Advocating Motherhood In the Workplace with Andrea Bombino
This week’s guest, Andrea Bombino
Career Coach & owner of Made to Mother Co.
Episode Description
How do we become activists and advocate for ourselves in workplaces that were not created with working parents in mind?
Andrea Bombino, owner of Made to Mother Co., is an incredible career coach who helps women align their career aspirations alongside motherhood. Her perspective on maternity leave and workplace culture is so refreshing!
Instead of viewing motherhood as a professional setback, Andrea sees it as an opportunity to slow down, redefine our skills, and figure out what we really want out of life.
In this episode, we talk in-depth about all the things motherhood can teach us on navigating this transition so we can get clear on what we want and GO GET IT!
Taking the opportunity to slow down
The day after Andrea found out she’d earned a promotion at LinkedIn Australia, she learned she was pregnant. The day after, she told her manager, not knowing how she was going to do the job, which involved traveling around the country and being a mother at the same time.
“And he’s like, ‘Just because you’re a mom, doesn’t mean you died,” Andrea said. “But I didn’t know many women that were doing it the way I wanted to do it.”
In Australia, LinkedIn pays for four and a half month maternity leaves, but you can take up to a year. Amazing, right? Andrea was going to take four months initially, but her supervisor encouraged her to take the full year.
“I didn’t want to. I was freaked out. Being an American, I didn’t know anybody that had ever taken a two-week long vacation consecutively, let alone a year of maternity leave,” Andrea said.
But she took the time, and the change forced her to slow down. Her matrecense – which is the transition moms go through – impacted her whole perception of what she wanted out of life. (Side note – if you’re interested in hearing more about matrecense, be sure to listen to my episode with Alison Ryan!)
“I’ve used motherhood as an opportunity to redefine who I am and what I want out of life specifically for my career. I really value that slowing down. And I value the perspective you get when you slow down. It’s not a bad thing. Right? But so often, we see it portrayed as a bad thing,” she said.
Andrea launched her business, Made to Mother Co., in early 2021, eventually leaving her full-time job to pursue entrepreneurship full-time.
‘Tis the season
This moment here, it’s hard.
Maybe this moment involves a hungry newborn, or a toddler who won’t eat dinner, or, if you’re me, a baby who won’t sit still to have her diaper changed!
But this moment is only for a season.
This phrase – “season” – is Andrea’s term, and I think it’s beautiful. When it’s put that way, this difficult moment is not forever. When I had my daughter, I had this expectation that this particular role was forever.
And, of course, it is, but it also isn’t. We’re only mothers of newborns for so long. Then toddlers, then kindergarteners. On and on. How Andrea thought about motherhood while pregnant is different from how she thinks about it now that her daughter is two. The season is constantly changing, and consequently, so are we.
Andrea shares, “not everybody changes in the same way. Some people love pregnancy, some people hate it. Some people have great birth experiences, some have not so good experiences. Some people can't wait to go back to the workplace, and other ones absolutely do not want to go back to what they used to do at all. Every experience is individual, but we have to recognize that motherhood is not a one size fits all.”
Time for oneself
Andrea loves her daughter more than anything, but in order to be a good mom, she needs time for herself – to work, obviously, but also to run, to read, and to watercolor paint.
“I love being away from my daughter. I said this on a call last night, and I kid you not, one of the other women said, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you said that out loud.’ She’s like, ‘I’m secretly thrilled you said it. But I’m also appalled you said it,’” Andrea said.
Carving that time for herself involves constantly communicating with her partner. How can they share the load for this week? For the next? (She recommends Fair Play by Eva Rodsky, which I just added to my reading list!) How can they balance their responsibilities week by week so they can each get the time they need to be whole?
“It’s this constant reevaluation, and this permission of saying to myself, I can change my mind. I don’t know why we think that once we make a decision, that it has to be that way. Especially if we run our own businesses. We kill ourselves trying to act like it’s a corporate business. But in reality, we’re our own bosses,” Andrea said.
Notable Quote from Andrea
“I’ve used motherhood as an opportunity to redefine who I am and what I want out of life specifically for my career. I really value that slowing down. And I value the perspective you get when you slow down. It’s not a bad thing. Right? But so often, we see it portrayed as a bad thing.” (35:32)
“My greatest fear when I got pregnant while I was working at LinkedIn Australia was, how the hell am I going to continue to be the career woman I have always aspired to be while being a mother? And a big part of that was that I didn’t have a whole lot of examples of women that had young children that were in the office.” (12:31)
Resources & Links
Check out Andrea Bombino’s company, Made to Mother Co., and follow her on Instagram. Be sure to check out her upcoming group coaching program.
Some of the books Andrea recommended include Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work by Reshma Saujani; Fair Play by Eva Rodsky; Mama Rising: Discovering the New You Through Motherhood by Amy Taylor-Kabbaz, (who also has a podcast called the Happy Mama Movement). She also recommended Nikki McCahon’s Dear Mama Project podcast.
Learn more about Project: Mom and follow us on Instagram at @projectmompodcast.
Do you want to share your motherhood journey on the podcast? Email me at projectmompod@gmail.com.