Interview with Mother Pukkha
This week we had the chance to speak with one of THE COOLEST vloggers: Mother Pukka (Anna Whithouse) ! With over 27,000 followers on Instagram and several collaborations with Citroen, Avon, The Times, London Evening Standard, Glamour...she has an impressive resume. Anna previously worked as Vice President at Time Out Amsterdam before writing about shoes and handbags for fashion labels such as Tommy Hilfiger. Mother Pukka is now building her own empire with The Urchin (her daughter Mae) and Papa Pukka!
Meet one of our favourite mummy: MOTHER PUKKA!
-What inspired you to start your parental blog/vlog?
It was feeling shoe-boxed as a mother; I felt the minute we hoofed out a kid, brands and the media had decided we’d act a certain way and wear certain things. I just felt there was room at the inn for all kinds of folk and not everyone was being made welcome by the powers that be. Whether mum boss, mum don’t-give-a-toss, eco warrior, fish ‘n’ chip muncher, gym/gin bunny, stay at home/ stay at work mother, this is one big parental party and everyone is invited. The one thing that unites us is laughter; laughing through the madness and that’s why I set Mother Pukka up. To laugh more than I was crying.
-You named your blog “mother pukka”, where does it come from? :)
My grandfather said the other day, “you realise that sounds like an expletive?!” Yep, I realise that and my Ma doesn’t like swearing so had to go with ‘pukka’.
-Your videos are hilarious! What’s the inspiration behind them?
Not sure ‘inspiration’ is quite the word; it’s stuff I do with Mae and just whack it on camera. We just hang out and have fun - when she’s not having a massive inconsolable breakdown.
-#notparentingtheshitoutoflife? Could you tell us more about your campaign?
It’s just a hashtag that developed more than a campaign, really. I just felt some days I was on it – like, I’ve totally got this – only to be reminded the day after that actually I’m not on top of shit at all. Like, there’s a squashed grape seeping into an important document I’ve been trusted to post and I’m possibly wearing two pairs of knickers.
-A favourite spot you like to go with your little one?
I love LOVE heading to Blo Bar in Chiswick. It’s a beauty bar with a cool crèche – some time out for mama and fun times with strangers (who tend to always be better/ more fun than me) for Mae. Win-win.
-What’s your dream destination?
Boring, perhaps, but I love England. I’ve lived abroad for ten years and it’s really not all that compared to a country that is home to Curly Wurly’s and has places like Bognor Regis where I would like to retire, wearing nothing but a shell suit, drinking milky tea on the coast.
-If you had to dress up Mae, which Fancy Kids outfit would you choose?
I love the Blune boat jumper. I would wear that, forget the kid.
-Could I have your best recipe?
Chocolate rice crispie cakes. Love a recipe that doesn’t require leaving the house for some rogue ingredient that Tesco will definitely have run out of. There’s always a few Rice Crispies hanging about and definitely a stash of chocolate so that’s a parental win right there.
THANK YOU MOTHER PUKKA!