WorkLife Stories (WorkLife Stories)

We talk to Jenn Barnett and Jemima Ankuma from Grant Thornton’s Diversity and Inclusion team about all things social mobility. They explain how they ensure that people of lower socio-economic backgrounds can join, progress and thrive at the firm - and the profession more broadly - and why social mobility is also a very personal passion for each of them too.

In this episode, we meet Felix Koch and Phil Burgess, the former co-heads of the London office of creative agency C Space. They talk about how they transformed an office with low morale and high attrition after a merger, to a thriving, inclusive, award-winning team. They discuss what worked and what didn't, how they set their shared goals and values alongside very different leadership styles. Find out more about Felix and Phil’s current venture WITHIN, here: https://www.within.business

Laura Wheeler and Caroline Murphy chat to Anna Richards about their experience of moving out of London, from the practicalities and the stress along with the emotional adjustment needed, diversity and how our identities are linked to where we live.

Elaine Halligan, parenting coach at The Parent Practice and author of ‘My Child's Different’ tells us her story of a recent discovery that - like her son - she also has ADHD. She talks openly and inspiringly about her own traits, and how she uses them positively in her life and career. She offers her own advice and expertise for both adults and parents of children who may have ADHD or other neurodiverse conditions.

Trigger warning: cancer.

In our latest podcast, Addy talks to Anna about her diagnosis of bowel cancer in 2019 and the following 5 years of treatment and recovery, both physically and emotionally. She talks about how she found out she had cancer, working throughout treatment (alongside lockdown and home-schooling) and how her family has coped. She offers her advice to anyone suffering with cancer or for those with friends, family or colleagues anything similar.

In this episode, Anna talks to self-confessed former stressaddict: Subira Jones. Subira recounts how her tendency to throw herself into work in order to cope with life’s challenges, ultimately led to her burning out. Now an advisor to global brands and individuals on stress and burnout prevention, she explains the difference between needing a break and burning out, the dangers of resilience and the warning signs that someone may not be coping as well as they appear to be.  

Helen Beedham interviews Baroness Shami Chakrabarti about how she has managed her career, being in the media spotlight and her views on creating a more gender-equal society.  

[Trigger warning]. In this episode, we hear from independent health visitor and birth trauma specialist Liz Poole about the different types of trauma people may experience around birth, how this trauma can manifest itself if the associated emotions are not fully processed and how colleagues and friends can support those we suspect might be suffering.

Support can be sought from: 

• Pandas UK 
• The Birth Trauma Association
• MENtalk lincs
• National Maternity Voices
• Better Births 
• PMH support (for Dads, on Instagram) 
• Beyond Birth

We talk to lawyer and father of two Robin Carvell-Spedding about flexible working for fathers and parental leave in the corporate world. A long-time advocate of flexibility and work life balance, Robin reflects on the impact of the pandemic on the role of fathers at home and at work and shares his views and experience of taking parental leave after the birth of his two children.

Anna Richards talks to Philip Reed, a senior associate at Farrer & Co, about his experience of taking Shared Parental Leave and his advice to other families who may be considering taking it up.

Cityparents’ Anna Richards talks to Joy Burnford, Founder of My Confidence Matters about progress in gender balance in the workplace, the main issues she sees for women at work today and how corporates and leaders can help to address them.

We talk to Stonewall Changemaker of the Year 2022 Kayus Fernander about his career at Citi; his journey from being a private, young, black, gay junior within the bank, through to being an open, confident and active participant in and advocate of inclusion groups, initiatives and discussions. He talks about diversity groups, company culture, intersectionality and how we can be better colleagues and managers in the workplace.

In this interview with one half of Two Dads UK, Michael Johnson-Ellis talks about how he and his husband Wes built their family through surrogacy and how this experience has led them to support LGBTQ+ couples wanting to become parents. Michael talks about how he hopes the law will change to recognise and support gay couples better and how he thinks corporate employers can help employees going through surrogacy more effectively.

Simon Kettlewell has spent the last 20 years raising and caring for his 4 children. His latest novel 'Eternity Leave' draws on his experience of being the primary care-giver of his children while his partner pursued a senior level career in healthcare. In this episode, Simon talks to us about his book and the issues he has encountered around gender, identity, self-esteem and isolation. He offers his advice to new parents and anyone considering breaking the mould of the more traditional family set-up.

In the last edition of Cityparents Life, Anna Richards talks to Jonathan Bright, a Content Marketing Manager at finnCap whose baby daughter Isabella arrived 4 months prematurely in May this year. In the podcast, Jonathan explores the rollercoaster of hospitals, emotions and routines that he and his wife juggled over the following 5 months, and how he managed to maintain his professional responsibilities during this extremely distressing time.

Cityparents' Anna Richards talks to Sandra Paul and Áine Kervick from Kingsley Napley LLP, who are lawyers specialising in youth crime and justice. They discuss the dangers that the online world poses for children, the trouble that can arise from sharing explicit content online and how parents can help their children to avoid the associated risks.

Trigger warning for baby and pregnancy loss, miscarriage and still birth.

