The Stay-at-Home-Baby Who Launched Gemma Alster’s Creative Reinvention
In this episode of Mom to MORE®, Sharon Macey welcomes Gemma Alster, a British content creator who never planned to become an influencer but has built a thriving career through humor and motherhood. What began as lighthearted videos of her toddler during lockdown, which unexpectedly went viral, turned into the hysterical Stay-at-Home-Baby series and opened the door to an exciting and creative new chapter.
Gemma shares how lockdown motherhood shaped her creativity, how narrating everyday toddler moments resonated with parents worldwide, and how viral success led her to make intentional choices around privacy, boundaries, and building a brand rooted in her own voice. Now a mother of two, she reflects on balancing family life with a fast growing creator career.
Tune in for an honest conversation about modern motherhood, reinvention, and navigating growth without losing what matters most.
[00:00] Introduction
[02:00] Lockdown motherhood and the decision to stay home
[04:55] The idea behind the Stay-at-Home-Baby videos
[06:20] Posting for fun and waking up to unexpected virality
[08:19] Leaving a traditional job and taking a creative leap
[10:13] Navigating visibility and protecting her child’s privacy
[12:07] Pivoting content to focus on her own identity
[18:06] Balancing motherhood, marriage, and a growing career
[26:04] The importance of support systems and asking for help
[29:41] The hidden resume of motherhood and transferable skills
[32:52] Humor, influence, and seeing motherhood through a child’s eyes
[35:46] Building something of her own beyond social media
Meet my guest, Gemma Alster:
Instagram: @gemmaalster
TikTok: @gemmaalster
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Keep an eye out for episode #57 of the Mom to MORE® podcast where Sharon is joined by Liz Lange, Founder of Liz Lange Maternity who revolutionized maternity wear. Coming soon - you won’t want to miss it ♥
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Sharon Macey (01:07)
Welcome back to a new episode of Mom to More. Well, today's guest is from across the pond. So if you hear me saying mummy instead of mom, you'll know why. Gemma Alster is a British content creator who stumbled into influencer life in the most
unexpected way. What started as a few innocent lighthearted videos of her toddler Gigi, complete with sass, accessories, and very big personality, quickly became the beloved Stay at Home Baby series. Narrating as if Gigi were telling the story herself, Gemma captured the comedy of everyday toddler life in a way that resonated with parents everywhere. Now, of course, a stay at home baby also requires a stay at home mom.
As Gigi grew, Gemma's content naturally evolved into Day in the Life of a Stay at Home Mom, where her sharp humor and candid take on motherhood continued to connect with audiences. Now, a mother of two who shares her adventures in parenting fashion, beauty and lifestyle with a loyal and rather large following. Along the way, she has partnered with brands like Nivea, Ray-Ban and Elemis, all while keeping her signature mix of honesty and comedy at the heart of everything she creates.
Gemma, I am so thrilled you are with me today. Welcome.
Gemma Alster (02:23)
Me
too! Thank you for having me, this is so fun!
Sharon Macey (02:27)
and we will point out that you are in your closet, which I think is so mom and so fabulous. So right. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (02:32)
I am in my closet.
it is so mum, ⁓ mum not mom. I've just put the kids to bed. My husband is cooking downstairs and he wants to watch TV after. So I am up here hiding away in my closet. really have, but do know what I like being in here? I'm like surrounded by my clothes, my makeup, you know, all the things that I really like. And I'm chilled in here and it's quiet. So that's good. And I won't wake anyone up.
Sharon Macey (02:42)
Even relegate it to the closet. Yeah. Love it. Yeah.
Cool, all right, so we're gonna have a really
awesome, fun, chill conversation. Okay, before we dive into your journey, I always have what I call my essential mom question. And we know you have two kids, so where are you raising them?
Gemma Alster (02:56)
Yes, yes.
I'm raising them in London, England.
Sharon Macey (03:07)
One of my favorite cities, we love it there. So yeah, why was it important to you to be a stay at home mom? Especially,
Gemma Alster (03:10)
We do love it.
Sharon Macey (03:16)
you shared with me that Gigi had some early health issues when she was quite young.
Gemma Alster (03:20)
my mum is a stay at home mum, always has been, since the moment she had me. She always jokes that she left her job the second she got
those two lines on the pregnancy test and she never ever went back.
