The Happy Mum Project
5th July 2024
Today, I interview Anna from The Happy Me Project. Anna’s business is absolutely incredible for mums trying to balance career, family life, and everything else. I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Anna, and here is a little bit more about her.
Tell us a little bit about you
My name is Anna Darlington, and I’m a Lifestyle & Mindset Coach. I am 43 years old, and I have two children. I am originally from Germany, I fell in love with an Englishman and followed him to the UK – where I have been living for the past 13 years. After many years in London, we have now settled in “Shakespeare country” – very close to the Cotswolds, which (I think!) is one of the most beautiful parts of the world and a place that brings me a lot of peace.
I have an HR background and worked for over 17 years in the corporate world. I always loved working with people, helping and enabling others to achieve a state of fulfilment is what drives me. So, I guess becoming a coach has always been the path I was meant to take.
Two years ago, I decided to do it and set up my own coaching practice. The reason I am dedicating my work to mothers is very simple: I believe mothers have the potential to be extraordinary leaders. A mother who sets her mind to something can be incredibly resourceful, driven, and powerful. The problem, though, is that we often don’t allow ourselves to tap into that potential.
When I had my first child in 2014, it was a bit of a shock to the system, as motherhood turned out to be so different to what I expected. I think a lot of first-time Mums experience that. I had totally underestimated how hard it would be to continue at the same pace and with the same drive and energy. For a long time, I felt motherhood was overwhelming. I felt a loss of identity. I felt inadequate. I felt a lack of confidence in both- my role as a mum and in my career. I had to rediscover myself and find a way to live the life I wanted to live.
Through coaching and a lot of mindset work I started to become more connected with myself. The transformation I underwent during those years gave me the peace and happiness I was looking for. It was then that I started to build the foundations of what has become The Happy Mum Project, which revolves around deep mindset work and inner transformation that addresses the key elements essential to being successful at work and having a fulfilled family life.
How do you define success in the context of your business, and what are some of the most rewarding moments you’ve experienced so far?
For me, success is when you love what you do because know what you want. I have true passion for enabling women to achieve their goals and tap into their full potential. Seeing them grow and succeed is what makes me want to do this. I’m all about female empowerment, I believe that as mothers we have the skills and capabilities to take on the world if we just believe in ourselves and overcome our own inner critic.
Over the years, I have worked with many mothers, and seeing the awakening happening—that light bulb moment when you realise, “I have a choice” and “I can do this my way”—is just amazing. Fully embracing the confidence of letting go of the expectations, the judgement, the guilt, and just being who you want to be can be so empowering.
That doesn’t mean all challenges disappear and life as a working mum becomes easy! There are so many challenges we face every day still, but it is how we choose to approach and deal with them that’s important to our overall wellbeing.
Can you give us a peek into a typical day in your life as a business owner and a mum? How do you juggle both roles?
I am quite strict about how much time I give to each element of my life. I have allocated time for work, family, and myself, and I try to stick to those.
Of course, unexpected things happen—life is unpredictable, right?!?! But I’ve found it’s important to be kind to yourself. If one day doesn’t go according to plan, you can go back to your routine the next day or the day after. Allow life to happen, and if you have a plan and a goal, you can always get back on track. Just don’t beat yourself up—that’s the worst you can do.
What advice would you give to mums who are struggling to balance their career aspirations and family responsibilities?
Know what you want. Be clear for yourself about what you really want from life. If you know that, it is so much easier to let go of the things that just take time and energy away from you without giving you anything back.
Also, understand that no one is perfect and that you don’t need to do everything the same way someone else is doing it. The most important thing is to love your children, love your partner, and love yourself. With that, you will make decisions and do the things that are really necessary, and everything else can come second.
Are there any particular resources, tools, or strategies that you recommend for mums looking to boost their careers while being present for their families?
Set yourself realistic goals. This comes back to knowing what you want. If you want your career to progress, understand what is needed to do so and set goals accordingly. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself- you might experience setbacks along the way but if you have a plan you can always get back on track.
And outsource/delegate some of the things you do around family life, involve your partner more, ask family to support, pay someone to do certain jobs for you if possible, anything that saves you time. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
What are some common misconceptions about work-life balance that you encounter, and how do you address them through your business?
A lot of people seem to think work-life balance is defined by having a conventional 9-5 job, with dedicated family time at the weekend. There seems to be the idea that we have to have a lot of hobbies, time for self-care, the children, our partners, our job and actively participating in the local community. We are also expected to look well, eat well, exercise, get a lot of quality sleep, do very high-quality educational activities with our kids, work on our professional development…I could go on, but I think it is quite clear that this is not a very achievable list for anyone!
My work focuses on understanding what we want as individuals and giving ourselves permission that this doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s life. We need to find happiness that works for us and our family—not other people. We need to rid ourselves of limiting beliefs and build the confidence to claim that for ourselves, letting go of guilt and judgement and becoming aligned with our true selves.
Can you share a success story from one of your clients that particularly stands out to you? How did your services make a difference in her life?
I worked with a lady who decided, after many years of running her own business, to go back into employment. She wasn’t a new Mum, her kids were a bit older, but still, the change from self-employment to working for someone else is massive and requires so much adjustment. Anyway, she struggled with her confidence and thought she wasn’t good enough to succeed in her new job. We identified that there was a whole range of limiting beliefs she held about herself as well as expectations she put on herself of what good performance looked like. So together, we worked through it and it was very rewarding seeing her flourish and come to new confidence and experience joy in her work and, therefore less stress in her overall life, which had previously impacted her family life negatively
Looking ahead, what are your future goals for your business? Are there any exciting projects or initiatives you’re currently working on?
I’m currently working on a Wellness Workshop that I want to launch after the summer holidays. I’m super excited about this! It’s going to be a virtual event where we are going to support each other in developing our own customised self-care strategies and ways to implement those into our lives.
I know self-care is a highly discussed topic and many Mums feel they don’t have time for it, which leads to a lot of frustration. But I believe there are so many more ways to take care of ourselves than just having a bubble bath or getting a massage. If we get creative and bring some female energies together, we can define new ways of re-energising and nurturing ourselves.
What do you do to unwind and recharge after a busy day of managing both your business and family? Any favourite hobbies or self-care routines?
I like sewing, not that I’m particularly good at it but I find it very therapeutic. Unfortunately, my machine broke, so I haven’t been able to do much recently, but I also love Yoga and reading, which are both great ways for me to switch off.
Yoga is brilliant for reconnecting with myself. I generally find paying attention to my body and how it feels and responds insightful. Reading a good book or listening to an audiobook is a great way to escape into a different world and disconnect, which is just as important to do from time to time.
Carla is the founder of MyBump2Baby. Carla has a huge passion for linking together small businesses and growing families. Carla’s humorous, non-filtered honesty has won the hearts of thousands of parents throughout the UK.
She has previously written for the Metro and made appearances on BBC News, BBC 5 live, LBC etc. Carla is a finalist for Blogger of the Year award with Simply Ladies inc. Carla is also the host of the popular Fifty Shades of Motherhood podcast and The MyBump2Baby Expert podcast.
