The Netmums Podcast - S17 Ep10: The reality of juggling parenting and career ambition with Sian Welby

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

This week on The Netmums Podcast, Wendy Golledge and Alison Perry welcome Capital Breakfast’s Sian Welby. Sian, a devoted mum to one-year-old Ruby, shares her journey of balancing motherhood with a high-profile career, and the joys and challenges that come with it. In this chat Sian opens up about the realities of parenting, the pressures of returning to work shortly after giving birth, and the importance of maintaining her identity amidst the chaos of motherhood. She reflects on her own experiences, including her recent interview with the iconic Taylor Swift, revealing how these moments shape her perspective as both a parent and a professional. In this episode: The challenges of balancing a high-profile career with motherhood How to navigate the pressures of returning to work after maternity leave The importance of self-care for parents and caregivers Finding joy in the small moments with your children Encouraging open conversations about parenting roles in relationships Sian's refreshing honesty and humour shine through as she discusses the complexities of modern parenting, offering relatable insights for all parents juggling similar struggles. Stay connected with Netmums for more parenting tips, community support, engaging content: Website: netmums.com / Instagram: @netmums  Proudly produced by Decibelle Creative / @decibelle_creative

You're listening to the NetMums podcast with me, Wendy Gullidge, and me, Alison Perry. Coming up on this week's show, I've always wanted kids. I love being around children. I've always been Auntie Sean to everyone's kids. And I am like the child's entertainment most of the time. I get shoved in a ball pit with all the kids. And I'm happy. I love it. But you are allowed to also want a career and want your own identity. That's just normal. Welcome back everybody to a brand new episode of the Netmums podcast. Wendy, how are you doing today? Oh, I'm a bit immersed in year six dramas today. So my youngest started year six in September and it's only October and it's begun. I remember it with my older daughter but does something happen to girls in the summer between year five and six that they come back all sassy and bitchy? Like my littlest is only 10 still.

She's the youngest in the year. So she's still like this little kid bouncing around all excited. Yeah. Do you know what? I do think there is something that happens. I think that it feels like year six and year eight are the kind of the kind of crunchy years where drama seems to happen. Crunchy. I like it. Let's ask our guest.

I bet you she remembers this because I remember it from school. I remember year six being like bitch-tastic. Yeah. Well, let me introduce our guest to you today because today we are joined by radio and TV presenters. Sean Welby, best known for presenting Capital Breakfast and this morning. She brings laughs and honesty to everything that she does. Now, Shan is mum to one-year-old Ruby and she's also a bit of a high street style queen, inspiring mums with her cool, comfy outfits. Shan, a warm welcome to the NetMums podcast. Oh, thank you. I need you hype women in my life. That was a lovely intro. Thank you very

much. We'll just follow you around, bicking you up all day, shall we? Oh, that would be great. I'm normally in a room with two boys and it's all about just taking the mick out of each other. So that was very nice. Thank you, girls. So do you remember that year six, like that school, the changes and the bitchiness at school?

Is it just us or do you remember it? Yes, I remember year six. I was in such a tiny little primary school because I was like, I'm from like the middle of nowhere in the Midlands. There was four of us in my year. So I couldn't really. We couldn't really be bitchy because there's only one girl and the other two were lads and that was my year. This was a tiny little primary school that's no longer, it doesn't exist anymore but it's called Aram School.

And so I remember I just had this one friend who I was glued to and I actually think she was probably sick of me because I sort of did follow around like a little sheep. And when I got to year seven, everything in my life changed. So really for me the biggest, yeah, the biggest leap, was leaving that tiny little school where I had almost like one-on-one attention from teachers. And then the jump to like, whoa, this is the real world, was year seven, yeah, mad. So first up, Sean, our readers, our readers? Sorry, we've been talking about magazines all morning. I'm now in reader mode.

