Ava Chandler-Matthews, Co-founder of Ultra Violette on the importance of a village.
"My career is really important to me – for better or worse..."
An interview series featuring mothers within the DD community. Here, we examine the juggle of paid working mothers – we talk motherhood, career, routine, self-care and daycare. I ask the things you actually want to know, like what they outsource, why they work, how they work, keep it together and get out the door each morning.
Can you start by sharing a bit about your family dynamic and what roles each of you take on that helps to keep the household functioning?
In our home is myself, my husband Dion who is a hotelier, our 14 month old son Art (Artie) and our 2 year old dog, Ladybug.
We share quite equally the domestic duties although I absolutely carry most of the mental load (of course!). My husband might disagree here but I don’t actually think most men even consider how wide reaching the mental load is! My husband definitely carries more of the child care in terms of weekends/ after work functions and work travel.
For the first half of the year he also spent Fridays at home with Artie. I’ve just come off of a really busy work period so there was also a lot of after/before hour calls that he would cover. This year I’ve already done two international work trips with at least one more to go that he’s available for. He is great with this and doesn’t get resentful or make me feel guilty about it – regardless if the activity/trip is for work or pleasure and I know that if I were in his position I would not be as graceful! Generally, he’s a lot more relaxed than I am though.
In terms of the cleaning, I’m not much of a cleaner although I will put things away and tidy and again my husband probably carries more of the load here but we also have a cleaner and a VERY tidy nanny so what remains is not too onerous.
I do all the cooking and the majority of the grocery shopping – but our nanny does the groceries and cooks some meals for our son. I also manage our social calendar and pretty much plan our weekends.
We probably split the dog walking equally. Ladybug gets two walks a day.
What method of childcare have you opted for?
We have a full time nanny, Lou – she works four days but 10 hour days which works for our schedules. Artie will go to daycare for 3-4 days a week next year and I’m terrified for the mornings as I love not having to rush things at the moment. Dion used to have the Fridays at home with him but now we have another sitter on a Friday who is also great. We have no family in Melbourne so we don’t have grandparents to rely on sadly.
Can you give us a basic rundown of your day – what does your job entail?
I am the co-founder of skincare brand, Ultra Violette. My co-founder Bec and I run half of the business each and I cover the marketing/brand/digital/education/PR areas of the business and we overlap on product development and our retailer partnerships. My job is pretty dynamic and changes daily which I need quite frankly in order to not get bored and become a pain in the ass.
For example, this morning I set my alarm quite early as I had an 8am call with the US and I also had to pack for an overnight trip to Sydney which I’d avoided doing the night prior. I had a shower and then got Artie up (he wakes up usually after us around 7.30am which is a blessing that I don’t think I’ve really fully grasped). I always try and make his breakfast for him – he has scrambled eggs and toast. I’ve tried other things but he’s not a fan. He’s had scrambled eggs every day since he was 6 months old! I prefer to make them because a) I’m a better cook and b) I shove so much butter into them that I don’t trust anyone else to replicate the fat levels I’d like him to have. Artie has always been small so this is just my futile attempt to fatten him up. I really only had time to sling the eggs onto a plate (normally I’d sit with him while he eats his breakfast), take a handful of supplements and then jump on the call at 8am. I also walked the dog at the same time because I knew I wouldn’t be around for the next couple of days.
Our nanny arrives at 8am so is here with him and Dion is also floating around. After that I went straight to the office for a finance meeting with Bec and our CFO, Emma – we had to sign off our FY23 results and go over a few admin things.
Then after that it was a few other meetings: our weekly digi/marketing WIP which is our social, digital brand and PR team, a WIP with our Global brand Manager and our weekly NPD meeting with our Product Development team. I took this one from the airport lounge as I had a 4pm flight to Sydney. While I’m on the plane I’m answering these questions and when I land in Sydney I have a dinner with other beauty industry friends. I’m in Sydney for the David Jones Beauty Awards – one of our products is nominated (update; and won!).
I’ll check my emails before dinner and answer anything urgent and then log off for the day. If I weren’t travelling I would be home by 530/6pm – our nanny leaves at 6pm and spend an hour with Artie before he goes to sleep. I have completely uninterrupted play time with him once
I get home and then Dion and I will usually alternate bedtime and stories. He’s going through a weird phase where he just loses it at bedtime and cries hysterically which he’s never done and is dragging out bedtime but usually by 7pm Dion and I will have dinner and watch TV on the couch if I don’t have evening calls which I do many nights – one of the perks of being a global brand.
How do you work – do you work from home or the office?
Generally I’m at work by 9/9.30am and leave by 5.30pm but I’m often on emails or calls again after Artie goes to bed. I value sleep above all so I’m not super productive past 9pm and generally won’t take a call after 8pm unless I absolutely have to. I prefer to work from the office now that I have a child – previously I was fine not working in an office and even said to Bec; “I don’t think I’ll ever work in an office again”. I’ve definitely changed my tune! We’re in the process of moving into a new space in Cremorne and I’m really excited about that. Currently I work 3-4 days in the office and 1-2 days from home but that might change once we move.
Running a company, what did maternity leave look like for you, what did you put in place to enable this and how long did you take off?
I’m lucky enough to be sharing a business with a brilliant superhuman so Bec managed everything while I was on mat leave. I ensured that plans were in place for the big buckets and we had agreed to a strategy for the three months I was out of the business. But I wasn’t worried because I’m not doing this alone and Bec is incredible. I knew she would be able to cover it all (although I was worried about her taking on too much). We also hired a super capable marketing lead to manage the team and execute the vision. It’s hard because when it’s your own business you don’t really get the luxury of 12 months of maternity leave and I also know what I’m like and I actually didn’t want to take that time off. For the first 4-6 weeks there was no way I could really think about work but after about 8 weeks I started to dip my toe back in a bit. I officially came back from mat leave just over three months after I’d had Artie – I had a work trip planned to South East Asia so I visited Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Dion and Artie met me at the end and we had about 6 days in Singapore together as a family. I guess reflecting back on it, it was a lot and I was really terrified to leave the family but my mum came down from Sydney to support Dion as Artie was so young.
