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BEYOND THE COMEBACK: Raising your career through the Primary School years
Join us for a live recording of episode 100 of COMEBACK COACH, the top-rated podcast for people returning to work after a break hosted by coaching psychologist, Jessica Chivers. Also a chance to chat with fellow Bright Minds interested in navigating career and young children.
Wednesday 26th February, 4.30-7pm, Arcadis, Fenchurch Street, London.
We’ll be exploring how to navigate the dual challenge of finding professional fulfilment and maintaining a sense of growth and progression whilst raising young children. I’ve carefully chosen my five podcast panellists because they’ve all had ‘interesting’ happenings in their home and work lives during the Primary School years that I think will inspire, soothe, uplift and reassure you.
Amanda, Emmie, Rachel & Liz
My panellist guests are all past COMEBACK COACH guests
- Amanda Newman – Accenture (4 kids)
- Emmie Faust – Investor, founder of Female Founders Rise (4 kids)
- Rachel Maguire – HR Business Partner, Earl Kendrick (3 kids)
- Liz Twiney – BlackRock (2 kids)
There’s more below about each of my wonderful guests.
Find community when you join us on 26th February 2025
Coming together with people you don’t know sometimes comes with apprehension. I want this to be a gathering you look forward to, where you feel at ease and where there’s an opportunity to comfortably make new professional connections. With my psychologist’s hat on I’ve thought about how I can maximise the chances that you’ll find it a valuable experience beyond what you’ll learn from my wonderful panel of podcast guests. I’ve cycled through lots of ideas and settled on inviting you to share up to 50 words about yourself and your LinkedIn profile and I will circulate this among you all the week before. This is completely optional.
You might like to use your 50 words to tell us what’s on your mind so offers of help can come your way. For example:
Yasmin Smith – Senior Account Director at Ogilvy (advertising agency). Back from second maternity leave 12 months ago. Got an expanded team due to a restructure and got some tricky characters – would love to get advice on managing a big team. Also any thoughts on getting a toddler to stay in own bed!
Amanda was on episode 21 of COMEBACK COACH (27/10/21) titled: “Amanda – confidence – big job & travel – when your dream jobs comes up on maternity leave – think twice before quitting”.
Back in 2021 Amanda’s children were 17, 12 and the twins were 5. In addition to her day job she was running The Career Mum community on Facebook which had a global membership of over 5000 people. Just after the podcast aired Amanda was off work on medical leave after being diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequent surgery. She’d just commenced hormone therapy which she says “was messing with my levels of anxiety and exhaustion”. She was keen to return to work and worried how breast cancer was affecting her career. She returned to work January 2022 on a phased return to a role as a PMO service lead.
Now:
- Since my episode of COMEBACK COACH I’ve moved across the organisation from our technology centre into consulting in the client group. I started in health and public sector and I’m now working within resources.
- I’ve got great sponsorship and mentors to help me succeed.
- My four children are now 20, 15 and 8 year old twins.
- Working a 4 day week.
Emmie was my guest on episode 52 of COMEBACK COACH (14/12/22) titled “Emmie Faust – investor – burnout – breakdown – long Covid – mother of 4”.
Back then she’d just started Female Founders Rise and was recovering from long COVID and burnout and had recently started on anti-anxiety meds. She hadn’t hosted any live events, didn’t have an advisory board, was just exploring FFR and working on getting her health back. She worked most days, but not every day, and her children were 13,11, 9 and 5. She’d taken my first two solo trips and started investing in female founders.
Now:
- Running a community of 8000 female founders.
- Has been featured in Forbes and the Times twice and launched an outdoor campaign seen by 2,000,000 people to empower female entrepreneurship.
- Partnered with Google, London Business School and Lloyds bank.
- Been on loads of solo holidays and is thriving again.
- Husband is not working – “he’s not been able to find a job and it’s hard”
- “I am still on anti-anxiety meds and am so happy in my life and my work. I have found my purpose, I have invested in over 25 female-founded business and I am doing the work I love.”
