Jessy Marshall calls her PR company, Hive, her ‘first baby’ (Picture: Supplied)
The night before she had her son, Leo, via scheduled C-section, Jessy Marshall was up until 2am working.
‘There was a business pitch I needed to get done,’ the 35-year- old tells Metro.co.uk. ‘In the week running up to the birth I also attended three work events and once he was born I went straight back to work.’
Despite some critics questioning why she wasn’t prioritising her son over work, Jessy, who lives in Sydney, Australia, stands firm on her decision not to take any maternity leave when her son was born in March this year.
‘Unless my obstetrician was going to say that I needed to stay home from a health perspective – I was feeling fine to continue, so I would and did,’ she says.
She and her husband Michael, 39, had been trying to conceive for two years before they had Leo, with ‘a few losses’ on their journey before they welcomed Leo into their lives.
She and husband Michael welcomed baby Leo in March (Picture: Supplied)
Throughout her pregnancy, people continuously asked her about when she was going to slow down and how long she’d be on maternity leave – questions Jessy struggled to answer.
‘I didn’t have a plan,’ she explains. ‘The only time I had taken any time off in five years was to go to Europe last year and even then, I was somewhat available. As a business owner, it is incredibly hard to “switch off” or step away.’
In fact, Jessy even calls her PR company business her ‘first baby’, after starting it from scratch in 2018.
Prior to that, she had hopped between a number of different roles, from beauty therapist to community college teacher. But when Jessy created her own agency, Hive, in her late 20s, she became ‘obsessed’ with her job.
The 35-year-old worked right up until her son was born (Picture: Supplied)
In order to support her team and continue to help the agency grow, she felt she ‘needed to be available, working both on and in the business.’ Even when she discovered she was pregnant with Leo.
There was a sense of ‘judgement’ from some people, and while Jessy tried not to let get detractors get to her, she says some women might feel ‘overwhelmed and guilty’ by the implication they’re not doing the right thing for their baby.
But alongside the commitment to her company, it was a conscious choice to continue in the career she loved alongside motherhood, in an effort to be a role model for Leo.
‘Teaching hard work and passion is important,’ she says. ‘Being an example to your child is important.’
Micheal’s support was a big help (Picture: Supplied)
Jessy spent five days in hospital after the caesarean, working from the hospitalbefore spending the following six weeks running her business from home.
During this first week with Leo, Hive started discussions with Australia’s women’s football team, the Matildas, about them starring in a skincare campaign.
‘It was an unbelievably rare opportunity and a pinch me …read more
Source:: Metro
