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I Wanted Flexibility, Not a Pay Cut: Making Part-Time Work

I Wanted Flexibility, Not a Pay Cut: Making Part-Time Work Podcast featured image

I Wanted Flexibility, Not a Pay Cut: Making Part-Time Work

This week on the Work It Like a Mum podcast, Elizabeth chats with Pauline Bird, an accountant, mum of two and Utility Warehouse Partner, about what happened when full-time work no longer worked for her family — but giving up her career and financial independence didn’t feel right either.

After taking a seven-month career break, Pauline found a flexible part-time accounting role through Investing in Women and started building an additional income through Utility Warehouse alongside it.

What we cover:

  • Why Pauline stepped away from full-time work
  • Taking a seven-month career break to focus on her family
  • Finding a genuinely flexible part-time role without giving up her accounting career
  • The financial reality of reducing your working hours
  • Why maintaining her own financial independence mattered so much
  • Building an additional income stream alongside a part-time job
  • What being a Utility Warehouse Partner actually involves
  • Fitting work around the “nooks and crannies” of family life
  • Avoiding burnout while juggling work, business and motherhood
  • Why success now means feeling happy, in control and like herself again

Key takeaways:

💜 Going part-time doesn’t have to mean giving up your career. Pauline found an employer that gives her the flexibility and autonomy she needs while allowing her to continue doing work she enjoys.

💜 There can be more than one way to make flexibility work financially. For Pauline, an additional income stream helped bridge some of the income she’d given up by moving away from full-time employment.

💜 Success can look different after children. For Pauline, it’s no longer simply about career progression or salary — it’s about keeping her career, having her own income, being there for her family and feeling in control again.

Why listen:

If you’ve ever thought “I’d love to work fewer hours, but I can’t afford the pay cut”, this one’s for you.

An honest conversation about money, motherhood and finding a way of working that actually fits your life. 💗

Show Links:

Connect with Elizabeth Willetts on LinkedIn here

Connect with Pauline on LinkedIn here 

Find out more about becoming a Utility Warehouse Partner here