The pandemic made her career more family friendly – and now she’s helping other companies do the same
The pandemic changed the workplace forever. It also transformed my own relationship with work. In 2020, I was working in a role focused on in-person events. With the impact of the pandemic, I found myself reassessing what meaningful work meant for me. How could I spend my time doing something that blended my professional skill set with my personal passion for driving equity? What a privilege to be able to ask that question – and to have a home life that allowed me to make that idea a reality.
My daughter was five years old in 2020. With schools closed and childcare options extremely limited, my husband and I shared the responsibility of integrating our home life and work life. How would I have done it without this kind of partnership? What a privilege to be able to ask that question, too.
Finding a mission-driven career at Catalyst in the midst of this work-altering and world-altering moment was a gift. Now, I spend my days helping organizations around the globe create workplaces that work for women – and for everyone. The experience changed my approach to leadership by making me more empathetic, forcing me beyond my comfort zone, and making me realize that the questions I asked myself on a micro level, I can now help companies answer on a macro level.
Catalyst’s research on the future of work shows that flexible, hybrid, and remote options and inclusive, empathic leadership are not nice to have but necessary. Employees expect these things, and they stay in their jobs when they have them. What would it look like if women — and all people — could integrate their professional responsibilities with their personal relationships and could thrive in workplaces with empathic, inclusive, and adaptable leaders?
The challenges of the pandemic forced me out of my comfort zone to find out.
