I keep in mind being in my early 30s and searching across the digital consultancy the place I labored. I noticed one girl on the board and no moms in consumer dealing with, artistic or manufacturing roles. I took a extremely arduous have a look at my life in London and rapidly determined it was fairly inconceivable to have a household and do the type of job I did, not to mention a profession on this trade.  

I used to be not alone; the stats are clear – the Careers After Infants report discovered that 85% of girls go away the full-time workforce inside three years of getting their first baby, and 19% go away work fully as a result of companies aren’t providing the flexibleness wanted. This 100% resonates with me however my story is barely totally different…

I didn’t go away the trade. I made work work for me. Properly ‘us’, as a result of this wasn’t simply all about me, it was my husband, Stuart, too. 

I began Trendy with Stuart once we had two kids beneath the age of three. Our work sample wasn’t the usual nine-to-five. I used to be working to nursery to do breast feeds in between conferences and Stuart was working with me half time so I may concentrate on supporting purchasers. Evenings have been damaged up by bathtub and bedtime, adopted by catching up on extra work as soon as the youngsters had (lastly!) gone to sleep. Like many households, it was loopy. However we did it.

Might 2023: Stuart, Frasey, Nicola and Charlie

On the time, it made me assume that there have been so many ladies like me: good at their jobs, eager to excel however struggling to search out one thing that works round them and their households.  

I vowed to make sure that as we grew Trendy, we made it a household pleasant organisation and gave moms the chance to come back again to work with flexibility and consideration for household life. And we apply the identical rules to dads too.

So, I used to be delighted once I found MotherBoard, the brainchild of Sophie Creese. Primarily based regionally in Bristol, I discovered MotherBoard by way of the B Corp community (for which we’re additionally licensed in) and rapidly discovered alignment with guiding rules at Trendy.

MotherBoard was based in 2021 to drive optimistic, actual change for mums working within the UK tech sector and works with organisations to coach, problem and revolutionise the way in which firms help moms at work.

In April 2023, we signed the MotherBoard constitution to commit to creating actual change at Trendy. I’d wish to assume we’re already doing okay, however there’s all the time room for enchancment and in order we proceed to work on B Corp commitments, MotherBoard can be a key a part of the technique.

Over the approaching months and years, we’ll share what we’re doing to assist drive change round gender equality and inclusivity throughout the expertise sector.

If you happen to’re taken with studying extra, drop me a message on LinkedIn, or take a more in-depth have a look at MotherBoard right here.