Comeback Coach (Jessica Chivers)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Comeback Coach
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
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| 16 Feb 2022 | 29. COMEBACK - Cheney - founder – baby with a disability – short maternity leave – SPL – mental health | 00:24:28 | |
My guest today is Cheney Hamilton, founder of Find Your Flex, the flexible job site that’s on a mission to create a better work culture for future generations. It was developed off the back of her 16 years employment in recruitment advertising, which came to an end after she had her second daughter.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 02 Mar 2022 | 30. COACH - Danielle – confidence – can I still ask for help when I’m a Partner? | 00:33:03 | |
My guest today is Danielle, the Head of Master Planning and Landscape at a multi-disciplinary property firm. She started a phased return to work when her baby was 8 months old and she’s now been back four months. We’re talking about the path to partner and the support she’d like as she makes that transition. As you’re listening, if you’ve got a question or want to tell me about your return to work please find me on Instagram @comebackcommuk because I really do love hearing from you.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 16 Mar 2022 | 31. COMEBACK – Abby – Lawyer – relationship building after leave - business development – internal networking | 00:30:27 | |
Hello and welcome to the last episode of season two of Comeback Coach., the podcast for people returning to work after a break. It felt fitting for this season finale to talk to someone from Rayden Solicitors, the award-winning Tier 1 family law firm that’s sponsored the podcast from the beginning. And my guest is Abby Westell, Legal Director at Rayden’s which involves lots of client contact, running the office, managing the team, supervising junior lawyers and business development.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 27 Apr 2022 | 32. COMEBACK - Sally Williams - ITN journalist – Coming back from a career break - doing more of what you love – playing to your strengths | 00:25:48 | |
Hello and welcome to the first episode of season three of Comeback Coach, the podcast for people returning to work after a break. Sally Williams is a journalist at ITN who presents the weather and reports for ITV London News. She returned to work after her third child and having had a career break in the US when her husband’s work for ITN took them there. She got a call from her boss when her daughter was 4 ½ months old asking if she’d consider coming back freelance one day a week. She did and she’s now a permanent member of the team doing work she loves.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 11 May 2022 | 33. COACH - Christina - Preparing for leave as a leader – asking peers for help – nourishing your network before maternity leave | 00:38:18 | |
Hello I’m Jessica and my guest today has been in the civil service for 12 years since she gained a Masters degree in Economics. She’s expecting her third child and has two young children already – a 6 and a 4 year old – and without any family nearby it makes it very hard to carve time out for themselves, although she says she really got into gardening over the last 3 years and turned into a plant enthusiast! Our conversation is about preparing for leave as a leader and we’re talking when Christina is 6 weeks away from going on maternity leave. As you’ll hear, Christina is very energised and wants to put herself in the best possible position for her return by having useful conversations and growing her network before she goes.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 25 May 2022 | 34. COMEBACK - Bea - sick leave – car crash in Silicon Valley - two attempts at returning – comeback coaching | 00:26:05 | |
My guest today is Beatrice Gloor, whose life changed dramatically when she was en route to a client meeting in Silicon Valley. Beatrice has 20 years’ experience as a Senior Relationship Manager and leader in highly demanding, volatile, fast-paced global corporates.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 08 Jun 2022 | 35. COMEBACK - Emily - Google - PND and anxiety – returning to a bigger job | 00:31:20 | |
My guest today is Emily Wheen, a senior Recruiting Lead at Google, managing a team that recruits the best technical, sales, marketing and partnerships talent for Google Cloud in APAC. She’s originally from the UK and has spent the last 10 years living and working in Asia with her husband. She’s currently based in Singapore, where they’ve spent the last 5 years, and prior to that lived in Tokyo. Emily had her first baby in 2020, was promoted on maternity leave, and returned to work in 2021 post 6.5 months of leave.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 22 Jun 2022 | 36. COMEBACK - Chris – EY – Father of four – SPL – sharing mental load – working 80% | 00:32:54 | |
My guest today is Chris Ashton-Holt, a Director in EY’s Consulting business, leading the Project Development offering within their Sustainable Infrastructure team. He has worked there for nearly 12 years after joining straight from university, and within EY he focuses on setting large infrastructure projects up for success, with a particular focus on low carbon electricity generation including nuclear power. - Genuinely sharing the mental load with his wife - The experience of taking SPL - Why it's worth taking SPL - Working PT in a big job - Being a father to four children
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 06 Jul 2022 | 37. COMEBACK - Carla - solo parenting – increasing your influence and impact – super powers | 00:28:04 | |
My guest today is Carla Miller, host of the 'Influence & Impact for female leaders' podcast which sits in the top 20 management podcasts in the UK Apple charts most weeks. Her book Closing the Influence Gap: A practical guide for women leaders who want to be heard is available for pre-order now. We talk about:
As mentioned in the episode: FREE TICKETS TO INCREASING YOUR INFLUENCE & IMPACT AT WORK with me and Carla on Tuesday 15th November at 12 noon.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 20 Jul 2022 | 38. COACH - Jo - L&D - moving sector after maternity - new role – first 100 days – new ID - taking time to reflect | 00:38:35 | |
Hello I’m Jessica and my guest coachee today is Jo, a Learning & Development Professional, who’s returning from maternity and redundancy to a new organisation in a brand new sector. She’s had a 13 year career in L&D and is taking up the role of Head of Performance and Capability three days a week – something she negotiated after applying for what was advertised as a full time role. She’s not new to making sector moves having worked in Healthcare, Education, Pharmaceuticals and now recruitment. She lives in Hertfordshire in the UK with her husband and son Albie.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 03 Aug 2022 | 39. COMEBACK - Verena Hefti MBE - advice for ambitious returning parents - how to spot a great employer - taking leave as a CEO | 00:29:42 | |
My guest today is Verena Hefti MBE, the founder and CEO of the social enterprise, Leaders Plus. She’s also the host of the Big Careers Small Children podcast on which I’ve had the pleasure of being a guest talking about how to progress your career when you work part time. Verena has three children and we’re talking when Verena is 6 months back from returning from her third maternity leave.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 17 Aug 2022 | 40. COACH - 7 Qs for a smooth and successful return to work from maternity leave & other career breaks | 00:22:39 | |
Hello, it’s me, Jessica Chivers for a different kind of episode to usual. It’s just me today – no guests - and in this ‘COACH’ episode I’m exploring seven Qs to ask yourself before you return to work. I’ve chosen these because over the last 18 years of executive coaching with people returning to work I’ve found these are the ones that really help set you up for success. The seven Qs that I unpack one by one: 1. Why am I returning to work? 2. What will a successful return look, smell, sound and taste like? 3. What’s the best that could happen? 4. How are we going to share the load at home? 5. What expectations do people have of me? 6. What resources and support do I need? 7. What’s gone well?
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| 31 Aug 2022 | 41. COMEBACK - Pippa - Asset Management - What is comeback coaching? - How to ask your employer to sponsor coaching | 00:28:37 | |
Hello Bright Minds and welcome to episode 41, with my guest Pippa Rudling, one of our very recent coachees. Pippa works for an institutional investment platform, in a sales & client relationship role, working with investment consultants and pension scheme trustees. She has two daughters – Poppy 4 and Jasmine 1 and I worked with Pippa when she was coming back from her second maternity leave.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 05 Oct 2022 | 42. Hello from Jessica (a personal message explaining the gap between season 3 and 4) | 00:11:00 | |
Hello Bright Minds,
Whilst season 4 is in the making I'm going to bring you 8 snippets from a brilliant career Q&A panel I hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists 10th birthday gathering in London on 29.9.22.
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| 19 Oct 2022 | 43. LIVE CAREER Q&A – SUCCESS - What’s your definition of success? Do you think of yourself as successful? | 00:06:52 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about SUCCESS. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 19 Oct 2022 | 44. LIVE CAREER Q&A - SPEAKING UP – How do I have a voice in the room? How to get myself listened to? | 00:04:48 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about SPEAKING UP. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
Here's the Carla Miller event Jessica mentioned on 15/11/22 12 noon GMT.