Sharon Macey (03:29)
The pink line.
Gemma Alster (03:32)
my mum is an amazing mum. She is so supportive, she's so present. And I knew that I wanted to be that kind of mum as well. And I...
became a stay at home mom when I had Gigi, I left my job, I went on maternity leave. I didn't think I was going to go back. I did end up going back because I had to, obviously financial reasons, and then we'll speak about this later, but I kind of fell into this world. And it allowed me to kind of be a stay at home mom like I always wanted to be, but also earning the money that I also always wanted to do. And I know that's kind of
paradoxical because I wanted to be the stay at home mum but I also wanted to earn my own money but it allowed my job now allows me to kind of be both.
Sharon Macey (04:18)
Yeah.
call you sort of like an intentional hybrid mom. You're not a full-time working mom, but you're not a full-time stay at home mom either. And we are totally going to dive into that. So you had a lockdown baby, right?
Gemma Alster (04:30)
I found out I was pregnant on the 20th of February, 2020. And lockdown came along March the 13th, something like that. So literally two weeks later, we were in lockdown. And I just remember listening to Boris Johnson, our prime minister at the time, coming on TV and saying, the most vulnerable are the elderly and pregnant women. And I just was like.
Sharon Macey (04:34)
right before the world shut down.
Gemma Alster (04:53)
Oh my God, what are we gonna do? Am I gonna be okay? Is my baby gonna be okay? So it was a very weird, very stressful Obviously she was born, thank goodness, all okay. And yeah, I had a baby in lockdown. We didn't really go anywhere until she was about eight months old. It was crazy.
Sharon Macey (04:55)
Yeah.
⁓ that's
a long time.
then feed into the stay at home baby? Because when
first started filming Gigi's antics, she was a older, okay. And it was super late hearted and fun for friends. Where'd you get the idea from? Or are you just like a naturally funny girl?
Gemma Alster (05:22)
she was older.
Yes.
Do know what? If you asked my sister, if my sister was here right now, she would say, you were never funny. You are not, you were not an inherently funny person, but actually online you are funny.
my oldest friends in my family would never describe me as like the funny girl. But I kind of have gone into this kind of comedic world-ish, I guess, creating these videos that people think are really funny. the idea came along, she was about,
maybe about 18 months old, she was full of personality. She had this, still does, had this crazy attitude. She was always, I know this sounds funny to talk about an 18 month old like this, but she was always like a grown up. She was always my little adult. So she didn't look or seem or feel like a toddler. So the things that she was doing and the things that she was saying, and she was, I know I sound like such a mum, but she is very clever. And the things that she would come out with at 18 months old, adults would just go,
Like, where does that come from?
Sharon Macey (06:31)
Where's that coming from? Well, no, as they say,
like out of the mouths of babes, right? Yeah.
Gemma Alster (06:36)
literally out of the mouth of bits.
Exactly, that's what my mum always used to say and it's completely true. the way that she was behaving, it
just funny and everyone always found her very funny. And I had this idea and I said it to my husband, I think I can make
a funny video about Gigi going about her life because everything she did and everything she said
it was easily adaptable
in terms of narrating her life. So he said, you should just do it. Just video her and narrate it. And I was like, but I don't know how to video, I don't know how to edit. I've never done it before. And he was like, just try, just Google it. So I Googled easiest editing app, came up with an app called VN. I downloaded it, I played around with it. I took a few clips of her all from one day, put them together. It took me a few hours. And then I wrote the voiceover on my laptop, like a script, whilst watching the video.
Sharon Macey (07:04)
Good.
hehe
Gemma Alster (07:27)
And it came really easily to me
posted on Instagram, my friends thought it was hilarious. People sent it to each other. I just kind of thought my friends are seeing this. My followers at the time was not that many.
it probably about 7,000, 8,000 followers on Instagram. So yeah, still big, but it wasn't earning me any money. It wasn't my job. I had gone back to my...
Sharon Macey (07:41)
was still pretty big, but yeah, yeah.
Gemma Alster (07:48)
part-time job, I didn't like, which we can get into later.
someone said, you've got to be posting these reels on TikTok, which I just, because it was funny and I had only ever used TikTok during lockdown, like scrolling in bed, scrolling on the couch, looking at these funny kind of like dancey videos that everyone was doing. And I was like, TikTok's a dance app. Like, why would anyone want to see this? And someone said to me, you've got to just do it, just do it.
