Don’t panic, and remember that communication is key. Every parent is placed under a different set of physical and mental demands – whether that be sleep deprivation or the need to coordinate schedules with a partner or carer.

It is likely that your colleagues are either also parents or have experience with parenting through other people close to them. If your work life needs to adjust to make way for the demands of parenting, I would encourage you to identify the challenges, think of workable solutions, and speak to those you work with to execute those solutions.

I always prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt, hoping that my challenges will be met with empathy and understanding. If not, then perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate those you give your energies to.

I moved from being a workaholic with an extraordinarily busy schedule to finding my zen space by setting boundaries around my work and personal life.

Ultimately, it was an intervention from the mother of my children that influenced the change. She opened my eyes to the fact that I was not superhuman.

It can be really tough to take advice from your partner when it comes to one’s relationship with their work, especially when your partner doesn’t work in the music industry, and the music industry is notorious for its unconventional working practices. But, for me at least, it paid to finally listen.

The realisation post a global pandemic that we can be effective operators remotely and not have to be everywhere, doing everything, all at once.

It is also very encouraging to see that we are all talking about the physical and mental challenges placed upon all of us in this industry and that we can talk openly about how to improve our working practices and relationships with each other and ourselves.

So much has improved over the last decade, given the significant and prioritised focus on gender equality and diversity within our industry.

However, I do believe that it remains essential to be mindful of the silent ways in which marginalised communities deal with their challenges, and it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure their voices are heard.

It is natural for any leader to feel anxious and intimidated by the scale of these issues, but please remember that great change happens one human at a time.

I am privileged to sit on the boards of both the UK’s Music Managers Forum and the European Music Managers Alliance. I can see firsthand how the openness of dialogue around personal welfare significantly impacts our levels of understanding and depths of empathy for one another.

Creating environments where communication on these topics are welcome is key - the more we speak up, the stronger we become. It is akin to industry-wide group therapy and a testament to this extraordinarily diverse collection of human beings that we can be so forward-thinking in our approach to our community.

Don’t miss saying hello to the person standing next to you!