Hello, I'm Sophia Lusbexter and welcome to Spinning Plates, the podcast where I speak to busy working women who also happen to be mothers about how they make it work.

I'm a singer and I've released seven albums in between having my five sons aged 16 months to 16 years, so I spin a few plates myself.

Being a mother can be the most amazing thing, it can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions.

I want to be a bit nosy and see how other people balance everything.

Welcome to spinning plates.

Hello, I speak to you from just outside Westfield. I know, it's all glamour. I'm about to meet my 13-year-old.

He's on half-term and he needs new football boots. Yeah, it gets sexier, doesn't it, this chat?

I've tried buying them online by keep getting it wrong and having to

return them and he needs them for school. So we've come here, he's going to meet me in a minute.

I thought, I know what I can do. It's past the time. I can talk to you. How have you been,

what have I been up to this week? Actually, you know what? This week has been pretty extraordinary. I've had very little work this week and I've flipping loved it. Oh my gosh. I've actually been managing to get on with some other bits and bobs. I've been like a lady who lunches this week. I've just come from a lunch with a very good friend of mine, Nikki Palmer, who often works for me doing my hair and makeup,

but she's also a friend. So we just met for lunch. That was nice. I went yesterday out with my

mum to a little tea party for actually a previous guest's clothing company, O Pioneers, Clara,

who I spoke to, oh, when was that?

Probably the third or fourth series.

So her shops doing really well.

Her business is three years old.

So well done to her for doing that through the pandemic.

Very impressive, beautiful dresses as it happens.

What else have I done?

Oh, I went to another lunch on Tuesday for another very clever friend of mine called Ella, who has a clothing company called Yoke.

So we had a lunch to celebrate that.

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