Sharon Macey (07:54)
because she was so funny. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (08:13)
And I posted about, I had about three or four of these videos, in baby videos, posted them on TikTok and about a week later, went to bed, woke up in the middle of the night and one of them had gone crazy viral, had like a million views overnight.
Sharon Macey (08:28)
my God.
so that is when you realized that this was becoming something much bigger.
what was your initial thought? And then how did that shift?
from just being
mom, behind the camera to being really part of the story?
Gemma Alster (08:41)
that came a bit later. mean, when first Stay At Home Baby video went viral, it went like crazy viral woke up with 20,000 followers on TikTok. I had 100 when I went to bed. And then the next day I went up to 30,000. Then I kind of quickly went up to about 100,000 in a matter of probably weeks. And then I suddenly had like agencies messaging me saying like, we want to sign you, we want to meet you. And I was like, what? And it was at this point.
Sharon Macey (09:06)
What are you talking about? Yeah,
yeah.
Gemma Alster (09:07)
What are you talking about? Like literally,
this is crazy. And at this point, I said to my husband, like, I'm really unhappy at work. They are not treating me right. I've been there for six years. I've given them everything. I've come back part-time now as a mum. And they're just treating me like
the girl that went away and became a mum. Everything was different when I came back. And I said, I really think I can
Sharon Macey (09:24)
Mm-hmm. All right.
Gemma Alster (09:26)
change this into a paid job now. had started messaging me saying, we want to pay you this, we want to pay you this.
Not necessarily for stay at home baby content, just
you know, mommy content, partnering with, yeah, exactly. And he said, okay, look, we've just bought a house. We're moving soon. Let's give this two months. If it doesn't work, then you need to find a job. But like, I'm gonna support you and like, let's see if you can do this. And I was like, I'm gonna do it.
Sharon Macey (09:36)
Just for you content. Yeah. Yeah.
Let's give it a shot, yeah.
Which is incredible. And I'm also going to point out that if you had not become a mom, you discovered a skill that you didn't realize you had. You discovered that you were funny and witty and pithy
I think is pretty fabulous.
Gemma Alster (10:06)
Thank you.
I didn't set out to do it. I know that there's people that set out to be influencers. I definitely didn't set out to be an influencer, but I definitely do feel very lucky to be one because I get to work with brands that I adore. get to be with my kids
Sharon Macey (10:09)
you
Gemma Alster (10:19)
and I get to earn money from it. So it's good. then to answer your kind of the second half of your question before about, you know, when did I turn into sort of about being a stay at home mom? It was about probably
six months later when I realised how many people were actually viewing these videos of my toddler. And yes, they were lighthearted and they were funny and they were there for comedic purposes only. And it was, you know, touching on what every sort of parent can relate to. And that is that, you know, sassy toddler that thinks they're right, doesn't want to do what you say, doesn't want to eat what you want them to eat.
they rule the world and I've got another one right now who's too, who thinks she rules the world. But it got to a point when it really did go so viral and it was more my daughter's face and my voice. And I would walk down the street and she had this blonde hair with these pigtails, she always had bows and she always wore sunglasses. She didn't leave the house without them, she still doesn't. And people would stop me and go,
Sharon Macey (10:56)
yeah.
Gemma Alster (11:21)
That stay at home baby. And they weren't recognising me, they were recognising her because she...
Sharon Macey (11:24)
recognizing her. I'm going to have you pause right there
we have to take a quick break. And when we return, we are going to talk about that big sort of wake up moment and what happened.
Hey, we're back. Okay, Gemma, we just started talking about something that is really interesting from a mom perspective,
And you had a big wake up call,
with your family, with your husband.
but I want to go back to what we talking about before the break. And that was people recognizing your child on the street,
Gemma Alster (12:55)
Gigi, yeah.
