If things feel tough right now, I see you - I’ve been there too.

Having deeply struggled with my own transition into motherhood, my matrescence, I fundamentally believe that as a society, we need to shake up the way we see, value and support mothers.

We deserve to be at the forefront of the motherhood conversation, yet there is still a significant gap in the support available, beyond child-centric resources, to help us transition into this new phase of life.

I do what I do because I want to fill a tiny part of that gap.

By providing the support that I wished I had during my early motherhood years, my goal is to make mamas feel seen, validated and championed.

My commitment is to always portray motherhood in an honest and validating way, to speak about both its magic and its messiness.

I want to offer a detox from the societal conditioning that tells us mothers should always come last.

And to honour the rite of passage of matrescence, because becoming a mama is a transition not a one-time event, and we were never meant to go through it alone.

Here’s my story

My transition into life as a mama was absolutely not what I expected.  

It sounds arrogant but thought I’d ace motherhood. I spent months swotting up on pregnancy and birth, researching all the baby kit, and designing a Pinterest-worthy nursery.

I signed myself up for ALL the classes - hypnobirthing, Pilates, reflexology, baby first aid, and had a shelf full of books on parenting styles and child development.

I held a demanding, high-pressure job and led and nurtured a team.

But when it came to thinking about me as a mother, the reality is that I didn’t.

The extent of my prep beyond birth was deciding I’d take a year-long mat leave, that I’d work four days a week when I eventually returned, and that sure, I might be a little sleep-deprived and time-poor, but I’d somehow carry on living my life as before with a cute baby in tow. It’s what everyone else does, right!?

Oh, how wrong I was!

In those early stages of life as a new mama, I felt like I was trapped in a maze.

Disoriented, constantly faced with new decisions, desperately wanting to trust my instinct, but approaching every turn with hesitation and self-doubt.  Just when I thought I was heading in the right direction, I’d meet another dead end. “It’s just a phase,” everyone kept telling me, but I was so, so tired of phases; I just wanted the map back to being ‘me’.

Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of love, joy and spine-tingling moments, but deep down, even a year in I felt like I was still waiting for something to click. 

Wherever I looked I seemed to be surrounded by women who were bossing motherhood, so I just assumed there was something wrong with me; perhaps I just wasn’t cut out for this.  So, I internalised my shame and fear and slapped on my “I’m loving it” mask in the hope that it would all work out.

But just as my daughter approached her second birthday, I completely unravelled. 

The combination of trying to “bounce back” into a stressful career that deep down I no longer found fulfilling, caring for a feisty toddler, and desperately trying to figure out who I was now - all while pretending that everything was “fine” - led me to anxiety, depression, and burnout.   

I was forced to pause.  I left my job, I focussed on getting well, and I spent a lot of time working on myself through therapy, coaching, and educating myself about a new word I had stumbled upon: matrescence.

For the first time since becoming a mama, I looked deep within to identify what mattered to me, and what I wanted, and I opened myself up to the new possibilities that motherhood can bring.

Leaving a 15-year career in Communications and retraining to become a certified coach and then a Mama Rising™ Facilitator has been one of the most vulnerable, bum-clenchingly scary, yet fulfilling experiences. 

Deciding to focus my work on supporting other women going through matrescence was a no-brainer.

Every day I feel privileged to work with the amazing women who put their trust in me; to witness these brave mamas dig deep within themselves and lean into their matrescence. 

To be their wing-mama as they break free from a version of motherhood that’s left them feeling invisible and unfulfilled, and step into a reimagined motherhood that works with them, not against them.

Because I fundamentally believe that being an amazing mama doesn’t have to mean giving up on YOU.

Let’s do motherhood differently together!

Much love,