I wrote part of this op-ed at 10pm with a bottle in one hand and my 11-month-old son in the other. He had decided that sleep was optional, but this op-ed about “my life in PR” certainly wasn’t. And that moment, balancing a hungry baby and work perfectly captures what it means to be a PR professional navigating motherhood with two children under three.

People often ask me: “How do you do it?”, usually with a tone that sits somewhere between concern and judgment. I’ve been told to slow down. I’ve been gently nudged to “just take a break”. And at my lowest moments, when exhaustion hits before sunrise and guilt hits shortly after, I’ve wondered whether they were right. Whether I should press pause on my career. Whether it’s even possible to thrive in an industry as fast-paced, unpredictable, and emotionally volatile as PR while raising tiny humans with equally volatile emotions.

But here’s what I’ve learned: you don’t balance it. You coexist with it. Balance implies equality, and nothing about motherhood (or PR) is equal. Some days my kids get more of me; some days my clients do. Some days I feel like a superstar; some days I feel like I’m failing everyone. But coexistence? That’s real. That’s sustainable. And most importantly, that’s powerful.

Motherhood didn’t take me away from PR. It made me better at it. Motherhood taught me patience…and PR perfected it. If you can negotiate with a toddler mid-tantrum, you can handle an unreasonable client. If you can keep your cool while stepping on a Lego barefoot at 7am, you can certainly stay calm while managing a last-minute crisis call or revising a press release for the seventh time. 

I used to feel emotionally drained whenever a client was demanding, stressed, or panicked. Their urgency became my urgency. Their anxiety became my anxiety. Now? Motherhood has given me a kind of mental noise-cancelling ability. I don’t absorb every emotion thrown my way. I’ve learned to listen, empathise, and respond - without losing myself in the chaos. Angry clients no longer shake me the way sleep regression does. My priorities shifted… and so did my resilience.

Finding a new focus

When you become a mother, your internal compass resets. PR used to feel like my entire world; now it’s a world I navigate with clearer boundaries. Work is still deeply important to me, but it no longer consumes my identity.

I know what actually matters now:

• My kids’ first giggles
• My sanity
• Delivering great work - not perfect work
• Protecting my peace
• Saying “no” when something doesn’t serve me
• Saying “yes” to opportunities that push me forward

And because of that clarity, work/clients don’t rattle me the way they used to. I still get annoyed, I’m human - but I’ve learned not to let someone else’s urgency dictate my emotional state. The guilt is real…but so is the purpose.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t experience mum guilt. It creeps in quietly:

• When I’m working from the office while my children are being cared for by my nanny
• When working from home but I’ve locked myself in the bathroom to lead a client call
• When I miss bath time because I’m polishing a strategy plan

But I also know this: I want my children to see a mother who didn’t shrink herself. I want them to grow up knowing that passion and parenthood can coexist. Not perfectly, not neatly, not without sacrifice - but honestly and intentionally. There were days I wanted to quit altogether. Days when I questioned whether I was capable of doing both. Days when the noise of external judgment felt louder than my own confidence.

But then I remember why I started The Jazzy Compass in the first place: to chart a path that feels authentic, intuitive, and uniquely mine. And that includes motherhood - not as an obstacle, but as a superpower. PR needs to talk more about this.

Hiba Eid is the founder of The Jazzy Compass, a collaborative consultancy supporting lifestyle, premium and purpose-driven brands authentically belong and thrive within the GCC ecosystem.