Ask me a Q

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. 

Today I’m bringing you a conversation with Ramona Aning, a coachee of ours from Ketchum, the PR and marketing communications consultancy. She returned to her role as an account director after maternity leave earlier this year and we go into depth on:

• Holding boundaries at work, and how Ramona became adept at this.
• The signs Ramona spotted during the recruitment process for her role at Ketchum that told her it was going to be a place where she could be herself. 
• How she found people to connect with on maternity leave via the Peanut app and how helpful those friendships have been as she returned to work
• Plus Ramona’s wobbliest moment as she returned to work.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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

• Ficca, G., Axelsson, J., Mollicone, D. J., Muto, V., & Vitiello, M. V. (2010). Naps, cognition and performance. Sleep medicine reviews, 14(4), 249-258.
• Leroy, s. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109 (2) 168-181: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597809000399

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

**LINK TO "MOTHERS WALK" on 8/3/24 for International Women's Day**

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

Away from the newsroom, she is a keen yogi, a novice stand-up paddle-boarder and a budding novelist!

In this conversation with Andrea you’re going to hear about:

• Remembering how good you are at your job before you start back.
• Why it’s a good idea not to expect too much of yourself when you first return to work.
• It not being selfish or wrong to want to have time to yourself or not liking every moment of parenthood even when your child was very hard ‘won’ as Andrea’s daughter Jemima was.
• Pitching to be involved in projects and activities that are outside of your role.
• The time it takes to adjust to working parenthood.
• And a few random bits about the psychology of perfume and what wearing stretchy clothing does to our minds.
• We do also talk about baby loss and miscarriage towards the end where Andrea shares something harrowing that happened to her when she was about to do a very significant day of broadcasting.
• And as always you’ll get to hear the wobbliest moment and peak moment of my guest’s return to work experience as well as her three top tips for returning to work after a break.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• A useful way to think about your career break when you describe it to recruiters and potential employers.
  
  
• The power of experimentation and doing dramatically different work to what you used to do.
  
  
•  How to set about finding a new role in the sector you were in before.
  
  
•  Also Jo’s wobbliest moment when she returned to work and her top tips for coming back from a career break.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Knowing your needs
• The power of a solo trip to develop your intuition 
• How to focus on your career as well as your job

In this episode I mentioned an article on Psychologytoday.com and our COMEBACK CONVERSATION live Q&A listings.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

We talk about:

• Why he took a sabbatical not Shared Parental Leave.
• How he supported his partner's return to work (to a new job).
• The difference having a supportive partner makes to a woman's return from maternity leave.
• Coping with hospitalised baby.
• What a 'supportive' employer looked like for Phil.
• Volunteering whilst on sabbatical.
• Feeling strange separating from family to go back to work after intense months together.
• Finding a new normal as a family.
• Deciding to have counselling to deal with the shock of an ill child.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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. 

We talk about:

• Not being instantly delighted that you're pregnant
• 3am worries about going on maternity leave
• Having a bl**dy brilliant maternity leave cover
• Miscarriage
• How staying in touch with work can reduce anxiety about going back

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. 

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

Andy champions and leads the vision for innovative workplace learning and has been at the heart of CIPD's transformation to digital and self-directed learning, with its professional development opportunities now accessed in over 180 countries. 

He has more than 30 years’ experience in learning and organizational development in a range of sectors and has a research Masters' degree in instructional design. He regularly speaks at conferences, writes, and contributes to research in evidence-based learning. His award-winning book “Driving Performance Through Learning” is published by Kogan Page and he is currently working on a new book on social collaborative learning called: “Organizational Learning Communities” which is due out in 2024.

In this episode:

• How to prepare for leave as a leader of a big team.
• Why being vulnerable is good for us and the people we lead.
• Coping with brain fog and pain management.
• Three aspects of returning to work: the physical, the mental and the social.
• The unexpected good that can come out of sick leave.
• Why we shouldn’t rush to pick up exactly the same job we had before we went on leave.
• The difference between being resilient and being a hero (and why none of us should be heros).

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.  

We talk about:

• Being made redundant when you've just come back from maternity leave.
• Working with a career coach - why, what, how?
• Using LinkedIn to find openings. opportunities, learn and expand your network.
• How to set about landing a quality PT role.

Live Q&A tickets mentioned in the episode for 31/10/23: HOW TO HOLD YOUR BOUNDARIES AND WHAT IS A GOOD ENOUGH PARENT?

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.


EPISODE MARKERS

• 2:32 Coaching conversation with Zara.
  
  
• 38:50 How to make a career change with Natasha Stanley, Head Coach & experience designer at Careershifters.org.
  
  
• 51:51 Three summarising tips for making a career change.
  
  
• 54:04 Tips for people who have been on a career break and want to change careers.
  
