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Parents At Work

A podcast for working parents presented by Lori Mihalich-Levin, JD, founder of Mindful Return, and Jason Levin, MBA, founder of Ready Set Launch, exploring work-life integration in all different roles, industries, adn professions. Techniques for parents in dealing with everything from sleep deprivation and managing work-life issues, to help you excel at work while also raising your family.
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Now displaying: 2020
Dec 29, 2020

Being a working parent can be a long and intimidating journey, but we are fortunate to live in a time when there is an array of resources to support you on your path.

Today’s guest is none other than Tom Spiggle, founder of the Parents at Work Podcast and Spiggle Law, an employment law firm. Co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin interviews Tom about his inspiration for starting the podcast, as well as his own personal journey as a working parent.

Join Lori and Tom in this conversation for tips on how to navigate your working parent journey and to say farewell to Tom in his co-host role.

Show Highlights: 

  • Lori shares the story of Parents at Work 
  • Tom shares his personal working parent story 
  • Why Tom chose to educate people on the prejudices that happen in the workplace 
  • What sparked Tom’s interest in employment law 
  • Key take-aways from Tom’s book, You’re Pregnant, You’re Fired 
  • Tom shares his experiences being a podcast host
  • Consistent themes Tom’s seen throughout his interviews
  • Tom talks about why he started the “I Got Fired” podcast 
  • Tom’s favorite working parent technology and resources
  • The importance of acknowledging the passing in parenthood
  • Closing advice for the audience and Lori 

 

 

Links: 

https://www.spigglelaw.com

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

 

Contact Lori: 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com

 

Resources: 

https://www.google.com/calendar/about/

https://www.paprikaapp.com

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/All-Joy-and-No-FunJennifer-Senior/1114315283?ean=9780062072269

Nov 19, 2020

In today’s episode, Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin interview two engineer dads about their experience as working parents. We are joined by Matt Jensen, Business Owner and Senior Project Manager at Kimley-Horn, who has been an engineer manager and structural design specialist for over 20 years. We were also joined by Paul Andrukonis, Director of Personalization for Citi’s US Consumer Digital organization. 

Both dads share what it’s like to be a parent in the engineering field, as well as the cultural shifts that have been happening in the workplace. They discuss the importance of empathy and how client relationships have been impacted by developing a more common understanding, along with tangible tips on how to utilize a more flexible schedule. Join Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin in this interview to learn more about what it’s like to be a working dad in the engineering field. 

 

Show Highlights: 

  • Matt and Paul share their experiences as working parents 
  • Having clear expectations of tasks is vital to successful co-parenting, when you’re both working parents 
  • Matt and Paul share what it’s like to be a working parent as an engineer 
  • The ability to work remotely and having a supportive community are huge benefits to working in engineering 
  • Having parental leave for fathers and shared messaging are two work-place supports Paul wishes he would have had 
  • Having easy access to work within your schedule can help you be much more efficient as a working parent 
  • Back-up childcare is a great benefit for companies to offer
  • It’s okay to ask to have flexibility with clients and to do things at home 
  • Being grateful for what you have and trying to be understanding of others is important to help build empathy and be an effective working-parent 
  • Matt and Paul share digital resources they use to make parenthood easier 
  • Finding time for self-care is important to be your best self 

 

Links: 

https://www.spigglelaw.com

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

Contact Lori: 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com

Nov 17, 2020

What is it like to be a mom in a field where only 15% of practitioners are women?  In this episode of the Parents at Work Podcast, we interview Dhruva Lahon and Victoria Hills, who share what it’s like to be working mom engineers.  They talk about the experience of being managed, of managing others, and of parenting during COVID.  They also share how they found supports in this male-dominated field, along with how they leaned on family and friends and adopted flexible hours.  Join Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin in this knowledge-filled and inspiring conversation. 

 

Show Highlights: 

 

  • How having children changed Dhruva’s work life 
  • Victoria shares how having children changed her work life 
  • What it’s like to be a parent in the engineering field
  • What it’s like to be a woman engineer 
  • Beneficial work supports that Dhruva had as a new working parent 
  • Work supports Dhruva wished she had 
  • Work Supports that improved Victoria’s working parent experience 
  • Why extended maternity leave improves the working parent experience and is an excellent retention tool
  • How AI and technology is impacting working parents 
  • Why you should utilize support from and for other moms in your workplace 
  • Resources to navigate life as a working parent
  • Why you should take life one day at a time 

 

Links: 

 

https://www.spigglelaw.com

 

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

 

Contact Lori: 

 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com

 

 

Resources: 

 

https://www.google.com/calendar/about/

Sep 11, 2020

Being a working parent looks different for every career, every family, and every parent. In today’s episode, Robin Smith, licensed marriage and family therapist shares his experience as a working dad in the mental health field. He shares wise insights, including the self-inflected pressure that can occur as a parent from having heightened awareness as a mental health professional, the shifts happening due to COVID-19, what it looks like to have grace and compassion for yourself and your children, and the many elements of being self-employed. Join Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin in this interview for incredible insight and advice from Robin Smith. 

