When anyone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “A mummy and a teacher”.
Aged 22, within a few months of being a newly qualified teacher, I had two major realisations.
1. The success of my pupils boiled down to their mindset & attitude, irrespective of what I was teaching. Thus began my fascination with the impact of words, to motivate or devastate & the power of nurturing psychological safety.
2. Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. Raising children is arguably the hardest job in the world, with the least amount of training.
In 2001, after 6 years of teaching and pregnant with my first child, I founded ‘Educating Matters’ (EM) passionately believing that I could have the greatest impact on children by working directly with parents/ carers.
An investment banker heard me speak in a local home and invited me to come into his office to address his colleagues.
This was long before the concept of ERGs/Employee Networks existed. DEI or Wellbeing rarely appeared in a job title.
The feedback was so incredibly positive that I decided to pitch it to a few other corporates.
24 years later, we still work with many of those original clients, drawing on my experience of raising 4 children of my own and teaching 100’s of others. I have spoken to tens of 1000’s of parents globally across a vast range of sectors, about all aspects of educating, raising children and integrating work & family.
My 4 children (3 now adults) have taught me more than anyone or anything else. ‘Parenting’ has become big business and can feel a bit like a competitive sport, with so much conflicting advice. I am very much an advocate of ‘good enough’ rather than perfect’. Each parent is truly the expert on their own child.
For many years, I ran 10 week group parenting classes, which are now self-study, online courses. I have also worked with numerous parents who have been denied access to their children by the courts. I work hard to fight gender stereotypes, such as mum’s being the primary carer and push for working dads to have extended leave and flexibility.
Outside the workplace, I address schools, children’s’ charities, write for the national press and contribute to global podcasts.
EM expanded with a team of selected ‘experts’ covering a whole range of intersectional DEI topics.
During Covid, demand for webinars exploded, to grapple with working whilst home-schooling, and managing mental wellbeing for both parents & children.
A key part of our work is adapting & pivoting in response to global events.
E.g. after George Floyd’s murder, we facilitated sessions on allyship, particularly around ‘Raising Children to be Allies for the Future’.
When war broke out between Russia & Ukraine, we created sessions on ‘Talking To Children About War’.
Since October 7 2023, we have explored how religion is addressed in the workplace and facilitated international workshops on anti-Jewish racism.
Most recently, we run webinars in response to the Netflix series ‘Adolescence’ and how misogyny is shaping young people.
In the last few years, the most popular topic has been understanding neurodiversity in both adults and children.
Here are some highlights of how we support various organisations with their challenges:
At Accenture, during lockdown, we provided 121 consultations for 200+ parents/carers to address any challenges they were facing.
Cisco launched a ‘Back to Business’ Network, to support employees who had taken a sabbatical, parental leave or were recovering from an illness. We created a bespoke short video series with practical ideas to ease their transition back, embedding reference to Cisco policies, language & culture.
DWP wanted to do more to support employee wellbeing during Covid. We delivered a series of 30-minute concise “Wellbeing Talks” that 1’000’s of employees accessed live.
Kier reached out in 2018, as only 22% of staff were female and they wanted to improve the culture for women (specifically the maternity experience) and provide more support to attract and retain talent. In conjunction with HR, we provided Parental Transition Workshops to cover pre, during & post maternity/paternity stages.
Page Group recognised in 2013 that the demographic of their employees had shifted significantly with a vast increase in the number of employees who were parents. Parents@Page launched and we have provided an annual series of sessions, delivered in offices throughout the UK.
Brambles is a global packaging business operating in 60 countries, who wanted accessible ‘Mental Health Awareness Training’ rolled out across Europe in multiple languages, addressing the needs of all business functions. We implemented a global programme that included Plant Manager & People Manager workshops and factory workers’ training through a series of bespoke videos with real life stories.
I am a keynote speaker / thought leader for others: e.g. Moving Ahead, Bright Horizons, TLC Lions, Careers After Babies, JAAQ & Flexa.
Educating Matters | London, UK
