay there, they'll be able to, they'll want to sustain your job and then go up the career ladder and then you know go into those higher positions that we're talking about where there's gaps where women aren't there but we're not letting people back in the workforce, that's the trouble. Yes and I think what needs to happen
Speaker: is a cultural shift. It's not like there's been some amazing people doing great things around flexible working. But I really think it needs to go that deep in that the infrastructure is broken. I know I keep saying it. But it is. And it is the cultural shift that needs to change that wait just a minute.
Speaker: How many transferable skills do we have? And like I had a confidence knock I think after being a teacher and being a model. Yeah I remember you being like well what can I use as my teaching you know for my teaching to another job. I was like yeah Emma honestly you are so employable. But then it's only when I feel like you get into that positive culture and you get into that positive company
Speaker: with positive managers. A lot of positivity here. We need the positivity. We need the positivity to understand, of course you can do it. You just need to be in the right mindset. And something that's come up recently of this was the unentitled mindset. I have 100 % had that. Like when I was applying for my job, you know, I have experience, I have qualification, but I was like, oh, please give me a job. Thank you so much.
Speaker: like for giving me part -time I'm absolutely delighted but I won't ask for any more money. I remember you were like oh hang on you know they're recognizing that I'm doing you know all this work in these four days but yeah they should be recognizing that they should be promoting you they should be rewarding you because you are very experienced and you have a lot to offer not just from
Speaker: you know your previous work experience but from being a mother and being a parent. That's like 100 % I'm a better worker after being a mother. Like hands down the poo story says it all. But on that note maybe we should wrap this up and I hope that maybe other people start joining us.
Speaker: Yeah, so we want to hear from other people's stories. That was the other thing. There are so many different ways of doing it, of doing the flexible working. We want to hear from full -time workers. We want to hear from freelance workers.
Speaker: We think how many women feel like the only option they have is creating a small business. We want to hear from small business owners. All of these people who are somehow making flexible working work. We want to hear your stories and also the ones maybe where they're not going so well or where you're still in limbo. I particularly want to hear from you because I feel your pain.
Speaker: So yeah, so I guess, what do we say? Get in touch? On Instagram, we're a five hour club. Let's wrap this up professionally. How do we say this? What do we do? So you can find us now on Instagram at the five hour club and on LinkedIn at the five hour club. That's five hour club.
Speaker: Yeah, so what do you say? Like, rate and review? There's nothing to review Amy. I'm going to put my thumb up like it's a... I know. Give me a thumb up. If you like what we're telling about. I don't know. Join the revolution. Join the revolution. Join the five hour club. That's it. I think that's it. That's it.
