In this pre-episode, I talk to someone very special—someone without whom Rocking Cribs and Careers Season 1 wouldn’t exist: prominent math educator, mom of two, and producer of the show, Vlada Kazantseva.

We chat about how this adventure began, what Season 1 has taught us, and how it’s shaped our perspectives on motherhood and our own journeys. Plus, we share a few exciting thoughts about what’s in store for Season 2!

To support our podcast, please spread the word and share this episode with those who might find it interesting - we're truly grateful for every advocate for the show. As a new podcast host, your feedback is a gift to me. To help me so to get better and to know what resonates with you - please reach out here or via LinkedIn!

In the season finale, we delve into the heartwarming and inspiring story of Sathya Nandakumar, Chief Technology Officer at Holland and Barrett, one of Europe’s largest health and wellness retailers.

Sathya’s journey is notably different from the patterns we've seen in earlier episodes. With no opportunity to hire a nanny and without a strong support network, she chose to take two maternity leaves of over a year each, facing significant career setbacks upon her return each time. Despite these challenges, she ascended to become a successful CTO, managing hundreds of engineers across various countries and backgrounds—an inspiring story that I was eager to explore.

In this final episode of the season, we also turn the tables and explore Sathya’s perspective on providing support during someone else's maternity leave - mine! We uncover unexpected insights, share our learnings, and offer key advice for leaders planning their maternity leave with the aim of ensuring a smooth transition back to work.

Key stories we discuss in this episode:

• Sathya’s statistically unlikely rise to CTO after two extended maternity leaves;
• Essential advice for those looking to advance their careers while managing a busy family life;
• Sathya’s mantra for maintaining a guilt-free approach as a working parent;
• Her experiences and insights from supporting my maternity leave;
• Strategic tips for preparing a successful maternity leave, especially for leaders in the workplace.

I've been lucky to work with Sathya closely for the last 3 years, and not only she's been my best partner in crime through all the work adventures; she's also always been there for me as a friend through life’s varied challenges of the last 3 years. Recording this episode was a joy for both of us, and we hope you find the same joy in listening.

Thanks

To support our podcast, please spread the word and share this episode with those who might find it interesting - we would greatly appreciate it. As a new podcast host, your feedback is a gift to me. To help me so to get better and to know what resonates with you - please reach out here or via email denikekate@gmail.com with "RCC" as a subject.

Irina Iozefson-Shneider is a Partner at a Private Equity Fund, a Non-Executive Board Member, and an inspiring and energetic self-made leader. In this episode, we:

• Explore Irina's journey to motherhood and her story of not crumbling under social pressure, waiting for the right moment to have a child;
• Discuss Irina's lifelong passion for her work, and how her motherhood journey fits into her life as a workaholic;
• Celebrate how Irina’s career journey has reached new heights after she had a baby, making her a notable exception from the overwhelming statistics;
• Discuss the challenges that come with pursuing both personal fulfillment and professional success without compromise.

Irina also shares a couple of heartwarming stories about her motherhood journey, including a jaw-dropping story about managing her pregnancy and childbirth while maintaining her work commitments—but I won’t spoil it for you ;)

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it!

To support our podcast, please spread the word and share this episode with those who might find it interesting - we would greatly appreciate it. As a new podcast host, your feedback is a gift to me. To help me so to get better and to know what resonates with you - please reach out here or via email denikekate@gmail.com with "RCC" as a subject.

Lina is Director of Women's Health at Holland and Barrett, and CEO, Founder at Parla, an expert-led community changing the conversation around fertility. She's also a mom of three and the most authentic advocate of the open fertility conversation I personally know. In our conversation ahe shares her motherhood and career journey, highlighting the importance of open conversation about pregnancy loss. We discuss her experience with the Google Campus for Moms program and the impact it had on her career. Lina also emphasizes the need for intentional career choices as a mother and shares tips on balancing work and motherhood. She shares hilarious stories of breastfeeding mishaps and highlights the importance of self-care and recharge time. Lina reflects on her entrepreneurial journey and the resilience and optimism required to overcome obstacles. She celebrates the strength of working moms and offers advice for finding balance and prioritizing what is important.