 

Show Highlights: 

  • Robin shares his working parent story and how he navigated parental leave 
  • Robin talks about how COVID has impacted his profession and how he’s used positive reinforcement to make a better environment to work at home 
  • There’s great diversity in the experiences mental health professionals have 
  • How being a mental health professional impacts work-life balance 
  • Being a mental health professional can increase the strive for perfectionism and the feelings of shame when it isn’t met 
  • Being self-employed can allow for flexibility but also means there are no professional supports 
  • Why Robin wishes he would’ve had working dad groups to talk with during transitioning into parenthood 
  • Transitioning into a digital space has been a major shift and has been difficult for many therapists 
  • How will COVID change the future of therapy 
  • Why intentionality is more important now than ever before 
  • Why we should start with having self-compassion as a working-parent 
  • Robin shares books and technology that have helped him on his working-parent journey 

 

Links: 

https://www.spigglelaw.com

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

Contact Lori: 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com

Resources: 

The Expectant Father

And Baby Makes Three

 

 

Jun 3, 2020

This month, we’re focusing on moms and dads in the mental health field. And today we‘re delighted to be joined by two working moms who are mental health professionals, Dr. Elizabeth Allen and Dr. Aimee Danielson, to talk about navigating life as a working parent.

Dr. Elizabeth Allen is an assistant professor of psychology and clinical psychiatry, and she’s also an assistant attending psychologist. She specializes in treating adolescents and young adults with anxiety disorders and OCD. Liz lives in New York, and she’s the mom of two girls, ages one and three. 

Dr. Aimee Danielson is an associate professor of psychiatry and OB-Gyn, and she’s the director of a women’s mental health program that provides treatment and support for pregnant and postpartum women. Aimee has had the privilege of working with mothers every day for the last twenty years, supporting them through their transitions into motherhood. She lives with her very supportive partner and her three wonderful daughters, ages seven, ten, and thirteen, in Arlington, Virginia.  

Be sure to listen in today, to benefit from Liz and Aimee‘s expertise, and to find out what they bring from their jobs to the way that they’re parenting their children. 

Show highlights:

  • Liz and Aimee share their working parent stories.
  • Aimee talks about why she felt privileged, informed, and ready when she became a mother.  
  • Aimee discusses the choice that she and her husband had to make when their eldest daughter was born with a serious health condition. 
  • Aimee talks about the flexibility, creativity, and surrender that’s required from working parents.
  • Looking at the different seasons of parenthood.
  • Aimee explains why she feels that the mental health field is a good environment for working women.
  • Some of the challenges of being a working mom in the mental health field.
  • Liz talks about her experience of being a working mom in the mental health space.
  • Being promoted and rising through the ranks can be difficult for working moms with small children.
  • The kind of support that Liz and Aimee found helpful when they became working parents.
  • The kind of support that Aimee and Liz would like to have had when they became parents.
  • Transitioning from a work identity into a parent identity is important and can be difficult for men, when colleagues don’t know they became a parent.
  • Women are feeling that they have to re-invent the wheel.
  • Some things that would help working parents, going forward.

Links: 

Contact Lori: 

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

Lori@mindfulreturn.com 

 

The Working Parent Group Network   

Contact Tom: 

https://www.spigglelaw.com/podcasts/parents-at-work/

For a copy of “You’re pregnant, You’re fired”- tom@spigglelaw.com 

 

Resources:

Books mentioned:

Laughter and Tears: The Emotional Life of New Mothers, by Elisabeth Bing and Libby Colman

Cribsheetby Emily Oster 

Expecting Betterby Emily Oster

Back To work After Baby, by Lori Mihalich-Levin

The Awesomest 7 Year Postdoc or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tenure-Track Faculty Life, by Professor Radhika Nagpal on the Scientific American blog.

App:

Carpool Kids 

Apr 8, 2020

COVID-19 has seemingly shifted everything about our work force and our family dynamics. As many of us are working from home and have children who are also now occupying that space, it can be a process to find a routine that works for everyone. 

 

Today Tom Spiggle and co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin share what has worked for them in their shift to working from home and actionable tips for parents to find some small amount of sanity in their work and parenting.. Join Tom and Lori to learn more about how you can integrate a schedule and use connections to make your at-home experience as productive as possible. 