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| 26 Oct 2022 | 45. LIVE CAREER Q&A – AMBITION – Does ambition change after returning to work? How does ambition fit with the rest of your life? | 00:07:29 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about AMBITION. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 26 Oct 2022 | 46. LIVE CAREER Q&A – GUILT – How do you cope with it? Answers from 6 women in big jobs with children | 00:07:17 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about GUILT. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 02 Nov 2022 | 47. LIVE CAREER Q&A - FLEXIBILITY - 6 women with big jobs talk | 00:05:34 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about FLEXIBILITY. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 02 Nov 2022 | 48. LIVE CAREER Q&A - FAILURE – How do you come back from it? | 00:14:25 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about FAILURE. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 09 Nov 2022 | 49. LIVE CAREER Q&A – BUILDING TRUST & HOW NOT TO BE A SCARY WOMAN – How do you quickly and effectively build trust in a team? | 00:05:46 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about BUILDING TRUST. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 09 Nov 2022 | 50. LIVE CAREER Q&A – MANTRAS FOR HAPPINESS & SUCCESS AT WORK & HOME | 00:06:23 | |
Jessica talks to six brilliant women in big jobs talk about MANTRAS FOR HAPPINESS & SUCCESS. This is a snippet from career panel Q&A we hosted as part of The Talent Keeper Specialists' 10th birthday celebration (TTKS is the business behind the Comeback Community employee experience of which COMEBACK COACH is a part).
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| 30 Nov 2022 | 51. COMEBACK - Emma & Mark - maternity & shared parental leave - male part time primary teacher - sharing load at home | 00:53:17 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guests this time are Emma & Mark James. Emma is a buyer at TJX Europe and Mark is a primary school teacher. They have two children and Emma returned to work from maternity leave a few months before we had this conversation.
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| 14 Dec 2022 | 52. COMEBACK - Emmie Faust - investor - burnout - breakdown - long Covid - mother of 4 | 00:41:30 | |
Emmie Faust is a past coachee, exited Founder, an Angel Investor, mother of four and passionate about supporting women. She recently launched Female Founders Rise to champion female founders and has aspirations to launch a micro-fund to invest in impact-led female-founded businesses. We’re talking about Emmie’s experience of coming back from burnout and long covid and it’s a wonderfully candid conversation.
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| 28 Dec 2022 | 53. COACH - Rachel – sick leave from burnout - when your heart isn’t in your work – exploring career change | 00:42:13 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest coachee today is Rachel, a senior marketing and insight professional and mum of two boys who recently returned to work after an extended period of sick leave after suffering from burnout.
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| 03 Jan 2023 | 54. COACH - COMING BACK FROM THE HOLIDAYS - how to get yourself back in work mode | 00:14:30 | |
Hello Bright Minds, welcome to 2023. If you're feeling a bit flat and need help cranking up again professionally, this episode is for you. Please share generously with your team mates. 1. Do something difficult.
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| 18 Jan 2023 | 55. COMEBACK - Rowena Tolley - law firm Partner - sabbatical - maternity - 2 year career break – flex & part time | 00:31:21 | |
Hello Bright Minds, this episode is a conversation I’ve been looking forward to having ever since one of the coaches in my team at The Talent Keeper Specialists - the wonderful Shiobhaun - coached her and told me about what a star she is.
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| 01 Feb 2023 | 56. COMEBACK - Selina Tyler - interviewing when pregnant – joining a new company after maternity leave - holding a Board position outside your day job | 00:33:53 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale at Lombard Odier Investment Management. She’s a past coachee of mine who I wanted to get on the podcast because of her experience of interviewing whilst visibly pregnant and starting a new role in a new organisation after maternity leave. Selina has 18 years of investment management experience and joined the business from Mirabaud Asset Management. She’s also held other senior roles at Hermes Investment Management and Man Group. Her role is focussed on driving the growth of LOIM’s UK wholesale franchise and strengthening the firm’s distribution proposition for intermediaries including private banks, financial advisers and wealth managers. She also oversees a team of four, seeking to promote the firm’s thematic and sustainability propositions to clients across the UK wholesale network. Alongside her investment responsibilities, Selina is also a member of the advisory board for CityHive, an independent organisation which aims to foster diversity, inclusion and sustainability across the investment management landscape.
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| 15 Feb 2023 | 57. COACH - Emily - advertising - career break - leveraging LinkedIn - being brave to ask for meetings - ego-rubbing conversations with past colleagues | 00:43:43 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Emily who has over 12 years Account Management experience. She’s worked in two of the big London Advertising agencies and her most recent role was at a CRM agency as an Account Director. She’s married to Tom, they have two daughters, Mollie who is 3 and, Mila who is nearly 1 and after nearly 4 years away from her career she’s fired up to make her comeback. In this conversation I help Emily get into the right mindset for finding the role she wants and how to reach out to the brands she’d like to work for. Did you know, this podcast forms part of our Comeback Community employee experience designed to keep you feeling confident, connected and cared for when you take extended leave from work? If you think your organisation needs to improve the way it cares for people taking any kind of extended leave I’d be really grateful if you’d tell your Head of HR or Chief People Officer about this podcast and send them a link to comebackcommunity.co.uk.
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| 01 Mar 2023 | 58. COMEBACK - Paul & Robin – Times journalist - The Equal Parent book - surrogacy – why both parents must take shared parental leave | 00:46:22 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guests today are Times journalist, Paul Morgan-Bentley and his husband Robin. Paul is the author of a brand new book, The Equal Parent, which explores the falsehoods behind parenting roles. Paul and Robin both went through their own work comebacks after taking many months of Shared Parental Leave after having their son Solley through surrogacy. We talk about:
If you like what Paul’s got to say and you’d like to hear more insights from his book, The Equal Parent, I’m doing a live Q&A with him on Tuesday 28th March 8-8.45pm GMT. Complimentary tickets here.
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| 15 Mar 2023 | 59. COMEBACK - Elena – UX designer - career change after maternity – PND – growing your professional network – job love – supportive work environments | 00:37:22 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Elena Gorman, a UX designer at an experience transformation studio in the north of England. She’s a mother two of two, married to Tim and has two naughty cats, Bella and Isaac, and lives in Gateshead. Elena experienced PND after her first child and again after her second. Whilst working as a project manager she stumbled across UX design and fell in love with it and it’s totally changed her career and where she sees it going. She also has PhD in theology and wanted to be a costume designer but never followed it up. In this episode we cover:
A book Elena read that helped her through her PND is What Am I Thinking: Having a Baby After Postpartum Depression by Karen Kleiman She also found “Squiggly Careers” very helpful for her career change by Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper – and when we’d finished recording she said she was taking some time this afternoon to go and read “She’s in Ctrl” by Anne-Marie Imafidon. This reminded me of the advice Emmie Faust gave in episode 52 about coming back from burnout and how she was learning to stop doing, doing, doing and to be able to take time to sit and read.
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| 29 Mar 2023 | 60. COMEBACK - Sophie & Sam – Co-Marketing Director at Lily's Kitchen – Senior Job Share after Maternity | 00:31:54 | |
Hello, Bright Minds and welcome to episode 60 with Sophie Giddings and Sam Crossley who are the job-sharing Marketing Directors at the gorgeous pet care brand Lily’s Kitchen who we’re proud to count among our clients. In this episode we talk about
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| 12 Apr 2023 | 61. COACH - Natalie Trice - PR, Author & University lecturer – wanting more and different in your career – embracing a changing identity – going after “The Dream” | 00:39:13 | |
Hello Bright Mind and welcome to episode 61. Today my guest coachee is Natalie Trice, a PR consultant and trainer and the author of three books. She’s also an ICF-accredited career coach for PR and comms professionals. She’s worked in PR for 25 years and put everyone and everything in the media spotlight. From Epson printers, Discovery Channel documentaries, and Betty Crocker cakes to Animal Planet celebrities, vegan bags and coastal holidays. Today she specialises in PR mentoring and training for brands and experts so they can get themselves in the media, and a lot of this work is based on her second book, PR School. She lives by the sea in Devon (which she’s also written a book about) with her husband, two teenage sons and their two dogs, Coco and Dotty. Our coaching conversation is about Natalie’s changing identity as she moves away from being a “hospital mum” – and you’ll hear what that means – and towards an empty nest and re-finding her focus on a love of learning and teaching. It’s a conversation about knowing what your big career dream is and what it will take for Natalie to get there. As you’re listening, if you’ve got a question or want to tell me about your return to work please find me on Instagram @comebackcommuk because I really do love hearing from you. And did you know, this podcast forms part of our Comeback Community employee experience designed to keep you feeling confident, connected and cared for when you take extended leave from work? If you think your organisation needs to improve the way it cares for people taking any kind of extended leave I’d be really grateful if you’d tell your Head of HR or Chief People Officer about this podcast and send them a link to comebackcommunity.co.uk.
