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Find Olga here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olga-shapkina-a6425444/

In this episode of TimeFree, Michelle speaks with Olga about motherhood, ambition, corporate burnout, entrepreneurship, moving to Spain and building a life and business around energy, freedom and family.

Olga shares her journey from living in Luxembourg for 25 years, completing a master’s degree in finance and working at KPMG, to stepping away from the corporate world and eventually moving to Alicante, Spain with her family. She speaks honestly about the reality of trying to build a career while raising children, studying with a newborn, working long corporate hours and realising that a prestigious job was not the same as a fulfilling life.

This conversation explores the pressure many professional mothers feel to keep pushing through exhaustion, even when the lifestyle no longer works. Olga explains how early motherhood, sleepless nights, university, business ownership and corporate expectations shaped her understanding of work, ambition and family.

Michelle and Olga discuss why the traditional corporate model can look attractive from the outside but feel impossible for mothers who want to be present. Olga describes the reality of working in a large professional services firm, where the perks are designed to keep people in the office, and why she knew that was not the life she wanted.

Olga also shares her entrepreneurial journey, including launching a children’s clothing shop, trying an online food and product business, moving into real estate in Alicante and later creating a HealthTech startup designed to connect expats, patients, doctors, clinics and insurance companies through one secure digital platform.

Her current startup is focused on making healthcare easier for people moving between countries, including access to medical records, translation of documents, insurance approvals, clinic appointments and doctor-patient communication.

This episode is especially relevant for mothers, founders, expats, women in startups, professional women, career changers and anyone who has wondered whether success is worth it if it costs your health, energy and family life.

Michelle and Olga explore what it really means to choose yourself after years of caring for everyone else. Olga explains why “self-care” is not always a massage or manicure, and why sometimes what a woman needs is a bigger life change: more sun, more purpose, more space, more creativity and more control over her time.

They also talk about moving from Luxembourg to Alicante, the importance of listening to your own dreams, balancing motherhood with startup life, working weekends when the work gives you energy, and why women need to be clear about what they want.

Olga’s definition of time freedom is about doing work you are passionate about while still having time and energy for your family. She also shares why her best strategic ideas come not under pressure, but in quiet moments when she has space to think.

Topics include motherhood and ambition, corporate burnout, leaving KPMG, finance careers, women in startups, HealthTech, expat healthcare, moving to Spain, Alicante life, Luxembourg to Spain, entrepreneurship after motherhood, real estate, startup founders, mothers in business, working mothers, work-life balance, flexible work, women founders, time freedom, midlife change, self-care, family life, strategic thinking and building a life on your own terms.

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Find Vanessa here: https://vminternationallawyers.co.uk/fundadora-2/

This is Part 1 of Michelle’s conversation with Vanessa Moura on TimeFree.

In this powerful episode, Vanessa shares her extraordinary journey from becoming a mother at just 15 in Brazil to becoming an international lawyer, legal consultant, founder and mentor for lawyers building careers across borders.

Vanessa’s story is about motherhood, ambition, migration, resilience and choosing a bigger life, even when the odds are against you. She speaks honestly about becoming a teenage mother, growing up quickly, studying law while raising her daughter, leaving toxic relationships and fighting for financial independence.

Michelle and Vanessa explore how motherhood can become a source of strength, clarity and purpose. For Vanessa, having her daughter so young forced her to become responsible, determined and focused on creating a better future. She continued her education, qualified as a lawyer in Brazil and later rebuilt her life and career in Europe.

This episode also follows Vanessa’s move from a small town in Brazil to a bigger city, where she worked as a junior lawyer during the day and drove for Uber at night to support herself and her daughter. She shares the feeling that she was meant for more, and how that desire for freedom eventually led her to London.

Vanessa talks about travelling alone through Europe, learning English, couch surfing, facing risk as a Latin woman abroad and writing the journal that later became her book, Unseen. She reflects on depression, identity, separation from her daughter and the need to discover who she was beyond motherhood, relationships and family expectations.