Daria courageously and openly talks to us about the devastating experience of losing her baby girl at full term. She recounts how she slowly began to heal, grieve and move forward.

She tells us about her 3 daughters and how she has built a community group at the Bank of England to support others going through fertility, loss and pregnancy difficulties.  Trigger warning for baby and pregnancy loss, miscarriage and still birth.

Daria courageously and openly talks to us about the devastating experience of losing her baby girl at full term. She recounts how she slowly began to heal, grieve and move forward. She tells us about her 3 daughters and how she has built a community group at the Bank of England to support others going through fertility, loss and pregnancy difficulties.

Supportive resources:

1) Dad Still Standing podcast: dadstillstanding.com

A resource for bereaved fathers, close relatives and families that want to understand the partner perspective around baby loss.

2) Petals: petalscharity.org

Petals is a baby loss counselling service supporting parents who experience mental health issues as a result of bereavement, trauma or loss related to pregnancy.

3) Tommy’s: tommys.org

A leading pregnancy and baby charity with an aim of making pregnancy and birth safe for everyone.

Laura Walker and Chloe Fletcher, who have shared senior finance roles at Asda, talk to Anna all about their experience of job sharing, the practical considerations and the benefits to both companies and individuals.  They explain how with their current venture, The Job Share Revolution, they support both businesses and individuals who want to explore job sharing from establishing a business case for the job share, finding job share pairs and setting up efficient processes, communications and review frameworks. 

In this episode, psychologist Jessica Chivers talks to us about her son who has ASD and ADHD and her daughter who has suffered from an eating disorder. She discusses how she has helped them through difficult times of the past few years, navigating different care and educational settings to get them the support they needed. She explains how looking after her own mental health and relationships has given her the strength and resilience to better support her family.

In this episode of WorkLife Stories, we talk to George Bullock and Russell Cook from Macquarie, the Australian head quartered, global financial services group. George and Russell have both been participants in Macquarie’s Pride Employee Network Group’s Reverse Mentoring Scheme and are now members of the steering group that runs it. They talk about their own experiences of reverse mentoring, how they have grown the popular scheme, the importance of active allyship, mentoring conversation frameworks and guidance and the need to embed learnings into day to day working life.

In our latest interview, British Nigerian author Nels Abbey talks about his experience of racism in the financial world, explains how we can all be better colleagues to each other and offers his advice to black people wanting to succeed in the corporate world as delivered through his very funny and satirical book ‘Think Like A White Man’.

Anna Richards is joined by Emily Acevedo, an HR Director based in the US and solo mother to Sebastian, who has Emanuel Syndrome. Emily talks to us about her life with him from the diagnosis, its impact on her life and career, day to day living and how she manages as a single parent.

Dorett Jones and Pamela Jones, who are specialists in equity in the workplace and founders of the Genesis Consultancy, talk to us about how employers can create safe, healthy working cultures that help employees of any background, race, gender or sexuality to grow, develop and stay at organisations. They discuss an employee's typical journey from recruitment through to exit, where the pitfalls may lie and where companies are successfully striving to make their workplaces truly inclusive.

In the latest episode of Cityparents Talk, we talk to Mel Johnson from www.thestorkandI.com (Insta: @the_stork_and_i) about her decision to become a solo mother, the highs and lows of her journey to motherhood and how she balances solo parenting with her corporate career. 

Anna Richards talks to Dr Jon Finn, the founder and director of Tougher Minds, about how we can apply his insights from neuroscience, behavioural science and psychology to help to build better habits to succeed and thrive in the City of London.

Psychologist and therapeutic coach Kyle Davies talks to us about his own experience of anxiety and depression as a young adult, the contributing factors and the natural tendency to mask and avoid situations which exacerbated it. He brings his professional expertise to the conversation, exploring his approach to therapeutic coaching, how we can build our own resilience and listen to our bodies' indicators during life's stresses.  

In this episode, Max Siegel talks to us about his lived experience of being transgender. He talks about his upbringing, his family, his feelings about his body, his mental health and the emotional and physical changes he's experienced. He also offers his advice to parents of children who may be going through something similar - and to us all as friends and colleagues of trans people.  

Helen Beedham talks to Pia Ellis and Mark McMahon, Co-Chairs of HSBC’s FLEX Network about their personal experiences of flexible working and how the FLEX Network is helping to broaden access to flexible working in their organisation. 

This podcast was originally recorded in Spring 2020 for Cityworks. 

Anna Richards talks to Dr Brad Reedy, the parenting expert, author and the Owner and Clinical Director of Evoke Therapy Programs, which offers treatment for mental health issues in children and young adults. Brad explores the importance of taking care of our own mental health in order to be a better support for our children as they learn to manage the many pressures and stresses of growing up.

Anna Richards is joined by Natasha Kaye. Natasha is coming to the end of serving four years on the firm’s global Board of Directors, is the London Mental Health & Wellbeing partner lead and helps drive the firm’s diversity initiatives, including the Women’s Initiative. Natasha shares some of the turning points that have carved her career and is generous with her insights and storytelling.