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| 26 Apr 2023 | 62. SPECIAL - Making Full Time Work Work (with a young family) - Caterpillar, Dell, NHS, Police, a charity and Financial Services | 00:51:56 | |
Hello Bright Minds, this is a special season finale involving six guests who are making full time work work with young children. I wanted to do this episode after I read a statistic that didn’t shock me as much as sadden me in a report published earlier this year called “CAREERS AFTER BABIES”. 848 women took part in the research which found 85% of women leave the full-time workforce within three years of having children. Upfront disclaimer, all voices in this episode are women who are in a partnership with the father of their children. The guests are drawn from our Instagram community where I put up a poll one Saturday morning in February asking whether they worked FT or PT. I was surprised that the majority in our community answered that they work full time and then thought…haha, let’s do a podcast about working full time and ask these mamas to be part of it. I didn’t hear from anyone who is solo parenting and working full time and so we’ve got the voices who volunteered to chat to me. When I reflect on the DM’s people sent me on instagram and the voices of the women you’re about to hear, there appear to be four key factors that enable women to continue to work FT when they become parents.
In this episode you’re going to hear those factors brought to life.
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| 21 Jun 2023 | 63. COMEBACK - Kathryn & Romana – Dentons LLP - Sponsorship – self doubt - career advice for lawyers who are coming back from a break | 00:35:17 | |
Well hello, it’s good to be back. I wonder how you are? Our season four finale was all about how to make full time work work when you have a young family and today we’re turn our attention to career progression, ambition and in particular the role of sponsorship in elevating women’s careers. Although COMEBACK COACH is a podcast for people returning to work from any type of extended leave, the majority of you wonderful Bright Minds are female - and most of you are coming back from maternity leave. Plenty of you have you sights set on taking your career further when you return from leave which is why I think you’re going to love hearing from Kathryn McCulloch, who’s four months back from her second maternity leave and on Denton’s first Global Women’s Sponsorship Programme. Kathryn is a partner in Dentons’ Dispute Resolution group, whose key areas of practice and expertise include aviation, drone (RPAS) regulation, wills, trusts and estates, and corporate/commercial disputes. With a strategic focus on reaching early resolution to claims, Kathryn looks to achieve timely resolution of disputes through alternative dispute resolution tools, including formal and informal mediation. She’s both a fixed wing and a drone pilot, and a proud mama to two young boys. Also in this episode we’ve got Romana Bruderer-Schwab, who’s Denton’s Global Inclusion, Diversity & Equity manager and supports the ID&E agenda in more than 80 countries. Romana was born in the U.S., is based in Edinburgh and describes herself as a global citizen who has a penchant for learning, amassing new experiences and growing as a person and a professional. She is passionate about tilting the scales of equity and justice in favour of the underrepresented. In this conversation you’re going to hear about:
COMEBACK COACH is part of the Comeback Community™ employee experience designed to keep employees feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work – be it sick leave, maternity leave, shared parental, adoption, bereavement or sabbatical. If you think the experience of people returning to work after a break could be better where you work, please come over to comebackcommunity.co.uk/introduce. There you’ll find a quick and easy way for you to tell us who in your HR team we should be in touch with.
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| 05 Jul 2023 | 64. COMEBACK - Jess Heagren - returning too soon - preparing for a good return - finding a family-friendly business culture | 00:37:02 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Jess Heagren, founder of That Works For Me – a platform that connects employers with people seeking flexible work - and author of the Careers After Babies report. Jess previously held strategically important roles at Direct Line Insurance, NIG and RBS Insurance. She’s wonderfully honest and generous and I was so happy to have this chat with Jess where among other things we talked about:
If you’ve been listening a while you’ll know that this podcast is part of the Comeback Community™ employee experience. This is a solution we deliver for progressive employers to keep their people feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work – be it sick leave, maternity leave, shared parental, adoption, bereavement or sabbatical. If you think the experience of people returning to work after a break could be better where you work, please come over to comebackcommunity.co.uk/introduce. There you’ll find a quick and easy way for you to tell us who in your HR team we should be in touch with.
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| 19 Jul 2023 | 65. COMEBACK – Georgie Siddall – Risk Manager – burnout – choosing redundancy – SEN kids - Co-Chairing an ERG (& having a brilliant manager) | 00:34:24 | |
Hello Bright MInds, in this episode you're going to hear from Georgie Siddall, an operational risk manager who took voluntary redundancy in 2019 when she recognised she was burnt out trying to keep the show on the road at work and at home with three sons under 10.
If you're reading this before Tuesday 26th September 2023 you're in time to come to our live Q&A with Dr Mandy Lehto on HOW TO SPOT THE SIGNS OF BURNOUT & TAME YOUR OVERACHIEVER GREMLIN.
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| 02 Aug 2023 | 66. COMEBACK – Chantelle Angel – Coping with sleep deprivation – using a sleep consultant - deciding to leave your job and retrain | 00:32:58 | |
Hello Bright Minds, You’re going to hear about:
Here's the link to the Live Q&A with Dr Mandy Lehto on taming your overachiever gremlin and spotting the signs of burnout (26/9/23 8pm BST) that I mentioned during this episode. Complimentary tickets available via this link.
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| 16 Aug 2023 | 67. COMEBACK - Divya Manek - BlackRock - Maternity leave your own way - studying on leave - incessant drive to achieve | 00:34:36 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Divya Manek, a senior portfolio manager at BlackRock and a mother of two beautiful girls who I had the complete pleasure of coaching when she returned to work two summers ago. Day to day Divya’s work involves being close to market developments, being close to clients and what they want and making sure client money is managed in the best way possible. She manages 5 people directly and 6 indirectly and she cares hugely about supporting the people around her. And she works extremely hard, you might think too hard when you listen to this. We talk about:
Here's the link to the Live Q&A with Dr Mandy Lehto on taming your overachiever gremlin and spotting the signs of burnout (26/9/23 8pm BST) that I mentioned during this episode. Complimentary tickets available via this link.
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| 30 Aug 2023 | 69. COMEBACK - Helen Rowell - bereavement - signs you're ready to return to work - choosing the attitude that will help you the most | 00:39:39 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is an HR leader who recently returned to a new job in a new organisation after being bereaved. Having met at university Helen Rowell and her husband Mike married in 2015 and went on to have a son together, Alfie, who at the time of recording is five. You’re going to hear about:
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| 28 Aug 2023 | 68. JUST JESSICA - When rejection can be a relief | Failing to give a TEDx Talk | Could I have ADHD? | 00:14:51 | |
Hello Bright Minds and welcome to an impromptu and somewhat experimental "Just Jessica" episode of COMEBACK COACH, the podcast for people returning to work after a break. I’m Jessica Chivers, a coaching psychologist, author, founder of The Talent Keeper Specialists and developer of the Comeback Community employee experience of which this podcast is a part. I started to write this fortnight’s edition of Caremail – that’s our newsletter for people returning to work and looking for support for that transition and career development beyond their break – about the happiness and opportunity that can be found in rejection and thought: I wonder if I might turn this into an episode of the podcast. So here I am experimenting! If you listen all the way through and like it please let me know and maybe I’ll do some more. If you’re on Instagram an easy way to tell me what you think is via a DM and you’ll find me @comebackcommuk.