Michelle and Vanessa also discuss immigration, starting again in a new country, working as a nanny, cleaner, waitress and hostess, qualifying as a lawyer in Portugal and navigating the challenges of being a Brazilian woman building a professional life in the UK.

A key turning point comes when an immigration officer tells Vanessa: “If you are a lawyer, you are a lawyer anywhere.” That moment helped Vanessa reclaim her professional identity and begin building her legal consultancy, online presence and mentoring work for other internationally qualified lawyers.

This episode is for TimeFree listeners who are thinking about career change, starting again, building financial independence, moving countries, leaving survival mode or creating work that fits around the life they actually want.

It is especially relevant for mothers, single mothers, young mothers, migrant women, lawyers, legal consultants, founders, freelancers, professional women, career changers and anyone who has had to rebuild their confidence, identity and income from the ground up.

Topics include teenage motherhood, motherhood and ambition, becoming a mother young, studying law as a mother, single motherhood, women in law, international lawyers, Brazilian lawyers abroad, moving to London, migration, immigration, legal consultancy, financial independence, career change, starting over, toxic relationships, rebuilding confidence, depression, resilience, self-employment, women founders and creating a life on your own terms.

This is Part 1 of Vanessa’s story. Part 2 to follow.

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Find Nicola here: https://nicolasemple.com/

In this episode of TimeFree, Michelle speaks with Nicola Semple, career coach, leadership coach, author and host of The Career Confidence Podcast, about motherhood, identity, career change, confidence, flexible work and building a life-first career.

Nicola shares her journey from a successful corporate career in business change consulting, including starting on the Accenture graduate scheme and working in professional services, to leaving corporate life after becoming a mother and creating a self-employed career that eventually evolved into career coaching and leadership coaching.

After the birth of her first child, Nicola realised that returning to a demanding corporate role involving extensive European travel would not work for her family.

This conversation explores the reality many professional mothers face after maternity leave: the loss of identity, the pressure to return to work, the financial impact of stepping away from a corporate salary, the challenge of building a business in small pockets of time and the emotional complexity of wanting ambition, income and purpose while also wanting presence, flexibility and time freedom.

Nicola talks about the early years of motherhood and how she built Life After Maternity Leave, a business supporting mothers deciding whether to return to work, stay at home or create something more flexible around their families. She also shares how that work evolved into the Mum’s Business Academy, small business support, coach training and eventually career coaching during COVID, when many professionals began questioning whether their careers still fitted the lives they wanted.

Michelle and Nicola discuss mum guilt, career guilt, confidence, self-doubt, comparison, depression, fear of judgement and the importance of giving yourself permission to evolve. Nicola explains why confidence is not something you magically receive, but something you build by deciding what you want, taking action, learning from what works and continuing even when it feels uncomfortable.

They also explore what time freedom really means. It is not only about coffee dates, long lunches or school pick-ups. It is also about being able to support elderly parents, manage family responsibilities, attend exercise classes, work around teenagers’ schedules and continue earning while life changes.

Nicola shares practical insight on how to make intentional career decisions, stop wasting energy on guilt, use the “would you rather?” question to understand your real priorities and take a life-first approach to your diary.

This episode is for working mothers, professional women, founders, freelancers, coaches, consultants, career changers and anyone feeling stuck between ambition, motherhood, money, identity and the desire for more freedom.

Topics include motherhood and identity, life after maternity leave, leaving corporate life, returning to work after children, flexible working for mothers, career confidence, leadership coaching, self-employment, portfolio careers, mum guilt, financial freedom, work-life balance, building a business around family, redefining success and choosing presence over traditional success.

Nicola’s message is clear: you are allowed to evolve. What you want will change. Your circumstances will change. Your work can change too. You do not have to stay trapped in a version of success that no longer fits your life.

TimeFree is a podcast about motherhood, money, work, identity, flexibility, financial freedom and building a life where your time is your own.