I staggered my return to work and went back two days then a month later, three days then four the next month. By January I was full time again. I absolutely don’t expect the team to operate like this it should be worth noting! I am not the model of success in this department but I just did what was right for me, my family and our business.
What do you outsource?
I am a big fan of outsourcing. My best friend’s mother (so like a second mother to me) has always said “pay for all the help you can afford” and I absolutely live and die by this. I’d prioritise help over other things including travel especially with small children. And even more so given we don’t have family support in Melbourne – my mum is great and will help a lot when she’s around which is lovely. Dion and I are both busy although we both have a degree of flexibility with our jobs which is helpful.
We have a nanny and also use babysitters when we want to go out – it’s hard to find time together as a couple and it’s often one of the first things to go when you’re so busy so we try and have a date day every couple of weeks. We also have a cleaner once a week and I buy meals quite often from Blakeaway to help get us through when I can’t be bothered to cook during the week. I don’t like to do things the hard way when I can avoid it so I am all about making my life easier.
What does your career mean to you – why do you work?
My career is really important to me – for better or worse it’s definitely a big part of my identity and I don’t know who or what I’d be if you stripped away the work but it’s also my business and so of course I care deeply and have a sense of responsibility to my co-founder and also my team. Aside from that, I’m also super passionate about what we do every day and what we put out into the world and the category we are building. I just love it – I love product and brand. I’m also conscious that the next 5+ years will be critical for getting the business to a certain level so there’s going to have to be an element of sacrifice in the short term to hopefully set us up longer term. My priority will always be my family but if I can find this elusive balance, that would be great. It’s probably much easier with one child. Ask me again when we’ve had a second!
How do you get into work mode and continually feel inspired?
God. I don’t know that anyone can be continually inspired. I have times where I’m in a lull and just going through the motions and other times, I’m raring to go with all these ideas. I think it helps to have a team you’re accountable to and also a co-founder – she is a great source of inspiration and we work really well together to create vision and strategies. And 8-9 hours of sleep helps with everything TBH!
What have you found the most challenging and most delightful about motherhood?
I found it all really challenging to be honest. I love my son with every ounce of my being but I didn’t like motherhood in the early days. I hated the monotony of it, and the selflessness. I definitely wasn’t prepared for how it would change my life and I found that a shock. I know everyone says they love their freedom but I REALLY did. I loved being able to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. It really didn’t come naturally to me. I did enjoy my three months home with Artie but I was happy to get back to work – although I found the staggered return to work hard. Working part time as a founder is virtually impossible and I felt disconnected to the business and the team during this phase.
I also get really mad about the societal expectation placed on mothers – not only are we more often the primary carers, but we are also supposed to work and contribute equally financially. And this also contributes to my layered feelings about motherhood. BUT! I do find that Artie’s age is just pure heaven. He is so funny and joyful and I love being around him and hearing him laugh and watching him play and explore and discover things - and I die a little every time he cries. He is such a happy, beautiful boy and I feel so lucky he is mine. I think my own personal experience of motherhood definitely started to improve post 11 months when they’re a lot more interactive and can communicate with you in different ways. That definitely helps.
Can you share your quick out-the-door routine?
All of my makeup is right by our front door so I am dressed and then I whack a few bits on my face and then speed out!
I’ve trimmed my skincare routine a bit and just use a prescription tret (tretinoin) from QR8 at night with a Rationale hydrating cream over the top and then in the morning I just use one serum – usually a vitamin C or an all-rounder, then Supreme Screen with or without a moisturiser and then I’m usually testing a new product for Ultra Violette. I also love our Daydream Screen as a skin tint – I wear it a lot in winter because it gives SPF 50 protection and is also a dewy base. After that I usually just use a bit of blush – usually a cream from Rare Beauty – and an eyebrow tint Glossier Boy Brow.
For winter [fashion], I invest in a lot of good quality/ special coats as I find you can really wear whatever you want underneath and it doesn’t matter. My faves are Saks Potts. I do wear a lot of dresses also which are great as they’re just one and done – usually from Leo Lin, Zimmerman, and Scanlan [Theodore]. I also shop a lot on Net-a-Porter. It’s so fast and returns are excellent.
I wear the same jewellery and never take it off so that’s another time hack – you don’t have to swap accessories every day. I buy timeless pieces so I can wear them all year round – mostly through Temelli Jewellery. I am going through a real tennis phase – diamonds elevate everything even activewear!
Self-care and motherhood often don’t come hand-in-hand, but it is so important. What self-care or wellness practices do you have in place? How do you ensure you take time out for yourself, and how do you make this happen?
I used to be quite regimented with my workouts in the morning but have dropped off a bit, I’m enjoying not having to rush off in the morning and I am now prioritising my mornings with Artie. Although I do make sure I take some time for myself during the week – whether that’s a regular mani or blowdry, it makes me feel more together and like myself. The more polished you look on the outside – the more people assume you have your shit together. It’s all smoke and mirrors! I also make time to do things socially as it really fills my cup – whether that’s a walk with friends or drinks on a Sunday arvo I make sure I get that time in. Normally I’d make sure I see my therapist every couple of weeks but that’s also slipped of late.
I do feel like I need a bit of a break. We’ve had a massive nine months and the pace isn’t slowing down anytime soon so Dion and I are going on a little three night retreat in a couple of weeks. I need to be horizontal with a book for at least three days.