Victoria Beckham said she started thinking differently about mom guilt after a conversation with fellow fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of the “Aspire with Emma Grede” podcast, Beckham said there are always tradeoffs she has to make as a working mom.
“But I think that the key is to not feel guilty. Just do the best that you can,” Beckham told podcast host Emma Grede.
Recalling a conversation with von Furstenberg from years ago, Beckham said she asked the Belgian designer how she balanced motherhood and a successful career.
“And she said, ‘Guilt is such a negative emotion. It is pointless.’ And then she said, ‘And darling, it’s very aging,'” Beckham said, recalling von Furstenberg’s words.
“I loved her for that because, as women, we do feel guilty. We do feel guilty if we can’t be at drop off or pick up or at a school play or if we have to travel for work. But that’s what we do, and our children ultimately, I believe, will be inspired by that,” Beckham said.
Beckham shares four children with her husband, David Beckham, and said balancing family life and work has often been a team effort.
“You know, between myself and David, we tag team,” she added.
Every morning, the couple makes breakfast for their daughter Harper, and Beckham said her husband handles the school drop-off whenever he’s not traveling.
The family has always been very close, she said.
“Communication is really key. You know, 6 o’clock at night, every night at our house, so long as neither of us are traveling, we always eat dinner together,” Beckham said, adding that they’re “quite a traditional family.”
She said the family puts their phones away during dinner and prioritizes spending quality time together.
“I’ve always wanted to be the best mom that I could be and look after the kids, but I also feel that it’s been part of my job to really help them fulfill their full potential and for them to recognize what their sense of purpose is,” Beckham said.
Beckham isn’t the only celebrity mom to speak candidly about the pressure that comes with trying to manage both career and family life.
Keke Palmer has said that she doesn’t think that working moms should feel mom guilt in this economy. “But the reality is, if you got to work, you got to work,” she said.
Similarly, Ayesha Curry has said she experiences mom guilt but doesn’t want motherhood to be her whole identity. “Like, for me, being married and with my husband, if you lose all of those things that were interesting about you, even for yourself, even the things that made me feel confident and cool, then like, what are you doing?” Curry said.
