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In this second in our Working Parent mini-series we explore how to navigate the move from colleague to parent. Because… you can love your job and love your kid and still feel like you’re failing both by lunchtime!

We get honest about the working parent reality behind the scenes: the mental load, the guilt that points in every direction, and that split-second “work home switch” when daycare calls right before a board meeting.

We lean on Debs’ years as a parent coach to map the patterns she hears again and again when people prepare to return to work after maternity leave or parental leave. We talk about visibility and the fear of judgment, the pressure to “prove” you’re still committed, and why supportive line managers and colleagues can make the transition feel possible rather than punishing. Along the way, we share listener voice notes about walking back into meetings, worrying about “mum brain,” and then realising your sharpness never left.

One of our favourite reframes is the skill stack: parenting does not erase your professional skills, it adds new ones. We also explore the emotional shifts that come with becoming a working parent, from deeper purpose and perspective to heightened anxiety, exhaustion, and that constant tension of wanting to be fully present at work and at home.

We close with a question we want you to sit with: what’s one expectation you could let go of that adds pressure rather than helps you?