Helena Masat on motherhood, flexibility & designing for true accessibility

13:51Helena Masat:Oh dear, I love it. That's cool. so then you did that got him into nursery and then you're coming back to the workplace like yeah is that challenging like finding your way back in you kind of left as one person you're coming back as a different person with different needs and requirements I'm guessing yeah definitely

14:08Guy:I think um I made the decision while on maternity leave that I really did need a bit more flexibility in terms of work life balance and to be able to be there for him and and to be able to like do the nursery runs sharing it with my husband as well and how we're going to make that work and I just needed to make it more flexible and I found that the only way I could do that really was by setting up my own business I think unfortunately there's still a notion in the industry there's not really flexibility for mothers and it's kind of seen as like oh well if you do a few days less week you're less productive whereas I would argue that actually I'm more productive because I've got to be so focused and like I've had to think about same skills that I've learned since becoming a mother like time management I mean I already knew about time management but it's like the next level contingencies of things going wrong these are all like transferable skills that I can take into the workplace and it's just yeah really finding the balance and I found the best way that I could do that was by setting up Studio Massa and that's my yeah way of achieving that second baby yeah my second baby yeah it's funny isn't it like as in really in like anything

15:26Helena Masat:creative like you generally have like a lot of different character types maybe neurodivergent ADHD dyslexia like all of those kind of people tend to lean into creativity and it's female orientated there must be like a ton of young mothers like as creative designers and yet it feels like we're a bit nine to five and a bit monday to friday it's still very old school system isn't it which is well it's construction isn't it yeah it's like that male dominated like kind of do you know what i mean whereas if you go somewhere like google or microsoft or any techie kind of social kind of fintech like they're much more advanced yeah yeah i think um there's definitely

16:10Guy:um an element of us trying to fit into an old system that is really works for a kind of working one parent working the other person being a stay-at-home parent that's really what the system revolves around which is like a 60 year old system we're now in a 2026 when a lot of people are relying on two incomes they need two incomes if you've got a child you've got to try and make that work with childcare arrangements, bad brown care and without any flexibility how is that ever going to work and I think you're naturally a bit flexible for things like people are ill at work so yeah my child might be ill, I might have to go but I also might be ill, my colleague might be ill, people have to attend personal appointments.

16:52Guy:You often get a situation where you've got a large team of clients and we have a clash of meetings and so you have to rearrange that meeting so we're already flexing in the kind of system and we're having to flex budgets we're having to flex programs so why can't you just flex around a mother because to me you're losing

17:11Helena Masat:a lot of talent like i know you've seen that yeah have you seen a good talent yeah i've seen

17:16Guy:mothers that have been demoted when returning back at work i've seen mothers that have requested to job share and it's been declined and you think what a waste of talent and then And on the flip side of that, I've got a really good friend who works for a large tech firm. And she's been completely valued. She had her baby around the similar time to me. They allowed her to return back with like compressed hours. So she does like a five-day week in four days. And she got a promotion while she was on maternity leave. She's since moved up again since returning back. Like they completely value her. And of course, that makes her want to work more and be more productive and prove to them how great she is.

17:56Guy:and if that's what a multi-million business tech firm's doing they're obviously making it successful and they are successful so why can't our industry see that you can make it successful and be successful it's just trying to navigate that flexibility and ultimately personally I think it comes down to trust and communication if I've told you I'm going to get it done by a certain point yeah I've never missed a deadline I'm not suddenly going to miss a deadline because I've got a child like I've got contingencies in place and if I said I'm gonna get it done I'm gonna get it done and if maybe I need extra support or something's not working I'd communicate that to

18:31Helena Masat:you yeah I'm not suddenly incapable no I have this I have this little saying actually like if someone's like for example they're just like you know some people just always run late like before they've got a child then after they've got a child they will run the same amount late yeah and if someone's always on time before they've got a child then after they've got a child they will always be on time yeah like it's how you prioritize how you manage time or how how important you see things yeah and i'm not slagging people that are always late off i'm just saying that it's just they're different priorities yeah definitely and like for me i get really bothered about being late so if i so if i was without a kid or without it doesn't make any difference to me

19:14Guy:like you know like you like we should have allowed for that just have to allow an extra 15 minutes

19:18Helena Masat:because anything can happen or whatever.

19:20Guy:Yeah, and we'll just go and have a coffee down the road and wait before the meeting. Or yeah, I'd rather that than the stress and running in. So I do hear you.

19:28Helena Masat:In some ways, you change as a person, but in other ways, your core values just don't actually change at all anyway.

19:34Guy:You just get more done. Yeah, because I've only got a window to get it done. I've got to get my head down and focus. I can't procrastinate. You're more focus-driven. And yeah, a plan ahead. I have to plan a lot ahead. of like where I'm going to be, how that works with travel and things like that. But as long as those things are in place, it definitely can be successful.

