Rochelle Humes: Learning To Be At Peace With Uncertainty | E118
Rochelle Humes (guest), Steven Bartlett (host), Narrator
In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Rochelle Humes and Steven Bartlett, Rochelle Humes: Learning To Be At Peace With Uncertainty | E118 explores rochelle Humes On Acceptance, Identity, Motherhood And Owning Her Power Rochelle Humes reflects on her unconventional upbringing, absent father, and how acceptance and forgiveness freed her from resentment and the need for closure. She talks candidly about fame with The Saturdays, the loss of control that came with it, and why she has no desire to reunite the band.
Rochelle Humes On Acceptance, Identity, Motherhood And Owning Her Power
Rochelle Humes reflects on her unconventional upbringing, absent father, and how acceptance and forgiveness freed her from resentment and the need for closure. She talks candidly about fame with The Saturdays, the loss of control that came with it, and why she has no desire to reunite the band.
She breaks down the realities of building her beauty brand My Little Coco, from industry pushback and diversity blind spots to the all‑consuming nature of entrepreneurship. Rochelle also shares, in detail, the emotional toll of nearly being ‘canceled’ over her Black maternity documentary and what it taught her about social media, nuance, and standing firm.
Threaded through is her evolution into someone who owns her decisions—leaving management, setting boundaries, backing projects she truly believes in—and her commitment to raising grounded kids, maintaining a strong marriage, and being at peace with uncertainty.
Key Takeaways
Acceptance can be more liberating than chasing closure you’ll never get.
Rochelle explains that with her absent father, she reached a point where she realized no conversation now could change missed nativity plays or childhood neglect. ...
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Not holding onto resentment can open doors you never expected.
Despite valid reasons to resent her father’s ‘other’ family, Rochelle chose curiosity over bitterness when a chance encounter led her to her half‑siblings. ...
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Big careers often cost you control; you must decide when that’s no longer acceptable.
Rochelle describes girl‑band life as a ‘hamster wheel’ where everything from days off to stage outfits required group consensus and label sign‑off. ...
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Entrepreneurship is all‑consuming; don’t start a business for the Instagram version.
My Little Coco took three years of product development and strict testing before launch, then arrived just before the pandemic. ...
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Values‑led products require holding your ground, especially around diversity.
When pitching retailers, some wanted Rochelle’s name but not her insistence on inclusive products—like a curl custard for afro and curly hair—and questioned if there was even a ‘need’ for it on the high street. ...
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In a hyper‑reactive online culture, sometimes the wisest move is silence and focus.
When a fellow presenter publicly implied Rochelle had taken a darker‑skinned woman’s job on the Black maternity documentary, social media turned on Rochelle overnight with accusations of colorism and ‘stealing bread. ...
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You often already know the decision; the real fear is delivering it.
Influenced partly by Barack Obama’s ‘51% certainty’ rule (via a Steve Bartlett story), Rochelle decided to leave her management and manage herself. ...
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Notable Quotes
“I know what I'm gonna get if I had contact with him, and I accept it. Acceptance actually can be a beautiful thing, and it can be a liberating thing to think, ‘I'm not holding onto something that I can't change.’”
— Rochelle Humes
“If I'd held onto that resentment, I wouldn't have gone and met them for dinner and I wouldn't have real key players in my corner now in my life.”
— Rochelle Humes
“If you're gonna start a business, you have to know that you’re not turning your phone off at five o’clock. And if you do, don’t expect a successful business.”
— Rochelle Humes
“You don't have to jump to your defense to prove that you're an incredible person all the time. I know where it was coming from, and sometimes that's enough.”
— Rochelle Humes
“I just got to a point where I thought, ‘It’s time to empower myself.’ Nobody knows me better than I know myself. I know what my vibe is, ’cause I am the vibe.”
— Rochelle Humes
Questions Answered in This Episode
When the documentary backlash first erupted, did you ever seriously consider handing the project to another Black woman to avoid the colorism debate altogether, and what ultimately stopped you?
Rochelle Humes reflects on her unconventional upbringing, absent father, and how acceptance and forgiveness freed her from resentment and the need for closure. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Looking back at your decision to perform on national TV three and a half weeks after giving birth, what specific boundaries would you now advise younger female artists to put in place with labels and management?
She breaks down the realities of building her beauty brand My Little Coco, from industry pushback and diversity blind spots to the all‑consuming nature of entrepreneurship. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
You described some retailers saying there was ‘no need’ for a curl custard for afro and curly hair—what concrete data or arguments finally shifted Boots and others to see that need, and how can other founders challenge similar blind spots?
Threaded through is her evolution into someone who owns her decisions—leaving management, setting boundaries, backing projects she truly believes in—and her commitment to raising grounded kids, maintaining a strong marriage, and being at peace with uncertainty.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
You’ve forgiven your father and chosen not to seek further answers—if one of your children, as adults, wanted to meet him and ask those questions for themselves, how would you handle that?
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Now that you manage yourself, what’s one big opportunity you’ve intentionally turned down because it failed your ‘This Morning interview’ test, and what does that reveal about how your values have changed since your early post‑band years?
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Transcript Preview
I just got to a point where I thought, "It's time to empower myself." And do you know what? Some of this is your fault because you said something. You'd met someone-
Yeah.
... or you spoke to... I can't remember.
51%.
That. It's been my life and I accept it. Like you say, acceptance actually can be a beautiful thing and it can be a liberating thing to think-
Oh, amen.
... I'm not holding onto something that I can't change. So first of all, the conversation was, "Well done. I didn't know about this." And then overnight, the dial turned. That, that definitely was pr- like... Do you know what? Actually, I was scared taking my kid to nursery that day because I got death threats.
Quick one. Can you do me a favor if you're listening to this and hit the subscribe button, the follow button, wherever you're listening to this podcast? Thank you so much. Rochelle Humes. Once upon a time, she was a member of The Saturdays, one of the most famous UK girl bands that has ever risen from this country. But since then, she's become so much more. She is a mother, she is an fearless entrepreneur, and honestly, she's one of the most pleasant, wonderful, authentic guests I've ever had on this podcast, and I can see why. After having this conversation with her, she's built this huge, engaged community behind her online and I think you're going to see that too. She's inspiring, she is wise, she is resilient, but she's also just unbelievably real. And today, we talk about something she's never addressed before, the moment where she was nearly canceled, unanswered questions from her childhood, and also the all-consuming side of starting and running a business that people just never talk about. The difficult times, the rejection, the struggle with work-life balance, and in her words, how she's "just winging it anyway." And I kinda think we are all just winging it. So without further ado, I'm Steven Bartlett, and this is the Diary of a CEO. I hope nobody's listening, but if you are, then please keep this to yourself. (instrumental music plays) Just me and Mum. I was reading, um, about the, the start of your life and going through multiple interviews-
Mm-hmm.
... and that phrase kept coming up-
Mm-hmm.
... "Just me and Mum." Why was it just you and mum?
It was just me and mum because that's sort of how my childhood looked. My mum and my dad split officially when I was a tiny... probably my son's age, probably maybe one, just short of one. And then that was sort of it, really. So that sort of... I had contact with my dad for little bursts of time, but it was never anything solid, and then the contact stopped altogether. So yeah, that... I suppose I, I actually... It's funny that you're pointing that out because I didn't realize how much I say that, but it...
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