Our listeners are bound to want some energy tips from you. How the hell do you get up at 4 a.m. with a one-year-old and still look like this. Brightest a button. What's the secret? Honestly, I think it's not thinking about it because I've spoke to lots of mums that have gone to work, gone back to work quite soon or they've gone back to doing night shifts or whatever. And it's funny, some of them now have older kids and they go, I look back and think, how did I do it? I think if I actually thought about it, it would be so disgusting. I would probably have a nervous breakdown.

But because I'm in it and I'm just living it, I'm not overthinking it. So I'm just taking every day as it is and as it comes. And yes, sometimes I honestly could drop dead with how tired I am. But then, you know, you get those little windows where you can catch up, that little nap that you sneak in and then you sort of start again. I don't know. Do you girls, I feel like you get something superhuman that can just push you over the edge like an athlete. I don't know where it comes from.

But I shouldn't really be able to do the job I'm doing. But somehow I am. Yeah. I think mums, we're a strong breed, we really are. But you're not just getting up at 4 a.m. to present capital breakfast. You're also nailing it doing this morning. And also a few months back, you hosted Lorraine, didn't you? I mean, you're doing so much, like amazing high-profile stuff.

Do you still have a big career ambition? Like, do you have something in your mind where you think, if I get that job, I'm going to sit back and see I've made it? No, because I don't think you ever rest, do you? And I don't think anyone ever does. and maybe I've always been that kind of tomboy kind of girl where I've always wanted to, first of all, like prove that I'm as good as the boys,

and then it's prove I'm as good as this person, and that never really ends. So I've had a baby. Obviously things have changed, and I do, my priorities definitely have shifted, but I still have a lot of fire where I'm like, no, no, no, I can still do this. And if I can make this work,

I want to prove that, you know, mums can do this and can do that. And don't get me wrong. I do think at times, um, you have to be realistic. and you go, I can't still do everything. This whole phrase of like, you know, people that have it all, there is no having it all, you can't have it all,

you can't nail it all the time. There's times that I'm probably a bad presenter and times that I'm a bad mum and it's when you just not got the balance right. Do you ever manage to have those minutes when you can sit back and soak it all up and go, okay, here's my little girl. She's lovely. It's all okay.

Yeah, I think I really try to have those moments. I'm really, really, my whole perspective on life, I feel has changed. And I really have quite, not deep moments, but like, you know, if she does wake up at two in the morning. And I think, oh my God, I'm literally getting up in two hours. And in that moment, there is nothing, I do not want to get out of bed. Like, it is the worst thing. And then something in me goes, oh, but it's just a phase. And one day I might look back and really miss this because right now,

all she wants is me to pick her up and have a cuddle. And so I keep, I've always been a positive person. So I always, I've tried to put that spin on this because this is one of the hardest things I've ever done. So I keep having to remind myself like, oh, Sean, find the positive. Because right now, if you only focused on the negative, and all of us could, and I'm not trying to make out that it's easy because it really isn't.

And I have a lot of thoughts where I'm like, oh, my God, please, you know, I'm pleading for her to go back to sleep. But when I do have to just get up and get on with it, I think, oh, just enjoy it. Yes, I'm going to be tired. but I can deal with it I will get on with it and in a few years

she'll stop doing this and then I might miss it That's so nice that you can soak up those moments and another thing that I bet you soaked up was your recent interview with Taylor Swift what was she like what did she smell like

and please tell us that it was amazing black at that please isn't it funny so many people have said to me Sean what does she smell like I think there's this absolute obsession with the smell of Taylor Swift it's hilarious.

I couldn't give a hoot. Yeah. I want to sort of go, you know, cinnamon spice and Christmas and Easter all wrapped into one. Because she's like a mythical creature. She's like a unicorn. I think it's because she got so close to her

that you could smell her. I think that's probably why you're asked that question because we all want to be that close to her. I can't explain it. Well, this is it. You're either an absolute die-hard obsessed fan or you do not understand the hype at all and it is a very strange one.

