‘I want to prove parenthood doesn’t dampen dreams’
Mother Pukka’s Anna Whitehouse is a journalist, radio presenter, influencer and founder of the Flex Appeal campaign.
The story of my career so far is almost a full circle. I studied law at university, ticking all the boxes in my intentions of becoming a lawyer by completing my mini pupillage at Devereux Chambers on Chancery Lane at the age of 21. But even then, I remember looking around and wondering: ‘Where are all the women beyond 30?’ It dawned on me that if I pursued this career, it might potentially come at the cost of having the family I knew I wanted. So I pivoted into something that I could do freelance and became a journalist. It may sound extreme, but I already knew it mattered to me to have a family one day.
I carried on as a journalist and copywriter until after the births of my daughters, Mae and Eve, now eight and four, when – ironically – I hit the same wall I had figured I’d probably hit in the legal profession. After being refused my flexible working requests, I decided to change direction and set up the Flex Appeal campaign in 2015. I felt like I had been constantly stepping back, all the while watching my husband’s career flourish. I thought I was setting my daughters up for a fall in their own careers if I didn’t try to challenge the system that I myself felt trapped in. I wanted to get rid of the legalese, so it is a very human campaign. I was approaching it from a parent’s perspective myself, but Flex Appeal is also for those with disabilities and for those just wanting to live a happy, fulfilled life.
After quitting my job, I posted on Instagram to vent about the situation. I only had 62 followers at the time, but I spoke about how hacked off I was. I was talented and yet still couldn’t seem to make work work. People began following overnight, a chorus of ‘this is how I feel, too’. It was eye-opening to realise I wasn’t alone in feeling pushed out of the workforce. Seeing strangers listening and joining in felt cathartic and my following doubled overnight; that’s when I realised the power of social media like never before.
Until that point, I’d been writing about light-hearted, parental conversations on my blog, Mother Pukka. It was all very tongue-incheek and really just to stretch my own writing ability, I think. But now it had a real purpose. I wanted to use my platform to dismantle the system that was, ultimately, set up for men to slap bacon on the table and women to cook it. Being an influencer was nothing to do with my number of ‘likes’; it was about how I could use these pixelated building blocks to change the course of the future for my children.
Despite having a few hundred thousand followers, I never feel pressure to change anything about myself for my online audience. I think humans are probably not designed to engage with that many people at once, so I have very clear boundaries to help me stay sane. Instagram is very much a workplace for me, so it doesn’t bother me who comes or goes – it’s an open-door policy as far as
I’m concerned! I know social media can be demonised, but I still think it’s fantastic for providing so many people with a voice, allowing us to build amazing communities and share information at the touch of a button. I try to use my platform to amplify the voices of others who aren’t on social media, too.
The thing I’m most excited about this year is taking Flex Appeal to the Law Commission, which will be urging the Government to make flexible working the norm for all jobs in the UK. It feels like I’ve come back to the place I started at 21, but in a totally different form. I also want to keep proving to my followers that parenthood and age does not need to dampen your dreams. I can show my girls that however far I’ve come and wherever I end up next, it came about through having doors slammed in my face and opening them regardless.
Follow Anna on Instagram at @mother_pukka; motherpukka.co.uk