Mother of All Solutions

The Finale

To mark the end of Mother of All Solutions, this episode is a conversation with two great friends and previous guests of the podcast, Lily Anderson-Nicholls and Kate Burt.

Lily is an HR Professional and Kate a journalist - we discuss both our personal and the societal contexts for working parents today, and what's changed over the 6 years of making Mother of All Solutions. 

As with all good conversations with friends, it ranges from the serious to the silly! We discuss changes in workplaces and work patterns, parental leave and rights for mums and dads, as well as the mental load, the juggle and parenting/career changes as kids get older. 

Please do listen and excuse the sound quality in parts - we recorded around my dining table with one lovely pre-schooler and a whirring fish tank in the background! 

Thank you for supporting this very personal indie production over the years. It's been a blast and I hope some useful and enjoyable listening along the way. 

x

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. You can keep in touch with Laura on Instagram @SolutionsMother

The Urban Designer

In this episode Laura interviews Rumi Bose, urban designer and regeneration consultant.

Rumi set up her own business 18 months ago after a successful career working in local authority. Whilst she was at Southwark Council she had her three boys now aged 12, 9 and 5. We discuss what motivated her to train as an urban designer (her second career) and what inspires her in this field and the types of roles she has had and is now developing herself. 

 

I am sure you will enjoy listening to Rumi and do visit her website to find out more about her work rumibose.com 

 

We also discuss maternity leave, flexible working, raising boys, sibling dynamics and parenting/places. Thank you for listening and do share with other parents who may benefit from this conversation about careers and caring. 

 

Mother of All Solutions is an independent podcast produced by Laura Broderick with music by Ros Fraser. Connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Instagram @SolutionsMother

The Community Caterers

In this episode host Laura Broderick speaks with co-owner of Home Grown Brixton, Gill Springer. 

Gill runs the cafe and catering business with chef Portia Eyeson. Both are mothers and Gill a grandmother. They are working hard to offer great food and a new community space in their home area of south London. They are using their skills and friendship to grow their community catering business. 

Both have had interesting careers as well as busy caring roles, so it was great to learn more from Gill whilst Portia was busy in the kitchen! Please note the episode was recorded in the cafe so there is some background noise. 

To find out more about Home Grown Brixton visit their website https://www.homegrown.cafe/

And to read more about Gill and Portia https://www.homegrown.cafe/index.php/about-us 

You can connect with Home Grown Brixton via Instagram @home_grownbrixton and Mother of All Solutions @solutionsmother 

If you have enjoyed the episode please do rate, review and share with people. Thank you for listening! 

Special Episode - Creativity Found with Rachel Larsen

In this Special Episode I share an interview with photographer Rachel Larsen from the Creativity Found podcast.I enjoyed listening to Rachel speak about her work and family life with host Claire Waite Brown, and am delighted to now be able to share it with listeners of Mother of All Solutions.

Rachel is a writer and photographer who documents and is commissioned to take pictures of families. She talks about her career decisions to fit creativity and work around her caring responsibilities, as well as how she likes to document families with all the joys and stresses of home life.

I thought it was a great episode for the summer holidays when we are at home and juggling even more than usual! 

I hope you enjoy listening and do keep in touch with myself, Rachel and Claire via our Instagram feeds

@solutionsmother

@rachel.larsen.weaver

@creativityfoundpodcast

 

Finally, this episode is released with Mother of All Solutions turning 5!!! So if you can take 5 min to leave a review, give the podcast a 5 star rating or tell 5 friends about the show that would be much appreciated.

Thanks for listening and stay well this summer x

Special Episode - Father's Day

Hello and Happy Father's Day! For this special episode I talk with my manager and three of my colleagues who are all dads. 

We discuss hybrid working, sharing the juggle with your partner, being vocal about your role and life as a dad and more! We also just have some nice chats about our kids. 

I hope you enjoy the episode and it's useful to see how a group of colleagues can support each other through the highs and lows of parenting. 

Thank you for listening - and please do rate, review and share if you can! 

 

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. To stay in touch please do subscribe to the podcast and connect via Instagram @SolutionsMother 

The Actor

In this special episode of Mother of All Solutions, recorded at The Podcast Show 2024 London / Shure stand, we have guest Samantha Baines - actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and "new mum". 

Sam shares her career choices, chats about her podcast The Divorce Social, and talks about living with hearing loss and writing books based on her experiences of being deaf. She shares information on her pregnancy and early motherhood, as well as next steps now she's back at work and acting again. 

