Our Events

January Motherhood Moment – ‘Career & Motherhood’

Sunday 21st January 2024, 2pm – 4:30pm, St Andrews, Earlsfield

Expert Speakers

Annie Abelman

Laetitia Gordon-Furse

Zoe Johnston

Annie Abelman, Founder & CEO, Mentor Mums

Annie is Founder & CEO of Mentor Mums, a charity providing support for transitioning back to work after parental leave. Annie & Mentor Mums have helped hundreds of parents to access volunteer-mentors in similar professional roles, who can share advice and life hacks that make returning easier. They also advise workplaces, so that support comes from management and not just proactive returners. Currently on her third maternity leave, Annie has gathered a wealth of knowledge from the Mentor Mums community and is an experienced speaker, sharing wisdom and the ultimate ‘playbook’ on ‘leaving well’ and ‘returning well’ to parents & companies alike.

Laetitia Gordon-Furse, Founder & CEO, The Springback Guide, Host of 5* Podcast ‘Returnity’

Letty is the mind behind The Spring Back Guide, a ground-breaking Digital Rewards Package designed to support maternity leavers come back to work feeling happy and confident. The Spring Back Guide is offering affordable, scalable, and flexible coaching solutions to hold onto the powerhouse section of their workforce: new mums. After a rough start to motherhood, Letty realised how much work was a part of her identity. She suddenly clicked just how many women were feeling lost, realising the disruption maternity leave and inadequate ‘Returnity’ Support can create. As a Professional Coach and Mum of 2 herself, Letty has spent the last 5 years working towards a product now making a significant impact on companies determined to create positive changes and since launching is working with some of the biggest businesses in the UK.

Zoe Johnston, Head of Carifit Corporate Wellbeing

After more than 12 years working in Commercial Real Estate Investment, Zoe changed career paths and now heads up Corporate Wellbeing at Carifit – a babywearing exercise & parental wellbeing platform designed for parents at every stage of their parenthood journey. After her first maternity leave in 2018, Zoe struggled for years with secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriage, which made holding down a corporate full-time job very challenging. After the birth of her daughter in 2022, Zoe reassessed her priorities and professional circumstances and reconnected with Carifit, first joining their babywearing fitness classes on maternity leave, then investing in the business, and eventually formally joining the Carifit team, spearheading a new arm of the company (Corporate Wellbeing) and working with corporate partners to offer the Carifit experience as a parental leave benefit.

Topics Covered

Return to paid work after maternity leave – common anxieties & challenges

Approaches, tools & resources for supporting a happy return to paid work

Flexible working

Managing ‘the juggle’

Identity, priorities & values

Career pivots & new opportunities

Mentoring & peer support

Event Summary

Ending the week on a massive high, Storm Isha could not hold us back from our 3^rd Motherhood Moment event going off with a bang!

This time we focused on ‘Career & Motherhood’ – a hot topic for so many women, we knew we had to dedicate a session to this, drafting in our expert panel to guide us through the ins and outs and highs and lows of this HUGE topic! Our amazing panel expertly manoeuvred their way through questions on identity, flexible working, career pivots & new opportunities, sharing insights gained from their day-to-day work as well as their own experiences as mothers.

Our events are about education & access to expertise but they’re also about building community and connecting with each other – we had some brilliant brands popping-up with us creating buzz and hitting the spot for some Sunday socialising and self-care… whether trying on Carifit carriers (complete with weighted babies!), sneaking in a taster-massage with Mayura Wellbeing, or trialling samples from Meder Beauty there was something for everyone… and let’s not forget to mention the cake!

Another brilliant day with women connecting, asking questions and sharing experiences & stories. We believe that the more we can do this, the more we can help to normalise what so many of us experience in motherhood.

Feedback
hear what people are saying about our event:

“Loved the event and found the panel incredibly insightful”

“All x4 speakers were so impressive … and natural!”

“Thank you. Just wish I’d found you all earlier in my motherhood journey! :-)”

“Amazing to be part of this! Thank you for a great day”

“Thank you for an absolutely wonderfully run event”

Suggested Resources

If you are concerned about any aspect of your mental or physical health, or experiencing challenges, or keen to learn more – we’ve put together some suggested sources of information & support

Online Resources:

Mentor Mums
- Match mums returning to work with mums who have done it all before for mentoring support – completely free
The Springback Guide
- Digital coaching resource & support
Carifit +
- 360 support to enhance your wellbeing as you think about the next phase of motherhood & return to work
Careers After Babies
- 2023 Report documenting landmark research into what happens to women’s careers after they have children
Pregnant then screwed
- For support / guidance on employer or workplace issues related to your maternity leave/returning from maternity leave etc
Mother Pukka
- Flex Appeal

Books:

The mother of all jobs – Christine Armstrong
- How to have children, and a career, and stay sane(ish)
The Squiggly career – Helen Tupper & Sarah Ellis
- Ditch the Ladder, Discover Opportunity, Design Your Career
Burnout – Emily & Amelia Nagoski
- Solve your stress cycle
The Blend – Tobi Asare
- How to successfully manage a career and a family

Podcasts:

Squiggly Careers – Apple Podcasts
Returnity – Apple Podcasts
Mother Pukka – Apple Podcasts

Phone:

Working families hotline
- Monday – Friday, 11am – 2pm, 0300 012 0312
- Independent charity offering free legal advice on employment rights for parents and carers and in-work benefits for families

Social media accounts (IG):