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Caoimhe | Corporate Mum

@thefemalehelm

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Senior leader. Mum of two. Figuring out both 🤷‍♀️
The everyday reality of corporate life & motherhood
My own views

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

HELLO | It’s been a while since I properly said hi, and since I got clear on why I’m here.

Here’s to navigating this next chapter without shrinking.

#womeninleadership
#careerdevelopment
#workingmumlife
#confidenceatwork
#thefemalehelm by @thefemalehelm

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9 months ago

Some of these were said more than once. Just an ordinary Tuesday really!

#corporatemum #workingmum

Usually shouted 😂

At work. At home. Everywhere.

For the 47th time!

Self explanatory really 😂

Worth asking. Several times a day.

No further comment.

I really do.

I’m not sure I want to know.

In every sense. by @thefemalehelm

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3 days ago

Can we bring back grand? ❤️

Not everything has to be amazing or awful. Some weeks nothing particularly exciting happens.

Work is busy. The kids are good. The house is a mess. There’s washing everywhere. We’re all a bit tired.

But we’re grand.

#corporatemum #workingmum by @thefemalehelm

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9 days ago

I spend an alarming amount of time walking around talking to my phone 😂

On the way to the train. On the train. Walking home. Usually because something has popped into my head that I want to understand, figure out or just not forget.

And the range is quite something.

One minute I’m trying to get my head around something I’ve read in the news. The next I’m remembering packed lunch Wednesday.

This week we also lost a pair of school shoes.
HOW DO YOU LOSE SCHOOL SHOES?! 😩

Anyway, this is where AI actually fits into my working week.

Somewhere between trying to know what’s going on in the world and trying to know where my children’s shoes are. 😂❤️

#corporatemum #workingmum by @thefemalehelm

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13 days ago

September is one very long list of things to remember 😂

Some weeks the list gets done.
Most weeks it absolutely does not.

And that’s basically it. We’re all just doing our best and remembering the Stone Age costume when we can 😂❤️

#corporatemum #workingmum by @thefemalehelm

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20 days ago

Okay, hear me out. There’s this career framework called PIE: Performance, Image and Exposure.

The basic idea is that doing good work matters, but so does how you show up and whether the right people actually know you and your work.

I think about it a bit more simply than that though, especially in a week when I’ve got 900 things on my to do list 😂

Do work that matters.
Be someone people trust.
Don’t make yourself invisible.
Keep building relationships.

That’s kind of it.

Because I don’t think September needs to mean suddenly adding ten new things to your career to-do list because you’ve panicked that there are only a few months left in the year.

For me it’s more about getting a bit clearer on where I’m putting my energy. And when everything feels important, asking myself: what actually needs to move today?

That’s about as sophisticated as my Q4 career strategy is getting 😂

#careerdevelopment #corporatemum #workingmumlife by @thefemalehelm

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a month ago

First week of September done ❤️

Back to school as a working mum is A LOT.

New teachers, new routines, new WhatsApp groups, school lunches, PE days, clubs, uniforms, forms… while also trying to get everyone out the door and get yourself to work vaguely on time.

And then there’s the emotional bit. A difficult school drop-off, walking away with your stomach in knots and somehow, not long afterwards, you’re on a train opening your laptop and getting ready for a 9am meeting like a completely normal person.

The context switching is wild 😂

So these are mostly reminders to myself.

We will lose things. They will occasionally eat nothing except the snack. I will absolutely forget someone’s name. Some mornings will be chaos. By Friday we’ll all be exhausted.

And none of that means we’re doing it badly.

September always feels enormous at the beginning. The routines settle, everyone figures out where they’re supposed to be and somehow it all starts to feel normal again.

Until then, I’m declaring an official September grace period for working parents.

We’re only one week in. Give it a minute ❤️ by @thefemalehelm

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a month ago

September with kids is an admin sport 😂

New school years, different uniforms, PE days, clubs starting on different weeks, football, lunches, pick-ups, teacher evenings… and a steady stream of emails containing information I know I’ll need again but will absolutely never find. Plus the school mums keeping it all together on the class WhatsApp, sharing essential info.

So I’ve been playing around with ChatGPT and built a school admin dashboard.

And because loads of you asked when I shared it on Stories, I’ve tried to show here how I actually made it.

The short version: there was no genius prompt. I basically explained what I was trying to solve (I usually just talk directly into ChatGPT rather than typing), gave it lots of context, let it ask me questions and then kept saying things like “this bit doesn’t work”, “we’re missing this” and “how could we make this better?” until we ended up here.

Which, the more I use AI, the more I think is the useful bit.

Anyway, it’s very much still a work in progress, but so far it’s helping me figure out who needs to be where, wearing what, bringing what AND all the things I’ve forgotten to actually do 🙃

I’ve turned what I did into a starting prompt if you fancy making your own.

Comment DASHBOARD and I’ll send it over 💛

#corporatemum by @thefemalehelm

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a month ago

The context switching of a corporate mum needs to be studied 😂

One minute you’re looking for a missing shoe, negotiating breakfast and trying to get everyone out the door.

The next you’re in a meeting talking strategy like the previous hour never happened.

Hi, I’m Caoimhe 👋 I’m a senior leader, mum of two and mostly just fascinated by how completely normal this has become.

If you know, you know 😂

#corporatemum #careerdevelopmemt by @thefemalehelm

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2 months ago

Last week of the summer holidays ☀️🌧️

I’m somehow trying to squeeze every last bit out of summer AND very ready for September 😂

There are still things we didn’t do. People I meant to see. Things I was definitely going to sort.

And apparently I’m also going to enter September with an organised house, organised children, an exercise routine, a better diet and an earlier bedtime. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest this will happen.

Maybe summer doesn’t need to be completed. September can just start before everything is sorted.

Also, can the kids go back to school now please!!! 😂 Those WFH days in September are going to be glorious.

Anyone else in that weird in-between?

#endofsummer by @thefemalehelm

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2 months ago

A little reminder that your 1:1 is your time too 👀

#corporatemum #careerdevelopment by @thefemalehelm

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2 months ago

Somehow it all works out

Hi, I’m Caoimhe 👋

I’m an Irish mum of two, a senior leader managing a global team & someone who’s still occasionally discovering the washing in the machine 2 days later

I share honest stories about building a career, raising kids, using AI to work smarter & making life a little bit simpler without pretending to have it all figured out.

If you’re ambitious, exhausted, and just trying your best… you’re in the right place ❤️

#corporatemum #workingmumlife by @thefemalehelm

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3 months ago