Podcast
Mum Means Business
Hosted by Victoria Phipps · EN
For women juggling pitches and play dates!
Hosted by Victoria Phipps MBE, the Mum Means Business is the podcast for ambitious Mothers navigating the beautiful chaos of building a business while raising a family. Each episode shares honest conversations and inspiring stories from real Mums growing heart-centred, purpose-driven businesses designed to make this world a better place for our children.
Whether you’re working during nap time, burning the midnight oil or squeezing strategy sessions between school runs, this is your space. A space to feel seen, supported and inspired.
Join us as we celebrate the wins, unpack the challenges and remind ourselves that while tackling motherhood and entrepreneurship at the same time can be a wild ride, we don’t have to do it alone.
Because motherhood isn’t a barrier to success - it’s a superpower.
Hosted by Victoria Phipps MBE, the Mum Means Business is the podcast for ambitious Mothers navigating the beautiful chaos of building a business while raising a family. Each episode shares honest conversations and inspiring stories from real Mums growing heart-centred, purpose-driven businesses designed to make this world a better place for our children.
Whether you’re working during nap time, burning the midnight oil or squeezing strategy sessions between school runs, this is your space. A space to feel seen, supported and inspired.
Join us as we celebrate the wins, unpack the challenges and remind ourselves that while tackling motherhood and entrepreneurship at the same time can be a wild ride, we don’t have to do it alone.
Because motherhood isn’t a barrier to success - it’s a superpower.
41episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
65: The One Where We Had 9 Months to Raise £450k
Yesterday00:19:56Tap to summarizeThis week's solo episode is a little different. It is the story of a project that pretty much took over my life in 2018 and 2019. A project I have been thinking about sharing ever since a recent visit stirred up a lot of mixed feelings. It is the story of the D-Day 75 Garden, a commemorative show garden at RHS Chelsea in 2019, conceived to celebrate the Normandy veterans of the Second World War on home soil during what would be the final milestone anniversary with any significant number of veterans still here to tell their story. It is the story of how "we" (I go into who we is in the episode) with no fundraising experience, no budget and a very big idea found the right people, asked for what they needed and somehow made it happen. And I hope it is a story that gives you permission to pursue the mad idea that will not leave you alone. In this episode, I reflect on: ✨ The backstory of D-Day Revisited, the charity my dad and I co-founded, and why the 75th anniversary felt like the moment to do something extraordinary on home soil to celebrate the veterans who had given so much ✨ How the idea for a commemorative show garden at RHS Chelsea came to me during the 74th anniversary trip to France in 2018 and why I almost talked myself out of pursuing it ✨ The moment I discovered the entry deadline was just weeks away and sent that email to the RHS anyway, which set everything in motion ✨ How garden designer John Everiss and fundraiser Peter Deaman came into the project and why neither of them should have said yes to two people with no money and no experience, but did ✨ The 75 Reasons campaign - one of the ideas I am most proud of - and the moment in conversation when it all clicked into place in a way that still gives me the chills ✨ What it actually felt like to be in front of a camera for the first time with no training or experience, because the promotional video had to be made and someone had to do it ✨ The relentless reality of fundraising - seeking 75 sponsors at five thousand pounds each with no guarantee and no one big cheque to save the day and what that process taught me about courage and asking ✨ The story of Bill Pendell and Joe Cattini, the two veterans at the heart of the garden, and why losing Bill in December 2018 only made us more determined to see it through ✨ The moment during the Chelsea Flower Show when I looked around and realised we had actually done it and what that felt like after nine months of not knowing if we ever would ✨ How the garden was moved to Arromanches in Normandy overlooking Gold Beach and what it was like to visit it seven years on, still there, still sparking conversations ✨ Why the greatest lesson from this whole experience is simply this: the trick is to ask Takeaway for Mums in Business: You can have mad ideas that nobody expects to come to fruition and you can make them happen. You can look at what seems to be an impossible sum of money and you can find it. You can be brave and ask for what you need to make your dream a reality. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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64: Making Dark Chocolate Fun; Positive Psychology and Trusting Your Instincts with Ella McKay
