In just over a week, I will be officially returning to work after the birth of my second child, Grace. 💙
Of course, as a founder, I’ve been working since her birth. Tax returns still need to be filed, people need to be paid, emails need to be answered, and so on. So, while there is the cost of being “on” and ever-present as a business owner, I find it’s rather a short-term pain. There’s a big benefit in running your own company with being able to create flexibility for the long-term. At first, I will return part-time then back to the four-day work week, while still working remotely. 🏖️
Prior to having children, I was conscious about taking time out of the workforce. I quickly learnt that a few months being less present is really nothing – most people in your network won’t even notice. (Your wider network probably still thinks you work at the place you were at two jobs ago anyway!) 🤣 If you took two weeks – or two years – out for parental leave, it’s barely a speck in your entire working life.
Recently a great opportunity came up that I would have loved to get onto if I had the time. It can be frustrating to watch them pass you by. As you put the third load of laundry on for the day, you question how you’re spending your time. However, my husband Mat Holroyd rightly pointed out that there will always be more opportunities in tech. You can always build that feature, implement a new idea, meet a market’s demand, invest in a non-fungible token or whatever the zeitgeist is… things change so fast so there are always opportunities to reinvent, upskill, stay relevant and create the future. 🙌
I’d love to hear your experience about returning to work in the comments below.
Photo from Grace’s newborn shoot when she was two weeks old. 🐣
Kate Kendall 