Sharon Macey (12:56)
How did that make you feel as a mom? Because we all have these protective instincts
Gemma Alster (13:00)
it was really weird and I have to say it was only ever from young girls or mums
and they were all very lovely and they were like my goodness I follow you on TikTok and I love you and like I like your your daughters say funny and I love your videos but it made me think okay if these young girls and these mums are coming up to me that's not everyone that follows you and it's very easy to kind of fall into this
thinking that it's just mums and nice people that follow you.
case. I had this big realization, oh my God, all of these people are seeing my daughter. I kind of set out to just make a funny video, show my friends and we all kind of laugh about it because everyone could resonate with this little cheeky stay at home baby. But then I thought, right, I need to pivot this somehow. And I don't just wanna be doing the mum.
and the baby brand deals, I wanna be doing like the Gemma Ulster brand deals. Like I wanna be doing things for myself because my daughter's not always gonna be 20 months old. What's gonna happen when she's four? And she turns around and says, I don't want a photo or I don't want a camera in my face, which I always said to myself, if she ever, ever said to me, mommy, no, I would never, ever obviously put a camera in front of her. I would never ask her to, you know, of course I wouldn't. So I pivoted to...
Sharon Macey (13:53)
Mm-hmm.
Right. Right.
Gemma Alster (14:16)
the day in the life of a stay at home mom, which is, you know, it's family focused because obviously I am, I was a stay at home mom and like I have a family and I have a young family, but it was more about my life and how I feel as a mom and the things that I do as a mother.
it's out of the spotlight. Yeah, it took her out of the spot. Exactly. It took her out of the spotlight
Sharon Macey (14:32)
And that sort of took Gigi, I don't want say out of the picture, but less, you know, in the public eye. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (14:42)
It made it more about me, which is what I wanted to do because I thought to myself at the time I was how old was I 29 and you know, what am I going to be doing at 39? I can't be just still posting baby content. I want to be posted. want my own brand. I want people to know me for me if this is going to be my career. And it's been really good and it was the best decision I ever made. And I actually love it now when brands
to work with me they say no children involved like yes great that's perfect because and and funnily enough it's actually usually brands that you would normally think kids would want so for example Cadbury's I've worked with a few times before and they are absolutely like super strict no kids allowed in the content even though it's ice cream or it's
Sharon Macey (15:11)
interesting, interesting. Yeah. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (15:28)
and now I work with lot of beauty brands and fashion brands and lifestyle brands
And
it works for me. And I always said to myself,
if Gigi ever says I don't want to be in something, I will always say,
obviously you don't need to, but you won't be.
now when have ads come through, for example, I had a really big job come through with a yogurt brand in the UK. And Gigi.
She doesn't like those yogurts. And they wanted to pay me a really amazing amount of money. And my husband was going crazy. You've got to accept it. You've got to accept it. And I was just like, I can't because it would be me saying, Gigi eat that with a camera. Like, I'm not going to, I'm not going to do that. And unless it is an ad where the brand is something that Gigi is obsessed with, like Disney princesses, like Disneyland, like Gabby's Doll's House we've just filmed an ad for.
Sharon Macey (16:06)
And she doesn't want to.
Mm-hmm.
Gemma Alster (16:19)
where it doesn't feel like work. You know, I took her to the Gabby's Dolls house screening for the new movie and we had the best time ever. But there were a few little snippets of the two of us like going about our day. It doesn't feel like work. It doesn't feel like mummy is filming me. It doesn't feel like mummy is working. It just feels like I'm having a lovely mummy and Gigi day. And that is the only time I will ever put her in my
Sharon Macey (16:34)
Right.
Right, which is so nice. Yeah.
I want to point out you're not compromising.
I admire that.
Gemma, I want to go
you told me how to wake up call. So I want to chat about that and also challenges like you had pushback from family.
Gemma Alster (16:51)
Well, I think at the beginning, when this became my job,
very supportive. My dad is in it. My mum is a stay at home mum. My dad is in a very traditional industry. He's in finance. So he was like, what do you mean that brands will pay you to promote? What is this? I
Sharon Macey (17:03)
What is this? Yeah.
Gemma Alster (17:07)
do their marketing on billboards or on TV, but it's completely different. But he was all for it because he was like, wow, this sounds incredible. You've just got to go with it.
So everyone has always been very supportive, particularly my husband. is so supportive of me. He really is like, I know this sounds cringe, but he really is my biggest, what's the male version of a cheerleader? He's a proper cheerleader. Like he really is like my biggest cheerleader. But recently, I would say probably in the last nine months, this has really become a full-time job.
