Women At Work

What We Cover: How Larissa made her way to senate. The impact of breastfeeding in parliament How Larissa's life is set up to manage a full career and family How Australian workplaces are structured with regard to supporting families. What can people do to change this paradigm Dated beliefs in parliament The impact of politics on everyone’s lives How to stay engaged with the political system. What arguments can you use to help influence people who are opposed to your viewpoint Gender pay gap Advice to working mums

The infrastructure you need to have a big job and a family Relationship dynamics when the woman is the primary earner Letting go of mother guilt Giving yourself permission to receive support How to fit self care into a busy schedule Stepping back and getting perspective in life

The speed of change with the gender equality, and changes that contribute to hope The Persisterhood The seven myths of women at work The four stages of gender equity awareness The male breadwinner model in Australia and how it impacts progress The importance of financial freedom for women, and teaching that to girls Invisibility of older women and statistics around homelessness How can we make change ourselves, and gathering groups together to drive change Benefits of long daycare for children

What work 180 does and why Valeria’s passionate about it Equality between men and women in the workplace and in their working remotely How to manage yourself and other people who work remotely and flexibly How to start the discussions around working remotely or flexibly Companies that are at the forefront of flexible working The Still Birth Foundation, and maternity leave post-stillbirth How to come back after you’ve had a career break - the Work180 community, regaining your confidence and how parenting gives you a host of new skills that can be applied at work Girls in STEM, and Work 180's Super Daughter Day The value of a network in your career The importance of volunteering in feeding your passions and creating opportunities

Denise Duffield-Thomas helps women create wealth through her mindset courses and practical wisdom on releasing money blocks. She is a self-made millionaire who has done it all while raising three small children, against a backdrop of a life of ease and joy. Denise has written three books, Lucky Bitch, Get Rich Lucky Bitch and Chillpreneur, where she gives a fresh and funny road-map to create an outrageously successful life and business. Her honesty, trademark humor and down-to-earth wisdom make her relatable and engaging while she's out in the world changing lives.

“We will rise together or not at all.” Jamila Rizvi is an author, presenter, political commentator, the newly appointed editor-at-large of Future Women, former editor-in-chief of MamaMia. She’s written two books, Not Just Lucky and The Motherhood, and signs off her emails Troublemaker At Large, which is a great sign. We discuss: a series of hilarious but also scary statistics, like the fact that there are more men named Andrew than women running ASX200 companies Tips for negotiating, such as focus on what you want, not what you’ve got The structural inequalities that we live in, and the importance of understanding them so we can see it’s not ‘just me’ Diversity is proven to shift the bottom line in organisations, so how do we make workplaces work better for women A glorious story about how Barak Obama’s female staff supported each others ideas and in being heard That we can all be part of the sisterhood and the feminist movement in whatever way works for us as individuals The importance of community

“I remember those days were just so challenging. He was traveling for work, I was traveling for work...There was a moment where we were just hoping the various planes we were on weren’t delayed so that we could pick up the kids!” Caroline Patrick is one of Australia’s most passionate marketers, ticking off a variety of achievements such as revitalising one of Australia’s most loved brands, launching a health fund, and winning Australian Marketing Institute Certified Practising Marketer of the Year Award. Currently, Caroline sits on the Executive Management Team at the Radio Rentals Group and is part of a team driving business transformation. Caroline has been making very deliberate choices aiming for a balanced and fulfilled lifestyle and career, and now  lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, supported by her stay at home husband Iain and their two children Amelia, 11 and Cameron, 8. What we cover: Caroline’s background and how she accidentally moved to Australia from the UK Why she had to become creative i

“If I give myself a vision of where I want to get to and then only identify the next step... I actually end up going to places that I hoped to get to but that seemed like a wild dream.” Summer Edwards is a Life and Leadership Coach, and the founder of Lead Mama Lead, a social enterprise that empowers working mothers to drive change in the workplace. With a background in community development programs, working in Indigenous Affairs and internationally in developing countries, she has a strong interest in gender empowerment work, inclusive economies and social enterprise development. After becoming a mother, Summer transitioned from employment into a freelance career in community development and the social innovation sector, working with social enterprises and NGOs to capture and learn from the social impact of their work. Still, she found herself called to do something more with her experiences and challenges with work and motherhood. The Lead Mama Lead community (based around a website and a Facebook group)