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| 13 Sep 2023 | 70.COMEBACK – Cecily Motley – VC-backed entrepreneur maternity leave – regretting not switching off on maternity leave – encouraging men to take SPL | 00:34:43 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Cecily Motley, an accomplished entrepreneur with a proven track record of growing companies and brand building in competitive markets. She is the founder of JustParent, a new company working to close the gender pay gap by helping small companies offer more paid parental leave. Previously, Cecily co-founded Motley London, a VC backed, direct-to-consumer brand making world class design affordable. Whilst she was there she was both the pregnant employee and the CEO trying to put good parental leave provision in place. Which led her to her next venture. She lives in London with her husband and two year old son. You’re going to hear about:
REFERENCES FLAGGED IN THE EPISODE
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| 27 Sep 2023 | 71. COACH - Zara - diplomat making career change - when head + heart don't align - career change tips from careershifters.org | 01:00:23 | |
Hello Bright Minds, today you’re going to eavesdrop on a one-time coaching conversation with "Zara" (not her real name) and get some expert tips on making a career change from Natasha Stanley at Careershifters. I said I'd include a link to the 8 week Career Change Launchpad experience that I talked about with Natasha that 3000 people have been through over the last 10 years. My guest coachee today used to be a diplomat and we’re talking at a point when Zara has applied for roles that she’s overqualified for and although she’s been invited to interview she hasn’t secured the job. After her last interview she was told they were not convinced she would settle and were concerned that she would leave because of the nature of the work and the income.
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| 11 Oct 2023 | 72. COMEBACK - Kerry Hickman - Ramboll - Maternity Leave & Redundancy - Feeling "wowed" about where you work - how to land a PT role - career coaching | 00:31:40 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Kerry Hickman, a past coachee of ours at Ramboll. Since qualifying as an Accountant at 21, she’s had a very broad commercial career in Accountancy, Audit and Financial Management before landing in roles that manage Sales & Customer Insight. She’s travelled across sectors including consultancy, media, FMCG, currency and public sector, and worked both in the UK and internationally.
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| 25 Oct 2023 | 73. COMEBACK – Andy Lancaster – CIPD – sick leave for surgery – preparing your team for your absence – re-crafting your role – three elements of phasing back | 00:42:04 | |
My guest today is Andy Lancaster who took three months leave for planned eye and shoulder surgery from a job he loves at CIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. We count CIPD among our clients and love working with them. In this episode:
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| 08 Nov 2023 | 74. COMEBACK - Heart FM's Gemma Hill - Mother Pukka covered my maternity - worry about taking leave - staying in touch reduced my anxiety about returning | 00:34:48 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Gemma Hill, a Heart FM radio presenter whose maternity leave was covered by non other than the formidable Anna Whitehouse AKA Mother Pukka but even still she says, maternity leave was still pretty terrifying.
Gemma started on air age 20 on stations around the Midlands and the North, before hanging up her headphones to pursue what she calls “a real job.” She was a national sales manager for a construction company for 6 years living in London with a stable job, a pension, maternity pay, but binned it off to chase the dream again when she was offered a job in Birmingham on the Free radio Breakfast show (for which she did her demo in Pat Sharp’s towel cupboard.) After a couple of years she made her move to Heart, where she did the breakfast show across the west midlands for 3 years before moving to Drive. That’s where she is today and where she was when she found she was having a (surprise) of a lock down baby.
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| 22 Nov 2023 | 75. COMEBACK - Phil Bush - Sabbatical from Euromonitor – supporting partner’s return from maternity – sick baby – volunteering on leave | 00:40:14 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Phil Bush, a Credit Control Manager for Euromonitor International in London where he’s worked for 17 years. He responsible for managing a department that collects unpaid debt for the business and minimises financial risk to the company. He lives in Brighton with his partner Jo and their 15 month old daughter Sadie. He’s a runner who has been very keen to do the London marathon and finally this year got to do it after applying and being unsuccessful for the previous 8 years. He’s also a community-minded man who volunteers for the charity Fairshare.
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| 27 Dec 2023 | 76. JUST JESSICA - Do you know your needs? | Developing your intuition | How to focus on your career as well as your job? | 00:17:47 | |
Hello Bright Minds and welcome to another JUST JESSICA episode of COMEBACK COACH where I’m reflecting on three things that have been top of mind for me lately that I think could be useful to you too. I’m a coaching psychologist, author and founder of The Talent Keeper Specialists which is home to the Comeback Community employee experience of which this podcast is a part. A few weeks ago I went away for three days, two night by myself to my favourite hotel in Cornwall. It’s something I booked in September – when they were doing an offer - in anticipation of needing a break from home. None of the girlfriends I asked to go with me could commit and so I decided to book to go solo. And this solo trip brings together three things I wanted to mull over here:
In this episode I mentioned an article on Psychologytoday.com and our COMEBACK CONVERSATION live Q&A listings.
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| 24 Jan 2024 | 77. COMEBACK – Joanna Jacobs – Twinings – Can your career recover from a career break? (YES) - Using LinkedIn to get talking to potential employers | 00:39:47 | |
Hello Bright Minds, and welcome to the start of season six of COMEBACK COACH. I am so pleased to be back sharing stories and coaching sessions about returning to work and onward career development after a break. My guest today is Joanna Jacobs who took a career break straight after maternity leave from Vodafone. Prior to that she was living in Shanghai and working for Sainsburys, sussing out whether China would be a viable market for them and now she’s the HR Director for UK Twinings Commercial. In between Vodafone and Twinings she experimented with a few things including the library assistant role (which wasn’t for her!) If you are thinking about taking a career break or you’re on one now you are in for an energising treat because this is a conversation that shows it IS possible to have a gratifying and stretching career after a significant career break. You’re going to hear about:
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| 07 Feb 2024 | 78. COMEBACK - Andrea Byrne – ITV Newsreader - projecting confidence when you don’t feel it – YES you can still do your job – how to have NO GUILT ‘me time’ | 00:37:41 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Andrea Byrne, one of the faces of ITV News and a past coachee of mine. She anchors the BAFTA award-winning daily news programme Wales at Six, as well as ITV’s national bulletins. This includes ITV Weekend News, Lunchtime News, Evening News and News at Ten and Prince Harry is among the many high-profile names she has interviewed. Andrea also presents the current affairs programme Wales This Week; hosts her own fertility podcast ‘Making Babies’; and is a Tedx speaker. She has recently been nominated for several broadcast awards for her documentary work. She is an ambassador for ‘The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme’ and a Non-Executive Director for Hockey Wales. Andrea is married to Wales and Lions legend Lee Byrne. She is passionate about wellbeing and pioneered the introduction of Mental Health First Aiders in ITV’s newsrooms.
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| 21 Feb 2024 | 79. COMEBACK – Ros Kwok – When divorce drives a return to work – 50 job application rejections – psychology of hope | 00:59:47 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Ros Kwok, a woman I was introduced to after asking one of the wonderful Partners at our past podcast sponsor, Rayden Solicitors if she had a client who had had to return to work due to a change in financial circumstances following divorce. Thank you Emily Watson for coming up trumps in less than 24 hours! And you’ll also hear from Emily at the end of the episode where we talk through several questions about divorce, spousal maintenance and arbitration. Ros is originally from Singapore and came to study in the UK. She became a stay at home mum after she had children and when her youngest went to nursery she took a part time job in a nursery and after four years became a freelance photographer. When the divorce happened she was told to get a proper job, was forced to sell all of her photography equipment and then made 50 applications for jobs, and got only one interview. That interview was with John Lewis – I love JLP sooooo much – but even that didn’t work out. Fast forward to today and Ros IS working for John Lewis and she’s worked her way from an entry level role to being a fashion merchandiser and instagmmer for JLP. Today Ros is thriving and this episode talks about how she got there. I think many employers are recognising just how destabilising any big life can be for their people and divorce is right up there. If you’re going through divorce or it’s on your mind I’m sending you all the love because I know how hellish it can be. I’m a child of divorced parents and I have people around me going through divorce at the moment. To you all I send love and hope, more of which at the end of the episode.