  
• 56:28 Zara's update one month on from our coaching session.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Putting yourself under stress at work before you give birth
• Worrying about what people will think of your commitment as you become a parent
• What it’s like to be a venture capital backed entrepreneur
• Why it’s good to define your leave period and stick to it 
• Not finding your tribe on maternity leave
• The positive power of a partner who takes shared parental leave
• What Cecily hopes her new venture, JustParent, will do for the take-up of Shared Parental Leave among men who work in SMEs
• And as always the wobbliest moment and peak moment of my guest’s return to work experience.

REFERENCES FLAGGED IN THE EPISODE

• If employers really want to increase the uptake of men taking Shared Parental Leave, here’s how: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/employers-fathers-taking-spl/
• The single best thing you can do for mothers in your organisation right now: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/the-single-best-thing-you-can-do-for-mothers-in-your-organisation-right-now/ 
• What do business leaders think about SPL: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/business-leaders-shared-parental-leave/
• Expectant fathers at work: https://www.talentkeepers.co.uk/breakingthebias-iwd2022/

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

I'm talking you through the science of a very specific journaling protocol that has a very significant evidence base in the academic research literature. It was developed by Professor James Pennebaker in 1986.

Here are the links I mention in the episode:

Caremail: https://www.subscribepage.com/comebackcommunity 

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 

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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. 

In March 2022 Mike was killed in a skiing accident, leaving Helen to raise Alfie alone. One of the many decisions she needed to make was how to approach her career. Up until that point she had worked full time for a global bank, progressing to Director level at the age of 33. After a period of leave Helen has now returned to work having made some radical changes.

You’re going to hear about:

• Choosing the attitude that’s going to help you the most.
• Remembering who you were before the bereavement.
• How employers can support bereaved colleagues including the importance of a bereavement policy.
• Signs you’re ready to start thinking about returning to work.
• Deciding to start a new job, in a new organisation.
• The difference a brilliant line manager makes to your self esteem.
• The joy and purpose Helen found in setting up a charity, Brightest Star and why she started The Widowhood podcast with Rosie, another young widow.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

3 SELF-REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR YOU

1. What are you repeatedly asking yourself to do that is draining for you?
2. What piece of self-knowledge are you repeatedly ignoring?
3. Where would your time be better spent?

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Doing maternity leave your own way – and not comparing yourself to what others are doing.
• Studying for a qualification on maternity leave
• Having an incessant hunger to achieve
• What it’s like to ask for and receive family support on maternity leave
• The mindset to employ when a colleague says something hurtful
• Divya’s tips for making your comeback.

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

Hello Bright Minds,

Chantelle Angel started her career as a Montessori teacher before going onto work for a children’s disability charity where she became pregnant with her first child. That baby is now 3 ½ and she has another son who is 17 months. Chantelle is now a qualified paediatric sleep consultant and founder of  Dreaming Angels,  working with a range of parents, mainly in the UK, although she’s reached as far as Singapore and the US.

You’re going to hear about:

• Common baby sleep issues and what you can do about them
• Chantelle’s transformative experience of being helped by a sleep consultant
• The science behind why babies who are cuddled off to sleep are more prone to waking and crying later in the night
• Top tips for settling babies
• And as always the wobbliest moment and peak moment of my guest’s return to work experience.

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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. 

One of her sons is on the autistic spectrum and with no family around to help share the load, life was really challenging for her and her husband. She made her career comeback in July 2021 when she landed a job at Santander, one of three organisations she had on her “want to work for” target list. Alongside her day job she also co-Chairs Santander’s Enable network because she wants to make a difference to colleagues who have different needs.

Georgie and I met on LinkedIn on GCSE results day 2022 when I posted about my son, being permanently excluded from school for persistent disruptive behaviour four months ahead of his exams. He has ADHD and ASD and my golly it’s been quite a ride and in the end he smashed his GCSEs which was just brilliant and he’s now got his sights set on a Russell Group University to study economics and finance.…I am so proud! 

Anyway, back to Georgie. It’s a beautiful story of really coming through after a very difficult time and finding a job you love. You’re going to hear about:

•  the signs of burnout
• how Georgie came to the decision to take voluntary redundancy
• how she got herself ready to return to work
• how to ask for compressed hours and make it work
• the joy and meaning that can come from doing ‘off the side of your desk’ work – and how to make that work when you’re already working really hard in your day job
• what makes Santander a great employer

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Coming back to work too soon
• Preparing for a good return
• The joy of spreadsheets
• Career progression and
• Identifying a family-friendly business culture

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• The difference between sponsorship and mentoring.
• Why sponsorship programmes are needed for women in the law.
• How self-doubt can affect the most accomplished people when they take a break from work.
• How a Type A personality prepares for maternity leave.
• Kathryn’s wobbliest moment when she came back from maternity leave and her advice to people coming back from extended leave.

