Stop Undervaluing Yourself: Money, Motherhood & the Myth of Having It All — with Alison Humphries

It's Got Pockets

Host: Sarah Knight
Guest: Alison Humphries — Award-winning NED, strategic advisor, truth-teller and woman who’s been there, built that, and still shows up with receipts.

In this episode, I sat down with Alison Humphries — and let me tell you, this woman came ready with 30+ years of hard-won wisdom, boardroom lessons, and real-life grit.

She’s grown a £100 million business, sold it, raised four kids, survived the era where women were told you can have it all — but only if you act like a man — and still has the fire to tell it straight.

We talked about:

• 💼 What it really takes to run a business while raising a family (spoiler: it’s not balance, it’s boundaries and blunt truth)
• 👩‍⚖️ Why she hid being a mum in the workplace — and how far we’ve come (but not far enough)
• 💣 The cost of “doing it all” and how that lie nearly burned out a generation of women
• 💰 The moment she stopped playing small, doubled her rates, and changed the game
• 📈 Building a business today vs. 20 years ago — and what she’d do differently from day one
• 🧠 The policy shifts that changed the game for working women — and why we need to stay loud
• 🔥 Why being good isn’t enough if you’re not valuing yourself accordingly

There’s no fluff in this one. It’s honest. It’s raw. And it’s a reminder to every woman listening that your value doesn’t need to be justified — it needs to be owned.

And when Alison dropped her six-word memoir at the end? I got goosebumps:
“Always keep learning. Change is constant.”

This one’s for you if:
You’ve ever felt like you’re running a business, a family, a household, and your sanity — and still asking yourself, Am I doing enough?

Let me say it clearly: You are. But if you’re not backing yourself properly, you’ll burn out before you break through.

So pull up a chair. We’re getting into it.

Links & Resources:
👉 Connect with Alison: LinkedIn – Alison Humphries
👉 More about Recruitment Leadership: recruitmentleadership.co.uk

Loved the episode?
And if it hit home — I'd bloody love you to leave a review, share it, send it to that friend who’s doing it all and forgetting herself in the process.

🎧 This is how women find their fire, find her, and keep her.

Sarah is the founder of FoundHer Fire—a membership space for experienced women in business who know real success isn’t just about strategy, it’s about self; a place, a space, a community where women find their fire, for women who aren't done yet and who are ready to write their own rules of success. Sarah also co-founded The Plot Twist (un)Awards, celebrating female founders and women smashing through glass ceilings with purpose, passion and joy.

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