Telly Mums Network is a space for TV Mums and Mums-to-be to connect, share knowledge, advice and wisdom about navigating busy careers and having a family. Cheryl tells us about her journey.

1) How and why did you start Telly Mums?

In my day job I am an Off-Screen Production Talent Executive, so I meet a lot of Freelancers and kept meeting women who had a career break and were struggling to get back to work, or mums thinking about leaving the industry as they just couldn't make a TV career and having small children work. I also saw the lack of support for women before they left for or returned from mat leave and thought - someone needs to try and help! Then I went on mat leave and had a traumatic birth, PND and anxiety and just thought HOLY SHIT - now I've got to go back to work feeling like this?! How have other women coped?! And I'm coming from a position of privilege with a staff job with a supportive boss who agreed I could come back 4 days a week. But as I used to be a Freelancer and was just left scratching my head - how (and why) are women navigating this on their own without a job to go back to with no information, advice or support? Now more than ever Mums (and parents) need more support; lockdown has thrown up a whole new HUGE list of challenges.

2) Did you feel that there was a need for a support network for mothers working in TV?

The lack of support is astounding. One in 3 women has a mental health problem after birth - that's a huge stat. Many mothers are still breastfeeding when they go back to work which is incredibly tiring. Not to mention if you get a bad sleeper (like me). When I went back to work my son was still waking in the night and getting up before 5 every day. I literally can't remember how I got through that period as I was broken but wanted so badly to make a success of being a working mum. I have spoken to so many other mums who have experienced the same.

So many Mum I have met are scared about having a long break too - they think they will be forgotten about. And I've also spoken to lots of women who feel invisible after starting a family. Loss of confidence is also a huge theme. Stress due to working long hours and lack of flexible childcare, the motherload etc......I wanted to start a support group to address all of this. I'm also currently training to be a counsellor and hope to run group therapy for Mums when I'm qualified - it's badly needed; even more so now!

3) Do you think having a career in TV and juggling a family is do-able?

Absolutely but we need to support our parents through offering part time work, job sharing and flexible working. There's such a lack of empathy and compassion in our industries; missing the first day of school or sports day.....we have to let parents experience these unmissable events. Kids need to see their parents, not lose them to work. COVID has thrown up so many positives - it's proved we can all work from home and be productive so we need to learn from this and move forward into a new more flexible way of working all the time which allows a work life balance. And we need to see more job sharing across ALL roles in TV and film.

4) Are there any particular initiatives or events that you guys run?

I've done collaborations with Share My Telly Job and Talent Manager about job sharing and have run Meet the Talent Manager webinars. I also did a Networking event with mums on mat leave last year with Women in Film and TV, Cinemamas and Share My Telly Job and really would love to do more events like that to connect like minded women who care about their children and their careers. I do miss real life events though. Zoom is great and I do like being able to do webinars from the comfort of my lounge! I'm keen to address the lack of support for people going through infertility in our industries and for Mums to Be.

Watch this space for 2021 - I've got lots of exciting plans - I just wish I had more time in the day! We also badly need to get a website and need to start fundraising so if anyone reading this can help with that, please get in touch.

5) How to join?

Please email tellymumsnetwork@gmail.com or make friends with me on Facebook (sunset pic) and I can add you to the facebook group that now has over 700 members.

I am also on Twitter @tellymums1 and on Instagram so please follow us.

My New Year's Resolution is to be more active on social media. I've just put together a wonderful Telly Mums Network Committee; it's such a wonderful group of supportive and empowering Mums. I wish I had had a group like that before I went on mat leave. Hopefully 2021 will be the year we make some noise about the changes we need to see for mums (and parents) in our industry.

6) Do you have any advice for mothers working in telly?

Make a plan before you go on mat leave. Ask yourself questions - what does my return look like? What will my childcare be? Who is my support network? Who can I get advice from? Join Share My Telly Job if you want to job share - another amazingly supportive group run by amazing women.

Also, don't lose sight of your dreams - you can still progress and have a fulfilling career, it just might look slightly differently from how you saw it before you had a baby and that's OK.
Don't be afraid to ask for help or advice - there's a lot of women that want to support other women (like me) - we need to stick together. Knowledge is power. We need to empower each other and help each other get to where we want to be.

Also, things are really tough at the moment - please reach out if you are struggling.