Hello, hope your week is going OK. I recently came across Raising Women on Instagram. Initially I thought this was something about bringing up your daughters. The tag line on the profile explained that Raising Women is “A connected and supportive community helping women balance motherhood with becoming who they were meant to be”. I was intrigued.
A lot of what I love about Instagram is about how you can find support and inspiration from other Insta-communities and individuals you may not have the chance to meet in everyday life. These people aren’t celebrities or anything, they’re just people getting on with the ups and downs of life like us.
Raising Women was launched yesterday. I managed to listen to the first podcast on the way to work. It was a chat with Shannon from Littlest Sidekicks. She shared some great tips on managing all kinds of stuff. Her interview was very honest but upbeat. My week started off on a tired note, so I was happy it gave me some energy on a cloudy London morning.
It was also lovely to find out a bit more about Johanna Rossi – the person, heart and brains behind Raising Women. Here’s what Johanna had to say to Lucky Things blog about being an introvert, getting things organised the night before and tea on tap…
Tell us about where you live and what you love about it? I live in the Principality of Monaco. Hands down my number one favorite thing about living here is the fact that I’m so close to the Italian border! The Ligurian coast has a very special place in my heart, I love the fact that it seems to have got stuck in time and everything seems to move at such a slower pace. Number two would have to be the fact that we live just a 90 minute drive from some beautifully scenic mountain villages. Number three would be about my home, I’ve spent a lot of time over the last five years de-cluttering and trying to make our home ‘lighter’ and this has benefited myself, my business and my family in so many ways. I live with my husband and life partner of 16 years Dino and my two beautiful children Leandro and Sienna Mae.
What encouraged you to set up Raising Women? The initial idea for Raising Women came from bringing together like minded mums in a six week workshop that I was running. I saw firsthand how having the connection and support from other women going through similar situations helped my clients so much.
So, what’s it all about? Raising Women is a connected and and supportive community helping women balance motherhood and becoming who they were meant to be. I’m creating a COMMUNITY, launching PODCASTS and will be continuing to COACH my amazing clients.
The community is going to be built on women sharing personal written stories of self discovery through motherhood on the website, I have also created a Facebook group where women in the community can connect. On the podcast I interview the women behind the stories and find out more about their businesses and how they balance motherhood with being a mumpreneur.
Through my coaching I work with women who either want to start their journey of self discovery and would like support, or with women who already have a business and need help finding balance. Raising Women is also about giving back and I created a T-Shirt collection for women in the community to wear as a sign of support, 5 euros from every women’s tee and 3 euros from every girl’s tee will be donated to Care International UK. I have many many goals for my business, but my immediate goals are to build the community and connect and support as many like minded mamas as possible. My other day job is looking after my family and home.
Setting up something new isn’t always easy, so were there any challenges to overcome to get it going? My main challenges have been the technicalities of setting up a podcast and getting over my own fears of putting myself out there. I am introverted by nature and don’t have much self confidence so the podcast and the vlogs are definitely outside my comfort zone !
Tell me more about the inspiration for Raising Women? I’m someone who believes that every woman has a right to become the best version of herself and live the best version of life in her own unique way. In motherhood we often put ourselves last and don’t feel we have the right to spend time working on ourselves, but I’ve seen so many women do so many amazing things in motherhood that they would have never done if it weren’t for the experience of becoming a parent.
What advice do you have for parents and carers who want to encourage their little people to be feel good about themselves? Don’t try and change them. Encourage them to be themselves and embrace their quirks and ideas. A lot of the work I do is actually ‘undoing’. Women come to me with so many blocks due to being told for so many years that they couldn’t or weren’t good enough or that their ideas weren’t valid, and they have such fears of what other people think and expect of them.
What’s your favourite childhood memory? I don’t have a particular favorite childhood memory. I have several from holidays spent with my Grandmother in Scotland and on the Isle of Arran.
What have your children taught you about life? Oh my goodness, that is a hard question. The answer is so much! I’ve written about this is my own story on the website. Leandro my firstborn is the one who started me on my self discovery journey, so he helped to teach me a lot about myself and what I want from life and Sienna Mae has taught me to get and be real!
What are your three tips for staying organised as a working parent? Mornings are always hard with kids, when you are a working parent this is stepped up a notch. I always advise my clients to get ready the night before. Set the table for breakfast, lay out the children’s and your clothes, get the snacks, school bags and activity bags packed the night before and the morning will go much more smoothly.
Another tip would be about switching off for the weekend. If you work from home it can be really hard to switch off mentally on a Friday night and then equally it can be hard to switch back on on Monday morning. I often advise my clients to ‘shut down’ properly on a Friday night. Clean your desk, go over your ‘to do’ list, make a new one for Monday morning, make sure that when you go back to your desk to start a fresh week you know exactly what your priorities are so you don’t waste the whole morning getting back to square one.
The third tip would be to get enough sleep. As parents we have a lot of sleep stolen from us, so it is important to get it when we can. Try and get to bed before 11pm. Having a rested mind makes it much easier to think clearly and be more organised.
What would your dream weekend be if you’re on your own? And if you’re with your family? If I had a weekend on my own to do whatever I wanted I think I would spend it on a porch, sitting in a comfy chair, looking over a lake, with tea on tap, reading. Pure bliss! A dream weekend with my family would be definitely spent in Italy on the beach swimming and eating good food!
What tunes do you remember listening to growing up? Kylie and The Carpenters!
What tunes are you listening to at the moment? I have to be honest we have spent so much time outdoors over the last two months I haven’t been listening to music. When I work I also find it hard to listen to music. There is so much noise in the apartment when the children are home, I revel in the silence and calm when I sit and my desk and tune into my thoughts.
What’s your motto when things get a bit tough for you? “This too shall pass…”
So, what are you waiting for, go and check out Raising Women when you can…if you like the look of Raising Women you can join the community via any of the below links.
Instagram @raising_women
Facebook @raisingwomen
Twitter @raiseyourwoman
You can listen to the podcasts or read other stories from Raising Women here
So, who or what’s inspired you recently with everyday stuff? If you’ve had a chance to check out Raising Women what did you like about it? Leave a little comment below and share the blog love….
More interviews for the Inspire series will be appearing on Lucky Things blog soon. Thanks for stopping by.
x Sunita
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