Sharon Macey (17:28)
Sure, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gemma Alster (17:41)
actually Adam turned around to me about six months ago and said, you're not a stay at home mum. You need to stop acting like you are a stay at home mum because you are a mum with a full time job who also in a weird way is still trying to, well, I'm still trying to be the stay at home mum. I've branded myself as a stay at home mum, but I'm actually not a stay at home mum anymore because I'm so busy that now every day I'm working. So.
Sharon Macey (18:06)
See how to fix that.
Gemma Alster (18:10)
It's great and it's amazing, you my mum, my sister, they make jokes a lot. They're like, you're always working. you're always, you know, we can't meet you for lunch anymore. You're always working. And they don't mean it in a mean way. I know that they are so proud of me and they are so supportive, but I think it's been difficult for, you know, some people very close to me, my mum, my sister, my best friends, I used to sit on FaceTime every morning, like whilst I'm having my coffee and my breakfast and just chat about, you know, life, our kids, whatever. I don't really have time.
to do that anymore and if I do do that I feel guilty that I'm not finishing my editing or working on the ad so it's hard. I feel genuinely this constant battle internally of I'm either working too much and I'm not with my family, my friends enough or I'm with my family and my friends too much and I'm not working enough and I'm behind.
Sharon Macey (18:59)
where there is that sort of FOMO, right? That fear of missing out. I I did the stay at home mom thing. We would look at women who were full-time working moms, we're like, I really should be working. And the women who are the full-time working moms are looking at us going, I wish I could be home with my kids. So there's always that push pull going on. So how did you manage that issue?
Gemma Alster (19:13)
Yeah.
So.
got two kids.
my eldest Gigi is now at full time. She's at school. So she is at school every day. And last year she was at full time preschool. So she did go every day, but I could, you know, I could pick her up at lunchtime. I wouldn't send her in some days. We would go out for like mommy and Gigi days and it was amazing. but now she's at school and Romy is at the nursery of the school, which I think in America you call it daycare.
Sharon Macey (19:23)
That's easy, yeah.
Gemma Alster (19:43)
I think,
And Romy goes three days a week. And my agent said to me, this is your full-time job, like your kids, your kids can, your elders is at school and your youngest could be at nursery every day. The nursery have said that they would have her every day. And I said, I'm not prepared to do that. Gigi was with me every single day until she was two. And then when she was two until three and a half, she only did two days a week of nursery.
Sharon Macey (19:50)
You're like, but wait, I'm still a mom. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (20:08)
I am not going to put my youngest baby, Romy, into nursery five days a week when I can work from home. Yes, I work full time, but I work from my phone. I work from home. I can sit and edit and I can play with her and then I can, when she's asleep, I can go back to editing and I can still take her out. can take her to the park. can take her for lunch. Yes, it's a juggle and I never finish my work ever on time really because
I'm still trying to be the stay at home mum, but I would rather it be that way. And I know that two days a week, I have proper one-on-one time with Romy because she's a baby. And when Gigi started school, I was sobbing in September because I was like, that's it. She's at school every day. can't just take her out anymore. I can't go and pick her up at lunchtime. The amount of times I sit here and go, I'm gonna go pick up Gigi and take her somewhere. And I'm like, I can't do that. I don't wanna feel like that with Romy.
Sharon Macey (20:47)
Yeah.
It goes so fast. Yeah. Right.
Gemma Alster (21:04)
So I've got two days where I am mum and the only time I work is when she's asleep. And then I have three days a week where I try and fit five days of work into three days. And right now it's a juggle, but I'm trying to make it work.
Sharon Macey (21:18)
it's
a huge job, but you're sticking to sort of your values of being a mom, and I respect that. And brands, I think, understand that too, given that you've got the kids. Also, your world is very different. when my kids were younger,
our oldest is 31. So when he was younger, I was either working in the home or I was working outside of the home. There wasn't this...
sort of hybrid opportunity. There was no creator culture and it was a very different world.
I've spoken with several moms who are what I call these like intentional hybrid moms. You are able to do it
all
making it work. But yes,
It is a commitment. It's a juggle. It can be a challenge. It can be a struggle.
but
they're only young ones and it goes so fast.
