Karen Hedges is on a mission to change the way we support mothers returning to work. Drawing on her background in HR and her own experience of navigating life after maternity leave, she now works as a maternity coach and HR consultant, supporting women to rebuild their confidence, redefine their careers and step back into the workplace with clarity. She guides women through 1:1 coaching and self-led workbooks, as well as partnering with organisations that want to provide coaching for their maternity returners. In this interview, Karen shares the inspiration behind her business, the realities of balancing work and family, and why better support for working parents benefits everyone.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
When we’re expecting a baby and navigating those early months, there is a wealth of support available, and we’re actively encouraged to access it.
But when it comes to returning to work after maternity leave, the support disappears. I remember being surprised by how little guidance there was for such a significant transition and how little it is talked about.
We aren’t the same people we were before becoming parents. We’re stepping into a new chapter of life that continues to evolve as our children grow, yet many workplaces still expect us to return exactly as we were before.
I’m passionate about bridging that gap by supporting mothers to navigate the transition back to work with confidence and clarity.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I trained as a coach in 2020 and became a parent in 2022. My own experience of returning to work highlighted how little structured support existed for mothers during this transition.
In 2024, while still working in a corporate HR role, I began coaching women who were preparing to return from maternity leave.
Making the leap to set up independently felt like the natural next step, because I wanted the freedom to focus entirely on this work, rather than fitting it around a corporate role. Today I work as an HR consultant and maternity coach, supporting women through 1:1 coaching and self-led workbooks, as well as partnering with organisations that want to provide coaching for their maternity returners.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough for me was realising that what I experienced when returning to work wasn’t just my own struggle.
As I started speaking to other women and coaching mothers preparing to return from maternity leave, I heard the same themes again and again: a loss of confidence, uncertainty about career direction and the challenge of balancing work with a completely new identity as a parent. That was when it became clear that this wasn’t simply an individual issue; it was a widely shared experience that wasn’t being talked about enough.
My background in HR gave me another perspective as well. I could see how workplaces often focus on the practical logistics of maternity leave but overlook the personal and professional transition women are going through.
Bringing those two perspectives together helped me realise that there was a real opportunity to create better support for mothers navigating this stage of their careers.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I think that finding the right balance is an ongoing process rather than something you solve once. There are times when the business needs more of my attention and others when family has to come first, and I’ve learned to be at peace with that.
One of the benefits of being self-employed is the flexibility to manage my time in a way that works for our family. I currently have childcare during the week and my child hasn’t started school yet, which gives me a little more structure.
I know that how I work will evolve again when school starts. I think one of the realities of parenthood is that our lives and careers adapt continuously alongside our children, and the key is building enough flexibility to move with it.