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| 06 Mar 2024 | 80. COMEBACK - Lianne Baker - Enfuse – making family as childcare run smoothly – working on maternity leave isn’t a bad thing – knowing your worth | 00:36:38 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Lianne Baker, Head of People & Culture at Enfuse who had surprise baby number three last year and we caught up at the end of her five month maternity leave. Lianne is an award-winning People professional with over 15 years’ experience working within TV for Endemol, publishing for Condé Nast, recruitment, hospitality and now for Enfuse, a digital transformation management consultancy. Since joining Enfuse Group, she has been focused on culture and engagement, bringing in forward thinking and inclusive policies. Enfuse Group is recognised as a Great Place to Work, Top 5 Best Companies and best new Management Consultancy at the MCA Awards. Lianne has previously spoken up about the importance of flexible working to enable parents to parent as well as have a career in addition to writing various articles of managing IVF and Fertility treatment alongside work. You’re going to hear about:
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| 20 Mar 2024 | 81. COMEBACK – Michaela Thomas – Clinical Psychologist - relationship satisfaction after baby – keeping perfectionism in check - ADHD and returning to work | 00:56:34 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Michaela Thomas, a clinical psychologist I’ve been really looking forward to chatting to because we’ve been batting voice notes back and forth for about a year and then I heard Michaela on a podcast I’ve been lapping up over the last 9 months (Kate Moryousef's ADHD WOMEN'S WELLBEING) that was the galvanising stroke to get Michaela on. I originally wanted to have a chat with Michaela about how to keep partner/spousal relationships feeling good once you have a baby and go back to work and the pressure ramps up drawing upon her own lived experience as well as her professional insight. She’s the author of a book called The Lasting Connection – which is about developing compassion for yourself and your partner - and has a podcast called Pause Purpose Play. I’ve since learned that Michaela also has a special interest in perfectionism and she has an ADHD brain and is starting to do more work in that area too. Given my recent diagnosis of ADHD and our growing interest in neurodiversity as a coaching team my mind I thought wow, let’s get Michaela on to talk about her return to work and all of these things. So, you have an extra long episode today because there’s so much I wanted to chat to her about. If you like what you hear from Michaela then you can find her on Instagram @the_thomas_connection and Facebook @TheThomasConnection.
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| 03 Apr 2024 | 82. COACH - Brian Ballantyne - redundancy from Amazon - opportunities on gardening leave - psychology of being 'at risk' of redundancy | 01:11:24 | |
Hello Bright Minds, this is a very different episode to anything I’ve done before. Brian is a chap whose energy, openness and actions around supporting fathers I’ve admired on LinkedIn for quite some time. Throughout the time Brian and I have been in each others’ orbits he’s worked for Amazon as a Program Manager in Luxembourg, whilst also training to be a coach. In June last year (2023) I spotted a very candid post from Brian about expecting to be made redundant so I got in touch to offer my condolences and to tell him how much I liked reading what he was writing about what he was anticipating and we started swapping voice notes. I do love a voice note! I asked Brian whether he’d be up for coming on the podcast later in the year when he’d made his comeback and then a thought occurred to me: why don’t we document, through voice notes, what’s happening for Brian on the run up to redundancy and what happens next. I do all of this with you in mind dear listener – I’m constantly thinking about how I can bring you ideas, insights and tips to make your comeback smoother, easier and more enjoyable. I’m also always wanting to bring you the hard stuff that people are going through and the emotions they’re experiencing as a way to give you hope when you’re going through similar struggles. At the end of the episode you’re also going to hear from Dr Madeline Stevens who is the author of Strategic Redundancy Implementation: Re-Focus, Re-Organise and Re-Build. She knows a lot about how to help people through redundancy. .
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| 17 Apr 2024 | 83. JUST JESSICA - Managing rumination + keeping healthy habits when you’re consumed with problems at work + psychology of meditation | 00:12:58 | |
This short “JUST JESSICA EPISODE” is about managing rumination, how to keep healthy habits going when you’re consumed by work and the psychology of mindful meditation. It’s inspired by a particular coaching conversation I had one Tuesday a few weeks ago. I put these episodes together myself without the lovely Chris cleaning up bumps in the sound or adding in the swanky intro and outro and I hope you get something from it. If you do I’d love it if you shared it with someone else who you think might like it too. The meditation mantras I mentioned in this episode: Hummee Hum – The Other is you by Mirabai Cieba (12 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CFI0hslXv8 Ramadasa by Satkirin Kaur Khalsa (12 mins)
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| 01 May 2024 | 84. COMEBACK - Yvette Bramley - Psychologist – my most upbeat guest – how to feel success and get a grip on guilt – is it OK to change your mind about career aspirations? | 00:45:25 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Yvette Bramley, a woman who describes herself as a full time mum and part time business psychologist. She works with the Quality Team at Lexxic, a specialist psychological consultancy and the focus of her role is ensuring the quality their delivery and reports through training, audits, spot checks and actioning client feedback. She proudly tole me after we’d chatted that was she was always a “weird” kid growing up and hopes she continues being the weird one. She also told me – and I quote: "Patience does not come naturally to me and I am a control “freak” but it works for my family. However, my daughter has taught me to be more relaxed and spontaneous. I no longer live life focusing on the next qualification or physical achievement. I now live to have fun and experience as much joy daily as possible". Yvette is my most energetic guest yet and you’re going to hear about:
COMEBACK COACH is part of a broader package of support that we call the Comeback Community employee experience. It’s a blend of online resources, coaching, live expert Q&As, career development tools and line manager support that we deliver in organisations such as ITV, Lily’s Kitchen, GAM Investments, Federated Hermes, Veolia and more. Find out more and help us start a conversation with your HR team at www.comebackcommunity.co.uk/introduce.
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| 15 May 2024 | 85. COACH - Sabeha - designing your ideal work week - how to be more present at home - experiencing more joy | 00:44:05 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest coachee today is Sabeha, a first time mother based in London who has returned to work for a Californian tech company. It's a conversation about the tension that exists within us when we want to give more to work and also be present at home - and the specific challenge of working for a US organisation who comes online as your working day is drawing to a close.