Um, she, what, what I would say is, I didn't really get the Taylor thing as much before. I've not been like a diehard Swifty. You know, you get the fans that are, they've been there since day one. I can't confess to being that. I've always, you know, I like her pop music. I've liked her songs, but I've not been like a fanatic. What I would say is I sort of understood it when I met her and I thought, I cannot help but respect you. We, you could not like her music and not even like her as a person.

but God, you have to respect her. Like, when you think of someone that's like, she's a machine, she is up there with some of the best. In terms of, like, musician, talent, businesswoman, there's not many men that could compete. I feel like she's one of those where she's the best because you cannot outwork her

and she's 10 steps ahead. She's thought of what the fans want. She's thought of what the audience want. She's thought about how this is going to look, sound. I've never met. anyone quite like it and even to the extent of when she came to do our interview she changed her outfit so that a it would look better with our blue theme and b so that it wasn't the same as in the interview she'd just done and it meant that every interview was timeless and i've never known an artist

ever do that she wore a different outfit if you look she did a press run where she did all of us in one day every single um radio outlet and television she did graham i've watched them all shan yeah And she was in a different outfit, wasn't she? And every single one. Yeah. And it was the same day. Wendy's shaking her head in despair right now. I love it.

I can ask you a question about being a mum. Let's stop talking about bloody Taylor Swift. Okay, fine. Deal. So lots of new moms feel like they lose themselves a little bit when they have a baby. But your job is all about energy and humor and kind of being on it the whole time. Has becoming a parent changed your own sense of identity at all? Yeah, I suppose it definitely, it does, it does, there's no way I would pretend it hasn't.

It's changed how I think, it's changed my priorities. It's given me a bit of a reality check, to be honest. You end up in a right bubble when you work in media, when you work in London, and you just not, you actually can lose touch so quickly with what's actually happening. Because if my world is wrapped up in nonsense like Taylor Swift, what orange does that mean that the album's this you know what i mean my life actually becomes quite um superficial in terms of what i talk about day to day a lot of it doesn't really matter in the real world doesn't matter what kim kardashin is doing to tom that lives in mansfield it doesn't

so part of my job is showbiz which is very superficial and then the other part is being human and connecting to people and so having a baby actually has opened up a lot more conversations and i find that i'm actually in terms of our listeners on capital and and even probably viewers on this morning, I think I've entered a different stage of my life where it is more relatable because, yes, my job is weird, but at the end of the day, I am just a mum that's gone back to work and so many other moms do that.

And I try and use my platform to kind of highlight that I don't think I'm doing anything special because I know there's people doing it 10 times harder than what I'm doing. Like there's people doing long 12-hour night shifts as a nurse when they've just had a baby. So I don't, all I want to do is highlight that I think we're all struggling. We're all trying really hard. Both mums and dads are having to go back to work.

I don't think that the world is geared up for that. I think everything's got really difficult. I don't think there's enough respect to put on parenting, full stop. And I've never, I think I've got a real, real newfound respect for mums and dads and how hard it is. Yeah. And talking about going back to work, you went back to work three months after having Ruby. while your fiancé Jake took parental leave. And you've said that you were worried

that taking longer off might have had a negative impact on your career. Tell us a little bit about that thought process and whether looking back you think it was the right call to make. Yeah, I mean, I can only go with what I did and I've always trusted my gut on things. In an ideal world, I'd have had that year to just soak up and do something totally different

and be a mum and zone out and just thoroughly enjoy it and it's something that I kind of I do wish I could have done I think the reality is I just couldn't and that's life I need you know I'm a freelancer

that's how presenters are if I'm not at work I'm not getting paid it's as simple as that I have a mortgage I have bills we had just launched a brand new breakfast show I was very passionate about being

a part of that we're very hands on on the breakfast show and you know we work closely with the producers we're very much like it's our show and we we care about it it's not something i turn up to get given a script and go home i'm so invested we we spend weeks planning things and and making sure that the show has a feel and the sound and and i'm so involved and i was so excited when jordan joined and he joined in april and i was pregnant and i had it in my head i had it all mapped out i thought i'm going to have to be off because it's ridiculous to think i can come straight

