21 reasons why mothers want to keep working

Choices that women (and men) make with regards to their professional lives when they have children are all valid. Whether it is slowing down, working part-time, from home, full-time or being full-time carer, becoming a parent is a challenge and there are multiple ways to build the family’s new life.

Why I no longer wear make-up at work

I have always worn make-up to work. Not an outrageous amount, just a bit of foundation and powder, a bit of eye-liner and mascara.

For years, I have cherished the morning routine of applying my make-up. Sometimes, it was just a nice bit of pampering. Sometimes, it was a way of preparing myself for the  day ahead. And sometimes, before an important meeting or presentation, it was a way to put on my war paints, to get ready to face the challenges ahead, at my best. I never in a million years imagined that I would one day stop wearing make-up to go to work.

And yet, a few weeks ago I started reducing my make-up routine and then stopped completely. 

What to do when working-mum guilt strikes…

Sometimes I miss my girls so much during the day in work…  Today was one of these days. I was reading the online papers and stumbled upon a picture of a very young baby, with its tiny head resting in the hand of its dad. It looked so fragile and hopeful, the exact representation of the future.

Crying in the workplace : it’s not the worst thing you could do !

Have you ever cried in the office ? Not in private in the bathroom but in front of your boss or your colleagues ?

I have. Multiple times, for various reasons, related or not to work. 

Why my feminist husband is my best career asset

I am very very fortunate. I married a feminist man.

When I first met Lion, I was 25 and he was 26. We were both advancing our careers, albeit in different fields. Very quickly, our respective workplaces, careers and ambitions became a very important topic of our conversations. We became one another’s coach. Our careers were advancing in parallel. We were slightly competitive with one another.

It was fun.

Then we got married and I became pregnant with Apple. And things changed.

Having it all ? Or screwing it all ?

Being a working mum, there are days when I feel I am kicking ass. Days where everything goes to plan : the kids both slept through the night, I made it to the office before 8am, my boss is in a good mood, my team is motivated, my presentation to the Board is met with approval and smiles, my husband tells me I look pretty and I just signed a big contract that will really boost the P in my P&L.

Those days are precious, but they are rare…

“When people see something in you”… My experience of mentoring

Last week was my company’s annual Staff meeting. 6,000 of us gather in a concert hall for 1 hour to listen to updates and stories from the past year. Despite the firm being a massive business, the atmosphere in the staff meeting is always relaxed, not stiff, and we are able to enjoy information and words of wisdom from a variety of top managers.

This year, the overarching theme was diversity. And my attention was particularly caught by one of the speaker, a woman, who was explaining her success that way : “Someone saw something in me that I didn’t know I have”. She then went on to encourage all of us to take a deserving more junior staff member under our wings and to develop them. That got me thinking about my experience with mentoring.

Once upon a time, there was a breastfeeding Mum who decided to pump at work…

I recently went back to work after Maternity Leave. Peanut is 3 month old. I will explain in a separate post why I decided to go back to work relatively soon after the birth of my daughter, but what I wanted to talk about today was my experience with pumping at work.

With my first child, Apple, I stopped breastfeeding at the 3 month mark, and although I also went back to work relatively quick, I had already stopped nursing her by the time I stepped foot in the office. With my second child, Peanut, breastfeeding was so pleasant  that I decided to give the whole pumping-at-work thing a go. In this post, I will explain the reasons why I made that decision and I will share some practical tips for Mums with a busy work schedule who would like to do the same