This month marks ten years since the birth of my first child. For me, this is a good time to reflect on what that experience was really like. It's time we started sharing more honestly, because maybe, just maybe, we can make it easier for those who come after us.
I feel in my bones that if we did a better job of helping women transition back into their careers after having children, that the dreadful stats about women's comparative pay and women's representation in the highest echelons' of business and society would improve. The hard work comes well before they get near the top of the greasy pole; it comes when they first have kids, more accurately the first time they return to full time work.