packed to work. I knew that that wasn't realistic and I didn't want to just do that either. At the same time, I thought, we've just launched a breakfast show and I want to make sure I am part of it and my input is there and that I establish who we are as a trio. I don't want to be this person that comes back after a year and the audience have just got used to a brand new breakfast show with someone else because now suddenly I would be the change that they didn't probably want. And there's always that paranoia because the point, the truth of it is, it's It's true. If I went away for a year, who knows what would have happened? Because you just don't know. And I'm not saying, not saying that I would have been replaced, but you don't know for sure. You really don't. I back myself in terms of how hard I've worked. I know I know that I've sort of earned my place of where I am now because I've done a lot of jobs along the way. At the same time, though, nothing's guaranteed. And so I felt like I had to come back in September when, because the way we see radio is in, it's, almost like school terms. I was like everyone's back at school. We can come back with a bang

and relaunch this brand new show. I'm back. Jordan's in. We've got Chris Stark. Let's start this new show. And I was very passionate about that. What I did do to protect my time with Ruby was I didn't do anything else. So all these other jobs, you know, people think we just sort of finish the show at 10 and go home. Normally I'm working until at least 4 o'clock, sometimes 7pm at night. So I stopped all of that. I stopped every evening due, every event, every extra job. And all I did was Breakfast Show and Ruby. So Jake did the mornings with Ruby and then I took over in the afternoons.

And when I got the nap times down, me and her even did like joint naps one till three. And that was beautiful. You still get well-roated by that mum guilt now and again, though, I bet. And how do you handle that? Because we all get it. Yeah, and I suppose, again, you do get it. You're in your own head.

You wish you could do more. You know, Ruby's at nursery right now. And I'm thinking, you know, I'm constantly thinking, shall I pick her up early? Should I spend more time with her today? Then I'm shattered. I'm thinking, but I need to sleep or, well, I've got this meeting and I've got this thing.

And so, yeah, you're always weighing up. Should I, shouldn't I? I think loads of parents feel like that. I feel for dads that get given two weeks and they have to go straight back to work and they're sort of expected to. Like, it's as if a man won't miss their child, which is absolute nonsense. So, yeah, the mum and dad guilt,

I think doesn't probably get talked about. about enough. It's hard and it's um it's relentless but at the same time I feel like I also want to say to anyone listening who's going through that you know what you're doing your best you're doing your absolute best and that's all you can do and we cannot do it all you need a job to provide for your family hopefully that money will bring memories in terms of whether you can afford to go on holiday or whether you can afford to buy a nice Christmas present whatever the things are that are going to make your family work and tick along and make it as happy as possible. You've got to do it. You just got to do it.

So when you're having those moments that are going, oh, I don't know if I should do that. You've just got to decide whether it's for the greater good, you know, is this going to help you down the line? Maybe you have just started your career and you think, well, if I do this now, it means we've got a solid future coming up, or it means we can afford that mortgage or whatever the thing is. Yeah, just don't be hard on yourselves.

And you and Jake have kind of done things a bit different. you've approached things differently to the norman that he obviously has been around more with Ruby and you're juggling things and things seem a little bit more balanced between the two of you. Do you think that more couples should try and adopt that kind of structure and having the dads being around more? Because like you say, so many dads want to be around more. It's not like they're just, you know, differently just switch off and don't miss their kids. well only because I feel like I sometimes I feel like my life is a very male role quite often I feel sometimes like I know how it might feel to be a guy in a relationship and that's because of you know I've had a I've got a career which means that I have to sometimes put the job first I've got an expectation I've got um the you know my wages are more so I feel a lot of responsibility at the same time, I equally wish I could spend all my time with Ruby

and do all that. And I know Jake feels the same. So, yeah, I think as a couple, I think it's something you shouldn't presume you should talk to each other about because there might be that actually, as hard as it might be, you might be better swapping it or changing it

or halving it, doing half that you stay at home, then you go back to work, your other half takeover. You know, there's mums that actually would be better place going back to work because that's just more their personality. and the dad might be thinking, oh, deep down actually would love to be a stay-at-home dad for a bit.

