As part of the series ‘Motherland in Adland’, the head of operations and senior producer describes how working with fellow parents at creative studio, Ourselves, restored her confidence after facing redundancy.
Motherhood in advertising has long been an unspoken challenge – a career-defining crossroads where ambition is too often questioned, and support systems fall short. And while the industry has made progress in acknowledging the realities of working parents, tangible change is still slow, leaving many mothers to navigate the journey alone.
In this instalment of Motherland in Adland – the series founded by NERD’s Milana Karaica in partnership with LBB – we hear from Charlotte Jimenez, head of operations and senior producer at creative studio, Ourselves.
Charlotte’s story is one many mothers can relate to. Her ‘work hard, play hard’ approach to work was not sustainable in quite the same way after having children. Especially when toddlers just love to collect illnesses at nursery and require last-minute early pick ups. Juggling responsibilities in the home and the office left her edged out of her own career, and eventually, she was made redundant. Thankfully, her journey also comes with a happy ending, and hope for parents that like-minded, empathetic, adaptable workplaces are out there.
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I’ve been working my dream job at Ourselves, a remote creative studio, for almost six years now. When Aaron and Steven, the founders, first called me, the timing couldn’t have been better. I was a new mum, still reeling from redundancy at the big agency where I’d spent most of my career, and in the middle of a real crisis of confidence. Their offer felt like I’d just been handed a golden ticket.
I’ve always been ambitious and full of energy. I love people, I love teamwork, and I come from the ‘work hard, play hard’ millennial era. (Thursday night drinks after work included.) But life looks a little different now. I’m a mum of two boys, and while I’m still passionate about my career in advertising, I want to do it in a way that works for my family too. That means working from home more than the office, being flexible and agile, making it to school events, taking the boys to their after-school clubs, and, most importantly, not being so stressed that I forget what (and who) really matters.
In the early years of project management, I worked my way up the ladder, got recognised for my hard work, had the chance to work abroad, and lead a team. Back then, the mums on my team were often labelled as ‘part-time’, despite being the first ones in the office and usually the last ones online – working longer and harder to make up for leaving early for school pick-ups.
Then I had a baby. What a shocker.
My firstborn was often unwell as a toddler, which meant the nursery would regularly call asking me to pick him up early. Those calls triggered frantic conversations with my husband as we both scrambled to negotiate with our bosses, promising to work late into the night to make up for leaving the office two hours early.
I constantly felt like I was letting my team down. Even when I was home with my son, I didn’t stop working. I managed projects from my phone, took calls while driving, and juggled spreadsheets with one hand while cuddling a poorly child with the other. Eventually, I was given smaller, less critical projects. I was left out of key conversations and pushed toward standalone jobs. Looking back, I realise this was my boss’s way of keeping me in a role without relying on me for anything crucial, so if I had to drop everything and run to nursery, I could. But I hated it. I felt sidelined, excluded, and my confidence took a huge hit. I wasn’t myself.
When covid hit and, subsequently, redundancies, there were no surprises. It was clear to me and to many of my friends who had started families that we were first in line. We had chosen motherhood, and in the eyes of leadership, that meant we couldn’t give the same blood, sweat, and tears as younger colleagues or those without children. That was it, confirmation that I was seen as the weakest link.
Birds of a Feather
Then came an unexpected lifeline. Aaron Howard, a creative director I’d worked with for over six years, called one afternoon while I was at home, juggling two young children and questioning my life choices. He and his co-founder, Steven Bennett-Day, were starting something new and needed a producer. Not only was I on Aaron’s list, I came highly recommended by peers and that was a huge lift for me.
As fathers themselves, Aaron and Steven had both left big ad-agency life to reclaim autonomy, choose projects they cared about and be able to enjoy family life. They offered me the chance to help run a startup and shape how it would operate: flexible hours, remote working, and a culture that genuinely understood what it meant to be a working parent as a positive, not a negative. It felt like a dream job.
Fast Forward 6 Years
Today, at Ourselves, we’ve built the kind of team we once dreamed about. When we advertised for an account director and senior copywriter, we weren’t just looking for skills and good people, we wanted colleagues who shared our values and working style.
Now, we’re a powerhouse of parents (and like-minded teammates) running the show. We get the work done, in the working hours that suit us. We support one another. We’re flexible, so both our creatives and our management team can do their best work. Some of us work abroad when needed, we’re able to swap working days or hours, and we pick up the slack for each other without resentment. There’s no ‘us versus them’ mentality – just trust, respect, and genuine smiles for our 9:30 status meetings!