Gemma Alster (21:58)
trying to.
exactly, my eldest is about to turn five and I'm already like, cannot believe where the last five years have gone. I'm acutely aware of how fast time goes and I don't want to miss out on anything. I think, you know, sometimes people say to me, but Gemma, if you were in an office, you know, they'd have to be at nursery. If you had a like a real job and they don't mean it in a rude way, they mean it in like a
Sharon Macey (22:23)
Right.
Gemma Alster (22:24)
know, quintessentially like traditional job. I was an office job, if I was in an office, then they would be at nursery every day, but I'm not in an office. So I can be at home. I can, I do the school run every day. I take them, I pick them up. If they're sick, I pick them up. I'm at home. If they're sick, know, Adam, my husband wouldn't just take the day off work. That's going to be me because I want it to be that way. So
Sharon Macey (22:26)
An office job, traditional job, yeah.
And that's what moms
do. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (22:48)
And that's what moms do exactly. It's like built
in us. You it's not necessarily built in him to, you know, drop everything and like come home and save the day. It's exactly. Exactly.
Sharon Macey (22:54)
Right, it's our DNA, we're like, stop the world. I'm working, I'm helping my kid, yeah. Yeah.
Gemma Alster (22:59)
I don't want your listeners to think that I'm saying, you know, I've got it, I've got it down to a T and like, you know, I'm really good at juggling, like being a mom and working because I absolutely feel like I am always juggling a messy.
Sharon Macey (23:06)
No.
Gemma Alster (23:12)
and never quite doing anything right, but I wouldn't change this profession for the world because I really do love it and I do feel very lucky to be in it.
Sharon Macey (23:23)
And life is messy. mean, everyone knows that. We've all lived it and it's all just, it's a new mess, right? It's a 21st century kind of mess and we deal with it. So this really leads me into my next question, which is talk to me about your support system, right? I know, you've got family nearby and I think of also the moms who are trying to do it all on their own, who don't have family nearby. And I just want to sort of wrap my arms around them and say,
Gemma Alster (23:25)
Yeah.
It's a big fat mess.
Same. It really does.
Sharon Macey (23:53)
It takes a village, you you can have a
babysitter, you can have a friend come and watch your kid if you don't have family nearby.
Gemma Alster (23:58)
Yeah.
We are really, really lucky. Both our parents live about 30 minutes away from us in separate directions. are really hands on grandparents and we've got siblings that are amazing aunties and uncles.
sister has two young kids. My sister has two young kids. But Gigi was the first, she was the first grandchild, the first
was the first grandchild on my dad's side, but.
my sister always says to me she taught me how to be a mum because she was the first baby. And then two years later, my niece, Sophia came along. And if I needed to go out or like have a break or, you know, get my nails done, like if I hadn't been out of the house in a week, my sister would go, I'm coming, you know, give me the baby, give me Gigi, you go out for an hour. And, or even if it was have a shower, wash your hair.
Sharon Macey (24:48)
yeah, yeah.
Gemma Alster (24:49)
when you're a new mum as well, you forget, I mean, can't really talk right now, my hair's not exactly clean, but back in the day, five years ago, when you're in the trenches of being a first time mum and what am I doing, how do I do it? I can't thank my sister, my mum, my mother-in-law, they were just amazing. They would come and literally save the day. They would send me away just to wash my hair and I would come back a new woman. And now,
Sharon Macey (24:51)
Yeah.
Gemma Alster (25:17)
you know, my sister's not around to help, my sister-in-law's not around to help because they've got their own kids, but our mums are great. And we've got a couple of babysitters who we really trust as well, like girls on the road and I know their mums and like...
Sharon Macey (25:24)
Aren't they fabulous? Yeah.
Try it.
That's gold.
Having a babysitter that you love is gold. And we deserve it and we need it and it's good. So the kids also know other people and not just mom and dad. So when they go to school, they're not like freaking out going, are all these new people? I can't handle it. I think that's important.
Gemma Alster (25:37)
Yeah.
Agree.
And that's what Gigi was like
being born in lockdown. The minute she met new people, she was like, who are you? The first time she walked into a nursery at age two, she screamed. She didn't settle for a long time at nursery. Whereas Romy, my youngest, settled pretty quickly. Within a week, she was running in there very, very happy because she was always around new people. She was out all the time. Gigi wasn't. But
Sharon Macey (25:50)
Mmm.