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| 29 May 2024 | 86. COMEBACK - Emma Young - Firefighter – speaking up when things aren’t right at work – trying to change maternity policy - 'boreout' + psychology of uncertainty | 00:35:18 | |
Hello Bright Minds, at the end of 2023 I read about a landmark legal victory for a former Avon Fire and Rescue Service employee, Sasha Acheson, who won her sex discrimination case against the organisation. Reading that piece got me curious about the experiences of female firefighters after they’ve notified their employer that they’re pregnant; what it’s like to have to shift from active frontline duty to something else and what it’s like to return to an environment where you may not have a single colleague near you who understands what you’ve been through. My guest today is NOT that former employee but a Emma Young, a female firefighter who has a lot to say about what it’s like to be a pregnant woman in the fire service. Emma has a 15 month old daughter and she’s currently pregnant with her second, a pregnancy that she found out about just as she was returning from maternity leave. You’re going to hear about:
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| 12 Jun 2024 | 87. JUST JESSICA - neuropsychology of therapeutic writing - what, how, when, why? | 00:19:38 | |
Hello Bright Minds, I'm inspired to bring you this episode as I've been invited to be part of a 'Human Library' at CIPD's Festival of Work where my title is "How to not burnout as a parent of a neurodiverse or challenge child." Journaling or 'free-writing' as a I call it has been one of my consistently useful coping tools, especially over the last two years, and I'll be talking about that. Huberman Lab podcast 20/11/23 A Science-Supported Journaling Protocol to Improve Mental & Physical Health: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/a-science-supported-journaling-protocol-to-improve-mental-physical-health Professor James Pennebaker research: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/pennebak Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing (summary of research findings) by Baikie & Wilhelm (2018) published in Advances of Psychiatric Treatment: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/advances-in-psychiatric-treatment/article/emotional-and-physical-health-benefits-of-expressive-writing/ED2976A61F5DE56B46F07A1CE9EA9F9F Therapist Uncensored podcast episode 225 with James Pennebaker: https://therapistuncensored.com/episodes/neuroscience-proven-writing-protocol-james-pennebaker-225/ Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GK5817W/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
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| 26 Jun 2024 | 88. JUST JESSICA - Finding focus when you’re stretched and shattered – psychology of attention – deep work - coachees' top tips for traction | 00:32:06 | |
Hello Bright Minds, I hope you’re on good form and by the end of this episode got a better sense of how you can help yourself find focus, sustain your attention and experience traction. I'm Jessica Chivers, a coaching psychologist, author and developer of the Comeback Community employee experience, of which this podcast is a part. The idea for this episode has been stirring in mind for some time because focus is a frequent source of conversation with coachees who are returning to work from maternity leave with less time on their hands than they had pre-baby. If you’re not a new parent or a parent at all I think you’ll get plenty from listening to the psychology and my personal hacks that I’m going to share with you. REFERENCES
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| 11 Sep 2024 | 90. JUST JESSICA - Boundaries - psychological job control - why bosses need to talk about downtime (but not tell us not to work weekends and evenings) | 00:19:49 | |
Hello Bright Minds, this episode is inspired by the previous where my guest, Ramona Aning from Ketchum, talked about how her CEO is open about family time and downtime.
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| 28 Aug 2024 | 89. COMEBACK – Ramona Aning – Ketchum – setting boundaries at work after maternity leave – being yourself – sussing out a company’s culture before you join | 00:38:16 | |
Hello Bright Minds, I am really happy to be back with a very vibrant episode to kick off season seven. We ended season six with an episode on the psychology of focus and attention and how to adapt your day when you wake up absolutely shattered. And you loved it and you told me so and I’m so thankful that you did because my brain runs on little drip-drip doses of positive feedback.
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| 25 Sep 2024 | 91. COMEBACK – Dan Hewitt – Ocado – navigating the pull between career and family – having coaching – am I having impact at work? | 00:29:47 | |
Hello Bright Minds, I hope you’re on good form and thank you for choosing to listen to this episode of Comeback Coach. Dan Hewitt is the Head of Talent Management and Development at Ocado, the UK online-only supermarket HQ-ed in Hertfordshire just down the road from me. When Dan came back from a few months of paternity leave he thought he was going to stay in a comfortable place professionally, not striving for the next job. This was so he could focus on family, but that was not to be and Dan moved into a bigger, stretch role.
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| 09 Oct 2024 | 92. COMEBACK - Tara Ferguson - breast cancer - working through treatment - medically-induced menopause - how to stop women leaving in their 40s + 50s? | 00:47:36 | |
Hello Bright Minds. My guest today is someone who wanted a platform to talk about her experience of continuing to work on and off during breast cancer treatment with the single goal of helping others find their way through this really difficult time. We talk about:
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| 23 Oct 2024 | 93. COMEBACK - Sarah Banks - Arcadis - Adjusting to big changes at work after maternity leave – benefits of being main earner - what is a company shadow board? | 00:28:43 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest today is Sarah Banks from Arcadis, the global design and engineering company.
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| 06 Nov 2024 | 94. COMEBACK – Laura Scougall – ITV – redundancy risk on maternity leave – being open at work about demands at home (autistic son) – how to get back to sleep | 00:48:36 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my conversation today is with Laura Scougall, Head of ITV Academy. Knowing Laura is a chatty, confident person we decided to make it a freeform conversation without any pre-agreed questions so it’s a bit of a random episode that covers a lot of ground. We talked about:
Laura’s wobbly moments and tips for coming back to work after maternity leave which includes leaning into the chaos. I hope you get plenty from it and if you do, please would you leave a short review and a rating wherever you listen. Thank you so much.
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| 20 Nov 2024 | 95. Rebecca Andrews - Pilot - missing your job - returning to flying after maternity leave - yes YOU CAN still do it! | 00:38:07 | |
Hello Bright Minds,
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| 03 Dec 2024 | 96. COMEBACK - Beth Wooller - Strategy Manager at Sainsburys - sabbatical - burnout - a break from hitting the next career goal - writing a book + interior design | 00:36:48 | |
Hello Bright Minds, keen eyes might notice that this episode is out a day earlier than usual. I’ve chosen to release this episode of Tuesday 3rd December to tie-in with International Day of Person’s with a Disability. And it feels fitting to have saved this episode to the last in the current season on COMEBACK COACH because we’re talking about the power of a sabbatical to refresh, re-energise and have a bit of a rest, which I hope you’ll get later in the month. My guest today is Beth Wooller, a Strategic Sourcing Manager at Sainsbury’s Head Office where she’s also the founder and Chair of Enable, the first ever Sainsbury’s Disability Network. Beth started her career as a Management Consultant at Deloitte, having graduated from Cambridge University and has a lifetime of experience living and working with a hearing loss. She is dedicated to helping people with disabilities and differences excel and focuses on raising awareness, increasing confidence and simplifying workplace processes to better support people with disabilities. Beth has recently been listed as one of the most influential disabled people in the UK in the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100. 11 years into her career and feeling burned out, Beth took a sabbatical from her corporate role to reset, continue her disability work, and gain her professional qualification in Interior Design with the National Design Academy.
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| 22 Jan 2025 | 97. COMEBACK – Caroline Smith – The Entertainer – Relentless resilience job hunting after redundancy – being a wildcard candidate - senior marketing women struggling to land jobs | 00:39:47 | |
Hello Bright Minds, I am really happy to be back with a very vibrant episode to kick off season eight where Marketing Director Caroline Smith from the toy shop, The Entertainer talk about:
>>>> If you're listening before 19th February 2025 you're in time to get a ticket for the LIVE recording of episode 100: "BEYOND THE COMEBACK: Raising your career through the Primary School Years" in London on 26/2/25.
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| 05 Feb 2025 | 98. COACH – Amber – career change + not burning bridges when you have multiple (potential) job offers | 00:40:22 | |
Hello Bright Minds, my guest coachee today is Amber (not her real name), a past coachee of mine who I worked with years and years ago and is now on the brink of making a second career change. She wanted to have a space to think about how to navigate relationships with different organisations that she’s in parallel recruitment processes with. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working with coachees years down the line after their first coaching engagement and it’s so wonderful to see how they’ve changed and to reconnect.
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| 19 Feb 2025 | 99. JUST JESSICA - Psychology of crying at work – how to limit damage to your career + what managers should do when a team member cries | 00:28:23 | |
Hello Brights Minds, I’ve been thinking a lot about displays of emotions at work because of the increasing number of women I’ve been coaching over the last 12 months who’ve described being taken by surprise by their tears and worrying about the implications. It tuns out there’s some pretty complex psychology at play when it comes to how crying at work can potentially affect our reputation. I’m Jessica Chivers, a psychologist and executive coach. For the last 20 years I’ve been coaching leaders, senior professionals and high potential individual contributors during career transitions and challenging times. The work always involves an element of increasing their understanding of themselves and I’ll often bring in evidenced-based insights from the world of psychology and related disciplines to help with that ('psychoeducation'). In this episode I cover:
REFERENCES
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| 05 Mar 2025 | 100. LIVE SPECIAL - Raising your career through the Primary School years - candid chat with Amanda Newman, Liz Twiney, Emmie Faust & Rachel Maguire | 01:00:29 | |
Hello Bright Minds, in this episode we go beyond the comeback and discuss the habits, resources, ways of working and ways of thinking that help support career development when you have young children. We recorded this episode in front of a live audience at Arcadis, London - one of our treasured clients. My guests are all professional women who have 13 children between them and they've all previously been on the podcast. They were tremendously candid for which I am truly grateful.
