Parents At Threads By Rhianna Dunn & Hannah Tinubu
Juggling the responsibilities of being a working parent is no small task.
From keeping on top of the workload, being present for your children’s milestones, attending that zoom meeting and being fully engaged, navigating your career after maternity leave, juggling the school run and prioritising wellbeing. Parents are the masters of multitasking!
To celebrate this, we have been profiling team members across the business who are working parents to learn more about how they manage it all, the support they get from Threads and their advice.
Here are some insights shared by a few of our Parents at Threads.
Grace, Talent Manager
Parent of 1–16 months old
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Take your time and use your KIT days. I thought I would find the transition back into work ‘easy’ as I stayed connected through my maternity leave and ultimately was so excited to get back and have my career, for me. I love my time with my baby but my career was very important to me and still is, even though priorities have ultimately changed. However, the road was bumpier than expected so I used the KIT days to ease my way in, getting to the office as much as possible for face time with everyone and giving myself time to adjust. As much as I wanted it all to ‘bounce back’ (in a mindset perspective), it was the wrong mentality. Give yourself time to re-adjust to a very different business, team and or structure and be realistic with yourself and the work/life balance. Be honest with your manager and team about the challenges and be open to conversations that will help you and the business move forward. Long story short..there is space for you and your career; it just might take a hot second for that confidence to kick back in- put yourself first!
What’s been the best thing about coming back from maternity leave?
Being a working mummy to my daughter and showing her it is possible!
Focussing on that little bit of me again, putting ‘me’ first even for a day and focusing on what makes me happy and progressing my career. We’ve all worked so hard to get here, it’s amazing to be now a working mum who my daughter can look up to.
Emma, Marketing Operations Director
Parent of 1–3 years old
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Having a successful career and having a family are not mutually exclusive. If you do something you truly love then the juggle between work and parenting feels less stressful. My advice is to communicate your aspirations at home and at work so the people around you can best support you in achieving your goals as a parent and in your career.
How have Threads supported you as a working parent?
Threads have created a safe space for me to manage my work priorities alongside my family. I am supported when I need to step back from work to be with my daughter. I don’t need to shy away from being a parent at Threads.
What advice would you give to a manager who has a team member returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Have an open discussion about how the person is feeling about the return to work — their concerns and aspirations. See how you can support those. Check in with that person, especially in the early weeks of their return to work. This might be someone's first time leaving their child, which can be stressful. Be mindful that children tend to pick up many bugs and illnesses in childcare and nursery early days. Helping them manage that juggle would probably be very appreciated. Sleepless nights can make working days harder, so in most cases, coffee is always welcome!!
Ayesha, Senior Associate Shopper
Parent of 1–15 months old
What advice would you give someone returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it is a HUGE change. After being out of work for maternity leave it’s almost like starting a new job with mum guilt hanging over your head. It’s okay to feel like this and you feel better as time goes on.
How do you ensure you can switch off when your child needs you?
My OOO days and times are now rigorous, I make sure not to be on my work phone on annual leave or at weekends/evenings. Having an assistant supports annual leave well as she can continue to service my clients when I am off; however, this overall is something I am still working on.
What advice would you give a manager with a team member returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Take it easy, it’s not as simple as picking up where you left off. Threads is such a fast-paced company, so many things will be new on your return. Go easy on yourself and allow the time to learn the new ways of working(and even re-learn the old ones).
Diogo, Engineering Manager
Parent of 2–2.5 years & 9 months old
What advice would you give someone returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Set realistic expectations for yourself and be patient. Don’t try to do everything simultaneously; be prepared to adjust your schedule and priorities as needed.
How have Threads supported you as a working parent?
Threads always offered a flexible working environment that greatly supports me personally as a working parent. This allows working parents to work from home and focus on outcomes, not a typical 9:5 schedule.
What advice would you give to a manager with a team member returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Set expectations accordingly, mainly making the expectations clear to the team member returning and giving them time to readjust to the team’s environment.
Sophie BH, Director of Personal Shopping
Parent of 1–1.5 years old
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Stocktake your energy daily. You won’t reach anything (or feel any sense of fulfilment) in your home or career if you’re pouring from an empty margarita glass*, so be extremely committed to being realistic and regularly ground for optimum clarity. Becoming a parent has taught me to honour the season you’re in and fully own it; otherwise, it will own you. *have a full one nearby at all times.
