Beth Wanner spent 15 years climbing the tech marketing ladder, until infertility, IVF, and pregnancy discrimination derailed her trajectory. After spending years keeping her fertility struggles private (terrified it would cost her her job), she finally got pregnant through IVF.
Two days after finding out, she was laid off. She immediately began job searching while pregnant, keeping her pregnancy hidden from potential employers. She landed a new role, disclosed her pregnancy, and was let go again at eight months pregnant.
In this episode, Beth shares the raw reality of navigating infertility while working, the discrimination pregnant job seekers face, and what finally made her decide to go public with her story on LinkedIn. Hundreds of people reached out with their own stories - and a pattern emerged: companies had great parental leave policies, but the operational reality was chaos.
Teams were left without coverage, employees felt pressure to stay "connected," and the promise of leave became a broken one. So Beth founded Mother Cover: an agency that provides interim and fractional leadership during parental leaves, ensuring business continuity while giving employees the space to actually be fully present during leave.
In this conversation, Beth explores the gap between what companies say and what they do, why interim leadership is a game-changer, and what the business case for supporting parents actually looks like. If you've experienced workplace discrimination around pregnancy or parenthood, felt unsupported during leave, or wondered how companies could actually do this better, Beth's story and solution offer both validation and hope.
Connect with Beth here:
LinkedIn - Beth Wanner and Mother Cover
Website - Mother Cover