19:57Helena Masat:That's amazing. And you have been now like navigating around life as a mother with a child. Has that like changed how you see or how you design or how you sort of think about people in wheelchairs, for example? Do you think differently from a practical design perspective as well?

20:16Guy:Oh, yeah, definitely. I think one of the first things you do when you find out you're having a baby is go and sort of test out prams. And you're suddenly aware of, like, how wide they are. And you think things like, well, can I fit that in a cafe? Or, like, can I fit? You're kind of looking at the width of it and thinking, I don't want anything too enormous that I can't get around with. I think it definitely opened my eyes to the obstacles that people face, just on a really minute level compared to somebody that maybe needs, like, accessibility needs, might need a wheelchair, like you said. These people are facing these obstacles every day.

20:45Guy:I can make a choice not to bring the pram and put the child in a carrier but they haven't got a choice and there's certain shops I couldn't go into because I couldn't get the pram in and it's definitely you know all about inclusivity at the moment and like you mentioned earlier about neurodiversity that's a big topic at the moment which is amazing but I do feel like the accessibility is getting left behind a bit.

21:08Helena Masat:Physical accessibility.

21:09Guy:Yeah physical accessibility it should still be one of the main things that we focus on we shouldn't be considering like oh people can use an alternative route or an alternative access into the building um there should be things in place so that people don't feel like ostracized because of it it's it's really opened my eyes to that and it's made me think i really have to think about this when designing spaces um the only space i've seen it done really well the institute of civil engineers building which i know because my dad is actually a fellow of the institute of civil engineers and and it's a like edwardian grade two listed building really beautiful building and they've really cleverly designed the stairs which are very traditional or stone stairs so that they retract and a lift comes up so that if somebody needs to access the lift it's exactly the same route as the person taking the stairs so they're literally experiencing the exact same experience together like you're going up in the lift here while i walk up the stairs and they're engineers so you think yeah they should be designing these really clever things i keep thinking we're designers we should be able to design this better than thinking about it as like retrofit options um because unfortunately i think it does contribute to like unconscious bias when hiring people because people are thinking well we'll have to make the adaptions to our t-point or you know all these kind of things and it's it shouldn't be like that should be we can just take in anyone like this is an inclusive place and everyone has the right to work here it's really interesting i can't never

22:37Helena Masat:talk about accessibility and not mention my tour with paula roundtree head of workplace at lloyd's banking group but went to their space and it was just mind-blowing like how much they had thought about it yeah and okay there's sometimes there was different routes so some people would take stairs and wheelchair access would be different but the amount of times i've seen that wheelchair access or also people on bikes cycling in like healthy good for them that we should promote it having to take like really grotty back routes it's generally around bins yeah these people are like vulnerable in a sense they're not as haven't got the physical whatever capabilities yeah better word thank you um and then they are weaning around bins it's just not cool it's not safe it's not thoughtful it's not considerate um and it's like it's an afterthought isn't it yeah it's like

23:26Guy:oh well we can they can go through that way instead kind of thing yeah but lloyd's banking

23:31Helena Masat:had made like all the accessible it's just absolutely delightful like just such a pleasure to just to follow through and loads of things like low mic waves like um on the lifts like a low button then it will talk to you if you're blind and you couldn't see the button and it would talk out to you and just so many considerations um just telling me the other day that they've done like sensory maps um of the space if you're wanting somewhere quiet or or something like you can find it all in the sensory map of the building yeah but this sort of like accessibility what you're talking about is something that I think potentially is getting

24:12Guy:a bit left behind in the noise it is isn't it I think that's how I felt when it kind of opened my eyes to it and like I said on a tiny scale people are experiencing this every day and it's just like nothing's being done about it it's just like oh were you same with like luckily now with the tubes like a lot of the stations are becoming more wheelchair accessible they're putting lifts in but you still have to kind of think about where you're going don't you oh I can only get off at

24:38Helena Masat:that stop I do think with such old buildings in London which like we've got the historic like architecture and that's like to be celebrated right it's cool but it does make it hard yeah yeah then to sort of design it in retrofit it like you said it's tricky what's the hardest

24:56Guy:thing about setting up your own studio at the beginning it's like all the templates for things you don't have those things in place so you've got to spend even more time than you would normally on the web because you haven't actually created the template for it yet if that makes sense so that that's quite been quite eye-opening um nobody tells you how to set up your own thing um you don't learn it in school you don't like it's a bit word of mouth of like who's done it before what do I do about taxes what do I do about this it's all massive learning curve um so that's been another huge eye-opening thing so yeah it's just a completely new chapter which I would never have taken the risk to do had I not had my son so that's quite nice as well because it's like made me do something outside of my comfort zone because I would never have done it I would have just gone into another role I like the approach I find it interesting that someone's gone out