4d ago01:02:29Tap to summarizeElla McKay is a self-proclaimed food obsessive, a marketing professional turned entrepreneur and the co-founder of FATSO, a premium dark chocolate brand on a mission to prove that dark chocolate can be every bit as fun, flavourful and full of personality as its milkier counterpart. The idea was born in lockdown from a conversation about how boring and overly serious dark chocolate had become. What started as a side hustle to shake up the category quickly revealed Ella's entrepreneurial instincts and she soon left the world of big corporate brands behind to drive momentum behind FATSO full time. In this episode, Ella shares the story of how it all came together, what the leap from corporate to founder actually felt like and how positive psychology, maternal instinct and a willingness to trust herself have shaped both her business and her approach to motherhood. 💡 "Instinct is your most powerful tool when becoming a mother. Don't be afraid of marching to the beat of your own drum. Don't be afraid of being different." - Ella McKay In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How a lockdown conversation about the sorry state of dark chocolate became the seed of a global brand and what those early side hustle days looked like before Ella took the leap full time ✨ The decision to leave a successful corporate marketing career behind to back herself and FATSO and what gave her the confidence to make that call ✨ Why partnering with Luker Chocolate in Colombia was about more than supply chain - it was about finding a partner whose values and purpose aligned with the kind of business Ella wanted to build ✨ The reality of navigating early motherhood and entrepreneurship simultaneously and how she found her footing across both ✨ How Ella approaches the balancing act of work and family life and why rigid rules have never been her style ✨ The role of instinct in both parenting and business and why millennial mothers in particular need to reconnect with their intuition after a lifetime of being told what they should do ✨ How positive psychology shapes the way Ella leads her business and her family and why that philosophy feels like a natural fit for both ✨ Why embracing individuality in motherhood matters and what she would say to any mum who feels like she is doing it wrong ✨ The advice she would give her younger self and what it reveals about confidence, identity and trusting the path that lights you up About the Guest: Ella McKay is the co-founder of FATSO, a premium dark chocolate brand built on the belief that dark chocolate should be as fun, flavourful and full of personality as any other kind. With a background in marketing for some of the world's biggest brands, she brought both commercial expertise and genuine passion to building FATSO from a lockdown side hustle into a globally stocked product. Ella is a mum who leads with positive psychology, trusts her instincts and believes that doing so is one of the most powerful things you can model to your children. You can find FATSO chocolate at sofatso.com and connect with Ella on LinkedIn. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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63: Van Life with Little People; the Unglamorous Reality of Working and Travelling with Kids
1w ago00:09:32Tap to summarizeThis solo episode is coming to you from a converted VW Crafter in Tours, France - heavily loaded with me, my partner and two small children with all their associated paraphernalia, snacks galore, an expanding laundry bag and a portable penguin potty! Van life has this idyllic reputation, doesn't it? The footloose digital nomad, laptop open, bikini on, six figure launches via personal hotspot as the sun sets behind the screen. This is not that. It is the reality of van life as a mum of two on her way to being middle aged, who has not yet figured out how to do a four figure launch from her own home, let alone from a converted campervan in a French heatwave. In this episode I share the backstory of how our van came to be, what life on the road actually looks like with little people in tow and why, despite all of it, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I reflect on: ✨ The backstory of the van - from secondhand shell bought on a loan in September 2024 to a 95% finished camper that has cost significantly more than anticipated and means we must now holiday in it forever to justify the expenditure ✨ Why the reality of van life with small children looks nothing like the digital nomad fantasy, from a swollen knee on day two and abandoned makeup by day three to a routine that shifted three hours in either direction because of the heat ✨ Why working on the road as a solopreneur is considerably harder than imagined, with campsite wi-fi that is reliably hopeless, personal hotspot that drops at the worst moments and an audience of two in the back seats with a constant stream of demands ✨ The unglamorous reality of being primary caregiver, chief navigator, planner, referee and cook whilst also trying to keep a business ticking over, and the moments when you realise none of your own basic needs have been met since you got in the van that morning ✨ Why the chaos is absolutely worth it - the memories being made, the rituals slowly bedding in and the joy of seeing it all through the eyes of two small girls who are simply happy that everyone is together ✨ How the van creates a unique opportunity for genuine reconnection as a family and why Hold On To Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté has shaped the thinking behind it ✨ Why curiosity, adventure and showing your children that different people live in different ways is one of the most powerful things you can give them, even if right now it mostly means fresh baguettes from the boulangerie every morning Takeaway for Mums in Business: When you run your own business, if you stop, the business stops. But sometimes stopping is exactly what you and your family need. The content can fall off a cliff for a week. The emails can wait. The memories you are making right now cannot be recreated. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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62: Emma Bardwell on Mum Guilt vs. Role-Modelling and Building a Business in a Man's World
