This week’s podcast took us to Getty Images HQ in Camden to meet Claire Parnell, Emma Newell and Laura Weston, the organisers of a vital new business network called the Mums in Sport Community (Misc), which is framed as ‘a positive, supportive community for women who work in sport’. It was a timely conversation, given the huge success of women athletes in Doha at the IAAF World Championships, some of whom were balancing their careers with being mothers. This conversation touches on some big themes that impact on every element of the wider sports industry. We talk about confidence, guilt, money and the ways in which companies can help mums return to work a more effective process - does your place have a returnship btw?
The pod in three quotes
“You’re there super early, smiling away. You have a 7.30 dinner, or a breakfast event, and the reality is that it’s really hard to get out of the house early, to organise or negotiate pick ups, there’s a trail of destruction left behind”.
“The sports industry feels impenetrable sometimes. There’s so much ego in the sports industry, who are you what do you do. Sometimes I want to go and have a normal, honest conversation”.
“So much business is done through networking. I spent twenty years with my head down, thinking the if I just work as hard as I possibly can then everything will be fine, without realising that to make your life easier the best use of your time is to meet people and talk to them and getting out there. I’ve made a conscious effort to do that over the last year and it’s made such a big difference. Now I know I can do it, although I’m still a bit nervous, it’s why this group’s important. I can’t afford to go to Leaders, its full of blokes who have known each other for years”.