Advice From Working Moms
Hear From Real Working Moms and Their Best Advice for Mothers Who are Pursuing a Career.
Finding a balance between career success and motherhood can be daunting. The stress and fear of missing out sometimes overwhelm new mothers and those with older or adult children. We asked our members who have children to submit their most crucial piece of advice for mothers who are pursuing a career. Keep reading to hear our member's best advice.
"What is the most crucial piece of advice you have for mothers who are pursuing a career?"
Chief of Staff & Head of PMO
Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility
"In regards to offering advice for working moms, my greatest recommendation is to GET ORGANIZED—everything from creating a shared calendar among family members, to meal planning, to a weekly/monthly/annual chore list (including assigned roles and responsibilities).
As a working mom of two sons, aged 11 and 9, and with a husband who travels frequently, it falls on me to oversee the coordination of schedules, cook, shop, and otherwise keep the household running. This is a major challenge as I'm also a senior leader at a large manufacturing company. The concept of a “Second Shift" when we get home from work is very real.
Efficient usage of time is the key to ensuring that domestic balls don't get dropped. By performing a little legwork upfront and making sure that the entire family is on the same page and is aware of various activities and expectations helps out SO MUCH. My family keeps a chalkboard calendar in the kitchen. I also keep a weekly activity tracker with rows for each family member, which visually helps me wrap my brain around who needs what when.
In terms of meal planning, I subscribed to Emeals, which is a subscription service that allows you to customize what kinds of recipes your family wants and will send seven different recipes each week. I use these as a basis for my grocery list and it saves me tons of time and energy stressing over what to make. It also ensures that I don't run out of important ingredients halfway through cooking a meal."
VP, Marketing & Pricing
Acuity Brands
What is the most crucial piece of advice you have for mothers who are pursuing a career?
"Being a mom to two young children while working to grow my career is hard. There’s no way around that reality, and there are many days when I feel like I am failing in both places. My children, one age 10 and one under 2, need me to be highly focused and present every minute that I am with them. Similarly, my team, peers and leaders deserve such focus and attention in my job. Some days this feels impossible to manage. However, I believe it’s possible to be successful as a working mother and I have grown my career by following a handful of guiding principles:
- It’s incredibly important to give yourself some grace and not hold yourself to an impossible standard. Despite how society can often make us feel, moms don’t have to be superheroes every single day. Take a minute to breathe, leave some things undone and remember that it’s okay to sit down or just fall asleep without accomplishing everything on your list.
- Lean on others. It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help. Whether it be family, friends or sitters at home or your team and peers at work, ask for help when you need it!
- Be grateful for the opportunity you have to be an example for your kids and an example for the associates you work with daily.
Show them that it’s okay to be human, show gratitude for what you have and for what others give you, and help encourage others to prioritize and balance work and home life as they need."
Commercial Operations Analyst
M. Holland
What is the most crucial piece of advice you have for mothers who are pursuing a career?
"Communicate your boundaries at work and home. Last week I was interviewing a candidate for an open position on our team and they asked me if I often work beyond standard hours to manage the workload. My response was, “It wouldn’t be fair to my family.” Process improvements and opportunities for optimization aren’t going away, and when I was younger and single, I often did stay late or work over the weekend to get ahead.
Adjusting to life with a toddler has been a challenge for me professionally, since our days are often disordered. My desire to produce great work hasn’t diminished, but I also desire to be a present parent. I’m fortunate to have a role that allows me great flexibility to work remotely, and a partner at home who takes responsibility for the majority of the logistics to and from daycare. The most important thing that I can do every day is communicate to everyone (spouse, peer or supervisor) my availability. From 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., I prioritize my work and beyond those hours I prioritize my family. Consistently communicating any variability in this routine with others has helped me to set boundaries that my team and partner respect and has made my WFH experience really satisfying."
If you are interested in connecting with more working mothers, consider attending our Moms in MFG virtual conference on August 11, 2022.
