How Instagram’s most glamorous mums have built up £50K business sharing gritty, warts-and-all reality of motherhood

, they warned that all new mums should be warned: "You're (sic) vag is gonna burn like a bonfire, your baby is going to scream for hours on end and you'll have no idea why and put it down to 'colic', you'll forget the last time you washed your hair or how long you've worn your sick stained t-shirt."

It was a refreshing change from the glowing reports of motherhood often seen on Instagram - and while Holly and Sophie didn't hide their overwhelming happiness, they made sure to keep each of their posts down-to-earth.

The reality of lockdown babies

In incredible synchronicity, Holly and Sophie went on to fall pregnant around the same time again last year - and welcomed their second babies within weeks of each other.

Holly's son Jaxson arrived the same day that Boris announced lockdown, while Sophie's baby girl Isla came shortly after.

The pair have once again kept things refreshingly real online - opening up on the brutal reality of having newborns at home, without wider family support.

“We’ve had so many mums messaging and saying they’ve had their baby in lockdown, and saying how scary it is," Holly says.

“For mums that had to give birth alone, it must have been so scary. I think we get urgent messages for advice from mums daily.”

Making up to £6,000 per campaign

The women initially began by pitching themselves to a series of baby brands, while doing reviews for free.

As the business grew, they realised they could begin making money from it - with a view of building it up into a full-time job for them both.

Holly says: “We have never wanted to be greedy with it. It took us a good year before we started making any money.”

It's proved such a success, the business itself is now worth around £50,000, while a campaign (which can include blogs, videos and posts) for a big brand could fetch them up to £6,000.

“We only work with brands that we feel passionate about," Sophie adds.

“We’ve recently done something with Always, on their new sanitary towel.

 

“They approached us to talk about discharge in pregnancy. That’s something we would never want to talk about, who wants to talk about discharge? Nobody!

“However, everybody gets it and in pregnancy you get loads, so we knew it was important. Women should know when they’re pregnant that this happens."

'We are normal girls that want to look nice'

While both women have made no secret of their struggles juggling their usual routines with motherhood - they always ensure they look their best for their posts.

“We are normal girls that want to look nice – we’re don’t want to say, ‘okay we’re mums now, we’re not going to bother anymore’," Sophie says.

“We both feel like we don’t want to lose ourselves – because we wouldn’t have not bothered before.”

And they've become true Instagram stars over the last year - even regularly being stopped in the street by mums who recognise them.

Now, as the business continues to go from strength to strength, they're getting inundated with messages from mums seeking advice - proving just how much many have come to rely on them.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had hundreds of messages from other mums responding to something we’ve put online, saying ‘thank God you’re being honest, I was the same but I thought I was alone’," Holly says.

And many mums relish the opportunity to share a laugh.

 

Sophie recalls: “When we first had the babies, we were quite ballsy about sex after babies and about how every time you say you’re tired, your husband immediately says the same.

“We used to get a lot of mums agreeing and saying they’d had similar experiences, like seeing your husband get home from work and then sit in the drive for 15 minutes on their phone – just come in! Help me!”

They are now in the process of writing a book about the nitty gritty reality of motherhood - sharing their own experiences.

It will cover everything from the lack of sex and sleep, through to awkward post-partum symptoms and the positives of bringing life into the world.

Holly says: “We are proud. This was just an idea lying in a spa one day, and three years later it’s grown. We just want to keep going.”