The Good Enough Mother

In this episode, I’m joined by Nicky Lowe - award-winning Executive Coach, Founder of Luminate Group - to explore the intersection of paid work, leadership, and motherhood.

Nicky shares her experience of burnout after becoming a mother and how it reshaped both her life and her work. We discuss motherhood as a vertical development transition, one of the most profound shifts in identity and growth a woman can experience, and the importance of cultivating personal leadership to navigate career and caregiving in more sustainable ways.

Together we reflect on the motherhood penalty, the motherhood advantage, and what becomes possible when women are supported to thrive in systems not yet designed with mothers in mind.

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CONNECT WITH NICKY LOWE
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/luminate/
- Luminate Group Website : https://luminate-group.co.uk
- Podcast: https://luminate-group.co.uk/podcasts/

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Download Sophie's free Care Career Conundrum Checklist and see how many indicators you or the mothers you support tick off in navigating the tension between care and career:
https://motherhoodstudies.newzenler.com/courses/the-care-career-conundrum-checklist/buy

In this episode, I’m joined by Mental Health Endorsed Occupational Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Circle of Security Parenting Facilitator and Motherhood Studies practitioner Hollie Swanton to explore matrescence, regulation, identity, and the transition into motherhood through the lens of occupational therapy.

Hollie supports women both perinatally and across the lifespan using body-based and mind-body approaches to healing, regulation, and reconnection. Together we explore the often invisible work of adapting to motherhood - the shifts in identity, routines, relationships, nervous system responses, and daily occupations that can emerge during the transition into becoming a mother.

We discuss what occupational therapy actually is, how OTs can support mothers, and why motherhood can feel so physically and emotionally dysregulating, particularly within systems and cultures that often leave women unsupported, overstimulated, and disconnected from themselves.

CONNECT WITH HOLLIE:
Free meditations and somatic practices for mothers: https://www.hollieswanton.com.au/free-meditations-for-mothers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollieswanton_ot/
Website: https://www.hollieswanton.com.au
Resources: https://www.hollieswanton.com.au/hearth-womens-health

*The Motherhood Studies Certification is currently open for enrolment, starting May 6th: https://drsophiebrock.com/motherhoodstudies

In this solo episode, I’m reflecting on a feeling that so many of us carry - the sense that we’re not doing enough. This can show up as the never-ending to-do list, the sense of being “behind”, comparison to others, or the pressure to keep doing more. In this episode, I explore where this feeling comes from and reflect on:
- The difference between “not being enough” and “not doing enough”
- Why “enough” often feels like a moving target
- How cultural expectations shape our internal narratives

If you work with mothers (or are moving into this space), I also explore the sense of relational responsibility many practitioners carry - and why your humanness is not a limitation, but part of your work. I speak to the importance of locating yourself within a broader system, rather than positioning yourself outside of it.

If you’d like to explore the idea of “good enough” more deeply, you can also listen to:
Ep 100. What is the Essence of 'Good Enough'? Bridging Child and Adult Psychology with Dr Tanya Cotler - https://on.soundcloud.com/ApWBt5ayLUUxGYdop1

Have you ever felt two completely different emotions about motherhood at the same time?

Moments of deep love and connection… alongside frustration, resentment, or overwhelm?

Have you ever wondered whether something is wrong with you for feeling this way?

Or noticed how often mothers feel pressure to present only the loving, patient, endlessly grateful parts of themselves?

In this episode, I’m joined by psychotherapist and author Dr Margo Lowy to explore the concept of maternal ambivalence - the experience of holding multiple, often contradictory feelings about motherhood at the same time.

Dr Margo invites us to understand maternal ambivalence as a vital part of mothering - the capacity to hold the full range of feelings that arise in relationship with our children.
Together we explore the emotional complexity of mothering, the cultural pressures that encourage mothers to suppress parts of themselves, and how learning to sit with conflicting feelings can deepen connection, compassion, and resilience.

CONNECT WITH DR MARGO LOWY:

• Book: Maternal Ambivalence: The Loving Moments and Bitter Truths of Motherhood - https://drmargolowy.com/book/maternal-ambivalence-the-loving-moments-bitter-truths-of-motherhood/
• Website: https://drmargolowy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmargolowy

This episode marks a return to the podcast after a profound personal loss. In September 2025, my mother died suddenly. Since then, my world - personally, professionally, relationally - has shifted in ways I’m still coming to understand. In this episode, I speak gently and honestly about grief, responsibility, and what it's meant to me to try and continue with my work without over-functioning or disappearing.

I reflect on what it means to show up 'good enough' in seasons where capacity and pace are altered, and how we might continue mothering, working, and creating.

I also share excerpts from an article I’ve written honouring my mother’s life and work, reflecting on 5 lessons my mum taught me.

In this episode I explore:

- What it means to return to creative and professional work after profound loss
- Grief as an ongoing, embodied process
- Liminality: living in a space that doesn’t “close” or come to neat completion
- The tension between authenticity, boundaries, and public-facing work
- Showing up without over-functioning, performing, or abandoning yourself
- Lessons in resilience, meaning-making, and care learned through relationship
- Creativity, imagination, and art as sustaining practices
- Love as a transcendent, relational force

mETAphor journal for English teachers - https://www.englishteacher.com.au/resources/categories?id=82