The emPOWER Breakfast Founder and Host Athene Parker on Motherhood & The Making of emPOWER

In this special episode of the emPOWER Breakfast Podcast, the tables are turned as emPOWER’s very first guest speaker, the wonderful Leila Bartlam, takes over hosting duties to sit down with founder and host Athene Parker for a deeply personal and raw conversation about motherhood, resilience, neurodiversity, creativity and the journey behind building The emPOWER Breakfast.Athene shares the story behind the creation of emPOWER and reflects on a career spanning more than 25 years across the music, advertising and creative industries, working in new business, artist development and production before stepping fully into building the emPOWER movement launching in March 2024.Alongside her professional journey, Athene speaks candidly about life as a parent carer to her son Jack, who is profoundly autistic and non speaking, and the emotional realities of navigating autism, advocacy, caregiving and family life whilst continuing to build a purpose-led business and community.As founder of theSENmumma, a support network for mothers at the beginning of the diagnosis journey with their children, Athene reflects on how personal adversity, nervous system awareness and authentic human connection became the driving force behind her work and mission.With warmth, humour and vulnerability, Leila and Athene explore creativity, identity, resilience, motherhood and the importance of creating spaces where people feel truly seen, heard and supported.Together, they discuss:Motherhood and caregivingAutism advocacy and neurodiversityBuilding The emPOWER BreakfastWomen in advertising and creative industriesResilience, grief and emotional wellbeingPurpose-led leadership and authentic connectionNervous system regulation and mental healthCreativity, identity and reinventionThis is an intimate and uplifting conversation about family, purpose, creativity and finding meaning through life’s most challenging experiences.The chat is woven around a trip down a musical memory lane. Sit back, relax and enjoy. 🎧✨Tracks:Fairport Convention - Crazy Man MichaelRosie Vela - Magic SmileMother Devine - Devi PrayerJustin Timberlake - Can’t Stop The Feeling (Got That Sunshine in My Pocket) Ganavya - Oh Raaya Jamiroquai - Virtual InsanityThe emPOWER Breakfast - Athene Parker Spotify PlaylistUseful Resources:The Telepathy Tapes - Ky DickensIf you are a parent to a non speaker, this will blow your mind. If you aren’t it will blow yours harder!Spell To CommunicatetheSENmummaFilofax! They still exist :) Athene Parker, Founder and Host of The emPOWER Breakfast, autism advocacy, neurodiversity, motherhood, caregiving, parent carers, theSENmumma, women in advertising, creative industries, emotional resilience, authentic leadership, nervous system regulation, empowerment podcast, autism parenting, women in media, leadership podcast, purpose-led business, mental health, emotional wellbeing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.