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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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. 

1. Mindset and attitude of the individual: wanting to work full time and enjoying your work.
2. Your employer having a positive and supportive attitude towards of compressed hours.
3. Your employer having a positive and supportive attitude to working from home.
4.  And number four relates to a woman’s partner: having a partner who is positive about you working FT and is committed to sharing the load equally at home

In this episode you’re going to hear those factors brought to life. 

My guests are:

• Carina Hoskisson, Engineer at Caterillar.
• Caoimhe Burins, Audit Manager at Dell.
• Rebecca Knight, an Executive Assistant in financial services.
• Kirsty Trude, HR business partner in an international charity.
• Chrissy, who works in the NHS.
• "Anna" who works in the police.

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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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• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
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• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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. 

I coached Sophie when she returned from maternity leave and as you’ll hear, returning to work as part of a job-share wasn’t plain sailing but they have very definitely got there.

In this episode we talk about 

• Being the first job-share at Lily’s Kitchen
• The benefits to businesses and individuals of job-sharing
• Challenges Sophie & Sam encountered and how they’ve evolved how they work together
• Educating the business about how to work with them
• The best way to handover to your job-share partner

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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:

• How Emma navigated the lack of maternity policy and the difference a good line manager can make in uncertain circumstances.
• Lack of knowledge in the fire service around the needs of a person who is put on modified duties.
• The impact of a disconnect between what organisations say they want to do to be inclusive and what happens in practice.
• And as ever, my guest’s wobbliest moment as she returned to work, a high point and Emma’s three top tips.

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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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: 

• knowing what your career needs are
• being prepared to take a risk
• how to make a career change
• how to expand your professional network
• making yourself visible to the people who might have the job you really want
• planning how you’ll cope with post-natal depression with your second child after having severe PND first time around
• and how brilliant professor Sue Black is

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.

I also wanted to mention the work of an organisation I first read about in The Times over a decade ago called careershifters – their website is a go-to destination for people who want to make a career change and a member of our coaching team, Shiobhaun, does some work with them so I can whole-heartedly say what they’re doing is good quality. 

Finally, Elena talked about the environment Professor Sue Black has created at the University of Durham, and that’s uncommon practice. 

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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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:

•  their surrogacy journey
• how they each prepared to return to work
• how they share the load at home
• the uncommon practice things they do to that enables them to have gratifying careers and a happy home life. 

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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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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. 

Rowena Tolley is a trademark partner at intellectual property firm Kilburn & Strode, based in the London team. They work with clients of all sizes across all industries, protecting their brands and inventions.

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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. 

In this very short episode I share five tips for getting your head back into work as easily, smoothly and enjoyably as possible. Here they are in a nutshell:

1. Do something difficult.
2. Do something easy.
3. Walk - article on divergent thinking and walking here.
4. Half a half day away day with yourself.
5. Connect with someone you admire or envy.

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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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.
.
Four key takeouts from this episode:
.

1. Assume people want to help you and that you deserve to be helped. Share what your ‘dream’ help would be and let them negotiate downwards if needs be! (For Rachel this was having one set of grandparents have the boys after lunch every Saturday until Sunday morning for 6 months).
   
   
2. Career change is possible and that it takes time – how much time depends on how much you need your current salary.
   
   
3. Setting aside time for exploration of possible different career options is vital – this is the foundation for making a plan for HOW you’re going to make the shift. 
   
   
4. Having an end date for the exploration phases focuses the mind – for Rachel this is five months (at which point she’ll turn 38).
    
    

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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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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. 

Mark has just changed his work pattern to do three days a week and Emma works full time.

We talk about sharing the load at home and the great things that can happen when daddy works part-time.

I hope you enjoy(ed) it.

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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

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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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

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• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

In this coaching session we explore:

• How to experience more joy, not just “getting through it” as a working parent.
• Wanting to work more hours than you’re able to.
• Discomfort and tension leaving work before you feel ready to, to be with your child(ren)
• Tensions with our partner about what time we go ‘on duty’ caring for our child(ren)

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• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

Here's the Carla Miller event Jessica mentioned on 15/11/22 12 noon GMT.

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• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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).

The six women:

• Daisy Allington - Chief Operating Officer, Cognitant
• Justine Anderson, Chief Operating Officer, BlackRock (EMEA)
• Debbie Dalzell, Global HR Director, GAM Investments
• Dr Melinda Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Psyomics
• Jane Stiller, Chief Marketing Officer, ITV
• Selina Tyler, Head of UK Wholesale, Lombard Odier

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

Hello Bright Minds,

I wanted to pop up and say hello and share a little bit about the tricky time I've had this year which has delayed season 4. That's what you'll hear in this 10 minute 'episode'.

