Empowering women through flexible working
- By Becks Brockwell
- June 27, 2025
At the age of 34, I fell pregnant with my 3rd child. I already had a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old and a full-time job at a busy London marketing agency. My husband was running his own business, and I was commuting two hours into London and back from Surrey – so we had a nanny to look after our kids. Life was hectic, but manageable (just!).
Then our nanny went on long term sick. We were paying her sick pay and had no spare cash to afford anyone else to look after the children, so they were passed from pillar to post for six weeks. I begged neighbours, family, friends, basically anyone I could find, to look after them. I would sometimes have to drive them miles and drop them with people I barely knew at 6am in their PJs and carry them to the car asleep at 7.30pm on my way home. I was suffering from chronic morning sickness, chronic fatigue and overwhelming guilt. Then, at our 14 week scan we were told our baby had no heartbeat. With hindsight, I am not sure why that was such a shock to me. I had taken so little care of myself and my unborn baby, mentally and physically, and suddenly the realisation of this hit me hard.
So, things had to change, and I vowed to myself that I would never put work before the thing that was more important than anything in the world – my family.
Fast forward 10 years (plus another healthy pregnancy), and the opportunity came up to start my own marketing agency. So, way before Covid and at a time when no one knew what WFH stood for, ecollective was born – it was revolutionary! Why? Because it had no office. It was a truly remote marketing agency! Built on the idea that when working in digital marketing, why not be fully digital?
At first the agency team was made up of our friends and ex-colleagues, who, to the most part, were women, and who just happened to be living all over the world. At that time, the current system wasn’t built for women to thrive at work and at home. You were expected to choose – or at least pretend you didn’t have responsibilities beyond your desk. But ecollective was going to be different. Flexibility wasn’t a perk, it was a principle.
Our team was trusted to run their own day. They delivered the work that needed to be done, brilliantly. They did it whilst managing school runs, caring for sick toddlers, or simply carving out time for themselves. And why shouldn’t they? Talent and commitment don’t vanish the moment you become a parent or move to Montenegro.
Today the agency is 40 strong – 35 of them women.
Empowerment, to me, means autonomy. It means understanding that productivity doesn’t require being chained to a desk from 9 to 5. It means valuing output, creativity, and contribution, not face to face meetings.
I see the impact of this every day. Women who feel seen, trusted, and supported show up with energy, loyalty, and fresh thinking. They aren’t burnt out trying to be everything to everyone. They are focused, capable, and confident because they have the space to be both professionals and parents.
Giving back to women in this way is one of the most rewarding parts of my role. It’s my way of righting the imbalance I experienced years ago. It’s about building a future where no one is apologising for having families, or for living abroad. Our team thrives as designers, content creators, project managers, and developers, all while being present for the people they love. The pandemic might have made remote working more accessible – which we think is great – but for us, it’s always been one of our founding pillars and will always continue to be so.
