If You Ask Me

Hannah Bradshaw & Sarah Lyons
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Welcome to the If You Ask Me podcast, hosted by Hannah Bradshaw and Sarah Lyons, two former employment lawyers turned coaches and the co founders of BlueSky. This podcast is about the big conversations we wish were happening more often. We talk to women in leadership positions across law firms, both those who have been through it themselves and those who bring fresh insights into how the profession can evolve. Our aim is to create a space that is uplifting and practical, where law meets life and possibility opens up. New episodes released weekly. 

Episodes

  1. Still Ambitious: Law, Motherhood & The Perception Problem with Hannah & Sarah

    3D AGO

    Still Ambitious: Law, Motherhood & The Perception Problem with Hannah & Sarah

    In this episode of If You Ask Me, we speak about maternity leave, returning to work and what it really takes to keep moving toward partnership in law. We reflect on how becoming mothers changed the way we were seen professionally and how those shifts are often subtle rather than explicit. The expectations that appear on return. The assumptions that are made about ambition, availability and commitment. And the gap between how legal careers are meant to work on paper and how they often feel in practice. Our own experiences as employment lawyers, and later as founders of BlueSky, shaped these reflections. We saw first-hand how many women struggle to name what feels different after maternity leave, even when their capability and drive remain unchanged. In this episode, we reflect on: What maternity leave and return to work felt like for usHow perceptions can change once women become mothersWhy progression toward partnership can feel more uncertain after leaveThe structural challenges that sit inside legal career frameworksWhat we have learned from coaching women navigating return and progressionWhat genuinely supports women who want to keep moving forwardThis conversation is honest and reflective. It is about law, about motherhood, and about what it takes to sustain a long and meaningful legal career after maternity leave. Host: Sarah Lyons, Founding Director of BlueSky Host: Hannah Bradshaw, Founding Director of BlueSky

    28 min
  2. Motherhood, progression and stepping into partnership in law with Rebecca Jason

    FEB 10

    Motherhood, progression and stepping into partnership in law with Rebecca Jason

    In this episode of If You Ask Me, we are joined by Rebecca Jason, a partner in the Banking and Finance team at Winckworth Sherwood. During the conversation, Rebecca shares how motherhood reshaped her confidence, judgement and approach to what mattered most in her career. She also shares how a partnership opportunity first arose while she was on maternity leave, how that possibility took shape over time, and what it was like stepping into her first partner role while adjusting to life with two young children. The discussion explores how ambition, progression and sustainability can coexist over the long term, even when career paths do not follow an expected or linear route. Host: Hannah Bradshaw, Founding Director of BlueSky Host: Sarah Lyons, Founding Director of BlueSky Guest: Rebecca Jason, Partner at Winckworth Sherwood

    25 min
  3. When redesigning work becomes the only way to stay in law with Carolyn Miller

    FEB 4

    When redesigning work becomes the only way to stay in law with Carolyn Miller

    In this episode of If You Ask Me, we are joined by Carolyn Miller, a partner at Lewis Silkin and one of the lawyers responsible for opening the firm’s Glasgow office. Before returning to private practice, Carolyn spent several years running her own consultancy, Fish to Water. During this time, she provided HR and employment law advice while creating greater flexibility to be present with her children. Her career reflects a non-linear path shaped by senior leadership responsibility, family life and deliberate professional choices. Earlier in her career, Carolyn reached a senior role in a large firm and began to question the personal cost of the traditional model. She decided to step away from firm life, not from the law itself, and continued practising independently. Throughout this period, she maintained her practicing certificate, built a client portfolio on her own terms, and developed a working style that better aligned with her family commitments. In the conversation, Carolyn speaks openly about the emotional and financial trade-offs involved in stepping away from private practice, the realities of the motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus, and what it was like to return to partnership after a long break. She also reflects on the importance of firm culture, flexible working and the conditions that made her return to private practice possible. Carolyn’s experience offers a grounded perspective on career breaks, senior leadership and what it takes for legal careers to remain sustainable over the long term. Host: Hannah Bradshaw, Founding Director of BlueSky Host: Sarah Lyons, Founding Director of BlueSky Guest: Carolyn Miller, Partner in the Employment Team at Lewis Silkin

    26 min
  4. Leadership, motherhood and building a career that lasts in law with Alison Eddy

    JAN 28

    Leadership, motherhood and building a career that lasts in law with Alison Eddy

    In this episode of If You Ask Me, we speak with Alison Eddy, Partner and Ambassador for Inclusion at Irwin Mitchell and former London Managing Partner, a position she held for over a decade. Alison’s career has been shaped by her work as a medical negligence lawyer and her role in growing Irwin Mitchell’s London office from its early beginnings into a large, full-service practice. She joined the firm in the mid-1990s at a time when she was raising five young children and managing considerable personal and financial pressure as her family circumstances changed. Alongside a long-standing commitment to client work, Alison went on to lead one of the firm’s largest offices. Her experience brings a grounded perspective on senior leadership, motherhood and how progression unfolds over the course of a long career in law. During the conversation, Alison looks back on the moments that influenced her path, the demands of sustaining leadership over many years, and what it means to be a visible leader during periods of disruption, including the pandemic. She also discusses the impact of flexible working, how Irwin Mitchell came to have more than 50% female partners, and her experience of maternity leave across different generations. Alison reflects on supporting women returning to work, questioning assumptions about age and ambition, and the importance of flexibility and imagination when thinking about career progression. Host: Hannah Bradshaw, Founding Director of BlueSky Host: Sarah Lyons, Founding Director of BlueSky Guest: Alison Eddy, Partner Ambassador for Inclusion at Irwin Mitchell

    30 min
  5. The moment we realised women in law deserved more with Hannah & Sarah

    JAN 19

    The moment we realised women in law deserved more with Hannah & Sarah

    In this very first episode of If You Ask Me, we wanted to share our story. Why we left law, what it was really like to come back from maternity leave, and why we decided to build BlueSky. We talk about the moments that stayed with us. Being told we “wouldn’t be hungry enough” for a partnership. Watching colleagues praise fathers for doing a single nursery pick-up while mothers were questioned on their commitment. Realising that traditional coaching was not shifting the dial for women in law. These experiences shaped the way we designed BlueSky. We wanted something honest and real. Coaching that focuses on connection helps women feel less alone and gives them a strategy for their careers at a time when it can feel like everything is slipping away. In this episode, we reflect on: What returning to law after maternity leave felt like for usHow the motherhood penalty and fatherhood bonus still show up in firmsWhy are women so often judged on performance today, while men are measured on potentialThe power of connection and group coaching in showing you are not aloneWhat we wish we had known at the start of our journeysThis conversation is personal, a little raw, and hopefully reassuring. It is about law, about life, and about possibility. Host: Sarah Lyons, Founding Director of BlueSky Host: Hannah Bradshaw, Founding Director of BlueSky

    32 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

Welcome to the If You Ask Me podcast, hosted by Hannah Bradshaw and Sarah Lyons, two former employment lawyers turned coaches and the co founders of BlueSky. This podcast is about the big conversations we wish were happening more often. We talk to women in leadership positions across law firms, both those who have been through it themselves and those who bring fresh insights into how the profession can evolve. Our aim is to create a space that is uplifting and practical, where law meets life and possibility opens up. New episodes released weekly. 

Information

  • Creator
    Hannah Bradshaw & Sarah Lyons
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 If You Ask Me
  • Show Website
    If You Ask Me

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