Leila Green was raised in a family of entrepreneurs, started her first business at 26 and grew it to six figures without any outside investment. Then came the curveball that changed everything. After two heartbreaking unexplained miscarriages, she became pregnant with triplets. Fast forward and Leila is now a mum to three threenagers, the founder of the F*** Mum Guilt movement, one of the UK's Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs and a co-author of Stacey Dooley's book on motherhood, Dear Minnie.
In her TedX talk, she identifies the epidemic of mum guilt simmering beneath the surface of modern motherhood, reporting that 95% of mothers feel it and one in four admit they avoid leaving the house with their children for fear of being judged.
In this episode, we explore why mum guilt is far more than something to joke about over coffee and what it truly takes to break up with it for good.
💡 "I call it the should show. You should baby-wean, you should breastfeed, you should co-sleep, you shouldn't co-sleep. It's a people pleaser's nightmare!" - Leila Green
In this conversation, we explore:
✨ Leila's journey from starting her first business at 26 to growing it to six figures, navigating the pandemic and then facing the life-changing experience of two miscarriages followed by a triplet pregnancy
✨ What it felt like to go from being a footloose and fancy-free entrepreneur to building a business with three babies at her feet and how her whole relationship with ambition and time was forced to evolve
✨ How the F*** Mum Guilt movement was born and why Leila felt so strongly that the casual way we talk about mum guilt was masking a genuinely serious problem for maternal mental health
✨ The statistic that should stop all of us: 95% of mothers feel mum guilt and one in four avoid leaving the house with their children for fear of being judged
✨ Why societal pressures, throwaway comments from strangers and the rise of the parenting guru have created an environment in which mothers are set up to feel like they are never enough
✨ The myth of the perfect baby and why so much of the advice mothers receive ignores the reality that every baby and every family is completely different
✨ How social media amplifies the pressure on mothers and what Leila believes we can do to protect our mental health and reclaim our own instincts
✨ Why compassion over comparison is the antidote and what it actually looks like to put that into practice in the messiness of real motherhood
✨ How Leila balances her own significant ambitions with the reality of raising three children at the same pace and what self-belief has to do with making it work
✨ Her future aspirations for the F*** Mum Guilt movement and why she believes the conversation is only just getting started
About the Guest:
Leila Green is the founder of the F*** Mum Guilt movement, one of the UK's Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs and a co-author of Stacey Dooley's book on motherhood Dear Minnie. A serial entrepreneur who built her first business to six figures without investment, she is now a mother of triplet threenagers and one of the most important voices in the conversation about maternal mental health and mum guilt. Her TedX talk How to Break Up with Mum Guilt for Good has reached thousands of mothers and her work has been featured across Sky News, BBC Radio, Stylist, Metro and OK! magazine.
You can find Leila on Substack and on Instagram at @tripped_up_mama.
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.
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