This is what I've always dreamt of doing. So maybe just have this conversation, make it more normal, make it feel better for dads to sort of admit that maybe they would prefer the role and make it okay for mums to admit maybe they're better suited doing the other role. And you can also want to do both.

I mean, I really don't feel like I'm just a career girl. I don't want anyone to misinterpret what I'm saying in terms of I'm such a, I've always wanted kids. I love being around children. I've always been Auntie Shan to everyone's kids. And I am like the child's entertainment most of the time. I get shoved in a ball pit with all the kids and I'm happy. I love it.

But you are allowed to also want a career and want your own identity. That's just normal. You mentioned that you're naturally quite positive. But when you're absolutely knackered and you haven't had a nap and the house is a tip and Ruby won't nap and you're feeling generally like the most frazzled human in the world. What is it that gets you through those moments? Because most of us have them and most of us haven't got up at 4 a.m. to go to work.

So you must have some sort of like kicker that gets you through at those points. Yeah, I feel like recently I've tried a whole different attitude. I mean, I'm talking even in the last week because I am frazzled. Me and my other half, we've probably never not argued, but I suppose you do argue or bicker about stuff because you're so, tired and you're also trying to do real life things it might be even just get in the car emoted or all the other stuff like adulting that you've got to do and your job and you're a parent so we as a couple have never been more frazzled and the other day i just decided because

we you find yourself you're just talking to each other almost in a negative way all the time because you've got to take it out on somebody and sadly it's always your other half and i sort decided to stop always reacting like oh where's this they're or stop talking in that tone to my other half because it's not fair and so I've started just almost doing a deep breath and going okay it's not that deep it actually doesn't matter try and look at the bigger picture I've tried to sort of like really reassess what winds me up because I suppose what ends up happening is because you've got so much you've got no space in your head you are overstimulated you're oversaturated with information you're overwhelmed one little thing

you can like fall out over some beans spill over the floor and you think what are we doing this is ridiculous so I'm really trying to just get a grip and sort of decide okay that has annoyed me but it's actually in the grand scheme of things it is not important it does not matter and I'm really trying to just zen myself a bit more and just go I just need to sleep

or I just need food or I just need to go to bed or I just need to sit down and I think the key is to not presume the other person can read your mind and just try and be vocal about it and say sorry actually that was me I was out of order I'm just tired and the amount of times me and my other half of both either one of us have gone I'm just tired and we both realize we're not annoyed with each other we're not angry about X, Y and Z we're just both shattered and then you just have to admit and go to bed and the other day I went to bed at seven o'clock with Ruby I put her to bed then I got into bed

and I just needed it I love it that's so relatable Now, something that probably is adding to all of that pressure and all of that, you know, navigating through difficult days. You know, you've spoken openly about navigating your dad's dementia and at the same time as raising Ruby. What do you think has been the hardest aspect of dealing with two very big things going on in your life as well as all the little things like you've just mentioned about the car MOT and all the other stuff going on?

I think it's that, isn't it? It's just which one do you prioritize and who do you give more time? to and when my dad was first diagnosed and when he was very ill at the same time it all sort of all came at once he got very very ill and almost died like he went down to like six stone my dad it was a weird time and at that point family did come first and work have always been amazing about that and and every wednesday i was getting on the train back from so from london to the midlands and i was going to see my dad and spend i'd spend all wednesday there straight from the show and then i would get back at like, I'd get the train at 7 p.m. I'd be back home for say like 9 o'clock at 10 o'clock at

night. Now that's just not an option. I can't be doing that. First of all, I now do the nursery pickups. So I have to be there to pick up Ruby in the evenings. And so I don't see my dad as much. And because he's actually very deaf as well, I can't even just call him to have those conversations. So I think the hardest thing for me actually has been missing my family. And when you have a kid, and I don't know whether you both agree, you start to really, if you don't live near your parents, you miss them.