25:51Helena Masat:set up six months in it's working for them they're getting the vibes do you know what I mean but then the freelancers or your own business it's always a bit of a roller coaster yeah isn't it do you know what I mean so it can be it can be tough do you then like network and collaborate and chat

26:08Guy:with other freelancers um yeah and I attend sort of come to showrooms quite a lot and things like that I have to try and make sure I'm still got my head in the game sort of thing and know the latest trends I'm signed up to lots of newsletters I'll be attending a lot of the kind of um design shows where you can go and see the products in person and things like that um so yeah it's definitely important to kind of keep your head above the water and see what else is going on

26:33Helena Masat:because it is just me at the moment do you miss that actually do you miss the other people yeah in maternity leave you kind of like wanted to get back to people yeah yeah I do um I guess I'm I am

26:46Guy:collaborating with clients but maybe not necessarily with other creatives as such but yeah I do miss that occasionally you might somebody might bring in a new product that you hadn't what's that I don't what's that I haven't seen that before so that's why I'm quite conscious I've got to keep my eyes open to things like that and attend events and things like that to keep

27:05Helena Masat:myself in the know and again you've got a contingency plan for it yeah yeah like I've

27:10Guy:kind of allowed for that in the way yeah I've got kind of almost like a resource plan I think well I'll spend that much time researching that I'll spend that much time doing that it's something you've got to allocate within your working week really yeah no it's great what's your

27:23Helena Masat:message to other young or not necessarily young old mothers new mothers that's a word I'm looking

27:31Guy:for don't feel like you have to choose between motherhood and your career I think there is often this kind of notion that you've got to choose one or the other yeah I think there's that um you can find what works for you you might have to take a bit of a risk like I have done but um there is a balance and you've got to find the right balance that works for you your new family while still

27:50Helena Masat:being able to do what you really enjoy do you feel like there's a massive rise in people doing

27:56Guy:freelance yeah I've only realized that myself since doing it as well I'm like wow everyone's

28:00Helena Masat:doing this and it is probably like a little bit of a knock-on from that the post-covid people wanting that flexibility yeah I don't know it just feels like there's a lot out there yeah

28:11Guy:but there is also a lot of work for them as well so it seems to be a busy time because people buy

28:17Helena Masat:off people don't they especially when it's designed because I just like how you interpret

28:21Guy:my brief or you I like how you yeah it's quite a personal thing isn't it so people buy into yeah and I think if you can confidently show them what you know is going to work and they buy yeah by into you that's where it's going to succeed amazing can i ask one last question because we're

28:40Helena Masat:running time and that is what music do you listen to when you're trying to focus oh gosh this is a

28:47Guy:this is a bit of a wild card um i love motown i absolutely love it and just like really classic 60s motown um and i will put that on because it kind of lifts my mood and i find it helps me focus as well it's my go-to oh tam which is probably just not what you're expecting no i

29:10Helena Masat:can't even i was gonna say i can't even picture it but i can't even hear it is the word um but

29:17Guy:i thought you were gonna ask me what book have i read recently that's been good and it probably would have been like the very hungry caterpillar or something if i was completely honest

29:26Helena Masat:no wait wait till you get onto gruffalo and stick man like oh it's terribly boring let's start with it's fun but i just started like blacklisting peppa pigs i couldn't bet her voice it's not available anymore she's disappeared yeah just deleted her but no i yeah i did ask people about their book that's what i thought i'm now asking people about their music yeah

29:50Guy:yeah that's fine and i go to yeah it's quite interesting a bit of motown it's like in my soul

29:56Helena Masat:it's cool great well thank you helena i really appreciate you coming on i really appreciate you being really open and kind of quite vulnerable i know it's a taboo topic we don't really talk about pregnancy we don't really talk about returning to work after maternity leave we don't really talk about juggling a child that's sort of being productive in a three-day week all that sort of thing and i i get it it's like kind of could be scary to talk about it but i think it's very powerful because i think we are designing for flexibility out there we are ironically we are designing for people with like with those challenges that you're facing yeah and trying to be inclusive yes but in a sort of kind of quite a traditional industry and I know I said a couple of times in our chat that it's design is female dominant it is but it's still a male construction industry yeah um it's kind of we are kind of old school in that sense and to have that kind of insight from you it kind of I know it represents your story personally but I think it's also wider lots of people can relate to that it's just great to hear it yeah and I think it is

31:04Guy:like we said before it's it's an outdated system it's about leadership and it's about trust and communication and that's how I'm kind of moving forward as a new mother in the industry and it's working and succeeding so you can you can make it work excellent well thank you so much for coming

31:20Helena Masat:on and thank you for tuning in everybody that was helena massap so we'll see studio massap taking leaps and bounds so we'll follow that eagerly and obviously please do like and follow the show because it helps us get other great guests like helena onto the show and really dig behind the scenes of what's happening with design workplace and all fun things like that thank you