2w ago00:48:33Tap to summarizeEmma Bardwell is the founder and managing director of BardWood Support Services, a fast-growing recruitment business specialising in security and facilities management. Driven by a desire to create flexibility for her young family, she left her career in recruitment in 2015 and began building her business from the ground up with two daughters aged two and five and no guarantee of where it would lead. What began as a way to be at the school gates has grown into a well-oiled, multi-location business with operations across the UK and an international support centre in India. In this episode, Emma shares the honest story of building BardWood from nothing, navigating a traditionally male-dominated industry as a woman with two small children and the guilt that came with those early years of phone-in-hand, always-on entrepreneurship. She also reflects on what her daughters actually remember and what it has meant for who they are becoming. 💡 "My girls don't remember me being absent, they just remember me being busy." - Emma Bardwell In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Emma spotted a gap in the security recruitment market through a chance Facebook conversation and went from zero to her first major client in a matter of weeks ✨ Why she made the bold decision to leave her first business relationship behind to pursue an industry accreditation that would open much bigger doors, with no client waiting on the other side ✨ The reality of those early years of growth - from managing three phones and spreadsheets at her grandfather's hospice bedside to filling shifts on Christmas Day while her daughters opened their presents ✨ Why being a woman in a male-dominated industry turned out to be a breath of fresh air rather than a barrier and how her honesty, hunger and can-do energy set her apart from the egos in the room ✨ The moment she realised she needed to bring in a business partner and how handing over control to someone she trusted transformed both the business and her capacity to be present for her family ✨ Setting up a 24-hour operations centre in India and why trusting her partner Nilesh to make it happen was one of the best decisions she ever made for the business ✨ The identity shift from founder and micromanager to strategic leader and ideas generator and why that transition was as hard as it was necessary ✨ Her honest reflection on mum guilt, being physically present but mentally elsewhere and why the early years looked very different to the flexibility she had imagined when she started ✨ What her daughters, now 17 and 19, actually remember about their mother's years of building and why it turns out they don't remember her being absent - they remember her being busy ✨ How watching their mother build a business in a man's world has shaped both daughters' belief in what is possible for them as women About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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61: The Podcast Turns One; Lessons, Downloads and a Glass of Wine in Brittany
2w ago00:12:26Tap to summarizeThis solo episode is coming to you from a bench on the shoreline of Brittany, recorded after a day of full sun, a generous glass of wine at dinner and several failed attempts to get the usual tech setup working from a campervan. It was a perfectly imperfect way to mark the first birthday of the Mum Means Business podcast. A year ago I was a 39 year old mum of two with tech overwhelm, raging imposter syndrome and a glint of excitement pressing publish on the very first episode. I had no audience, no downloads, no financial backing and no real idea what I was doing. All I had was a healthy fear of regret and a hunch that I would love it. In this episode I reflect on the three biggest lessons the past year of podcasting has taught me, share my download stats because I wish someone had done this transparently for me when I was starting out and say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who has chosen to listen in. In this episode, I reflect on: ✨ Why starting the podcast felt like the scariest and most necessary thing I could have done at 40 and how the decision to take action when I felt stuck changed everything ✨ The moment I bought Jenna Kutcher's podcast lab, took my first small steps and how those thoughts of who are you to start a podcast have grown quieter with every passing month ✨ Why we were never supposed to do this alone and how this podcast has helped me find and connect with women who truly get what it means to build a business whilst raising small humans ✨ The antidote that honest, unfiltered conversations about the messy reality of entrepreneurship provide to the curated and filtered version we are sold everywhere else ✨ The download stats I am sharing because I could not find enough of this kind of transparency when I was starting out - from 1000 downloads at four months to nearly 5000 at the one year mark ✨ Why the quote about overestimating what you can do in a year but underestimating what you can do in a decade has never felt more relevant and what building the D-Day Revisited charity over 11 years taught me about the long game ✨ Why things take time, why that is okay and why focusing on the journey rather than the destination has made this whole experience all the richer Takeaway for Mums in Business: You overestimate what you can do in a year but underestimate what you can do in a decade. Things take time. If you can take action, stretch your comfort zone and find the people who truly get what you are trying to do, the rest will follow. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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60: Stop Calling It a Side Hustle and Start Building a Real Business with Beth Heyer