 

Show Highlights: 

 

  • What staying home has looked like for Lori’s family 
  • How creating a schedule and focusing on the present can create a smoother transition to working from home 
  • How Tom’s family is adjusting to COVID-19 shifts 
  • Dealing with the struggles that accompany work shifts for employees and parents 
  • The struggles of keeping children occupied and balancing work from home 
  • Protections that accompany leave 
  • Action steps to find peace amongst chaos 
  • Reaching out to others and connecting as a community 

 

Links: 

 

Contact Lori: 

 

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

 

Email Lori for Free Webinar on “How to Go Back to Work After Parental Leave” on April  2nd 

 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com 

 

Contact Tom: 

 

https://www.spigglelaw.com/podcasts/parents-at-work/

 

For a copy of “You’re pregnant, You’re fired”- tom@spigglelaw.com 

Mar 3, 2020

Today’s guests, Abby Davisson and Anne Wintroub, are both mothers in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR, or corporate impact).  Abby, Senior Director at the Gap Foundation, launched and currently leads the employee network group for working parents at Gap Inc. She shares what her experience as a working parent at Gap Inc. has been, what her hiring and leave process looked like, as well as what inspired her to launch the employee network group. Anne, leader of social innovation at AT&T, discusses the many benefits of being a working parent in social impact and how her position has given her a new perspective on parenting and empowering kids with respect to media and technology.. 

Join Tom Spiggle and co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin in these captivating interviews to learn more about the shifts that are happening in corporate impact, how these shifts are affecting working parents, and raising socially conscious children, along with great tips for new parents. 

Show Highlights: 

 

  • Abby’s working parent story and how she made her career shift during pregnancy
  • Abby’s experience being a mom in a corporate social impact position and how managers can improve unconscious bias towards pregnancy leave 
  • What is corporate impact and how the field has shifted over the years 
  • Support systems that made transitioning back to work easier 
  • Systems that would improve the working parent experience 
  • What inspired Abby to launch the employee network group for working parents 
  • Changes that are currently happening in corporate impact and how it’s impacting working parents 
  • Implementing the 10/10/10 model for making decisions 
  • Resources Abby utilizes as a working parent  
  • Anne’s working parent story and how her leave experience varied with each child
  • Workplace supports that improved Anne’s experience returning from work
  • Supports that would improve working parents’ experiences 
  • How paying attention to positive digital culture and digital toxicity is changing the working parent experience 
  • What is digital toxicity and encouraging young people to find their voice technology and media 
  • Letting go of expectations as a parent and being light with yourself 
  • Resources that Anne utilizes as a working parent 

 

Links: 

 

Contact Lori: 

 

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

 

Lori@mindfulreturn.com 

 

Contact Tom: 

 

https://www.spigglelaw.com/podcasts/parents-at-work/

 

For a copy of “You’re pregnant, You’re fired”- tom@spigglelaw.com 

 

Resources: 

The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Leiber

https://www.babyconnect.com

Apple Watch Series 5

 

Mar 3, 2020

Professionals who work in corporate social responsibility often exude a passion for making a difference in their jobs.  What happens when CSR professionals are also passionate about their families?   In today’s interview, Tom Spiggle and co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin interview Justin Steele and Brian Breckenridge, to take a deep look at what it means to be a dad in the social impact field.  

Justin Steele, Director at Google.org and leader of philanthropic grantmaking for the United States, Canada, and Latin America, shares how his position at Google has supported and improved his parenting experience. He discusses the benefits of a flexible work arrangement and how the trajectory of how we work as a society has drastically affected what it looks like to be a parent today. 

Brian Breckenridge, Senior Director and Executive Director at Box.org, also shares the different dynamics of his family experience and how he’s incorporated mindfulness into his parenting techniques and career. 

Join Tom Spiggle and co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin in this interview for great insight on not only the major impacts CSR is making today, but for practical tips to balance work and parent life. 

Show Highlights: 

  • Justin’s working parent story and what it was like having kids while in graduate school
  • Brian’s working parent story and how his family journey has shifted over the years 
  • How being a parent or spouse generally affects a career in the CSR industry 
  • Interweaving work with parenthood and how CSR work can impact your children 
  • How having a flexible work arrangement has been the greatest support for Justin 
  • How work culture and managers can drastically impact working parents 
  • The many benefits of CSR and the progressive approaches it’s taking with employees
  • Changes occurring within the industry that are affecting working parents 
  • Protecting emotional energy in a career that demands long hours and technological attention 
  • Being conscious of phone use and time spent on social media outside of workspace 
  • Finding balance in different areas of life and prioritizing how we invest our time 
  • Critical resources for parents 
  • Incorporating optimal living and mindfulness practices into parenting 

 

Links: 

Contact Lori: 

https://www.mindfulreturn.com

Lori@mindfulreturn.com 

Contact Tom: 

https://www.spigglelaw.com/podcasts/parents-at-work/

For a copy of “You’re pregnant, You’re fired”- tom@spigglelaw.com 

 

Resources: 

The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Marovitch

Just Enough by Laura Nash

https://families.google.com/familylink/

https://www.mindfulschools.org/inspiration/mindful-reflection/

https://www.life360.com

How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen

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