I didn’t take a single day of maternity leave — mums really can have it all

The night before she had her son, Leo, via a scheduled C-section, Jessy Marshall was up until 2am working. 

‘There was a business pitch I needed to get done,’ the 35-year- old tells Metro. ‘In the week running up to the birth I also attended three work events and once he was born I went straight back to work.’

Throughout her pregnancy, people continuously asked when she was going to slow down or how long she’d be on maternity leave – questions Jessy struggled to answer.

‘I didn’t have a plan,’ she admits. ‘The only time I had taken any time off in five years was to go to Europe last year and even then, I was somewhat available. As a business owner, it is incredibly hard to “switch off” or step away.’

In fact, Jessy even calls her PR company business her ‘first baby’, after starting it from scratch in 2018.

Prior to that, she had hopped between a number of different roles, from beauty therapist to community college teacher. But when Jessy created her own agency, Hive, in her late 20s, she became ‘obsessed’ with her job.

In order to support her team and continue to help the agency grow, she felt she ‘needed to be available, working both on and in the business.’ Even when she discovered she was pregnant with Leo.

Jessy recalls that there was a sense of ‘judgement’ from some people, and while she tried not to let get detractors get to her, she says other women might have felt ‘overwhelmed and guilty’ by the implication they’re not doing the right thing for their baby.

However, it was a conscious choice to continue in the career she loved while also embracing motherhood, in an effort to be a role model for Leo.

‘Teaching hard work and passion is important,’ Jessy explains. ‘Being an example to your child is important.’

Jessy spent five days in hospital after the caesarean, working from the hospitalbefore spending the following six weeks running her business from home.

During this first week with Leo, Hive started discussions with Australia’s women’s football team, the Matildas, about them starring in a skincare campaign. 

‘It was an unbelievably rare opportunity and a pinch me moment,’ Jessy recalls. ‘The conversation couldn’t be delayed and I was so excited to be part of them. That same week we were also launching a pop-up for a couple of other brands, which are events that I love – so why wouldn’t I keep that part of my life?’

Jessy also saw Khloe Kardashian use Naked Sundays, a sun protection product she represented, so – just seven days after giving birth – she found herself snapping up media opportunities while breastfeeding her newborn.

But despite the fact she’s still happy with her decision not to take maternity leave, Jessy admits it hasn’t always been an easy one. 

‘Of course there are nights when I haven’t slept well, or have been up all night. There are also days when I forget to eat or have been stuck in a meeting and unable to pump breast milk on schedule,’ she says.

‘Sometimes it would be nice to be with Leo and not worry about anything else – but we are always going to have those moments. I also know it would mean not having a business and instead a 9-5 job with maternity leave – and that’s not me.’

Having Michael, a hands-on husband and father, has no doubt helped Jessy achieve her work/life balance. As an executive coach, he spent the six months before Leo was born at the Hive offices helping staff transition and preparing new, more flexible processes. Now, the couple split their days between their respective businesses and home, running a tight ship.

Jessy says: ‘Both our families live far away so it was important for us to establish a routine early and be clear about when we each needed time.

‘It’s always a juggle and we are super conscious of that. No matter how planned you are, things always change. But I have also learnt to become agile and focus on the things that matter.’

Now six months old, Leo comes along to events with his mum and she feeds him while working on major global campaigns – and being the boss gives Jessy more freedom to set her own hours and ‘duck out if needed’.

Having to manage a team on barely any sleep or a juggling packed calendar of meetings with a pumping schedule aren’t the only issues she’s faced though.

After speaking about her experience on social media in an effort to show the realities of running a company with a newborn in tow, Jessy received a flurry of messages, with many wondering how she was ‘doing it all’ or telling her to ‘enjoy the baby bubble.’

‘I think what I found most disappointing is seeing females be more vocal and disgruntled from it; some questioning if I am a good mum, or saying I have not prioritised having a child, when that isn’t the case at all,’ she says.

Thankfully, there was a lot of support too, from people who wish they’d had the opportunity to the same or were inspired by Jessy’s story.

‘I felt, if I didn’t want to conform, I couldn’t possibly be the only one thinking this way – and I wasn’t,’ she says. ‘So many women have done the same or want to do the same.’

Although she loves her current family set up, Jessy admits she’s unsure whether she’d take more time off if she had another baby. ‘It would come down to the child, their needs, and what Michael and I could handle,’ she xplains.