3w ago01:03:47Tap to summarizeBeth Heyer is a single mum who launched Babysitting Connection from her kitchen table in Texas in January 2020, six weeks before the world shut down. By 2022 she had scaled to over 700 families across six locations and been named Austin Businesswoman Employer of the Year. She has since expanded her vision with Petsitting Connection and now dedicates a significant part of her time to empowering other women to step into entrepreneurship with the same audacity and commitment she brought to her own business from day one. In this episode, Beth shares the full story of how Babysitting Connection was born, how COVID transformed it within weeks of launch and what it has taken to build a well-oiled, data-driven business that supports her life as a single mother rather than competing with it. It is a conversation about delegation, abundance, going all in and why no man has ever called his business a side hustle. 💡 "No man has ever called his business a side hustle. Women don't give themselves the courage to say, this is it. This is going to be what pays my bills. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in five years, this is it." - Beth Heyer In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Beth launched Babysitting Connection six weeks before COVID hit and why the pandemic, rather than derailing her, accelerated the business in ways she could never have planned for ✨ Why she hired a social media manager and a sitter onboarding specialist before she ever paid herself, and what that decision reveals about investing in your zone of genius from the very beginning ✨ The power of delegating the tasks you hate or are not good at and why thinking carefully about what your time is worth changes everything ✨ Why Beth went all in on Babysitting Connection from day one with no other eggs in any other baskets and why she believes women in particular struggle to give themselves the audacity to do the same ✨ The word she hates almost as much as mum boss and mamapreneur — side hustle — and why no man has ever used it to describe his business ✨ How the membership model creates predictable recurring revenue that takes the anxiety out of the ebbs and flows of running a service-based business and allows you to plan, staff and scale with confidence ✨ Why you should validate your business idea with real customers first before perfecting your brand, building an app or fine-tuning your business plan ✨ How five years of data has allowed Beth's team to predict seasonal trends, staff accordingly and run a business that fills 99.9% of its sits every month ✨ The abundance mindset that has defined Beth's approach to her industry — sharing openly with competitors because when the waters rise all the ships rise ✨ Why Beth is building a business she intends to keep until her kids tell her they don't want it and what that vision reveals about a more feminine, purposeful approach to entrepreneurship About the Guest: Beth Heyer is the founder of Babysitting Connection and Petsitting Connection, membership-based childcare and pet care agencies operating across six locations in Texas. A single mum of two, she built her business from a kitchen table investment and grew it to serve over 700 families while maintaining clear boundaries for her children and herself. She now works with other women in the childcare industry to help them launch, streamline and scale their own agencies. Beth is a passionate advocate for the membership business model, the abundance mindset and women backing themselves with the same boldness they would encourage in everyone else. You can find Beth at bethheyer.com, babysittingconnection.com and petsittingconnection.com. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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59: Sliding into the Summer Holidays as a Business-Building Mum
3w ago00:15:11Tap to summarizeThis solo episode lands on the first day of the summer holidays for most children across England and it feels like exactly the right moment to talk honestly about what this season actually looks like when you are a mother with a business to run. As you'll hear there are no perfectly scheduled content calendars, completed to-do lists or clean skirting boards here! Just the reality of sliding into six or seven weeks of summer with work still very much on the agenda, a van packed for France and a promise made to a five year old that this summer will count. If you are heading into the summer holidays feeling anything less than prepared, this one is for you. In this episode, I reflect on: ✨ Why the build-up to the summer holidays can feel as pressured and frantic as Christmas and how the stories we tell ourselves about having to be ready can make it worse ✨ An honest breakdown of what I will still be doing over the summer — from publishing episodes and nurturing my email list to checking in on Meta ads, doing my day job and re-recording the entire Print Over Pixels course for a September launch ✨ Why I have already broken my one summer boundary of no podcast recordings and what that reveals about the ongoing work of actually holding the limits we set for ourselves ✨ The Meta ads lesson learned last month about what happens when you stop paying attention to something you are spending money on and why checking in weekly is now non-negotiable ✨ Why I am pressing pause on the photography business for the whole of August and why choosing what not to do is just as important as deciding what to do ✨ The thing I will not be doing this summer - giving myself a hard time and why that is the most important promise on the list ✨ The Instagram versus reality piece and why the golden hour summer holiday content you are scrolling through is not the full picture for most of us ✨ My slightly embarrassing but genuinely effective tool for shifting comparison energy involving a silent disco and Celine Dion ✨ The one promise I am making to my daughter for August and why four full days just the two of us feels like the win worth working towards Takeaway for Mums in Business: If you're working more than you'd like this summer, you're not alone. If you wish you could press pause and be entirely present with your kids but can't quite get there yet, you're not alone. We are all at different stages of this game and that is okay. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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58: Why Wanting More Money Doesn't Make You a Bad Mum with Claire Hill