What’s your best hack for balancing work and childcare?
“You can have it all” is fake news (so sorry!), perhaps so, but not all at once. Separate the worlds where possible and contingency plan. Childcare placements in London typically have a 12–24 month waitlist, so ensure you’re on the waitlist even if your child is already in a setting. I’m navigating a loss of placement atm so I would recommend the above to anyone.
How do you make sure you can switch off when your child needs you?
Nothing else in the world matters more than my little boy — he has every bit of me when we’re together (hence the need to separate the two.) However, the key to being able to enter that headspace is by being extremely agile. If I’m interrupted mid-flow, I quickly create a fresh browser pop-up and open tabs in priority order to have a clear comeback focus.
Rhianna, Talent Partner Product & Support
Parent of 1–3 years old
What advice would you give someone returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Take your time and be patient with yourself. Things may have changed since you left, so don’t be so hard on yourself. Take everything in and roll with it. It is totally normal to feel manic as you are now in a new stage of your life and career. Lastly, remember your journey is different, so don’t compare yourself to another who may have been able to come back and swiftly hit the ground running.
What’s your best hack for balancing work and childcare?
Always leave space to pivot and manoeuvre! No matter how much you plan, things won’t always go how you want them to. Also, take the time to pace yourself and pause throughout the day. A burnt-out employee leaves no energy to parent!
How do you ensure you can switch off when your child needs you?
Always remember that Threads will still be there when I get back. I have a great team who will support and fill me in once I return. Our Threads emojis help to deter messages, and setting myself as ‘away’ and turning off notifications on Slack is a game changer.
Rabih, Head of IT
Parent of 2–6 & 9 years old
What advice would you give someone returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Manage your time effectively and time box your days so that you can plan your day and have time for your family and newborn child.
How have Threads supported you as a working parent?
Threads have an excellent work-life balance policy. I can manage my family affairs and still give a great outcome to the business.
What advice would you give to a manager who has a team member returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Be compassionate and understanding, and work with your employee to agree on a schedule that fits them and the business well.
Fiona, Head of Content
Parent of 2–5 and 2 years old
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Read over some work you put together before you went on mat leave when you return—it helps remind you of what you are good at! Also, don’t try to do both things simultaneously; neither can you get your full attention, and you’ll inevitably feel frustrated that you’re not working / parenting the way you want to. Focus on quality time with your family rather than quantity. You’re not abandoning your children to work and not risking your career if you have kids — the two can co-exist.
How has being a parent upped your game/what superpowers has it given you?
After my first child, I realised that working parents are super efficient! We are used to having only nanoseconds to get things done and always need to multitask — I now tend to plan pretty far ahead and get things done before starting work.
What advice would you give to a manager who has a team member returning from maternity/paternity leave?
Give them time to get back up to speed — it can take time to adjust back into work life again. Check-in regularly, have open conversations about how they are finding their return. And assume they are tired. Really tired! They likely need coffee.
Sophie Hill, CEO & Founder
Parent of 2–3 and 1 years old
As a female CEO and parent, what has been the biggest challenge?
Time. Becoming a parent felt like taking on another start-up on top of my role as CEO at Threads. A job in which you have no prior experience and is full of evolving challenges! For, both professionally and personally, I have always sought expert advice and support and borrowed other people’s playbooks when building out how to manage something. Why do the hard work when someone else has proven a system works?
How has being a parent upped your game/what superpowers has it given you?
I knew very little about childcare before being a parent and I am someone that always likes to look for optimal systems, so I’d say I’ve enjoyed learning how to do many child-related tasks. I can help you with many challenges up to 3 years old but I can’t help you without guessing after that!
What’s been your biggest parenting/work fail/learning moment?
I had many parenting fails.. If something doesn’t work try a different way until you find something that does! And don’t overthink it. For parenting tips, I love Youtube, within 3 minutes, you can learn how to stop your baby from throwing food on the floor!
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Remember that you have a right to a career and should not feel guilty about this. You are a great role model to your children showing that women can be parents and remain on their chosen career path. More practically, stay organised and remember you need downtime from work and your children, so plan this into your schedule! If you are having a bad day, speak up! You are surrounded by other working parents that can give you support.
No doubt about it, our Parents at Threads are truly bossing it!
