Women Accelerators is excited to begin our four-part blog series “The Career-Family Connection: Finding Your Perfect Balance.”
My name is Leah, and I first connected with Women Accelerators at an event in 2016. I was working full-time and volunteered with this fantastic group. Returning later as a new parent, I’m honored to share perspectives (and many open-ended questions) on parenthood and careers in this collaboration with Women Accelerators.
When I became a parent, I was emotionally ready to care for a baby, but I knew little about how to balance parenthood and my career. There is no way I could have prepared for this transformation — there is no one-size-fits-all roadmap to follow — but I wish I had more guidance.
While by no means comprehensive, we hope that this blog series is a good starting point for anybody curious about parenthood and careers.
The world is changing rapidly, and children are changing quickly, too. As our children evolve, we adapt in turn (e.g. a baby dropping a nap might mean a family can participate in an activity happening at a certain time of day). Learning more about children and families has enriched me and encouraged me to become more flexible and compassionate. Parenthood has shaped me into a better professional, friend, and neighbor.
Raising the next generation is an incredibly meaningful task. Parents should have all the resources they need, but in today’s world, they find themselves stretched for time and juggling different schedules. For example, the 9am – 5pm workday does not align with the school day. The ability for some to work remotely can be helpful for flexibility, but could also quickly blur the lines of professional and home life.
At the time of this writing (autumn 2024), the US surgeon general recently released a report about the overwhelm of parents. While this blog series will not address every issue, we hope it is useful at a time when we as a society are reflecting on what the ideal balance of parenthood and career development could look like.
At Women Accelerators, our goal is to support women’s choices. For one parent, that might look like returning to work full-time and another that may be staying home with their child. Yet another might hope for something in between (my own situation). Ideally, parents should also have the freedom to choose throughout the lives of their children and the evolution of their family needs, to choose again and again — perhaps building a patchwork of different seasons where the balance of parenthood and career looks a bit different.
This series will continue with the following topics:
- Insights on pregnancy, how to plan for parental leave, and return to work after the baby is born.
- A look at full-time parenting at home versus working outside the home, including diverse setups such as daycare, per diem work, and hybrid/remote work.
- Review strategies for re-entering the workforce after a career break.
These topics impact many of us in the Women Accelerators community, whether directly as parents, coworkers of parents, neighbors to parents, and so forth. We hope that you will follow along as we explore these topics with compassion and curiosity. Sign up for our email for the next blog series.