Journalist and author Melissa Hogenboom talks to Anna Richards about the shift in identity that takes places as women become mothers as she explores in her book, The Motherhood Complex. They discuss the division of domestic responsibilities and the 'mental load' in families with two professional parents and the impact of these inequalities on women's careers, mental health and motherhood.

Single parent coach Orla Donoghue talks to us about her own experience of being a single parent as well as her coaching work for both individuals and organisations. She explores the challenges that single parents face, dispels some of the assumptions that are commonly made about single parents and how employers, colleagues and friends can help.

In this episode which recognises International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3rd, we talk to Esi Hardy, the founder of Celebrating Disability. She talks to us about her own experience of disability in the workplace and about how employers and managers can help their disabled employees and colleagues to flourish, be happy and fulfil their potential at work.

Cityparents' Director Helen Beedham talks to Christine Armstrong, the writer, speaker and business advisor, about being a working parent and her book ‘The mother of all jobs: how to have children and a career and stay sane (ish)'. In the podcast, Christine talks about her own experience of being a working parent with small children and the experience of the many parents she interviewed when writing her book, and shares some tips on how to best balance the many competing pressures.

In this episode of WorkLife Stories, legal senior associate Rachel Dean tells us about her career so far, including how she started out and her move from private practice to an in-house role. She reveals the drivers for her decision to move, what she learnt from the experience and why she ultimately moved back to a law firm afterwards. She offers her advice for anyone considering a move in-house either by secondment or permanent role and how it can enrich your skills and experience.

Anna Richards talks to Pensions Partner, James Riley and Business Manager, Letty Gibbs about their experience of the firm's Black Heritage Mentoring Scheme, womens' networks and their perspectives on balancing careers with family life.

In the latest episode of our podcast 'WorkLife Stories', Anna Richards talks to Lorna Cook and Devila Vekria who are both members of our Support Group for Carers of Elderly Relatives. Lorna and Devila tells us about how they manage their caring responsibilities alongside their careers including the challenges, routines and positive advice they have for others who may be in a similar position.

Anna Richards from Cityparents talks to Meik Wiking, founder of the world's first Happiness Research Institute about happiness, memory making and how we can apply his findings to our own lives.

Productivity specialist and author Grace Marshall talks to us about her new book 'Struggle' and how we can find positives and opportunities in life's more difficult times. She talks about the importance of making mistakes, allowing time and curiosity to grow and learn from them and how we can counter our natural response of fight and fight and find 'the treasure' in our struggles.

Anna Richards talks to Paolo Gallo, the author, speaker, coach and former holder of senior HR positions at the World Economic Forum and World Bank, about successful careers, work / life balance and trust, motivation and tracking productivity within remote working teams. 

Rachel Addis from PWC talks about how she became mother to her two adopted children, including the process of being approved as adoptive parents, how she managed her adoption leave with her employer and how her flexible role helps her to balance her home and professional responsibilities. 

Cityparents Director Helen Beedham talks to Uma Cresswell and Kirsty Wilkins who are current participants in Cityparents Mentoring Scheme. They discuss the drivers for taking part in the scheme, how the arrangement worked practically and advice that each shared for others considering joining this year's cohort. 

In this episode Helen Beedham of Cityparents chats to Sam Smith, CEO of FinnCap, about her career path and how she balances work and family life. 

As many professionals return to some office-based working, Dr Jon Finn considers the habits – both positive and negative – that have been established during the pandemic and the practical, positive steps we can take to build a healthy and productive life in the future. In this interview we explore the impact of our increased reliance on technology through the pandemic and how we can adapt our habits and routines to office, home or hybrid working.

In this episode, we talk to Jayne Ruff about her book entitled: Imperfect Parenting – Honest Stories from Global Parents in which she pens a chapter on balancing careers and family life. She talks about her own experiences of maternity leave, going back to work and the importance of personal values, honest emotions and flexible boundaries in our search for work life balance.

Dr Sarah Vohra, consultant psychiatrist and author of The Mind Medic explains some simple and practical ways to help us live a calmer, happier life. She talks about the strain that COVID19 has placed on our mental wellbeing and shares some of the positives that we can take away too.

Laura Nakano and Abigail Hadley from Accenture talk to us about the transition to working parenthood. Abby shares her experience of taking parental leave, returning to work and the different working patterns she has experienced, and Laura talks about Accenture's Expectant Parents Network and how employers can support their working parent employees.

Geraldine Gallacher, the CEO of The Executive Coaching Consultancy talks to us about her #change4good campaign. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has forced a remote working experiment on the largest scale, and like us Geraldine hopes that a positive outcome of this terrible time might be a growth in acceptance of flexible working. Geraldine explores the feedback she hears from working parents in response to her campaign and her views on the opportunities and risks presented by the current situation for real, long term change in corporate working cultures.

HR director Caroline Atkins reflects on her 30 year career of which 20 years has been as a working parent. She offers her advice and experience to other working parents and her views on remote, flexible and part time working that has helped her to get the most out of her career and family life.

As we start the new year under considerable stress imposed by Covid-19, Charlotte Worth an Executive Coach and Learning Facilitator explains how we can use the Positive Method to build self-confidence, re-energise, re-focus and contemplate the future.