The Double Bind of Confidence & Guilt in Modern Motherhood - with Lauren Currie OBE

In this episode of Challenge Your Guilt, I’m joined by Lauren Currie OBE - social entrepreneur, author, activist and founder of Upfront, a global movement supporting women and marginalised genders to build confidence, take up space and feel braver together.I’ve admired Lauren’s work for a long time, because so much of what she explores - confidence, visibility, shame, shrinking and self-censorship - sits right at the heart of the maternal guilt conversations I have with mothers every day.In our conversation, we explore how guilt and confidence are deeply interconnected, and how many women - particularly mothers - are trapped in a cultural double bind where confidence is encouraged in theory, but punished in practice.Lauren explains why women don’t “lack confidence” - and how living in a system that penalises confident women leads many of us to avoid conflict, over-function, and take responsibility for everything and everyone. The result? Guilt, exhaustion and a constant sense of not being enough.In this episode, we talk about:Why the so-called “confidence gap” is systemic, not personalHow women are praised for being accommodating, but punished for being assertiveThe double bind that keeps mothers stuck between being too much and never enoughWhy guilt often feels safer than conflict - and what that costs usLauren’s idea of “runaway guilt”, and how low confidence erodes boundariesHow motherhood intensifies guilt even when you intellectually “know better”What it looks like to notice guilt without letting it run the showLauren also shares honestly about guilt in her own motherhood journey - from early working-mother guilt, to the emotional pull between ambition, presence and rest - and how she now meets guilt with awareness rather than self-attack.We also talk about Lauren’s children’s book Taylor Meets the Trick, and how giving families simple language to name patriarchy can remove shame, defensiveness and silence - not just for children, but for adults too.I close by asking Lauren one question I return to often on this podcast:What is one small act of courage a mother could take this week if she’s feeling stuck in guilt, self-doubt or invisibility?Her answer is deceptively simple - and incredibly powerful.🔗 Links & Ways to Connect with LaurenIf this conversation resonated and you’d like to explore Lauren’s work further, here are the best places to find her:📲 Follow Lauren on Instagram:Lauren Currie (personal account) Taylor Meets the Trick (children’s book) Upfront (confidence & community)Lauren also writes regularly on LinkedIn and Substack, and I know she’d genuinely love to hear what landed for you from this episode.📚 Books Mentioned in This EpisodeTaylor Meets the TrickA playful, powerful children’s book that gives families simple language to talk about patriarchy, gender roles and “the trick” - without shame or blame. Be Upfront: 24 Rules for Life-Changing Confidence (published February '26)Lauren’s first non-fiction book, distilling over a decade of confidence-building work into practical, culture-shifting insights. 💛 If You Enjoyed This EpisodePlease subscribe, rate and share Challenge Your Guilt - it really helps this podcast reach more mothers who need these conve✨ If this episode resonated, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a mother who needs to hear that guilt was never hers to carry.