London, 3rd April 2025: Like many new mums, Sophie Maunder thought she was alone in struggling to adapt to life as a working mother, balancing a high-flying career with competing demands at home and trying to live up to impossible expectations.
She was surprised that so many other mums thought she had it all buttoned down and came to her for advice and support, realising that there was a huge demand for mentoring she developed the framework for MATRI as a side hustle.
Today, after a remarkable 23-year career at VCCP, Maunder leaves the global challenger network for challenger brands to embark on a new chapter, ensuring that talented, high-performing women get the support they need to thrive in their careers after childbirth. Her journey at VCCP, encompassing nine distinct roles and navigating both professional triumphs and personal challenges, fueled her passion to create MATRI.
MATRI offers an 18-month programme of live webinars, on-demand video, coaching sessions, community support and expert advice covering every step of the maternity leave journey – from how to tell your employer to what happens after you return to work. The 18-month timeframe has been designed to support women through the full transition of maternity leave, and their return to work, ensuring that the support is available at the critical points of their journey.
For employers the benefits of MATRI make good business sense, with maternity support leading to 68% higher staff satisfaction and cost savings due to increased staff retention. At present, only 21% of women report that their employers even ask them what support they need to return to work.
Sophie Maunder, founder of MATRI, said: “I know now that I wasn’t alone in feeling alone when I had kids, thankfully my employer offered me support, but there is a huge gap in terms of what companies offer for women going through a massive life change. I was surprised too that whilst I thought everyone else was coping better than I was, others thought I was the model mum who had everything. That’s when I realised that I had to do something to let people know that how they were feeling is normal, and to offer some advice from experts to help them return to work and thrive in their careers.
“MATRI means that women who go off on maternity leave at the peak of their powers in high performing careers can return to the jobs they love and excel at – no woman should feel that they need to leave their job because they haven’t got the support they need. Especially working mums in adland, who juggle intense creative demands with family life, bringing invaluable skill and experience to the table. ‘It’s been a heady mix of working AND living,’ and I’m just so excited that, being the staunch supporter of my life they have always been, VCCP remains my committed founding client. So the umbilical cord won’t be entirely severed.”
Maunder worked at VCCP as an Executive Partner, having joined the global creative network shortly after it was founded in 2002 – she coined the slogan for the agency’s integrated ethos: ‘It only works if it all works’.
For the last five years, Maunder has run VCCP’s maternity coaching programme – whilst developing the MATRI platform – this has helped VCCP to reach a 100% retention rate amongst staff returning from maternity leave.
It is fitting that VCCP has now signed up as MATRI’s founding client, offering the support and mentoring programme to all of its staff in its 13 offices across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
Stephanie Brimacombe, Global Chief Growth Officer and CEO EMEA at VCCP added: “I wish MATRI had been available when I had my daughters. There is so much pressure on women to seamlessly adapt to motherhood so that they don’t fall behind in their careers – and there’s no handbook on how to get it right. Thankfully, Sophie has created this brilliant programme to offer support to new mums, and it’s so needed. I’m really proud that she’s taking this amazing step to empower women around the world in many different circumstances and workplaces, and to see her turn her passion and side hustle into a full-time, impactful career. I’m pleased to be able to offer Sophie’s continued wisdom to my colleagues when they need it.”
To find out more about MATRI and the benefits of the programme for employers and individuals, visit www.matricoaching.com.
