Being a working mum: Vicki Johnson, Associate Director

About your job

Who do you work for? H+K Strategies

What industry are you in? Public Relations

Who’s at home with you?

My husband Mark and our two children – Finlay who’s 2 and Lyra who’s just turned 2 months. 

And who’s in your support team?

We’re very lucky to have my family close by, and although Mark’s family are in Manchester, there’s nothing they love more than a jaunt down the M6! Finlay goes to a fantastic local nursery two days a week and spends a day a week with my parents and my niece. I’m also lucky to have lots of friends with similar aged children, so there’s always someone to hang out with on my non-working days.

What does your work and career mean to you?

It means something very different to me now that I have children. In some ways it means so much less than it did before, but in other ways so much more.

I’ve always been a hard worker – studious and diligent, almost to a fault. I worked long hours, turned up late to meet friends after work, did whatever my clients needed, whenever they needed, but I did it because I was good at it, I enjoyed it, and my hard work was recognised with promotions at regular intervals.

For all of these reasons, I really struggled with the idea of adapting my professional life to work a three day week after my first maternity leave. My assumption was that there would be too many compromises and it just wouldn’t work. But I was determined to give it a go because as much as I loved my maternity leave, I desperately missed the ‘old’ me.

And now, work is as much the ‘me time’ in my week that I love – time to use my brain, be creative, inspire my colleagues to be more efficient (because if I can do it in three days, they can certainly do it in five!), eat nice expensive sushi and feel like I’m contributing financially again.

Equally, work is different now because if my children or my friends need me, I do drop everything and run to them.

What have you enjoyed most about going back to work?

From a personal point of view: the freedom, the space, the independence, the room to breathe, being selfish, drinking overpriced cocktails with friends after work, the change of scenery.

From a professional point of view: using my brain again and boosting my confidence, knowing that even though I had a year off and I’m only there three days a week, I’m still adding value and knowing that that is valued by my company.

What’s the toughest part of being a working mum?

It’s probably awful to say, but I don’t worry about my son when I’m at work because I know he’s having the best time at nursery/with his grandparents. But I do worry about what people think of me from a professional perspective - do people think I’m a slacker because I only work three days; will I still get to work on the good projects; are my clients happy with the amount of time they get from me; are my team sufficiently supported on my non-working days. It’s also super tough setting and maintaining the boundaries to protect both the ‘work me’ and the ‘mum me’. 

We know many mums work flexibly. What does your working week look like?

Before children, I worked 5 days a week, on average about 45-50 hours a week, and I now work 3 days – Monday to Wednesday. I work ‘normal hours’ on a Monday & Wednesday (9.30 – 5.30 officially) and on a Tuesday I do 8.30 – 4.30 to allow me to do the nursery pick up. Pre-COVID I commuted into central London and was lucky that my husband could cover two of the childcare pick ups so that only one of my three days was compromised by finishing early, doing the mad dash out of the office door, laptop in hand to catch the train.

What’s your best advice to mums looking to secure a flexible working request?

If you’re returning to the same company, find advocates and allies within your business who know your worth and see you as the same professional you were pre-children. Talk to them about how you see it working, where you need to make compromises and how you’ll ensure the business won’t suffer as a result of you working flexibly. Don’t make promises you don’t want to, or can’t keep, but see the business’ point of view too. Look for positive solutions and think about how you can up-skill others around you to keep the wheels turning in your absence.

What’s the best preparation you can do when you’re going back to work?

a) With your work

Do some Keeping-In-Touch days. They’re the perfect way to meet any new colleagues, get an early briefing on new projects, do handovers with your maternity cover (if relevant) etc. so that it doesn’t feel totally alien and terrifying on the first day back.

b) At home

Put things like new childcare arrangements in place a couple of weeks before you go back to work so that you can iron out any kinks before your return and so that in the first weeks of being back at work, you can focus on you and your job and know that the other stuff is handled.

Also once you go back, talk to friends/family/your boss about how you’re finding it and be honest if you’re struggling. Not only will they give you some great advice and hugs, they’ll help you fix things as best they can too.

What one thing do you like to do for yourself every day?

I’m really bad at putting myself above the list of jobs etc., but I would like to say either going for a run or putting my make up on, but they don’t always happen!

And finally, what’s your absolute top tip to working mums to help you stay sane?

Take the time to find the right childcare solution for the whole family – once you and your partner know that’s taken care of, you can focus on yourselves and not worry about them.