If you'd like to be in touch about anything I mention:

• e-mail jc@talentkeepers.co.uk
• Instagram: @comebackcommuk

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.

The Talent Keeper Specialists is the business behind the Comeback Community™ employee experience, of which this podcast is a part.

Much love and best wishes,
Jessica

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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.

HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK?

Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic?

Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:

• Comeback Community employee experience – WHAT is it?
• Comeback Community employee experience – WHY do you need it?

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:

• Instagram: @comebackcommuk – talk to me, send me your questions, let me know about your return to work experience and what you think of the podcast.
  
  
• Twitter: @ComebackCommUK
  
  
• FREE Career Fuel guide for Professional Impact & Progression: 
  
  
• Comeback Conversations - FREE, monthly, online problem-solving sessions with Jessica and special guest.
  
  
• Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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?

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Why KIT days are a brilliant thing to do when you’re on maternity leave.
• Getting comfortable with changing your mind about career development activities you simply don’t want to find the time and energy for now you’re a working parent.
• Recognising how successful you already are and remembering to question self-talk that suggests otherwise. 

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.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK?

Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic?

Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:

• Comeback Community employee experience – WHAT is it?
• Comeback Community employee experience – WHY do you need it?

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:

• Instagram: @comebackcommuk – talk to me, send me your questions, let me know about your return to work experience and what you think of the podcast.
  
  
• Twitter: @ComebackCommUK
  
  
• FREE Career Fuel guide for Professional Impact & Progression: 
  
  
• Comeback Conversations - FREE, monthly, online problem-solving sessions with Jessica and special guest.
  
  
• Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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.

If you would like a free coaching session with me for season four of the podcast click here.

KEY TAKE AWAYS 

1. Take the time to be inducted, to get to know the business and what stakeholders need from you – and take time to reflect on what’s going well, what’s energising you and where you might need some more support.
   
   
2. Put to one side any self-inflicted pressure to deliver in your first 100 days – this time is for laying the foundations.
   
   
3. Sector moves are entirely possible, so don’t let anyone pigeon-hole you. Jo has worked in healthcare, education, pharmaceuticals and is now moving into recruitment.
   
   
4. Your identity is a composite of the roles we play and what we value. When you start a new role you’re excited about and want to excel in, lower your expectations to be the best friend, wife, parent etc because this is the time you’re putting the professional part of you front and centre.

HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK?

Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic?

Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:

• Comeback Community employee experience – WHAT is it?
• Comeback Community employee experience – WHY do you need it?

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:

• Instagram: @comebackcommuk – talk to me, send me your questions, let me know about your return to work experience and what you think of the podcast.
  
  
• Twitter: @ComebackCommUK
  
  
• FREE Career Fuel guide for Professional Impact & Progression: 
  
  
• Comeback Conversations - FREE, mo

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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:

• Choosing to be a solo parent
• Challenges associated with returning to work as a solo parent
• Increasing your impact when returning from maternity and other long breaks

 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.

HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK?

Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic?

Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:

• Comeback Community employee experience – WHAT is it?
• Comeback Community employee experience – WHY do you need it?

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:

• Instagram: @comebackcommuk – talk to me, send me your questions, let me know about your return to work experience and what you think of the podcast.
  
  
• Twitter: @ComebackCommUK
  
  
• FREE Career Fuel guide for Professional Impact & Progression: 
  
  
• Comeback Conversations - FREE, monthly, online problem-solving sessions with Jessica and special guest.
  
  
• Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace

Ask me a Q

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. 

Chris has just returned from 4 months of shared parental leave following the birth of his fourth child and first daughter, Elodie. Chris has previously taken time off after the birth of his 3 boys Lucas (now 12), Leon (6) and Elias (4). 

We talk about:

- 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

HOW WAS YOUR RETURN TO WORK?

Could your return to work have been smoother? Could your line manager have been more empathetic?

Share these two short films (less than 2 minutes) with your HR Team today:

• Comeback Community employee experience – WHAT is it?
• Comeback Community employee experience – WHY do you need it?

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:

• Instagram: @comebackcommuk – talk to me, send me your questions, let me know about your return to work experience and what you think of the podcast.
  
  
• Twitter: @ComebackCommUK
  
  
• FREE Career Fuel guide for Professional Impact & Progression: 
  
  
• Comeback Conversations - FREE, monthly, online problem-solving sessions with Jessica and special guest.
  
  
• Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.

MORE FOR YOU

• DM Jessica on instagram @comebackcommuk
• Get Caremail (free, every other Sunday at 7am)
• Read Mothers Work! How to Get a Grip on Guilt and Make a Smooth Return to Work by Jessica Chivers.
• Watch five coachees talk about working with us
• Connect us to your HR team - bring the Comeback Community™ employee experience to your workplace