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| 19 Mar 2025 | 101. COMEBACK - Francesca Woodhouse - Edelman – proactive career management – working FT with 4 kids – having true partnership at home | 00:45:16 | |
Hello Bright Minds, today I’m talking to Francesca Woodhouse who is the MD of UK Workplace Advisory at Edelman and mother of four children. She works full time and is married to Lewis who also works full time as a Head of Communications. You’re going to hear Francesca talk about:
Before we glide into the conversation with Francesca, three thank yous to listeners who’ve left a review of COMEBACK COACH on Apple Podcasts since the last episode: Simone wrote: “Wonderful podcast on the realities of corporate career life. Always get great inspiration and some actionable tips to try out.” Lizi left this review: “I really enjoy listening to the podcast and hearing how other women manage the career and family juggle but mainly I just love hearing Jesica’s take on the world. It’s impossible not to feel uplifted, energised and inspired listening to her.” And thank you to Geeko1003 who says: Jessica expertly navigates the emotional and performance issues for everyone at work. The tools, tips, and insights help to create an inclusive workplace.
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| 29 Dec 2020 | 0. Welcome to Comeback Coach - Introducing 'Comeback' and 'Coach' episodes | 00:15:58 | |
Comeback Coach is the wobbly-bottomed podcast about kickass comebacks for people riding the return to work rollercoaster. If you're on maternity leave - or away from work on for another reason - and want to come back feeling prepared, positive and filled with self-belief, this podcast is for you.
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| 13 Jan 2021 | 1. COACH – Nicola - losing job love - maternity leave - D&I - struggling to find your place | 00:37:59 | |
Nicola returned from maternity leave to a role that she’d trained a long time to do but that her heart was no longer in. She talks about how she’s struggling in a male dominated team and experiences casual sexism on a day to day basis. Her mind has been ignited by the world of diversity and inclusion and she’s keen to explore other opportunities within her blue-chip firm. However, she’s been asked to ‘respect the hierarchy’ and not make attempts to reach more senior figures outside of her team to get her voice heard. Three resources Jessica flagged in this episode:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 13 Jan 2021 | 2. COMEBACK - Caroline - how imposter feelings can make you stronger - lawyer - mum of 4 | 00:23:00 | |
“Imposter feelings can be where your strengths lie,” says Caroline Flanagan. Caroline talks about coping with constant low-level anxiety and how she handled imposter feelings when she returned to work after her first maternity leave to a U.S. law firm - where she was the only female lawyer with a baby.
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| 26 Jan 2021 | 3. COACH – Chloe, PR professional – how to get more job love, more recognition and not feel icky about self-promotion | 00:36:01 | |
Chloe is a PR professional who feels in limbo having come back from one maternity leave and knowing she’s going to be going away again in six month’s time. She’s come back to work that leaves her feeling unmotivated and out of control. Our conversation focusses on what Chloe wants from the next six months and how to make it happen. We talk about three key themes: 1. Recognition 2. Promotion 3. Progression BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 09 Feb 2021 | 4. COMEBACK – Rachel – How to get through the early months back at work – playbook for success - what to stop and start | 00:22:59 | |
The conversation is with Rachel Jackson, previously of HP and Cisco where she worked in technology sales for 20 years and also sat as Vice Chair on the Inclusion Board and led the UK Back to Business employee resource group. “Build your support squad before you go back to work; ask for help before you’re at breaking point and establish a really good self care routine,” are just three of the cracking pieces of advice Rachel says she’d put in her playbook for how to navigate the early months returning to work from extended leave. Rachel had two maternity leaves during her time at Cisco, returning after her second child in 2019. She recently took the decision to step out of her career to run with her deep interest in the world of inclusion. She now runs her own business, A Different Me, which aims to positively impact the lives of working mothers in corporate organisations. As you’ll hear Rachel can remember her time returning to work as if it were yesterday and she’s got a series of cracking tips for how to handle the early months back at work.
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| 23 Feb 2021 | 5. COACH – Emma, lawyer - how to progress your career, raise your visibility at work and still have time for family | 00:41:25 | |
Emma is a solicitor in a top 20 law firm who’s keen to progress her career after maternity leave, raise her visibility and still have time for her two young boys and husband. In this COACH episode Emma and Jessica explore tactics for making those things happen. Spoiler: they come up with a doable plan that doesn’t involve magic-ing up 48 hours in a day. Are you on extended leave from work? Preparing for leave? Or recently returned? Find free goodies to support your return over on www.comebackcommunity.co.uk. What did you think of the episode? Got a question about returning to work? Chat to Jessica on Twitter @ComebackCommUK. Also find us on Instagram @ComebackCommUK. If you’d like to have a coaching conversation with Jessica for a future episode of Comeback Coach please contact us via the website. Season 1 sponsor is Rayden Solicitors
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| 09 Mar 2021 | 6. COMEBACK - Claire - Finding your purpose, how to pitch for compressed hours and make it work | 00:19:47 | |
Claire Thomas, one very customer-focussed senior director of sales at the technology company, Hitachi Vantara. She was professional services sales woman of the year 2018 - a wonderful accolade to take with her as she went on maternity leave. Read her LinkedIn article about returning to work.
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| 23 Mar 2021 | 7. COACH - Laura - innovation strategist - re-finding purpose and focus after furlough and redundancy. | 00:34:35 | |
You’ve been furloughed for five months then made redundant from a job you love. In this COACH episode coaching psychologist Jessica Chivers works with Laura Gelder-Robertson, an incredibly smart innovation strategist who’s now looking to rekindle her own innovation consultancy in the wake of unemployment. Are you away from work? There are free goodies to support your return over on comebackcommunity.co.uk where you’ll also find a blog post with Laura’s stunning visuals about her goals and how she’s going to get there plus an update on what Laura's done since the coaching conversation.
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| 06 Apr 2021 | 8. COMEBACK - Valeria, management consultant - best things to focus on at work in the early weeks after your return | 00:17:02 | |
When your confidence is growing and you feel like you’re on an upward trajectory and then, among glowing feedback, your manager tells you he thinks you’re still a bit lost. How do you handle that?
This episode is sponsored by Rayden Solicitors, an award-winning, Times Top 200 family law firm.
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| 20 Apr 2021 | 9. COACH - Fiona - ambitious teacher - making a career dream happen – getting out of your own way | 00:37:54 | |
Fiona is an ambitious teacher on maternity leave yearning to give and do more professionally but who also wants to dedicate a large proportion of time to her children. In this COACH episode we explore what Fiona really wants, ways she could achieve it, constraints and come up with a way of looking at her situation which changes everything.
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| 03 May 2021 | 10. SPECIAL - Maternal Mental Health - Better Births - PND - Psychosis - Doulas - PaNDAS Foundation | 00:44:43 | |
For all the references and resources Eve, Anna & Mia mention see the Maternal Mental Health page on our website.
Anna Ceesay: Journalist and founder of Motherdom.co.uk, the first UK online media platform to address issues of maternal mental health. Anna experienced pre-natal depression at eight months pregnant. Mia Scotland: Perinatal clinical psychologist, doula, author of Birth Shock & Why Post Natal Depression Matters. Evie Canavan: Coordinator of UK Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week for Perinatal Mental Health Partnership and postpartum psychosis survivor.
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| 18 May 2021 | 11. COMEBACK - Wendy - Coping with anxiety - crippling guilt - feeling out of control - seeking therapy and coping lessons | 00:16:44 | |
WARNING: This episode includes very naughty words. Wendy Lancaster is a landscape planner and mother of two who experienced crippling levels of anxiety when she returned to work after her second maternity leave. Wendy works with developers and local authorities to protect the character of landscapes, built environments and important views. She’s often the lone woman in meetings with master planners, transport consultants, drainage engineers and ecologists. She has two children age 6 and 2 and says she’s married to a wonderful man who’s massively supportive of her career who has stepped back from his own to allow Wendy to focus on hers. It’s a really honest conversation about how out of control she felt when she first went back to work and why she decided to see a therapist. I hope it’s useful.
