You work too hard and care too much to live life on default.

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Meet Lucy Watkins

Most mornings used to feel like a relay race. School bags by the door, Slack already pinging, after-school activities in the back of my mind while I tried to be present in a meeting.

I felt stuck on a hamster wheel - working hard, caring deeply, yet still going to bed wishing I’d lived with more intention.

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I wanted more connection, not constant coordination. But our home had slipped into a survival schedule.

That is when I learned a quiet truth: if you do not choose your family rhythm, it will choose you.

I built a simple weekly system so we could see it, say it, and do it.

One check-in a week.

Thirty seconds a day.

It changed the way we live from boardroom to bedtime, and it is why I want to help working parents do the same.

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When I returned to work as a senior exec after a traumatic birth, with nerve damage, a newborn, and a toddler, the pace did not shift.

The promotion I had worked for quietly disappeared.
No one asked how I was sleeping.
And the support I needed didn’t show up.

So I created something that did.

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What started as a single-page playbook stuck to my fridge, a visual rhythm for the week ahead, became the tool that helped me see what mattered, speak it out loud, and act on it with intention.

It made the invisible load visible. It helped my partner share the weight. It allowed conversations we never had the energy for. It gave me a way to lead at home without feeling like I was falling behind everywhere else.

And over time, it helped me find myself again.

I believe parenting is leadership and we deserve better tools. Most systems were never built for families. They reward endurance, not presence. I am here to change that.

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My mission is to help working parents reclaim clarity, presence, visibility and joy across every season of life and work.

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Whether you are chasing a promotion, settling after parental leave, managing school transitions, or caring for aging parents, you can lead both your career and your family with intention.

Whenever life feels overwhelming, out of control, or heavy, The Family Playbook has given me, and my family, a single page to realign on what matters and stay on track, day by day

Now, My Family Playbook helps parents and leaders all over the world show up with clarity and intention - at home, at work, and in themselves. To make intentional choices daily that helps them lead life instead of chasing it.

Beyond the titles and the tools, I’m a parent and a leader, in the thick of it too.

I’m a working parent, so I get it…

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I know the chaos of trying to get everyone out the door… school bags half-zipped, water bottles forgotten, shoes on the wrong feet.

I know the juggle of answering Slack pings while a toddler pulls at your sleeve, or mapping out tomorrow’s meeting in your head while cutting grapes into quarters.

I know the ache of evenings that blur into washing up, laundry piles, and collapsed conversations with your partner that never get past, “Who’s got drop-off tomorrow?”

And I know the joy of the small wins, the bedtime story that makes everyone laugh, the dinner where no one cries, the presentation that lands, the Saturday morning that feels like it’s yours again.

This work is as much about sharing what I’ve learned as it is about learning alongside you, because none of us are meant to figure this out alone.

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I love sparking conversations about the real lives of parents at home, at work, and everywhere in between.

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Whether you’d like me to:

  • Talk all things family, work, and play on your podcast

  • Join a panel discussion on leadership, visibility and the rollercoaster of parenting

  • Share insights in an article or interview

  • Run a Lunch & Learn to help your teams start building playbooks

…I’d love to contribute.

Because the more we talk openly about family, work, and play, the better we all get at designing lives and workplaces - that actually work.

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book lucy

I believe parenting is leadership and we deserve better tools. Most systems were never built for families. They reward endurance, not presence.

Man and woman in a kitchen, smiling and working with a notebook and laptop on a dark countertop, woman writing and man holding a coffee mug.

my mission is to give parents back their power

  • The power to live with more intention, not autopilot.

  • The power to embrace - not hide - their identity at work.

  • The power to create the life they want, not the one they feel they “should” have.

  • The power to have better conversations, deeper connections, and calmer days.

Whether you’re chasing a promotion, settling back after parental leave, managing school transitions or caring for ageing parents, you can lead both your career and your family with intention.

Today, My Family Playbook help parents and leaders around the world show up with clarity and presence at home, at work and in themselves - making intentional choices daily so they lead life instead of chasing it.

create your playbook now