Author Archives: emmajmclean

There is no doubt in my mind that I have paid the Motherhood penalty. Since becoming a mother, my career and pay has been penalised in a way that my children’s father never experienced. There is a narrative that says this was my choice. It was my choice to work four days a week, myContinue reading “Was it really a “choice”?”

Spoiler alert, this post does not contain any answers or a silver bullet that makes everything better. It is a wallow. It is a wallow in uncertainty, in the feeling that this sucks and in the nothingness that greets me every morning. Don’t get me wrong, everyone who is still in a lockdown is fillingContinue reading “Day 55 (not that I’m counting).”

One of the biggest surprises for me about the work I do is that what resonates most with working mothers has nothing to do with what happens in the workplace. And everything to do with what happens at home. It is about the work, the unpaid work that happens at home and the lion’s shareContinue reading “Whose doing the lunches, laundry and loo-rolls in your house?”

Right now, in Aotearoa New Zealand, there are 5,000 more women than men looking for paid employment. Covid-19 disproportionately impacted on women with up two thirds of all job losses in the last 6 months of 2020. But it was a double whammy for women as study after study is proving that they also pickedContinue reading “A Women’s Employment Action Plan from the School Pick Up Queue”

School holidays hit New Zealand next week. For working parents everywhere, the weeks leading up to the school holidays tick along like a time bomb. You know it’s coming and you know it’s not going to be pretty. It’s definitely not going to be a holiday! Frantic dashes across town dropping children at different locationsContinue reading “Reimagining School Holidays”

When it comes to working from home when you have young children at home, the famous Dolly Parton song doesn’t really cut it. It is more like 9 to 9.15am, 9.25 to 9.50am, 10am to 10.35am through to the late evening. Not as catchy is it? Remind yourself that being a stay at home parentContinue reading “Working 9 to 5?”

In the lead up to International Womens Day on March 8th, here are the two books that I keep on my desk at all times. They have equally inspired me to lift my game and boosted my confidence. Winging It by Emma Issacs “Stop Thinking, Start Doing: Why Action Beats Planning Every Time”.   EmmaContinue reading “Books That Help You Play Bigger”

Day one of the school holidays and I have already had a text from the school holiday programme that my children are reluctantly attending. It appears that there was a handstand gone wrong and a small injury has occurred. Luckily, nothing an ice block won’t fix when I pick them up later today. But itContinue reading “When Work Doesn’t Work.”