The Village by Stylist – our new quarterly digital magazine – launches
The Village by Stylist – Stylist’s new parenting digital magazine – has launched. Editorial Director Lisa Smosarski talks about why it’s so needed, and how her experiences as a parent helped shape the magazine.
Mum. Three little letters, one powerful new identity. I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for the impact that becoming Mum would have on me. From the losses while trying to create my family to the sheer elation of meeting my children for the first time. From learning how to manage the brutal rollercoaster of the newborn months to the absolute joy of hearing that very first “mama” babble from my first-born’s lips, each moment a brick in building me to be the person I am today.
I, like many, struggled with the identity shift of becoming Mum. In fact, it was only when my son learnt to say it properly and regularly that it felt like a moniker that belonged to me. I wasn’t in denial, I was deeply and hopelessly in love with my baby, I just wasn’t sure I felt like a mum – whatever that means. Fourteen years later I have been on the receiving end of a million different uses of the word “mum” and I can now say it is my status above all others – I am still Lisa, I am still the Editorial Director of Stylist, still a daughter, sister, wife, friend and many, many other things but I am a mum first and foremost. It is the hardest job I’ve done and yet I am grateful every day (even after the 173 shouts of the word mum while I’ve been trying to write this letter to you).
But it isn’t always easy. As mums we must regularly face new challenges, question our identity or ambitions, make compromises or tough decisions and of course navigate infinite parenting conundrums that those who don’t walk in our shoes might not quite understand. I know that I couldn’t have done any of those things without a village around me. Doctors and midwives who helped me bring three children into the world; family members who filled in so many (physical and knowledge) gaps while supporting me with time to focus on my career; a husband who shares the load; employers who offered flexibility and understanding; and my friends who kept me sane. Pre-babies I couldn’t have imagined I’d need to learn to ask for and accept help or share so many vulnerabilities, but having a village changes that because it is mutual – you can give the support you one day might need. As I say to my mum-mates in our regular friendship-therapy chats, I’d be well and truly screwed without them. The knowing nod, the I-see-you meme… the group rant has been transformational to my ability to be the best version of Mum I can be, and oh the hive-mind knowledge. Rash pictures sent, CVs looked over, bodies compared and lack of perfection normalised. The greatest gift of all.
Which is exactly what we want this new brand, from the team behind Stylist, to be for you too: a village to help you navigate the ever-changing, ever-evolving role of being Mum. Every week, through our email, Instagram account and within special issues like this one, we will help you navigate your role as Mum, with the help of a cast of experts and other women with lived experience who want to share their stories too. It is a space where we can be honest, vulnerable, say we love our children without having to caveat it, or candidly admit when we need help.
So come on in to the very first issue of The Village by Stylist, our new quarterly digital magazine, made with the support and partnership of Next Kids. We can’t wait to welcome you into our new community.
Lisa Smosarski
Editorial Director, Stylist and The Village by Stylist
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Images: Sarah Brick
