Recently, within my network on LinkedIn, the hashtag #momtoo has been trending. The campaign’s purpose is to show that women can visibly be mothers, but also reach the peak of their profession.

As a working mum, I decided to create my own post and it quickly gained a lot of traction. Am I surprised? Yes, but I shouldn’t be, clearly, this message resonates with a lot of women.

Being a mum is often seen as a weakness by employers or clients who assume that working mums are easily distracted or they’ve “got too much on”. It’s startling that a lot of women choose to “secretly parent” where they don’t overtly discuss their children with their employers and colleagues.

Why should women not share a huge part of their life, and why don’t more men do the same?

Being a caregiver helps develop kindness and empathy. As a marketeer, being an empath is vital. It requires empathising with your client and putting yourself in the shoes of all of their stakeholders. Successful marketers need to understand people, it’s at the very heart of what we do.

As mums we are pretty amazing when it comes to multitasking.

Yes, my days may be interrupted by school runs or last-minute school meetings, but I can come back to my desk and immediately pick up where I left off. I can’t afford to procrastinate, because in my case, every working minute of every day counts.

Motherhood has also taught me resilience.

I’ve spent all of my motherhood far away from my family in Italy. I’ve never had my friends and family close by to help out. My husband is a busy professional too and we’ve managed to raise two smart and intelligent young sons.

It’s not just me.

I employ some fantastic women, many of whom are mothers, and they’re all incredibly accomplished. They’re intelligent, capable and extremely driven, which is why my team is constantly creating fantastic work for our clients and challenging the norm.

More women are working than ever before. Data from Catalyst shows a huge growth in the proportion of women in the workplace. In the seventies only 52.8% of women (aged between 16-64) in the UK were employed, now it’s 72.7%. Despite this, the gender pay gap still exists and stands at a whopping 8.9% and only 18.6% of executive committee members are female.

The perceived bias that women, and in particular working mums, aren’t capable, is outdated and untrue.

I encourage mums and dads to be open professionally, to share who they are, what makes them tick, and why being a parent makes them just as (or even more) proficient as their peers.

Are you a #momtoo or a #dadtoo? Share your thoughts and comments! I’d love you to get involved in my recent post and open up the conversation