The One About Choosing Not to Have Kids

Meet Diane Mayor

Diane spent over a decade in a corporate career in a fast-paced investment bank working behind the scenes in finance on planning, forecasting, projects, new product approvals and operations.

She finally left because it felt like she wasn’t making enough of a difference in the world and instead took all that experience and distilled it into real business essentials for small businesses making a big impact.

She is passionate about travel, conferences, coffee, Bravo, Converse and spreadsheets.

Find out more about her over on her website http://www.dianemayor.com or on Instagram @Diane_Mayor

Fav quotes from this episode:

“I confuse people because I don’t want children.”

“People assume that I am desperate to have children and am either too old, too single, too something else to have them…”

“For me my core value is freedom. I don’t want to be committed to a particular place because somebody else needs to go to school.”

“I love my friends’ kids, I also love giving them back when they are over tired, when they are crying, when they need a nappy change…”

“I respect the fact that you’ve chosen to have children, I respect the fact that you’ve chosen to put that above how our friendship used to work. I respect the fact that you no longer want the career that we both planned because you have children…how can it not come back?”

In this episode we talk about:

• What it takes to ‘qualify’ as an adult. Is it your job? Having kids? We discuss!
• How not having kids can be a choice, not just a circumstance, despite what many people assume.
• How choosing not to have kids often puts you under scrutiny, and is commonly met with judgement and misunderstanding.
• The interesting dynamics that can occur in our friendships and relationships when kids come into the picture.
• How the needs of child-free people can often end up coming after the needs of those with children, and how to navigate that with grace and understanding. 
• The importance of keeping the dialogue open and continuing to listen, learn, respect each other’s choices.

 

Plus, we talk about…The fact that having or not having children is an intensely personal journey that will be different for absolutely everyone. There is no right or wrong way.