We chat to Beverley Momenabadi about her new life as a mom, and how it compares to being a politician and corporate grafter.
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00:00Beverly mom and a baddie how are you really well thank you life's changed it
00:05has a bit hasn't it I mean I'm used to seeing you kind of you know taking
00:08control of events and when you were in you you cancel a role and and so on and
00:13big businesswoman aerospace company then Jaguar Land Rover but now it's it's kind
00:19of slowed down and sped up in a funny kind of way you've got a new a new
00:23Bambino so yeah so this is Abel hello Abel eight weeks old nearly nine weeks
00:29old and my life's changed massively so I've gone from sort of policy and
00:34politics at Wolverhampton Council to poon armies and pacifiers with this
00:40little bundle of joy yeah and then everything straightforward in terms of
00:44the birth or yeah I had an emergency c-section that presented its own
00:49challenges I can't thank the NHS enough we're really lucky I think in this
00:55country and have you know the system that we've got in place I think the
01:00biggest change for me though has been being on maternity leave yeah working
01:06politics and the corporate world life for me has always been 120 miles an hour
01:12you know juggling business a corporate job being a politician in the city I
01:17really felt prepared for all aspects of motherhood but nothing quite prepares
01:23you for the paradox that you're living in and I'll just explain a little bit so
01:28I've never been so busy in my life I've been since he's been born but in some
01:35ways I've also never been so bored you know I guess the sense of your identity
01:42and who you are changes when you become a mother so those pieces of who you are
01:46are still there but they all get rearranged a bit like furniture because
01:51this bundle of joy comes top and but I guess the things that people want to
01:55talk to me about as well so people in the city used to want to talk to me
01:59about policy and budgets and the Middle East conflict and my views on that
02:04because I've visited there so many times and now people just want to talk to me
02:09about breast milk and poon armies and poo consistency so I feel like I'm not
02:15having to use my brain as much I've been purposely avoiding the mum groups
02:20in the city and because I can't bear another conversation about poo
02:25consistency I think I'm gonna brave them soon but yeah parts of who I am got lost
02:32for this new role oh bless you for this new role that I've got and but I
02:39wouldn't change it for the world so are you kind of are you do you wish there
02:44was a mom's group where it was just it it was just a bit more like a regular
02:48chat a regular social kind of thing then just be a bit of normality because you
02:53know yeah it's like a hundred percent of your time isn't it mom mom mom you're
02:57craving that just that bit of a bit of a normality sort of thing yeah and I guess
03:01just normal conversations about things that people used to talk to me about so
03:06and you know friends from work visited the other day and that felt like a hit
03:11of normality they definitely talked mom stuff but you know I was able to talk
03:16you know things about corporate life and what's going on in local politics
03:22Wolverhampton Council's budgets coming up and most people probably find that
03:26really boring but I guess that was really an innate part of who I am I
03:30guess the other thing is as well when I was a politician there was and always
03:35has been since a part of me that was the fixer for people so in the community you
03:42know I found myself and always been there to sort of fix people's problems
03:47where I could but I feel like the role sort of reversed a bit and I've become
03:52really reliant on my own community and little village to sort of have that
03:57encouragement as a mom as well and I can't be more grateful for the support
04:02I've had from friends neighbors family for that encouragement you know texting
04:07in the middle of the night knowing that you're having those sleepless nights and
04:11those moments sort of mean everything yeah so you you know you're not planning
04:17on being a stay-at-home mom you you know you enjoy your work it's not just a
04:21living you enjoy it as well yeah yeah so I'm on maternity leave at the moment
04:26I'm very very grateful to my own employer who have a fantastic maternity
04:31policy which allows you that time you need one to recover and heal and but
04:37also to be a mom and build that bond with your baby so I'm really grateful
04:41and for that maternity policy and really encourage other employers to check
04:47that out and make sure that moms and dads are supported with parental leave
04:52policies that work and but my plan is to go back to work in the future and you
04:57know you can't sort of afford to be a stay-at-home mom nowadays even with two
05:02salaries coming into the house everything's gone up hasn't it including
05:06bills our heating is non-stop on since the little man's been born as well so
05:11yeah I'll figure that out when September comes but for now it's all about Poonami's
05:16pacifiers and playtime yeah well as it so is it giving you a like a newfound
05:21appreciation for kind of the work in Beverley then that you know that that
05:26you've in kind of what you've achieved as it kind of made you realize actually
05:29I'm pretty formidable that's a part of my life I kind of you know I won't be
05:33giving up and I really do enjoy yeah absolutely so I think that when you're
05:38not a mom and you don't appreciate the challenges that other moms who also work
05:44in the corporate world and or in politics and face and I felt like
05:50especially in politics the system isn't set up for mom so for example and a lot
05:57of the meetings are you know late on the evening that sort of thing I mean he has
06:02a strict schedule now you know bath times at 7 o'clock and that sort of
06:08wouldn't work so I wonder if the system especially in politics isn't set up to
06:12support working moms to be able to stand you know in elected positions and that's
06:18something that needs to be looked at was that a consideration when you stepped
06:22away from politics knowing that you you know you at some point you in the near
06:25future what you were gonna start I wanted to start a family yeah so that
06:29was the whole reason that I came away from politics I knew that I couldn't
06:33juggle the budget meetings that sometimes went on till 11 o'clock at
06:37night with having you know a young family as well and politicians in the
06:42city asked me all the time you know did you make the right decision you know
06:46leaving politics will you be making a comeback the truth is is the love that
06:52you feel when you have a baby or at least that I have is so incomprehensible
06:57that I've made the best decision of my life would I ever make a return to
07:01politics when he's a little bit older never say never
07:05never say never so what's the biggest thing you've learned about about
07:09yourself then and about kind of a you know a new mother hi is do a feed isn't
07:18he what's the biggest thing you've learned about yourself in all this then
07:23and I think self-care is really important I know that when I am looking
07:31after myself mentally physically I'm the best mom that I can be to able yeah I
07:37know that when I've had three hours sleep I'm you know living off coffee and
07:42caffeine to sort of survive the next night for you but actually when I you
07:47know been to the gym I'm you know eight weeks postpartum from a C-section but
07:52I've been back in the gym for three weeks and I'm in a good space mentally
07:56and getting out as well with him is really important you know going to the
08:01park maybe he doesn't you know know what's going on but he loves seeing
08:05smelling new things yeah so yeah looking after yourself allows you to be
08:10I guess the best mom you can be a last question Beverly are you confident that
08:20you'll be able to juggle kind of returning to that corporate world that
08:23working woman life and being a mom listen it's not going to be easy but
08:28I've always lived life at 120 miles an hour so I think this is just the next
08:33step in the challenge for me and you know I love being a mom but I love
08:38being you know a go-getter as well I love having a business I love politics
08:44I love volunteering and those parts of me still are there and who I am he just
08:51comes top of the list now well for what I've known of you over the years and
08:55learn about you Beverly if anyone can do it you can so congratulations on a
09:00little little bump I'm being a thank you