  You can reinvent yourself, you just have to believe in yourself to do it. Fiona Hitchiner has over 20 years’experience working in the Diversity & Inclusion, Work-Life Balance, Recruitment and Human Resources sectors working for multi-national, private and government organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. She is passionate about working with organisations to truly support and engage their people, through the development of work-life, diversity and inclusion as well as talent management programs. Fiona is the proud mum to two young boys, an avid reader, runner, swimmer and yoga enthusiast, and has most recently signed up to volunteer as part of the community visitors scheme – connecting with older and socially isolated people. This ended up being a really deep, honest conversation about the beauty and the challenges of life, and the ways we can choose to overcome difficult times. The four areas she tries to focus on in her life: career, family, community and improving peoples’ lives T

  “We need to stop ‘fixing’ women, and fix the system.” Peggy Vosloo is passionate about diversity and inclusion, employee engagement and cultural change. For the past 15 years, Peggy has applied her project management and strategic thinking skills to both the private and public sectors. In the private sector, she managed the implementation of complex people projects for a global company. In the public sector, she developed and delivered educational programs designed to create sustainable change in the gender equality space for Australian workplaces. For the past 2 years, Peggy has been working as the Creative Project Manager for Sageco, a career transition company committed to embed D&I principles in their services. We discuss: Creating your village and making a commitment to the family How to determine whether a company has true flexibility available for employees, no matter what their policies state, because it comes down to executive advocacy If companies offer flexibility and work does not

“Equality starts in the lounge room before the boardroom.” Tracey Spicer is a television presenter, journalist and author. Recently appointed a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for her work in journalism and for her ambassadorships for social welfare and charitable organisations. She led the public voice of the #MeToo movement in Australia, breaking the Don Burke story. Tracey’s lifelong passion is amplifying women’s voices, and in today’s conversation we discuss creating equality in the home and in the workplace. We discuss: ½ of women experience pregnancy discrimination in the workplace Your job is to be prepared by finding out the state and federal legislation and creating a strategy The gender pay gap Tracey didn’t ask for a pay rise for 14 years Now she says to always ask for more than you think you’re worth The gender pay gap in her own household Do your research and keep notes Know when the best time to ask for a pay rise is Keep a detailed diary of positive feedback, so provi

We often have to learn to ask for what we need before others can help us. Fiona Francis has three young children, and went through big transitions with the arrival of each of her children. She shares tips on nurturing your creativity, asking for help, and some really interesting books and resources. In today’s conversation we talk about: Serotonin leaking activities – blame shame and guilt Serotonin building activities – eating well, exercising, sleep The fact that having kids makes us questions what’s meaningful, and what we want to spend our lives doing. Annabel Crabb’s, The Wife Drought, discusses that your career is more than ‘just right now’; stay in it for the long haul, But it can be difficult to think beyond the pure immediate financial argument The primary carer is often the mother, who sacrifices career progression to support the family “Following the clues” to see where listening to your intuition will lead you Sunday night dread is a sign from our bodies that our lives are not

When life is tough, self-care, being kind to yourself and giving yourself a break may just be what gets you through. Dana Ingster left a 10-year career in Marketing and Branding to open her own corporate wellness business, The Massage Spot . She has two young children, and has made a practice out of being kind to herself, acknowledging that we can’t do everything all the time and making life as easy as possible through the transitions. In today’s conversation we talk about Focusing on getting the job done well, rather than hours in the office Tips for getting consulting clients through your networks The difficulty of working for a working mother, while different families have different needs (working mothers offering flexibility to your employees – take note!) The benefit of allowing employees to design their own working arrangement When you have a nuclear family, there are two parents responsible for the household. Dada recommends discussing with your partner before you even start to have a family that

  Have you wondered how to create flexibility in your career and focus your boss’ attention on output, not hours-at-your-desk? Sarah Stores is the Regulatory Affairs Manager at a large Australian utility, with 15 years of experience in Legal and 6 years’ experience being a mum and managing the juggle. Now she balances part-time work with award-winning book day craft costumes, throwing the best birthday parties of all time and generally being a ton of fun. In today’s conversation we talk about Starting as you mean to go on, and how Sarah uses that philosophy to leave work at 5pm every day since she first had a baby How bringing au pairs into your family helps grow your village and make your kids happier as they are surrounded by people who love them The required evolution of the workforce – management is still typically a particular demographic while workers’ requirements are changing A practical approach to managing your work perception, leaving in time to care for your children and how to have performance c