Gemma Alster (26:09)
I am the first one to say.
you need a night off, you need a date night, or you need a two day trip away. And I know that there's a lot of mums that go, know, oh my God, she left her kids for two nights to go on holiday.
Sharon Macey (26:23)
important. No, it is.
Gemma Alster (26:23)
my relationship with my husband
is so important. And the minute that doesn't work anymore, then what have you got? Nothing. So date nights are important. know, maybe one or two trips away a year, just the two of you for two nights, it's so important. You remember that you aren't roommates and you actually like really love each other and you really fancy each other. Like it's...
Sharon Macey (26:30)
Exactly. ⁓
Exactly. Exactly.
Gemma Alster (26:49)
It's important.
Sharon Macey (26:50)
Yeah, I agree with you 100 % on that.
I want to talk about the hidden resume of motherhood, which are the mom skill that you've acquired and honed fine tuned from becoming a mom that actually help you in the work you're doing now as a creator and brand partner.
Gemma Alster (27:08)
I think the biggest skill that comes to mind is learning patience. I mean, you have to have so much patience to be a mother. You really do. In every sense of the word, you just need a lot of patience. And in this job as well, it's kind of taught me when things aren't necessarily going so well, brand deal wise, if it's a bit quiet and you kind of feel like, does no one like me anymore? Does no one want to work with me?
You've just got to sort of wait, keep going, keep putting the work in, keep putting the effort in. And you kind of have to do that in motherhood. You can't just ever like take a break and go, oh, I'm not doing this tonight. Bath yourself, dress yourself, put your own nappy on. It doesn't work that way. And it doesn't work that way in work either. And it's not just for this profession. It's not just for being an influencer. That's any profession,
It's taught me how to forgive easily.
resilience, patience, how to love more, just all of these things.
Sharon Macey (28:07)
I think we learned so much as moms that oftentimes we don't realize these amazing traits that we have. And oftentimes over the years, women tend to forget them. And that's something that we talk about in this show is kind of remembering the things that you are able to do now that you weren't able to do before you had kids. Like these just mom skills that are so valuable in life and they're marketable and they will take you far.
Gemma Alster (28:17)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sharon Macey (28:31)
So thank you for sharing those.
Gemma Alster (28:32)
Yeah.
Sharon Macey (28:33)
So I have a fun question to ask you. If Gigi were actually in charge of your Instagram, what do you think is the first post that she would put up about you?
Gemma Alster (28:33)
Come.
May.
She'd probably, if she was pretending to be me, if she was pretending to be me.
Sharon Macey (28:50)
Like if she was, if
the script were flipped and she was filming you, just like you were filming her years ago, she was filming you
Gemma Alster (28:58)
She
Sharon Macey (28:58)
and put it.
Gemma Alster (28:59)
she already,
if you say to her, Gigi pretend to be mummy, she's already got it down to a T. She goes, I've this, I've got, they ask you the look, she'll go.
Sharon Macey (29:06)
the attitude, the look, everything.
Gemma Alster (29:12)
So guys, and because I talk to my camera when I'm doing my makeup or whatever, I really do try not to do it in front of them. But she'll come in, I'm surprised she actually isn't coming now, honestly. Every night this week she's walked into my room asking for a snack or saying she needs the toilet. But she sits there and she goes, hi guys, I'm Gemma and I'm going to show you how to do my makeup like this. And she sits there and she'll pretend to be me. She walks around, she'll put my little, she'll put,
I can actually show you, I've got my wall of shoes here. She comes and puts them on, she puts on my heels. She just pretends to like be a mummy. She goes, and then she'll go to Romy, it's okay, Romy, mummy loves you, mummy loves you. And she'll pick her up. She'll do, I think she'd do a little bit of everything, pretending to be like the influencer mummy and pretending to be like the mummy mummy, like cuddling Romy. She knows me. She knows me very well.
Sharon Macey (29:45)
There you go, her favorite shoes.
Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, that's really sweet. Yeah. And you know, one thing
you'll realize is that her personality now is going to stick with her the rest of her life. I mean, I look at our kids, our middle daughter in particular, she had a personality from the moment she came out and she still has that personality today, 29 years later. yeah.