4w ago01:12:45Tap to summarizeClaire Hill is not your usual business coach. She identifies as the 'Queen of Unstoppable Self-Belief' and works specifically with the "I thought I'd be making more money by now" crew - teaching women in business how to stop leaking money, energy and power so their income can finally match how epic they are at what they do. A mum of one, Claire understands the real, messy, powerful reality of building a business alongside motherhood, and her deep knowledge around money mindset means she quickly identifies the beliefs that keep brilliant women playing small - including the idea that wanting more money somehow makes them selfish, less present or worst of all, a bad mum! In this episode, we explore Claire's remarkable journey from a childhood shaped by loss and financial hardship through six business ventures to the coaching practice she was always meant to build. It is a conversation about money as energy, warrior energy, honey money and the radical act of creating space in your life so that abundance has somewhere to land. 💡 "There is no space in a busy life for money energy to come in. If you want more money, you have to create room for it." - Claire Hill In this conversation, we explore: ✨ Claire's journey from a childhood marked by the loss of her father at eight, young caring responsibilities and financial hardship to becoming a multi-business founder and the Queen of Self-Belief ✨ Why money is simply one form of energy and how reframing it as pasta — yes, really — can dissolve some of the shame and fear that keeps women from wanting it openly ✨ The stories handed down through generations, religion and patriarchy that make women feel that wanting money is greedy, selfish or incompatible with being a good mother and why those stories are worth dismantling ✨ How our upbringing shapes our money mindset in ways we often don't recognise until we start building a business and the blocks show up in real time ✨ What warrior energy actually means, why every mother in business needs a full pot of it and how to transfer worry energy into the kind of drive and resilience that sustains you ✨ Why the hardest work in business is not doing more but getting clear on what you actually want to be known for and giving yourself permission to do only that ✨ The concept of honey money and why becoming your most vivid, authentic self is the thing that makes money want to stick to you ✨ Why doing less, saying no more and creating genuine space in your life is not laziness but the strategic move that allows money energy to actually get in ✨ The business leaks test and how identifying the patterns that are quietly draining your energy, confidence and income is the fastest way to start making more ✨ Why self-worth is the foundation of everything and the unexpected moment that shifted Claire's relationship with her own About the Guest: Claire Hill is the Queen of Self-Belief and founder of the Bank programme, a money mindset and business coaching experience for women who know they should be making more money and are ready to find out exactly what is getting in the way. With a background spanning social care, education and six business ventures, she brings both lived experience and deep intuitive insight to her work. A mum of one, Claire is on a mission to help women stop leaking money, energy and power and start building businesses that feel as powerful as they are. You can find Claire on Instagram at @iamclairehill, via her website clairehill.uk or binge her content on the No Rest for the Vivid podcast. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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57: Behind the Rebrand; Threads, Squiggles and Letting Go of Perfectionism
4w ago00:12:19Tap to summarizeThis week's solo episode takes you behind the scenes of one of the most fun projects I have worked on this year - the rebrand of the Mum Means Business podcast and my photography business, Victoria Phipps Photography. I share why I decided the time was right to invest in a professional graphic designer, what the process actually looked like and how working with the brilliant Liz Mosley of Building Your Brand helped me to see the threads running through everything I do for the very first time. But this episode is about more than design. It is also about confidence, perfectionism and what it means to launch something before it is perfect because you finally trust yourself enough to know that the work itself is what matters most. In this episode, I reflect on: ✨ Why the visual identity of both my photography business and the podcast had started to feel like a different version of me and what finally prompted me to invest in a professional rebrand ✨ How I found Liz Mosley and why the trust built through years of listening to her podcast made choosing her as a designer feel completely natural — the chocolate in the post helped too ✨ The concept Liz came back with that stopped me in my tracks — threads — and how that single idea helped me see that motherhood, business, family, freedom, flexibility, community, connection and impact were running through everything I do ✨ Why the