Mother first, superwoman second – balancing life, career and motherhood as a millennial

Being a mum can be a challenge all on its own. However, being a mum whilst juggling a career in PR and running your own female networking events company brings it to a whole new level.

At 26, Brenda Juliet bossing motherhood, establishing a career in PR and running her own female empowerment events network, Girls In Power UK. Self proclaimed as a ‘mother first, superwoman second’ she’s no stranger to overcoming life’s obstacles by taking whatever comes her way and channeling it into a positive.

Brenda started off her career by studying Media Practices and Public Relations at the University of Bedfordshire. But found herself not particularly enjoying uni life, so she started a music blog as a distraction. She began writing about up and coming artists at the time, one of them being Skepta’s now producer. Blogging became a hobby which made her realise that PR was the right fit for her “It is so nice to see the people who you believed in are actually making something of themselves now and it’s always been my kinda thing to uplift people. That’s basically what PR is. As well as building relationships between the product and the person that’s viewing it – creating this relationship of showing this client in a positive way. I’ve always had that streak in me.“

Thanks to a friend, she was recommended to meet the people at Link Up TV who later took her on as a blogger which allowed her to branch out into new opportunities. “They were really open and allowed me to get involved with other projects. So they sent me out to events to interview other artists or attend press days. Remel London was the official presenter but if she couldn’t make it to something, you could do the background interviewing. So it was quite cool and I got to meet people like Skepta.”

On her 22nd birthday, Brenda discovered she was pregnant. A moment which she describes to be “a shock but also not a shock because sometimes you just know.” She further explains “When I did find out I didn’t know if I was ready so I wasn’t excited, I was numb to the idea. Because I was so young. I just thought “What am I going to do with this little baby? I’m a baby myself! I’m still figuring out life!””

Despite her fears, becoming a mother was a a natural transition for Brenda as she was used to looking after her younger siblings growing up and had various family members with young children.

Co-parenting has been a challenge for the young mum which has taught her about championing herself and protecting her happiness. “Recently, I had a really bad day – I don’t get on with Milan’s dad at all. He said some really horrible stuff and when he was saying this to me I was just like “This is who he is. He just says this stuff for the sake of saying it.” but then I thought to myself “Brenda, look at what you’re doing – you’re a single mum, you look after this household, you go to events, you’re doing your own thing. Don’t even let negative energy like that cloud you.” I got in my feelings for about half an hour and then I was like “You know what? No.”

In December 2017, Brenda launched Girls In Power UK. A brand of a network of girls aimed at women who run workshops and events to support women in London. Equipped with various experiences of running events such as over the years such as running open mic nights which allowed her to take the events management role like a fish to water.

The first event focused on female empowerment. She reached out to several of her friends such as rapper MsBanks, creative director at ASOS Nierodha Perera, host Shanny Shanz, fashion marketing lecturer and entrepreneur Frederica Boateng and presenter Remel London who agreed to take part. The event sold out and included the speakers sharing about their advice and experiences, uplifting fellow women in the audience and receiving amazing feedback.

Over the last 8 months, Girls In Power UK has gained momentum with having run events for women wanting to branch out in various industries and be inspired. So far, events have featured the likes of Capital Xtra presenter, Yinka Bokinni and radio personality and DJ Nadia Jae who shared their journeys and expertise in their workshop events.

Currently, Brenda is now working with brand collaborations, brand consultancy work and shares on how her vision for her brand is evolving “Originally I thought it was going to be about building yourself in a career but now I just want it to touch people in different thing. For example, things like sexual health or understanding motherhood. I didn’t think I was going to do one on motherhood but because it was requested so I’m now doing it.”

With everything she’s learnt so far in life she takes it as an opportunity to set a glowing example for her young daughter “I’ve always been this driven but I want Milan to grow up and see you can go out and make opportunities for yourself. You need to go out there and do things you kinda want to do and try things that may not work but try again. Because I’ve done so many different projects that haven’t pulled through but served as building blocks because now I have Girls In Power UK.”

To find out more about Girls In Power UK, you can visit their Instagram page here and their Twitter page here