Rachel was my guest on episode 19 of COMEBACK COACH (29/9/21) titled “The Job Share Pair – What, why & how of job sharing – finding a partner – replacing part of the pair – benefits to employers”.
After 11 years at CBRE (including a time as HR Director in a job share), and a stint being HRBP for another of our guest panellists (Liz, small world!) in 2021 Rachel job shared and was co-founder of The Job Share Pair, a coaching and consultancy business to help to encourage more to job share and more businesses to welcome them in. Her boys were 3 and 1. She and Hannah Hall-Turner job shared the business 3 days per week and worked with individuals who job shared or who were interested in doing so and businesses to support those interested in job sharing, such as Fund for Global Human Rights, Esure and Softcat to name a few.
Now:
- Back to HRBP work for a small property firm in London in standalone role.
- Job Share partner Hannah moved to Singapore so it wasn’t sustainable in the short term to continue the business.
- Now have 3 children, age 6 (Year 2), age 4 (Reception) and almost 2. A juggle!!!!
- Now I work 3 days per week, with 2 to enjoy with my daughter.
- My passion remains the same to encourage and support women, particularly working mothers, with any ambition to job share as it is THE most incredible way of working.
Liz was my guest on episode 13 of COMEBACK COACH (15/6/21) titled “Liz – rebuilding credibility – getting your head back into gear – backing yourself after maternity leave.” (15/6/21)
Liz had her son Edward summer 2019 and returned to BlackRock from maternity leave during Covid. She was working from home full time in a Vice President role – Asset and Investment Manager for Real Estate Fund – working on a variety of commercial assets across the UK. She was working 4 days a week (agreed 50% at home once people returned to office) and had recently moved house and was planning a renovation project.
Now:
- Back from a sabbatical after reaching breaking point six months in (spring 2023) from her second maternity leave (spring 2023) when she’d been on brink of handing her notice in.
- Vice President – Operational Management and Oversight within Real Estate (same company, same department, different team)
- 3 day working week at school hours (50% of month in office, so roughly 2 days per week)
- Two children (now 5 years old and 3 years old).
- Completed the house renovation.
I returned September 2022 on a 4 day a week contract and into the same role. Very different dynamic returning at exactly the same time as the Truss mini budget and into a business which was now 4 days per week in the office.
6 months in I was at breaking point trying to do the long hours required of my job but also be present at home and take responsibility in an ordinary week for all pick ups.
I reached the point of handing in my notice which sparked a number of internal conversations on what I was looking for. Long story short I made my business case for what I was looking for in terms of work commitment and how I thought I could make this work and importantly in what role. The time commitment required in the investment role was no longer achievable given my desire to be present physically and mentally at home. I had always had an operational oversight role alongside my investment role so I wrote a job specification that expanded this so that I am now responsible for all UK funds within Real Estate and work closely with my European counterparty and COO in delivering platform level initiatives. As part of the role change we agreed that I would reduce to 3 days at school hours so that I could be around to collect my son who was due to start school in a few months and support him in that transition and have two days with my daughter.
We also agreed that I would have a 3 month period of extended leave, unpaid over the summer of 2023, so that I could spend some 1:1 time with my son before he started school and give him a rest from private nursery. This was all agreed and at the time of writing I’m 16 months in to this new working arrangement.
No career progression but that’s something I have to accept while I take this reduced role in such a big corporation
In addition my husband has made the rather big decision to step away from his current role which he has been in for 11 years and having not had more than 2 weeks off in that time is planning to take an extended break this summer and make a plan for his next steps focusing on a different work/life balance and a new challenge. All currently being negotiated but the intention is for this change to happen Spring 2025.
Ahhh, I can’t make the gathering. What now?
- Episode 100 will be available on Wednesday 6th March on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and online. COMEBACK COACH is the podcast for people returning to work after a break. It’s recommended by HR leaders to their employees and is in the top 25% of most listened to podcasts.
- Come and join me on Instagram for daily psychology-based tips and ideas for your wellbeing, career development and better days at work @comebackcommuk.
- You might also like to read my book Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work.
- Subscribe to Caremail, my fortnightly thoughts to help your return to work and career development.
