Recently, I saw the quote below (on working and motherhood) from Justine Lupe, and it made me pause to think about my own motherhood journey in a fast-paced professional services career. As a younger professional, I always worried about timing my first pregnancy perfectly around work deadlines… turns out that’s virtually impossible. I was out on maternity leave in Q4 as an accountant, and guess what? It was fine, more than fine, actually. 

There’s a longstanding assumption in the consulting space that having kids is a career killer, given client demands. I would be lying if I said motherhood has seamlessly worked with my career aspirations everyday – no one would be naive enough to believe that, but there are lessons I have learned along the way that have been invaluable to my career growth and the value I bring to clients: 

1 – Perspective and the ability to consistently reassess priorities.

2 – Question historical norms and solutions. No one is more creative than a parent trying to figure out how to be in two places at once.

3 – Trust your gut instinct.

4 – Don’t take yourself too seriously.

5 – It’s OK, and frankly normal, to make mistakes.

There is a narrative that it's a death sentence of sorts to become a mother in this industry. ... I've been lucky enough to see some of my best friends do some bonkers incredible work pregnant or as new moms, and it's been hugely expansive.

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/entertainment/celebrity/it-s-a-death-sentence-to-become-a-mother-in-this-industry-justine-lupe-opens-up-about-secret-on-set-pregnancy/ar-AA1sjki4?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1