PARENT OPINION: Everyone talks about leaning into motherhood, but nobody talks enough about leaning out.

Returning to work after a long period out can feel daunting and overwhelming. At some point for many women, we start thinking about what comes next after raising our kids but feel stuck in the uncertainty, insecurity and self-doubt.  

‘What do I want to do?’

‘How can I juggle everything?’

‘Why do I even want to do this?’

‘Am I mad for wanting more?’ 

‘Where is my roadmap to help me figure out how to get back into work?'

These are just a few of the many random questions that ran through my head on a continuous loop a few years ago when I decided to dip my toe back into the waters of the paid work world. 

We were incredibly fortunate to afford for me to stay at home with our children. We weren’t wealthy by any stretch but there was no financial pressure for me to race back to work to pay the bills when the three of them were little. 

There was one small catch I didn’t factor into my plan. 

The more I was leaning into motherhood, the more I was leaning out of my career. This meant the longer I stayed at home with the kids, the harder it would be for me when I was ready to return.  

As the kids grew up and needed me less, I started to allow myself to dream of a magical role that would be purposeful.

But once I allowed myself to dream again, my mental health took a huge dive because I couldn’t see a way for me to ever rejoin the workforce in a meaningful way. 

Not only did it need to work for my family, but it needed to work for me as well. It needed to give me a new sense of purpose to reignite a part of myself that I thought I had left behind. 

I was more than ready; I needed to be seen as ‘me’ again. I needed to be more than someone’s mother, wife, daughter, sister. To be less invisible.

I had always assumed that returning to work would come easily when I was ready but after being the primary carer for our three kids for more than a decade, I didn't even know where to start. 

That's why it was so important for me to find support. Someone or something to help me ease back into it after 14 years away.

Programs like Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers can really work wonders for women re-entering their career. Their sole purpose is to support women and mothers who want to make the jump but the whole thing feels so far beyond their reach.

Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers especially resonates with me because they recognise my initial motivations for getting back to work.

My return to my career was never about the money. I am not going to lie; any additional money was going to be great but that was not my main motivator.

Image: Supplied.

I wanted to find myself again and reconnect with my professional identity. That's exactly what the Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers strives to give women.

The Roadmap is not about us finding a position to simply pass the time or ease financial strain. It's about helping us find who we are and what we want to do. 

It provides women with online training, including six unique modules filled with practical advice, as well as weekly live coaching sessions with recruiting expert Diana to help shift the mindset from feeling stuck to moving forward.

The expert advice will always be meaningful because as an ex-recruiter, she understands the whole process and can easily point out the traps to avoid. 

When I was on the search for that perfect position to ease me back in, I discovered that I had lost all confidence in myself and my abilities. Over the years while the kids were little, I filled my life with volunteering. That volunteer work added skills to my resume, but I didn’t know how to turn them into paid work. 

I had been out of the workforce so long that I didn’t even know where to turn. 

I no longer had a professional network that I could call on to help me update my resume. The harder I tried, the more I lost faith in myself and my skills.

The support of an online coach, like the one Back to Work Roadmap provides, would have been life-changing during these times. Even just to give me hope I could one day have purpose in my life beyond my children. That I would have an identity beyond motherhood and outside of the home once again.

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That hope for me personally landed in my lap in the form of an opportunity at Mamamia. They were running an Encoreship that targeted women returning to their careers after a gap out of the workforce. 

I was incredibly lucky that somehow out of over 200 applicants I was one of 5 successful candidates for short-term meaningful roles that would be an amazing opportunity for me in developing my editorial skills and relevant media work experience. 

It was the perfect opportunity because it helped me see that there absolutely is a pathway to finding purpose outside of the home and to give me the skills I needed to find my next role beyond motherhood. And just like the Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers explains, getting back to work is just a process and starts with Step 1.

If I had been able to undertake a program like the Back to Work Roadmap with lady startup, Diana Cregan, prior to applying for Mamamia's Encoreship I would have had more confidence in my abilities and that I had actually had a shot at doing something meaningful for me.

After 14 years out of the workforce, luckily someone was willing to take a chance on me. 

It would be amazing if women returning to work after an extended break raising family had enough confidence in their abilities to take a chance. All they need is that extra support, by those around them and experts like Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers, to take a chance on themselves. 

I took the plunge and it's been truly life affirming.

If you're itching to get back to the workforce but unsure of where to start, visit Back to Work Roadmap for Mothers here.

Feature Image: Supplied.