On April 17th (2024), I recorded an episode of the New Forest Business Podcast, with John Carpenter and I am thrilled to say that it's now live and you can listen to it wherever you listen to your podcasts, including on Apple and Spotify for Podcasters!
John was interested to hear more about why bump & glide was created, who it supports and why it's something that so needed.
Serena: "I think we're very good, and I know I'm doing it right now, we're very good at talking about what needs to change. We know that, we can come out with statistics and data or government policies, etc. But we're not that good at actually then putting those solutions in place to make those changes happen.Â
And I think what I'm coming at it from is that I have a solution to that, to a part of that problem. I can't fix the gender pay gap. I can't fix flexible working, but I can fix an element of support, which means that women retain that resilience and that confidence to keep going really."
Thanks to John’s relaxed interview style and thought-provoking questions, we delved into the why and how of bump & glide and what the support does for people during the huge transitional time of the entrance into motherhood and parenthood!
If you're interested in, and are looking for clear and effective ways to support people in and out of your organisation around the time of pregnancy, parental leave and the return to work, it's definitely worth a listen to find out what effective support for individuals AND organisations can look like in this space and why it makes business sense to look into this type of support in terms of recruiting AND retaining the strong talent within organisations!
In case you can't listen right away, here are a few snippets from our conversation...
John: "We've seen a change in culture, a shift in how we look at things, particularly, like you said, around mental health. This fits in perfectly with that. I can imagine a lot of people when they are starting a career or looking at a future employer and looking at how do you look after your employees? How do you support them?"
💡 "(...) We have to look at it from a two prong approach, look at it from how you can support individuals, but also help businesses support their employees, because I very much think that it's really important to welcome parents back into the business. They've spent so long building their careers in that business. It's criminal to lose them and also very expensive to replace them!"
💡 "I think it opened my eyes to the fact that actually, it's not always the fact that businesses don't want to help, it's the fact they don't know HOW to help."
John: "So that ability to help them, I guess, get that confidence back, communication with the employer, bringing them back into the fold maybe and talking to them and helping them return to work."
💡 "I can't promise that you won't lose a bit of confidence because your life will be different and it's transformational.. But what I do say, is that you need somebody (...) who's not a family member, somebody who's not in the business, somebody you can talk to, who's got lived experience of this time of pivotal change really. You can then talk about how you're feeling, sit with that feeling and talk about strategies to help you move forward."
💡 "In our society at least, we don't value what motherhood brings like other cultures do. You look around the world and Chinese cultures or African cultures where mothers are valued, mothers are supported, especially in those first 40 days postnatally, which sets them up to build that resilience, whether it's physically, mentally or emotionally, to carry on moving forward and taking on the challenges."
Do have a listen, do share with anyone who you think is looking for ways to support but not sure where to start... bump & glide can help, and wants to support as many people and businesses as possible to make this transition one to remember ... for all the right reasons...
Thanks again John, it was a brilliant conversation!