Aug 28, 2026 · 51 min · 9 segments
In this episode, I’m joined by Julie Christie-Clark, designer and founder of The Honest Designer Diaries podcast to talk all about her experience throughout her career as a designer. She shares…
Julie Christie-ClarkGuestRobinHost
I could no longer stay in an agency environment because at that time, my daughter was born 2004, and, um, it was minimum, um, maternity leave, which I think at the time was 12 weeks, but I'd actually went six weeks into my maternity leave be- before she came because she was overdue and stuff like that, so technically I was meant to go back to work when she was like six weeks old.
Oh my goodness.
But I ended up going back I think when she was like, um, four months old, um, part-time, and my mom and dad helped look after her and she went to nursery one day.
Um, so although my boss was accommodating and let me go back part-time, the distance of travel and how if you get caught in the traffic jams and accidents and things, I could sometimes be an hour and a half, two hours one way, like there, and then went back for bath time and things.
But I knew the culture of agencies at that time was they didn't really want to have working mums, put it that way.
Yeah
they needed you in the office 9:00 to 5:00, and often you had to be available to work late.
If a client needed something at 4:00 in the afternoon and they need it for a deadline next day, then you're expected to just work on and do it.
Um, there wasn't as much rights back then for working mums and things.
Um, so I actually left and tried to set up my own business for a while, um, to kind of get around that.
Yeah
I could no longer stay in an agency environment because at that time, my daughter was born 2004, and, um, it was minimum, um, maternity leave, which I think at the time was 12 weeks, but I'd actually went six weeks into my maternity leave be- before she came because she was overdue and stuff like that, so technically I was meant to go back to work when she was like six weeks old.
Oh my goodness.
But I ended up going back I think when she was like, um, four months old, um, part-time, and my mom and dad helped look after her and she went to nursery one day.
Um, so although my boss was accommodating and let me go back part-time, the distance of travel and how if you get caught in the traffic jams and accidents and things, I could sometimes be an hour and a half, two hours one way, like there, and then went back for bath time and things.
But I knew the culture of agencies at that time was they didn't really want to have working mums, put it that way.
Yeah
they needed you in the office 9:00 to 5:00, and often you had to be available to work late.
If a client needed something at 4:00 in the afternoon and they need it for a deadline next day, then you're expected to just work on and do it.
Um, there wasn't as much rights back then for working mums and things.
Um, so I actually left and tried to set up my own business for a while, um, to kind of get around that.
Yeah
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