Being a working mum: Laura Hutton, Chief Customer Officer
About your job
Who do you work for? Quantexa
And what industry are you in? Technology
Who’s at home with you?
My husband Jamie and our two children – a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy.
And who’s in your support team?
My husband and I both work full time so we have a wonderful live-out nanny. We couldn’t do what we do without her in our lives.
What does your work and career mean to you?
I have always been ambitious, and my career means a lot to me – it’s like it’s imprinted on my DNA. I am happiest when my brain is challenged and I really value the ‘career’ part of me.
My husband and I started our own company 4 ½ years ago with four others and this inbuilt desire and ‘need’ to work has only grown. It helps that I really love and care about what I do - my company has developed software that finds bad people and protects the most vulnerable in our society (including stopping human and sex trafficking). It’s incredibly rewarding to know that my work really makes a difference.
What have you enjoyed most about going back to work?
Apart from enjoying a warm cup of tea? Well, it’s partly the intellectual stimulation. I get an adrenalin rush when I have a problem to solve, or something to learn, or when I get to influence and advise my customers.
I have also loved finding the ‘old me’ – I am a mum which I love, but I am also just Laura when I’m at work. It means I remember that I am multiple things – a mum, a wife, a career women, a friend. Sometimes when the children are very little, you can forget to be all that you are.
What’s the toughest part of being a working mum?
I think the toughest part has to be ‘mum-guilt’. It is such a strong emotion, which I believe comes from deep within us – it’s not something that can be controlled or put to one side. I feel it is something we have to acknowledge and accept.
My acceptance came through realising that I am the best mum I can be when I’m happy, and I am happiest when I work. I pray that in the future they will see me as a role model and someone they will be proud of.
In the meantime, I savour* every hour I have with them (* may not be 100% true). I am working at home given Covid which provides an opportunity for ad-hoc cuddles and special time.
We know many mums work flexibly. What does your working week look like?
I work full time, generally between 8.30-6pm though I often have early meetings with Asia or late meetings with America after the children go to bed. I try to block out some time to see the kids over lunch and I am firm that I am offline between 6pm and 7.30pm to allow me to do the kids bath and bedtime.
My office is in central London but I working at home for the foreseeable future. Whilst I have missed the social side of not being in the office, it made the return to work after my son easier than it was after my daughter. I suppose there are some C-19 positives!
What’s your best advice to mums looking to secure a flexible working request?
My advice is to firstly understand what it is you are asking for, and then to be open, honest and clear with your company. As an owner of a company, I want to know that my employees are still committed to us, but that they want to balance that up better with their home life.
Our company have never had a ‘clock watching’ culture and in the digital age, there is no reason why parents cannot work more flexibly to support their family better.
I think flexible working needs to continue to be normalised and embraced. In doing so, a company will start to retain and attract the best people.
What’s the best preparation you can do when you’re going back to work?
a) With your work
Get up to speed; use those keeping in touch days so that you hit the ground running.
Spend time with your colleagues.
Give yourself a 30/60/90 day plan so that you can effect change quickly. This will definitely help give you a confidence boost.
b) At home
Have a solid, bullet-proof childcare plan in place; you don’t want that worry or stress when you are first back (Covid self-isolation for your kids may well pierce even the best plan so prepare yourself!).
Get ahead, for example, batch cook at weekends, or, just have a takeaway if you need to. Don’t feel guilty.
Divide the chores between you and your partner; you may have been doing the washing, the cooking and cleaning or the nightshift whilst on maternity leave, but you are now back at work and that needs to be shared.
What one thing do you like to do for yourself every day?
I love to exercise. If I am having a low energy day or if the kids have been up in the night, going for a run, doing pilates or an exercise class really reinvigorates me. I don’t manage to do it every day as my work schedule tends to be quite intense, but I try to do something 3 times a week.
And finally, what’s your absolute top tip to working mums to help you stay sane?
Laugh at every opportunity and surround yourself with family and friends who are good for your soul. My support network of girlfriends has been my lifeline since I became a mum.
