Features
‘I still love my career, and that’s okay’: Common co-founder on balancing a start-up business and family
Co-founder and chief operating officer of newly-launched publisher Common, Rachel Henry (Hall), sits down with Mumbrella’s Lauren McNamara to reflect on the journey of launching a new business while pregnant - the challenges, the readjustments, and the stigmas that still surround working mums.
Launched earlier this week, Common – a new publisher with a proposition of good news and positivity – is the brainchild and ‘baby’ of Rachel Henry, with fellow co-founders Joseph Summers and Max Sherry.
And while the past four months have been spent working tirelessly behind the scenes to launch Common, Henry has also been growing her first child and dealing with the challenges associated with pregnancy.
In every sense of the word, 2024 is her year of growth.
“I was thinking about taking this leap of faith and starting a business, and it was right at that time that I found out I was pregnant as well,” Henry tells Mumbrella. “And my initial reaction was ‘Oh my God, am I really going to do this all at once?’”
With the support of her family and friends, colleagues and co-founders, she knew she could still take this opportunity, and make her mark on the industry.
“I think there’s a few fleeting moments in life when an opportunity presents itself – one that’s so bold, so on the nose of what you actually ever dared to dream for yourself. One that you just know you’ve got to grab and go for,” Henry explains.
“And this was always a paramount ambition of mine, not just working for a company, but working on a company.
“But finding out I was pregnant at the same time was scary. I’m just very lucky to have a very supportive husband… he gave me the confidence, if I’m honest, to dive right in.”
In an experience many other women can relate to, Henry found herself figuring out how to balance her career, and starting a family.
“I found myself thinking, ‘Where am I positioned with my career? What’s going to happen and where’s a safe position for me to get on a nice maternity leave policy and have a family?’” she recalls.
“And now, I’m doing the literal most radical, opposite thing to finding a safe position, so I’m grateful for the support around me.
“There’s still loads of stigma around working mums, and I don’t know if it’s possible to appease everyone’s expectations. But it’s reassuring to see so many women out there already doing it.”
Starting a business while pregnant is no easy feat, Henry acknowledges. Despite the usual stresses of both, she says her experience thus far, having just hit the 20-week halfway mark, has been relatively enjoyable.
(L-R): Summers, Henry and Sherry
“I’ve been incredibly lucky with this pregnancy, I’ve had the expected exhaustion, and I’ve got a weird aversion to meat now which is devastating, but apart from that, I’ve been okay so far,” she says.
“I’m hoping I don’t get any curveballs in the second half… I actually experienced a complicated miscarriage at the end of last year, so perhaps the universe is cutting me some slack after that.”
While many would think running a start-up would place added stress onto a pregnancy, Henry argues it’s the other way around.
“The pregnancy has impacted my ability to work at the level I’m used to. The real challenge for me, whilst at times feeling like my head was just full of cotton wool because I was tired all the time, was actually being able to see this path of the new brand.”
Her biggest learning curve? Readjusting.
“Learning to be kind to yourself and understanding that I need a couple of different gears now for work has been such a challenge, but in terms of launching a business, the biggest learning curve has been being a little swiss army knife across all areas – I’m working in sales, editorial, brand strategy, operations… I’ve really been out of my comfort zone,” she reflects.
“Internally, there’s so much pressure to not drop the ball on either role – being a mother will be my greatest role and greatest achievement so far; but I’m still hoping to achieve the career goals that I’ve set out for myself, and not feel guilty about that.
“I still love my career, and that’s okay.”
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
Linkedin
Have your say