And if you are looking at you still have your parents, you just think, oh, my mum, I'd love her just about to pop over. Or I just want to pop in. Or if I went to my mum's, I could just, you know, hand ruby over and I could just sleep on the sofa. And I feel like I miss that so much

because she's not down here. Yeah. What would your advice be to anyone who has had a similar diagnosis in the family? Like, how are you managing to get your head around it? I think you have to not really like mourn the old version of them too much because you can't it's a disease that just progresses which is so cruel and it is horrible and it's really hard and it's actually harder on whoever's the carer whether it's your wife your husband your son

they're the ones that are watching the person they know sort of gradually change I don't like to say disappear because that's just too sad but they just change and you have to get used to the new version of them and you do have to have the patient of a saint because it is frustrating and it's hard and if you're living with it it's especially with Alzheimer's it's a lot of repetition it's a lot of questions it's a lot of well you can end up in a circle of arguments where they're just they're adamant something's happened and it really hasn't and it's whether you it's which battle to pick it's whether you tell them actually no you're wrong here you didn't do that and blah blah blah or whether you let it go and just go

nod along and go yeah that's right yeah you did do that and that is a exhausting because that's my mum now has to think for two and they talk about that happens when you have a baby you know if say your other half isn't isn't sort of pulling their weight that can happen where it's your brain space that's being rented and if you're at capacity and someone else is asking you questions all the time or or you're having to remember to do stuff for them as well it's just too much so I think it's that I think it's realizing that um you've got to actually look after yourself because when you've got someone in the family who has something like dementia, you can put yourself actually last as the carer and then it catches up with you

and then you get ill. And so with my mum, we keep an eye on her more than my dad. Because my dad's kind of blissfully plodding along, but it's my mum that's dealing with the real brunt of it all. Yeah, that sounds like such good advice. And actually really similar to being a parent and looking after ourselves and, you know, because you've got to fill up your own cup, haven't you, to be able to parent well? But finally, Shan, before we let you go, we've got to end on a nosy question. You and Jake are engaged.

Do you have any exciting wedding plans? Will it be a glitzy affair? Will Ruby be a flower girl? Tell us what you're thinking. Oh, guys, the brutal, honest truth is I haven't had a second to even think about a wedding. Like, the thought of it right now is the most stress. It's like a stress I can't deal with.

No, but obviously I would love. love to, I need the brain space to be able to enjoy that question. Like, I want to be able to tell you, do you know what? I've had a bit of time to enjoy looking at venues and themes and all of that stuff. Because I do love a wedding. I'd like to have all my friends there and family. I'd like it to be big. You know, I'd like it to be a proper do. It's cool that Ruby could be there. I love that. And that's something as well, not to stress about, you know, we got engaged and then got pregnant and you can suddenly feel like that's another thing that you've um i don't know almost like let slip or put on the back burner so that's another guilt that kicks in where you go oh am i

neglecting my actual relationship here because the thought of organizing a wedding just isn't on our radar you know we need to we need to upgrade the house for one we've got no space we've got all this plastic stuff and buggies and prams and all the stuff that comes with having a kid so yeah we've got a lot of on our plate but I can't I can't wait till there is a moment in my life for me to just have space to enjoy that thought and actually plan something for myself because I don't I don't think right now I'm doing really anything for myself or my other half we're just sort of surviving it will come I promise you as a parent who's a little bit further down the line you will get those pockets of time I promise you but Sean thank you so much for joining us today it's been so

wonderful to chat to you oh thank you so much for having me me. Don't forget, you can get in touch with us on all social channels. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, just type in Netmoms and you'll find us. And if you liked what you've heard today, we'd love for you to give us a five-star rating. Press the follow button and share the podcast on all your socials.