Mother of All Solutions – Details, episodes & analysis

To mark the end of Mother of All Solutions, this episode is a conversation with two great friends and previous guests of the podcast, Lily Anderson-Nicholls and Kate Burt. Lily is an HR Professional and Kate a journalist - we discuss both our personal and the societal contexts for working parents today, and what's changed over the 6 years of making Mother of All Solutions.  As with all good conversations with friends, it ranges from the serious to the silly! We discuss changes in workplaces and work patterns, parental leave and rights for mums and dads, as well as the mental load, the juggle and parenting/career changes as kids get older.  Please do listen and excuse the sound quality in parts - we recorded around my dining table with one lovely pre-schooler and a whirring fish tank in the background!  Thank you for supporting this very personal indie production over the years. It's been a blast and I hope some useful and enjoyable listening along the way.  x Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. You can keep in touch with Laura on Instagram @SolutionsMother

In this episode Laura interviews Rumi Bose, urban designer and regeneration consultant. Rumi set up her own business 18 months ago after a successful career working in local authority. Whilst she was at Southwark Council she had her three boys now aged 12, 9 and 5. We discuss what motivated her to train as an urban designer (her second career) and what inspires her in this field and the types of roles she has had and is now developing herself.    I am sure you will enjoy listening to Rumi and do visit her website to find out more about her work rumibose.com    We also discuss maternity leave, flexible working, raising boys, sibling dynamics and parenting/places. Thank you for listening and do share with other parents who may benefit from this conversation about careers and caring.    Mother of All Solutions is an independent podcast produced by Laura Broderick with music by Ros Fraser. Connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Instagram @SolutionsMother

This first episode of the new series of Mother of All Solutions is an interview with Katy Marks - architect and designer.  Katy talks about her career as an architect, establishing her own business and navigating maternity leave and work. She then shares about her experience of going through a single mastectomy and later designing the Unobra for asymmetric bodies.  It was a pleasure to learn more about Katy and aspects of her life and work. You can connect with her:   Architectural practice via Citizens Design Bureau https://www.citizensdesignbureau.net/ Design work at Unobra https://www.unobra.co.uk/  Instagram @citizensdesignbureau and @_unobra   Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. Listen out for the rest of the new 2024 mini-series - dropping Mondays in March and April. Subscribe so you don’t miss out, and it would be wonderful if you could share with your friends. Thank you x https://www.motherofallsolutions.com/  Instagram and X @SolutionsMother

I am delighted to announce a new mini-series for Mother of All Solutions. This teaser contains clips from interviews with some of the amazing mothers who joined me for the podcast. Full episodes will follow on Mondays through March/April, and I am excited to share many perspectives on parenting and work over the course of the season.  I hope you enjoy listening!  #mothersday #internationalwomensday  MOAS is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. Portrait photo by Jannine Newman.  www.motherofallsolutions.com Do connect via Instagram and X @SolutionsMother

Hello! It's almost the holidays so this episode is a short n sweet end to the Mother of All Solutions podcast in 2023.  Featuring guest contributions from Suze Cooper, Vivi Koroma Kala and Molly Rowan, plus my mum and my daughter, there is chat about podcasts and books (my favourite things) plus a poem and a song. I really hope you enjoy it and it makes you feel festive in a friendly podcasty way.  Thank you for listening this year, and do listen out for more MOAS episodes in 2024 - likely March - all being well!  Thank you for all the support with the podcast. MOAS is produced and hosted by Laura Broderick - you can connect on socials via @SolutionsMother. Music by Ros Fraser.  Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas and all the very best for the New Year. Laura x

For this episode Laura interviews photographer Jannine Newman, who has adult sons and came to use the term ‘photographer’ professionally in her 50s.  We discuss her work and ambitions through the decades, and how being a mum has influenced her career moves. We also talk about looking after kids through their stages, parenting twins, ADHD in the family and more.  Jannine explains the term skill stacking and why she believes it's important to maximise your niche set of skills and experiences. She is also a stylist and vintage market host and we chat about side projects, business ideas and confidence.  I hope you enjoy the conversation!  You can find out more about Jannine and her work at www.janninenewman.com  And find her on Instagram as @underthecloth  The podcast Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick. You can connect on Instagram and X via @SolutionsMother  Music by Ros Fraser, and episode recorded in Content is Queen studios.

In this episode, timed with International Men’s Day 2023, Laura shares clips from a recording with dad-of-two Steve Folland, Being Freelance and Doing It For The Kids (DIFTK) podcast.  Laura and Steve spoke earlier this year as part of the DIFTK community meet up. It was a great conversation but there was a lot of chat I couldn’t squeeze into that episode - so here are some clips in this mini bonus one!  Steve shares his journey from starting as a freelancer when his kids were very young, to them now being 10 and 13. He also discusses running a community for freelancers and how workflow can be for those who are parents and those who aren’t. It was great to hear his thoughts and I hope you enjoy listening too.  #InternationalMensDay You can find out more about Being Freelance here:  https://www.beingfreelance.com/ You can also listen to Steve within 'The DIFTK Community' episode on the Mother of All Solutions podcast.  To keep in touch with Laura Broderick, host and producer of Mother of All Solutions, please do connect via: https://www.motherofallsolutions.com/ Instagram and X @SolutionsMother  Music for the series by Ros Fraser.

A year ago I participated in Pregnant Then Screwed's event, The March of the Mummies, and recorded with parents on the march in Newcastle.  As it's been Halloween this week and there is a lot in this episode that is still relevant at the one year anniversary point I thought I would re-release it.  If you listened previously - thank you. If you missed the episode first time, I hope you enjoy it now. And please do share it if you can.  Happy listening, Laura (mummy, host and producer)  Do also keep in touch on X and Instagram as @SolutionsMother

In this episode Laura speaks with Rosa Schling, Co-Director of oral history production company On The Record and project manager of the Grow Your Own project, to discuss the project and the podcast series Childcare Voices. The episode was recorded at the Bishopsgate Institute in London during a childcare archive workshop day. Also on mic are participants involved in helping map the history of childcare in London - they share what they discover through looking at archives about settings and actions of the past.  To follow the Grow Your Own project and listen to the Childcare Voices podcast please visit:  https://on-the-record.org.uk/projects/grow-your-own/   Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick with music by Ros Fraser. You can keep in touch via: https://www.motherofallsolutions.com/  Instagram and Twitter/X @SolutionsMother  If you have enjoyed the episode please do subscribe, share it on your socials, or leave a rating and review!  And do listen through the MOAS archives - I also mention relevant past episodes - ‘The Childminder’ and ‘WOW Festival: Radical Childcare’

It was a pleasure to chat to comedian and writer Eleri Morgan about her work doing stand up and comedy writing, now as mother to an 8 month old baby. We discuss taking her son to gigs, being part of writing rooms and how to navigate work around childcare going forward.  We also discuss her documentary ‘DRYCH: Dyfodol i Dewi’ (on iPlayer for a few more days!) which follows her struggle to reconcile having a baby with leading a low-carbon life. And we chat about her plans for future documentaries on subjects such as the cost of childcare.   I hope you enjoy the episode, and please do keep in touch / share the episode with your friends.  You can connect with Eleri on X as @eleri_morgan or on Instagram as @eleri_morahan (and @eleri_morgan_comedy)  The Mother of All Solutions podcast is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick - you can find me on X and Instagram as @solutionsmother  Music by Ros Fraser. Thank you for listening!