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Home > Advice + Planning > Personal Posts

The Ultimate Balancing Act: Motherhood and Work

08/03/2018 by Karen

Juggling-Motherhood-with-Business
My two worlds — image by John Nassari

Today is International Women’s Day and it seems the perfect moment to write a personal post that I’ve been wanting to compose for a very long time:

One of my favourite vendors here at Smashing The Glass is the photographer John Nassari. He has taken some of the most beautiful wedding photographs I’ve ever seen but he has other strings to his photography bow. His latest project is ‘Alters’, a series of images which, with some clever editing, explores different aspects of an individual’s personality.

When John asked me if I would be willing to sit for him I was delighted but I couldn’t think what my alter ego might be or how my personality might be split. And then I realised that as a working mother, I exist almost all the time in two separate headspaces, always navigating two different worlds, divided between my family and business.

This is what John captured in his portrait. Here I am, on one hand a businesswoman: smartly dressed, high heels, make up, ready to take on the world with my independence and ideas. On the other hand, I’m a mother: dressed for practicalities, juggling the demands of two small people who are completely dependent on me.

But John’s captured something else.

Work Me is facing towards Family Me and smiling, while, simultaneously, my body is turned away from them, angled towards the window and the world outside. It’s like I’m in constant conflict with myself, twisting in every direction to keep all the plates spinning at once.

I began my business on maternity leave, a way of keeping my brain ticking while I was looking after a baby and I developed it to fit around family life. I wanted the two aspects of my life to sit happily alongside each other but, in reality, it is so easy to get sucked into one thing or the other. The trick is juggling the two.

Today is International Women’s Day and right now is an interesting time to be a woman: the Harvey Weinstein scandal, ♯Me Too, ♯Time’s Up, equal pay discussions at the BBC, the centenary of (some) women winning the right to vote. This is a big moment for the possibility of gender equality, a time of evaluation and change. And yet, I can’t help thinking the concept of juggling childcare and work is still mainly an issue for women rather more than it is for men.

My husband is a brilliant hands-on dad but does he consider himself to be juggling the different parts of his life? I’m not so sure. When men choose a job or a career, how often do they consider whether it will fit in around family life? How many choose to work from home or part-time so that they can pick the kids up from school, or stay with them when they’re sick, or just spend some time with them each day?

I’m not saying men don’t do all these things. I’m just wondering how many factor it into their life choices. Here at Smashing The Glass we speak to lots of couples who think really hard about gender equality in their marriage ceremony, tinker with the traditions of our very own patriarchal religion to bring the proceedings up to date. But I wonder how many of us take that sensibility through to what, for many, is the next rite of passage — having children.

The truth is, I’m not two separate people. I am not Family Me and Work Me. I’m not the sum of two elements but many. And those elements are mixed up and blurred and fuzzy at the edges. The most challenging aspect of juggling motherhood and work is actually the lack of separation between the two.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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Our Favorite Jewish Weddings…. on our Instagram Stories!

26/12/2017 by Karen

Best Jewish Weddings
Happy Holidays, lovelies! Just a quick note to say we’ll be taking a blogging break from Smashing The Glass until January 1st 2018 (and my goodness have we got an exciting post for you to come back to on the 1st… we’ll go as far as saying it’s the most exciting post we’ve ever published on Smashing The Glass so mark your diaries to log on!)

In the meantime, for your real Jewish wedding fix, scroll through the archives, or follow us on Instagram where we are rounding up our favorite Jewish weddings ever blogged on our Insta-Stories.

Truly can’t wait to see you on the other side!

 

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We’re celebrating our 4th birthday with a chic rebrand and a fun Facebook Live tonight!

21/06/2017 by Karen Cinnamon

Smashing-The-Glass
Notice anything different about us today? Oh, only everything! That’s right, we’ve treated ourselves to a gorgeous rebrand, courtesy of the internationally renowned USA Design Studio Branch, who designed our beautiful new look.

Our old logo was designed by me, way back in 2013 when STG was in its infancy. It’s served us beautifully, but now that we’re four, and all grown up, we felt it was time for a sophisticated rebrand, a whole new aesthetic that reflects the fact that we are the biggest Jewish wedding blog in the world.


