EVERY INSPIRED MUM
IN CONVERSATION WITH: LUCIA HAWLEY
Recently revealed as a new host for 7Bravo, Lucia Hawley has the ultimate mentor - both professional and personal - in mother Antonia Kidman, a former journalist and TV presenter who has since retrained as a family lawyer.
BY DILVIN YASA
APRIL 2023
“I always knew my mum was phenomenal, but I think I only really saw her as Antonia Kidman, the woman, rather than just ‘mum’ recently when she walked away from journalism and completed a law degree. It was only then that I took a step back and went, ‘Whoa, this is a woman who took a step back from a successful career, retrained as a lawyer and graduated with honours and she managed to do all of this while looking after six kids’. For the first time, rather than seeing mum through the prism of my relationship with her, I saw her fierce independence and determination. I saw then that not only was she this force to be reckoned with, but that she always had been."
"When I think about the lessons mum has taught me over the years, I’d say she’s mostly led by example. Throughout her divorce with my dad, his death [in 2015] and the years she spent as a single mother, she somehow made each transition seamless so that we felt protected from whatever the world was throwing at us. Through watching her, I understood the importance of being financially and emotionally independent, to carve out your own role in the world but still take time to look after yourself. Despite everything mum’s got going on in life, she still gets up every morning at 5am to exercise. That might sound relatively simple, but it’s the oxygen mask theory; how can you adequately love and look after others if you don’t show yourself the same kindness?"
“SHE TAUGHT ME THE IMPORTANCE OF INDEPENDENCE, HOW TO CARVE OUT MY ROLE IN THE WORLD”
"Mum and I are alike in so many ways but I guess it’s our career paths – and the fact that we look so similar – that people most remark upon. True, I was inspired by her career from a young age, and as I’ve become a journalist myself, I’ve found her to be a wonderful touchstone for when I need advice or guidance.
Your mum can only give you the tools, but it’s up to you to apply them. I’m just lucky that I’ve had the ultimate role model – the most important tool in the kit – to show me the way, not only in terms of career, but how to be a strong woman and a solid human. I only wish I could go back in time to my teenage years so I could tell myself, ‘Lucia, listen to your mum and always take her advice!”