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| 01 Jun 2021 | 12. COACH - Rosie - how to progress your career when coping with increased caring responsibilities | 00:36:33 | |
Stressed, tired and determined to meet the work demands and expectations she’s set herself, Rosie is an academic with two young children and additional caring responsibilities She works 4 days a week for a university, where she's been for 9 years. The pandemic has significantly increased her caring responsibilities due to supporting family members and she’s struggled at times with the stress of trying to deliver professionally whilst looking after her family’s and her own wellbeing. In this COACH episode we explore how Rosie can get through the acute period of stress she’s in at the moment and how she can help herself longer term. This episode is sponsored by Rayden Solicitors, an award-winning, Times Top 200 family law firm.
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| 15 Jun 2021 | 13. COMEBACK – Liz – Rebuilding credibility - getting your head back into gear - backing yourself after maternity leave | 00:17:20 | |
My guest today is Liz Twiney who works for an asset management firm in London. We’re talking when Liz is 3 months back from her first maternity leave and we cover rebuilding credibility, what to do when you can’t have traditional KIT days, guilt because you love your job and how to invite people for a catch up when you’re working remotely.
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 29 Jun 2021 | 14. COACH – Debora, interior architect – losing purpose - feeling disconnected from work you loved - craving more time with your child | 00:29:36 | |
You’re feeling disconnected from the job you once loved then you’re made redundant after two months being back at work after maternity leave. In this COACH episode coaching psychologist Jessica Chivers works with Debora, an interior architect, who feels she’s lost her sense of purpose and says “I’ve completely changed my worldview since having my daughter.” She craves flexibility to spend more time with her child and wants to continue to use her problem-solving skills and creativity to help others.
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| 13 Jul 2021 | 15. COMEBACK - Torey - HR manager - IVF - being open about imposter feelings at work - rebuilding confidence | 00:21:09 | |
Torey’s tale of IVF and moving jobs to lessen her stress and help their chances of success might be familiar to you. I talked to Torey at the start of her fourth week back after maternity leave to her role as a senior people engagement consultant at Orbit, a not-for-profit housebuilder. Torey talks about how she started to rebuild her confidence before she started back at work and how she’s keeping imposter feelings at bay. A coach has been key to changing the unrealistic expectations she has of herself. She constantly reminds herself to be patient; that it’s OK to ask lots of questions and that it will take time to get up to speed again. Torey is a Senior people engagement consultant at Orbit, a not-for-profit housebuilder.
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| 27 Jul 2021 | 16. COACH - Julia - redundancy - emotional rollercoaster - self-employment - business development | 00:38:24 | |
The coaching conversation is with Julia, a landscape architect who was furloughed after maternity leave with her second child and then made redundant. We’re talking just a few weeks into Julia setting up her own practice when she says she’s riding an emotional rollercoaster and struggling with the idea of business development.
HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK? Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic? We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen and we’d love you to tell your HR Team about us. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 01 Sep 2021 | 17. COMEBACK - Ria - Mindful return – self-compassion - smoothly gliding back into work – managing your energy | 00:23:50 | |
Ria Ingleby made a mindful return to work after cancer treatment to her job at Headspace.
For the resources and links mentioned in the episode visit: Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic? We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 15 Sep 2021 | 18. COACH - Emily - Law firm Partner – self doubt - returning remotely - shaky confidence - sounding boards | 00:37:00 | |
Emily is a partner in a small law firm who’s returned to work after her second maternity leave. She’s been back six months and her confidence has taken a significant knock not least due to returning remotely. She’s really missed the ‘sounding board’ type conversations she enjoyed with colleagues when she returned to work the first time. Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic? We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 29 Sep 2021 | 19. COMEBACK - The Job Share Pair - What, Why & How of Job Sharing – Finding a Partner - Replacing part of the Pair - Benefits to Employers | 00:29:55 | |
Rachel and Hannah AKA "The Job Share Pair" worked their way up through the corporate ranks to HR Director level. They were both – and still are – really committed, motivated, determined women, passionate about work and not wanting to take a step back. Their first babies were born six days apart and they began job sharing when they returned from maternity leave and really found their groove and made it work brilliantly well. In 2020 they set up their Instagram account The Job Share Pair to loudly and proudly spread the word about job-sharing as being an excellent way to retain female leaders. Originally a hobby, this passion project has become a business and they’ve left their corporate lives behind.
Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more understanding? We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 13 Oct 2021 | 20. COACH - Sara - career crossroads - passion v salary - role-sharing - should I have a career change? | 00:37:22 | |
Sara is an Associate Director at a recruitment firm where she manages a team of Consultants and is the lead personal contact on over 40 client accounts. When she returned to work after having her first baby she discovered that the career she had found so energising and rewarding, was no longer a good fit and that her professional achievements no longer felt like success. Sara’s currently on maternity leave after having had her second child and a career change into a field that better suits her needs is on her mind. Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic? We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
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Values & Core Needs Place
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| 27 Oct 2021 | 21. COMEBACK - Amanda - Confidence - big job & travel - when your dream job comes up on maternity leave - think twice before quitting | 00:18:58 | |
Amanda Newman is a senior manager at Accenture and mother of four. She’s also the woman behind The Career Mum community, which has a global membership of over 5000 people. Amanda had all of her children whilst she was at Shell, where she held various project manager roles before doing a brief stint at Microsoft and then moving to Accenture. We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 08 Dec 2021 | 24. COACH - Alex - exploring a career change – not returning to employment – starting a social enterprise | 00:37:53 | |
Alex is looking to re-engage with the working world after a four year career break raising two children. We’re talking when Alex is four months away from her son starting nursery and as you’ll hear, she doesn’t have a career path to pick up on and she’s questioning whether now is the time to turn her hobby into a business rather than try to return to employment.
. We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 10 Nov 2021 | 22. COACH - Katie - Starting a new role - building rapport remotely - making an impact - getting feedback without looking needy | 00:33:24 | |
Katie is an HR professional with over a decade of experience in financial services who’s making a move into a different role of which she has no experience. She’s returning to work after her second maternity leave into a new role that’s never been done before – no ‘playbook’ and no one to have a handover with. Our conversation takes place two weeks before her start date. I mentioned an article about how to raise your visibility when you work remotely. .
. We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 24 Nov 2021 | 23. COMEBACK - Rachael - Knowing your why - interviewing 8 weeks post partum – starting a new role – phased returns – teamwork at home | 00:22:21 | |
Rachael is a seasoned HR professional who started her career in in-house recruitment and spent much of her 15 year HR career partnering businesses and connecting teams including for a luxury floral company. She finished her corporate HR days in a cyber security growth company as an HR Business Partner covering EMEA and beyond and this is where we pick up the return to work story. We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 22 Dec 2021 | 25. COMEBACK – Claire – IVF – miscarriage – twins - adding a career break to maternity leave – kind colleagues – job love | 00:26:22 | |
My guest today is Claire Garwood, a civil servant at the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency. She went through four rounds of IVF and two miscarriages before conceiving her now three year old twins.
We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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| 05 Jan 2022 | 26. COACH - Katy - rebuilding confidence - getting a sense of control - external validation – considering taking time out | 00:38:55 | |
My guest today is Katy, a marketing professional who’s been back at work from her second parental leave for 18 months. She returned during the pandemic to a wholesale restructuring of the marketing team which led to her heading for redundancy. However, two weeks before she was due to leave, role that was perfect for her came up and so she stayed – but it’s only for a year. Our conversation took place when Katy had been in this new role six months and she’s feeling uncertain, a little insecure and wanting to fortify her confidence. We’re on a mission to keep everyone everywhere feeling confident, connected and cared for when they take extended leave from work. Our Comeback Community™ employee experience is designed to do just that. We work with employers such as ITV, BlackRock and Lily’s Kitchen. Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:
. BE IN TOUCH & FREE GOODIES TO SUPPORT YOU:
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