It was great to speak with Sam and I hope you enjoy learning more about her roles and work. To connect with her on socials follow @samanthabaines / www.samanthabaines.com 

To keep in touch with your host and producer Laura Broderick, please connect on Instagram @SolutionsMother 

Thanks for listening! Do subscribe for future shows - I have something planned for Father's Day :-) And if you have enjoyed this episode a rating, review or mention to a friend would be much appreciated. 

 

The Pottery Throwdown Contestants

For this final episode of the Spring 2024 mini-series of Mother of All Solutions, I am pleased to share an interview with Donna Bloye (winner) and Steven Broughton (semi-finalist) from series seven of the Great Pottery Throwdown. 

Fans of the series will have enjoyed watching them on screen and like me picked up a strong sense of their love for pottery and ceramics, but also their role as parents. Donna is mum to three children and Steven is dad to one daughter. I wanted to talk to them together and hear more about their careers as art and design teachers too - and their work now as potters, alongside parenting. 

I hope you enjoy the conversation and it gives you some nice moments to think about creativity, ceramics and kids too. Thank you for listening! 

You can find out more about these fantastic people and their work: 

Donna Bloye www.otonipottery.com / Instagram @oto.ni.pottery 

Steven Broughton www.stevenbroughtonceramics.com / Instagram @steb_pots

Mother of All Solutions podcast is an independent podcast hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser www.motherofallsolutions.com / Instagram and X @SolutionsMother

If you have enjoyed the episode it would be much appreciated if you could like and share, and do subscribe for future episodes coming later in 2024! 

 

 

The Musicians

This episode was recorded at the Mothers in Music all-day festival on 7 March 2024 at the Mount Without venue in Bristol. 

Organised by Alice Ballantine Dykes of Mama Coaching, with a team of producers (mothers and musicians) - “a collective of mothers challenging norms to stay visible, valued and celebrated in the music industry.” The event included wonderful performances, along with discussions about the challenges and ways for mothers to keep performing and thriving in their musical careers. 

It was a joy to attend. This episode is a record of the conversations I had with musicians who make and produce in many ways (singers, songwriters, community leaders, therapists, solo performers, band members, DJs etc). 

I hope you enjoy listening and if it resonates with you do share with someone else who you think would benefit from hearing about these fantastic musicians who are also mothers. 

To find out more about Mothers in Music you can follow Alice and the network on Instagram @mamacoachinguk. To find out about coaching workshops and opportunities you can email Alice info@mamacoaching.org / www.mamacoaching.org 

Music throughout the episode was the Bring Your Own Baby (BYOB) choir performing. The final song is by the artist JMA. Mother of All Solutions intro and outro music by Ros Fraser. Cover photo for this episode taken by Emma Rice. 

The podcast is hosted by Laura Broderick - you can connect on Instagram and X as @SolutionsMother / www.motherofallsolutions.com 

Thank you for listening. 

The WEP Deputy Leader

In this episode I talk with Harriet Williams, Deputy Leader of the Women's Equality Party (WEP).

I initially interviewed Harriet back in the beginning of making Mother of All Solutions podcast when Harriet worked as a 'Young Parent Consultant'. She still works in many roles and in this episode mentioned supporting: 

Care experienced parents: 

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/research/care-experienced-parents-unite-change

Single parents: https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/ 

 

In this episode, we specifically discuss current issues around childcare costs and entitlements, and reference data from Pregnant Then Screwed published in Feb 2024: 

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/shocking-new-stats-about-the-cost-of-parenting/ 

This was discussed in the context of 15 hours free childcare (for those eligible) starting next month in April 2024: 

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/03/15/how-to-claim-15-hours-free-childcare-code/ 

I hope you find the conversation interesting and you will also listen back to Harriet when we talked 4 years ago! You can connect with Harriet: 

Instagram @mummyharrii and X @HarriAWilliams

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. You can connect with Laura: 

Instagram and X @SolutionsMother 

Thank you for listening. 

Note to listeners: whilst no personal scenarios are shared we do touch upon some sensitive issues relating to women and girls, so keep this in mind before you listen. 

 

The Momfluencers

It was a pleasure to speak about momfluencer culture with writer and podcaster Sara Petersen.

Author of the book Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, Sara shared lots of insights into the moms and mums of social media. 

It was fascinating to hear more and also reflect on mumfluencer culture in the UK, and our relationships with influencers and sharing online in general. Plus, what is the British equivalent of the family pumpkin patch outing?! 

To learn more about Sara and her work you can sign up for her Substack - In Pursuit of Clean Countertops:

https://sarapetersen.substack.com/ 

You can also connect with her on Instagram @slouisepetersen 

 

Mother of All Solutions podcast is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick with music by Ros Fraser.

Stay in touch via Instagram and X as @SolutionsMother 

Thank you for listening - and do tell a mum or mom friend you think might like the pod!