Gemma Alster (30:12)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah,
I can already see what they're going to be like and they're very different as well. Gigi's a lot more, she thinks a lot more, she's got more of this attitude whereas Romy is so cheeky. And you'll see if you watch the new Stay At Home Babies 2.0 with Romy because
people will actually comment on them and go, this is way more feral than Gigi ever was because Gigi was just this, Gigi was just this like.
attitude, the glasses on and the accessories, whereas Romy is just this naughty cheeky little monkey. And again, and again, it's you know, it's it's funny, it's comedic, it's lighthearted. And when she gets a little bit older, again, it will stop. But right now I feel much more secure in the sense that I have my own thing going on as well. I don't bang out a stay at home baby like three times a week anymore. I kind of do it once a month. And it does really well, but it's not all
Sharon Macey (30:55)
We loved it. Yeah.
Yeah.
Gemma Alster (31:17)
to offer anymore.
Sharon Macey (31:18)
Exactly,
exactly. Well, and you're growing. You know, you're growing in this role. Okay.
So
we're going to do a bit of a lightning round here and quick one to two word answers. So I think these are going to be easy for you. So you're ready to All right. Here we go. Okay. Coffee or tea. Heels or trainers.
Gemma Alster (31:25)
Go for it.
Yeah, it's good.
coffee.
it depends on my personality that day. If I'm in the mood for drinking tequila, if I'm in the mood for drinking, if I'm in the mood for drinking heels, ⁓ my God, that slipped out. ⁓ Or if I'm going to the gym, trainers. I have to choose both, sorry.
Sharon Macey (31:52)
Got
you, got you. Okay, London or the countryside? Mm-hmm. Best parenting superpower.
Gemma Alster (31:56)
London.
Patience, patience, patience, patience.
Sharon Macey (32:05)
favorite holiday destination.
Gemma Alster (32:09)
With Adam Mykonos with the kids Spain.
Sharon Macey (32:14)
Love it, love
Adam, in one word.
Gemma Alster (32:18)
handsome.
Sharon Macey (32:20)
motherhood in one word.
Gemma Alster (32:23)
hard.
Sharon Macey (32:25)
That's true. That's true. Yeah. Those are great. Thank you so much. You did a great job. I loved all the answers.
Gemma Alster (32:29)
haha
Sharon Macey (32:32)
So Gemma, unfortunately, our time is coming to a close. You're so fun. I feel like we could chat all day. I know. This has been so nice. So I have a question that I ask all of the amazing moms that I have the privilege of interviewing. And that is, since this is the Mom2More podcast, Gemma Allster, what is your more?
Gemma Alster (32:37)
Aww, I feel like we can chat all day, it's been so nice, I hope it's been okay.
My more, my dream more is to have my own Gemma Ulster brand, my stay at home brand. I want something of my own.
I've got a few ideas and I'm a bit nervous just to talk about them, but there's a few things in the mix. But I really want something that is mine where when I, if and when I decide I don't want to be doing brand deals anymore, if I had another baby and I don't really necessarily have.
the time to be posting myself on Instagram and TikTok every day. I want something that's mine, that I can love and cherish and hopefully make it grow whilst I raise my family at the same time. yeah, so watch this space.
Sharon Macey (33:30)
I love that. I look forward to keeping up with you and figuring out how that might take shape at some point in the future. Watch this space.
Okay, so which leads into where can my listeners find you online? And folks, everything is gonna be in the show notes.
Gemma Alster (33:45)
You can find me on Instagram, my at handle is gem at Gemma Ulster and on TikTok I'm the same at Gemma Ulster. I am actually on YouTube, but I don't put enough effort. I don't put enough time, or effort into it, but that is on my to-do list. That is on my to-do list, but again, Gemma Ulster.
Sharon Macey (33:57)
Okay. Okay. Got it.
Gemma,
Well, first of all, the first time we were supposed to interview, you had COVID. So I'm glad you're feeling better and that we're actually able to do this.
Gemma Alster (34:06)
Yep, I did. I'm so ill. I'm
Sharon Macey (34:10)
Thank you for your time, for your honesty, for really talking about the challenges and the good and the bad, because that's motherhood and that's life. So thank you for that.
Gemma Alster (34:20)
Yeah. Thank you for having me. Honestly, it was so nice to talk to you. What a fun Monday night.