squiggles and colours of the new brand feel like a child's drawing in the best possible way - playful, positive and genuinely cheering to work with every single day ✨ How the eight week design process unfolded, from initial concepts through font hierarchies and logo variations to a brand that could stretch across multiple businesses and platforms ✨ The decision to launch the brand on the 50th episode even though the websites were not fully updated yet and why letting go of that perfectionism felt like a genuine milestone ✨ How my relationship with perfectionism has shifted over ten months of podcasting and what that reveals about confidence, competence and the slow but real work of rebuilding yourself after early motherhood ✨ The connection between this rebrand story and Yinka Ewuola's episode on legitimacy, websites and trusting your offer Takeaway for Mums in Business: Confidence can drop off a cliff in early motherhood and for a lot of women it can feel like a struggle to get it back. I've learned that confidence builds when you take action. Starting this podcast has led to healing conversations with other women which have helped to rebuild my confidence piece by piece. Previously I'd have killed myself to get this brand fully rolled out for launch day. But even as a self-confessed control enthusiast, I promise it's possible to let go of perfectionism and trust that the quality of your work is what matters most. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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56: From Survival Mode to Scaling Your Business with Ease with Michelle Newman
Jul 701:00:42Tap to summarizeMichelle Newman is a business transformation specialist, founder of Flow Business Support and an award-winning advocate for women in business. Combining years of corporate expertise with a passion for entrepreneurship and self-care, she helps founders to streamline operations, reduce overwhelm and scale sustainably without the stress. A mum of one and stepmum of seven, Michelle's own journey into entrepreneurship was born not from a carefully laid plan but from a significant life change. What followed was years of building, reacting, pivoting and slowly, intentionally finding her way to a business she genuinely belongs in. In this episode, we explore that journey in full - divorce, sepsis, breathwork, personal branding and the moment Michelle realised she had been working for her business rather than the other way around. It is a deeply honest conversation about survival mode, self-care, celebrating small wins and what it truly takes to scale with ease when life is happening all around you. 💡 "Give yourself the grace to recognise that things are not going to happen overnight. Those shifts are going to happen, but they might be micro movements towards your goals." — Michelle Newman In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Michelle's entrepreneurial journey began not by choice but by necessity following the breakdown of her marriage and a shared business, and what it took to keep going as a single mum with a young son to provide for ✨ The physical and emotional cost of holding everything together in crisis mode, including a hospitalisation with sepsis that became a turning point she could no longer ignore ✨ How she discovered breathwork through one of her first clients and why that single session was the moment something shifted on a level she hadn't anticipated and couldn't have planned for ✨ Why finding your one restorative ritual and protecting space for it regularly is not a luxury but an act of care for everyone around you, not just yourself ✨ The evolution of Flow from a virtual assistance service into a full digital operations consultancy, including the moment she realised she had accidentally built a business she didn't enjoy ✨ Why scaling too fast without intention can leave you feeling like an employee of your own business and what Michelle did to strip it back and rebuild it on her own terms ✨ The decision to step into personal branding after years of hiding behind a business name and why that shift finally made her feel like she belonged inside her own business ✨ The ta-da list — a simple but genuinely powerful practice of recording what you actually achieved each week rather than what you didn't, and why Michelle has turned it into a notebook you can download and use yourself ✨ Why celebrating small wins is not indulgent but essential, particularly for mothers in business who are operating under entirely different constraints to everyone else ✨ The three things Michelle tells her son to strive for every day and why they are just as relevant to women in business as they are to children finding their way in the world 🎁 Download Michelle's printable Ta-Da Lists using discount code MUMLOVE, or find her Ta-Da Notebook on Amazon. About the Guest: Michelle Newman is the founder of Flow, a digital operations consultancy offering wraparound business support to entrepreneurs who are ready to scale with ease. With a background in corporate project management and process improvement, she brings both technical expertise and deep personal understanding to her work with founders. An award-winning advocate for women in business, speaker and community champion, Michelle is a mum of one and stepmum of seven who has built her business through some of life's most challenging seasons and come out the other side with a business she truly belongs in. You can connect with Michelle via Instagram at @michellenewmanflow or visit flowbusinesssupport.com. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ 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. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
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