Emily Ellis is the founder of WorkBabyLife, a company with the mission to revolutionise the way businesses support their invaluable employees as they transition into parenthood. In our podcast, she shared a lot of valuable insights, from her personal and work experience, including:

• Top strategies of a smooth transition back to work post-maternity leave;
• Effective techniques to overcome motherhood guilt and leverage it as a source of strength;
• The importance of parenting out loud (and can there be too much of it?);
• And (my personal favourite!) practical advice for a high achieving people pleasers.

We also talked about empathy and entitlement, identity change, fair play and so much more.

Emily has recommended a book to our listeners, that can be found via link: https://www.fairplaylife.com/the-book

To support our podcast, please spread the word and share this episode with those who might find it interesting - I would greatly appreciate it. As a new podcast host, your feedback is invaluable to me for improvement and to know what resonates with you, feel free to reach out here or via email denikekate@gmail.com with "RCC" as a subject.

This episode is a very special for me because it was the very first one I ever recorded.

My guest is Alina Aseeva someone I know for a long time, as a brilliant career driven female, she was one of the first people I thought of reaching out - as we happened to have our babies around the same time. When this was recorded, her baby was 2 months old, and Rosie just turned 3 months. I’ll be honest with you - although I really wanted to start the podcast, I didn’t not feel properly ready at the time, my birth recovery was a long journey and I barely started to feel as a human being again, and it was waaaay outside my comfort zone.

But I decided to power through - it felt terrible at the moment. While we were talking, my daughter was crying in another room, I felt like I sometimes missed the essense of what Alina talking about and overall I super vulnerable and insecure as a host.

Nether the less listening to this now I am able to appreciate fully my fantastic guest and her incredible journey - and also it is very interesting for me know to look back and reflect on how we both are figuring out these very first steps of our motherhood journey and how it will change our lives. Hope you’ll enjoy.

To support our podcast, please spread the word, share this post and the episode with those who might find it interesting - I would greatly appreciate it. As a new podcast host, your feedback is invaluable to me for improvement and to know what resonates with you, feel free to reach out here or via email denikekate@gmail.com with "RCC" as a subject.

Delphine Mousseau is a Board Member, eCommerce Expert, former VP at Zalando, Diversity Advocate, active supporter of female leadership, book author, and a mother of four! I've learned a lot, and got a huge amount of inspiration from our conversation, as we talked about:

- Leading with your heart and its impact on being a better parent and leader;

- Embracing failures with humour;

- Excelling at your Career as a mom of 4 after a divorce;

- Overcoming personal biases towards ourselves;

- Recognising when to slow down and when to push forward in your career.

- Maintaining employability during career breaks - and much more.

This episode is full of the brave, hear warming and hilarious stories - I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

In our conversation, we mentioned Non Violent Communication training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7TONauJGfc&t=50s

To support our podcast, please spread the word, share this post and the episode with those who might find it interesting - I would greatly appreciate it. As a new podcast host, your feedback is invaluable to me for improvement and to know what resonates with you, feel free to reach out here or via email denikekate@gmail.com with "RCC" as a subject.

Saadia is the Head of Sales at Google, a mother of three, and was nominated for 'Outstanding Contribution of the Year' at the Women in IT Awards '21. She is also the author of 'What About My Career - The Fear of Maternity Leave,' an article that deeply resonated with me. Our conversation, candid, insightful, and heartwarming, covered topics such as:

• Navigating unexpected maternity leave after a recent promotion at Google;
• Dealing with mother's guilt, insecurities, imposter syndrome, and the coping strategies that have been effective for us;
• The myth of being able to 'do it all';
• The father's journey and the crucial role of societal recognition in equal parenting.

This is a new podcast, and I am a new host, so please share your feedback and thoughts to help me improve. We'd also be grateful for guests and topics recommendations — just reach out to me on LinkedIn (Katya Denike) or by email (denikekate@gmail.com) with RCC as a subject.