Take a look at us now

We’ve come a long way since 2013. Back then, it was just me, with a laptop and a very big dream. We have now grown into a fantastic team of five:

We have gorgeous Maria, our amazing editorial assistant; ever-delightful Claire, our much-loved client relations manager; effervescent Sara, our fantastic features writer, and wonderful Megan; our very talented social media manager. And, of course, there’s me, Karen, the founder and editor.

While I will always be at the helm, and at the heart of STG, steering its direction, the brand has evolved way beyond just me, and I’m so happy and proud that we are all able to share in the day-to-day excitement of what we do.

Our social media channels have also been given a sprucing, you can check them out below (and if you haven’t already – what are you waiting for?) 

Instagram | Facebook| Pinterest | TwitterContinue ReadingContinue Reading

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Smashing The Glass interviewed in this week’s Jewish Chronicle

16/12/2016 by Karen

karen-cinnamon-jewish-chronicle
Thank you to the Jewish Chronicle (the UK’s national Jewish newspaper) for interviewing me in this week’s edition. The piece talks about how and why I started Smashing The Glass, my journey with the blog over the last 3.5 years, my consultancy sessions, and of course a little bit about my own Jewish wedding back in 2013.

It’s a lovely way to end the week. Click here to read it (and click the image to enlarge it if you need to!).

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

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Smashing The Glass live on the BBC for BBC World News

27/11/2016 by Karen

What a week… It was one that started like any other but ended with an unexpected TV appearance live on BBC World News!

On Wednesday afternoon, I received a call from a BBC journalist. They were going to cover a remarkable story and they wanted me to comment on it live on the Global with Matthew Amroliwala show at BBC Broadcasting House in the heart of Central London.

BBC World News is the BBC’s international news and current affairs TV channel and, according to the producer, has the largest audience of any BBC channel, with an estimated 100 million weekly viewers. Gulp — no pressure, right?

But I don’t believe in hesitating when life throws you an amazing opportunity. My philosophy is: jump — you might swim! Regardless of any nerves, I had no doubt that it would be the experience of a lifetime. This is what I love about being a blogger: a job that demands you keep your finger on the pulse of your industry means that anything can happen at any time, a story, an opportunity, a news item, and you have to be able to react at lightning speed.

Less than 24 hours later, I found myself being whisked to BBC HQ. I spent two minutes with the producer, then briefly into make up and straight into the studio. I was mic-ed up, introduced to my fellow panelists, shown my place on the round table by the floor manager, and straight onto air!

It was such a unique insight into the world of live news production. There was no rehearsal, no introductory meeting to the delightful presenter (Matthew Amroliwala), no idea what questions would be put to us (other than what was discussed in general over the phone with the journalist the day before), no chance to rehearse our answers or have an idea of how we might perform… we were entered in the studio and LIVE ON AIR!

Exhilarating is the word and it really was the most thrilling ‘pinch me’ feeling speaking live at the Headquarters of the BBC, the largest broadcaster in the world. I jumped — and I found that I was able to swim.

You can watch my interview via the Youtube Video at the top of this post. It’s an engaging discussion between me, Zaki Wahhaj and Brienna Perelli-Harris (who between the three of us, represent three continents across the globe). We each gave our take on how attitudes towards marriage are changing across the world.

So back to the remarkable story that prompted our panel discussion. BBC World TV News run a series called 100 women where they explore the lives of empowering and interesting women across the world. As part of this, they were running the story on a young woman from Pakistan who has chosen to defy her family expectations of arranged marriage to pursue her career goals. Naema really is an exceptional woman, and I urge you to watch her short film, which preceded our discussion.

The lesbian Jewish-Hindu wedding that I  mention in the interview is Yana & Archita’s Jewish Hindu wedding that I lovingly blogged last year. More details about the Indian reader writing to me, that I was truly touched by, can be found here.

It was such a fascinating topic, and I was honoured to have taken part in the discussion. It was a wonderful moment in Smashing the Glass history and a thrilling life experience that I will cherish forever.

Today BBC live news; tomorrow, the world!

hindu-lesbian-same-sex-wedding
Yana & Archita’s same sex mixed faith wedding lovingly blogged on Smashing The Glass

 

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