Bathtime and Beyond: Parenthood Unfiltered is the Smoosh interview series getting into the real day-to-day of raising little ones alongside home, work and everything else that makes up this season of life. For this edition we are chatting with the wonderful Katie O'Malley. Katie is Founder & Host of ALWTG (A Long Way To Go) and previously Digital Director & Broadcaster for Elle, writer for Vogue, The Time & Harper's Bazaar, as well as Content Strategist for Lululemon!

1. For anyone who doesn’t know you yet, how would you introduce who you are and what life looks like at home right now?

I'm Katie O'Malley, a journalist and broadcaster who, until my maternity leave, worked as the Digital Director at ELLE UK. I’ve since gone freelance and now write regularly for Vogue, The Times, and Harper's Bazaar. I've interviewed everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Margot Robbie and love the fact my job enables me to ask the sort of questions most people would dream of asking high profile individuals. 

I'm also the founder of A Long Way To Go (ALWTG), a platform for pregnant and postpartum women's wellbeing and health. Our podcast launched this summer and received a five-star review in The i Paper, which I’m incredibly proud of. We’re currently gearing up to release an exciting social series and weekly newsletter round up the most important news, product releases and research pertaining to this time in a woman’s life (subscribe to receive yours here). 

I live in east London with my husband and our toddler, who's in nursery four days a week. I’m currently in the process of finalising my Lululemon contract, freelancing, growing ALWTG and figuring out what's next. It’s exciting and daunting in equal parts. 

2. Talk us through an ordinary weekday for you?

My husband goes to the gym before I wake up so I’m in charge of getting breakfast ready for my daughter and dropping her off at nursery. After nursery drop off I usually head to a gym class and then work (Monday–Wednesday for Lululemon) from a local coffee shop or at home until pickup at half five. Occasionally, I’ll attend meetings or press events in central London.

As I regularly work from home, it’s easier for me to do nursery pick up and get dinner ready before my husband gets home around six. Once our daughter is bathed and put to bed, we’ll usually sit down on the sofa and watch a TV series. 

My Thursdays are dedicated to writing, either for publications or growing A Long Way To Go, and I have Fridays off work with my daughter. In the last year I’ve hosted numerous mum meet ups for Mums Who Build in my local area on a Friday morning, but usually my daughter and I will hit a coffee shop, go swimming, or do an activity together. 

3. When you think about your brand and your home life side by side, what helps them work well together?

I think they’re starting to complement each other, but it has taken time to find a rhythm. I find I’m spending a lot of time on my phone and laptop at the moment – such is the life of a founder and freelancer! – so I really want to find a better structure around that. 

It helps that I'm genuinely passionate about the work I do and focussing on women's health because of my own pregnancy and postpartum experience. I want to improve the landscape for my daughter when she's older and support other women who, like me, find it wild how we’re expected to navigate motherhood when we’re most sleep-deprived, vulnerable and in need of help. I write openly about motherhood to encourage other women to be honest too – the more myriad versions of motherhood we see and hear, the better. 

My current freelance setup is incredibly important to me: having Fridays off with my daughter and Thursdays dedicated for writing and growing ALWTG keeps me sane and energised. I regularly debate going back in-house full-time, but I’m enjoying my flexibility with the life stage I’m currently navigating. 

4. Has becoming a parent changed what you’re drawn to creatively, or the kind of work you enjoy?

Completely. It’s such a privilege to work with so many women, whether it’s amplifying their brands and communities, or being responsible with their personal stories and crafting them into articles that are shared with the world. 

For a long time I worried that motherhood might hinder my ambition or productivity, but if anything it has made me sharper. Of course, some days I feel like I’m nailing work, other days I feel like I’m flailing, but having fewer hours to work makes me more focused. I'm still figuring it all out, but I think the time constraints are increasingly improving how I create. There’s no time for perfection right now, only output and hoping for the best! 

5. Is there anything in your current routine that really works for you, a habit, boundary or setup you’re quietly proud of?

I learned early on in motherhood that rigid routines don't work and my daughter’s needs and routines will change, as much as mine and my husbands’ will. What matters is adapting as needed. 

But the real win is setting boundaries: with others and, honestly, with myself. I put everything in my calendar like it's a work meeting, gym time, getting my nails done, seeing friends, downtime, writing etc. Because time to yourself isn't a luxury when you're a mum; it's essential. You have to respect your own time first. 

It’s also important to emphasise that learning how to set boundaries doesn’t come naturally and it’s something you need to practise over time. It’s a muscle I’m continually learning to flex. 

6. And to end on our favourite part: once bathtime’s done and the house is (sort of) quiet, what does “beyond bathtime” usually look like for you?

After spending a lot of time on my own during the day, I don’t particularly want to be on my own and have a bubble bath or read in bed. Rather, I cherish the time I have with my husband when we sit down with a film or TV show or window shop online for furniture we need for the house.

When our daughter goes to bed, I find we slip into the usual routine of cleaning up after dinner, putting a wash on and prepping our bags for the next day quite well now. It only took 18 months, but we got there! 

When our daughter was a baby, we rarely felt we could decompress together as she was a terrible sleeper and we didn’t have the luxury of mentally switching off as she’d often wake up at a moment’s notice. So, now that she’s sleeping through the night, we don’t take for granted how lucky we are to have this time together every day.

Once we're in bed, we often go down a YouTube rabbit hole- food tours around the world, wilderness camping videos. Pure escapism.