Member Article

Survey Findings Measuring Covid-19 Impact on Mums in Business

· 93% of working mums admitting that during lockdown they have had times when they felt overwhelmed

· 74% of working mums said that their mental health had suffered during lockdown

· 79% of working mums said they felt more anxious during lockdown

· 81% of working mums during lockdown said they felt their energy levels had been lower than normal

· 71% of working mums are missing routine during lockdown with only 18% being able to maintain their normal working hours.

This month award-winning Business Coach, Mentor, Author and founder of women in business network Mpower – Nicola Huelin - has reached out to other mums to share their lockdown realities to a) gauge the temperament of the nations’ working mums and b) to help her identify the areas they need support on so she can offer it in her new Bounce Back Podcast series which has been established to help inspire, support and uplift other mums in business across the globe,many of whom have been hit hard by the pandemic.

The first twelve episodes went live last week and are already soaring up the charts (in second place as ‘top show’ in business charts category and third in the kids and families) beating podcast heavy weights including, Gary Vee and Tony Robbins. The podcasts feature incredible working parents who bravely share their own stories of bouncing back – including, Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton.

Nicola Huelin, a proud mum of four, who over the past few months has had to pivot her own businesses thanks to lockdown; sets out on a mission to find out the reality of lockdown for working mums, to gauge the current mind-set of mums across the country and identify what areas working mums would like to focus on in order to bounce back from lockdown.

The survey revealed that 74% of working mums said that their mental health had suffered during lockdown, with 93% of working mums admitting that during lockdown they have had times when they felt overwhelmed and 79% of working mums said they did feel more anxious during lockdown. 81% of working mums during lockdown said they felt their energy levels had been lower than normal and 76% of working mums felt that they didn’t have enough ‘me time’ for self-care and reflection.

The results of this survey have now fuelled a podcast series Nicola is launching in partnership with Bounce Network, aptly named the ‘Bounce Back Interview Series’ via the Mpower Podcast. The podcast shares inspiring interviews that cover the areas and issues identified, including subject matters such as; bouncing back, overcoming adversity, ups and downs of business, anxiety, overwhelm, self-care, reflection, routine… to uplift mums in business that may have been hit hard by the pandemic.

As for many across the UK, work life balances have been affected drastically with 71% of working mums missing routine during lockdown with only 18% being able to maintain their normal working hours.

With two thirds (66%) of working mums missing their usual office/work space during lockdown there is evidence that working at home isn’t the dream for all but 78% of working mums said they did still felt connected and supported by others outside of their household during lockdown. However, the survey also revealed that a huge proportion of working mums have missed regular companionship with 91% of working mums missing friends during lockdown and being able to chat with fellow mums at the school gates, café, coffee morning, play gym…

In 2012, Nicola founded Mpower and embarked on her mission to empower one million mums in business. She has over 20 years’ experience in combining business success with family life and has connected, coached and mentored 1000’s of women internationally. She said; “I am looking for other mums to link arms with me so together we can continue to build a community of mums to lean on, support each other and guide one another through the journey of being a mum in business post-lockdown and beyond.”

Nicola said: “Balancing family life, work life and business success is never a straight line journey, we all have our ups and downs and life can throw us a serious curve ball or two along the way… but, this is one huge global curve ball! As part of my global mission to empower one million mums in business, after having to pivot myself cancelling our annual awards, UK events, and my own speaking gigs I knew that I needed use my contacts and community to not only help uplift Mpower mums, but also reach out further to other mums in business who maybe feeling alone and isolated having being hit hard by the pandemic.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chocolate PR .