Motherhood with Marloe Morgan
Now tell us, what do your mornings look like as a mother & business woman?
My morning starts at 5am and I wake to my son Valla. He has never been one to sleep in despite all of my efforts, so we pull him into our bed from 5 to 6am for cuddles and ease into the day. From 6:30am we take a walk down to the river with our dog Lully to watch our local fishing boats return from sea. Then we are back home for breakfast while James and I juggle Valla as we all get ready for the day. I drop Valla at his home daycare around 8:00am and into the office for 9am. I am straight into email and touching base with the team over Slack to prioritise our daily to do list for the day.
What is the biggest life shift you’ve all had to navigate as a mother?
There have been so many life shifts and as Valla grows it is getting easier and easier to manage. It has taken me the better part of 12 months to find a good flow as a working mother and it has not been easy. Introducing wholesale to the Marloe Marloe offering has probably been the most challenging phase as a young mother and founder. Valla was 9 months old when we made the leap to wholesale and James officially joined the MM team as COO. It has been a huge learning curve.
I have found my feet in the last month or two and it feels really good! Valla is happy and Marloe Marloe is doing really well. I am incredibly excited for the future.
And motherhood, what part has it played in your personal development?
I place incredible focus on my personal development these days. Prioritising my physical & mental health has become really important to me and it is imperative to the success of our family. If I am not coping, I am not the best mother, wife, boss & friend I can be.
Supporting Valla is my priority and it takes me being well and present to ensure he is fulfilled. There is more work to be done and I am taking it piece by piece.
What are your essential tips to balancing being a mother, business woman & friend/sister?
I think it is important to listen to your body and pay attention to what it is saying. As mothers there is so much pressure on our bodies during and after pregnancy. Postnatal depletion creeps up and if you are not listening to your body it is hard to recharge and refuel. For me Iron has been a struggle and finding a great supplement that works for me has been life changing.
I also take self care quite seriously as it is where I find a lot of peace and joy. Now that Valla is almost 18months I have more time for myself and I am really loving it. I would recommend taking time to seek out friendships that may have slipped. Laughing and connecting with my closest girlfriends and family lights the fire in me that I need for deep joy and happiness.
And lastly work life balance. I have such an incredible team at MM and feel so blessed to have their support. It has allowed me to let go a little and trust they have it covered when I am not able to be present. It is important to me that I foster a culture at MM that supports balance and inclusion. We take work very seriously but not at the expense of our health.
How will you be spending Mother’s Day this year?
This year I have decided to take a step back and allow James to plan the day. I tend to be a little too type A and it is to my detriment. So I am not sure what he has planned for me.
I also have family close so I would love to see my sisters and Mum at some stage throughout the day.
Finally, what is one thing you hope to teach your son as he grows?
Oh there are so many! At the moment I feel the cultural and systemic miseducation around equality is weighing quite heavily on me as a woman. It is important to me that I teach Valla that all people are equal and despite their race, gender or ability to communicate strength. As a white male in the world, Valla is inherently privileged. It is important he understands the nature of that privilege and learns how to serve with grace and understanding.
