In honour of International Women’s Day 2021, we wanted to speak to some of our staff members about their experiences of being a woman and raising a family whilst pursuing and progressing a successful career.
Samantha, our Worksop branch Manager, has been with Essential since 2013. She progressed to Senior Consultant in 2016, and took the lead when the Manager at the time had left to set up another branch. After falling pregnant with her son, Taylan, here’s how life changed…
Returning from Maternity Leave felt like I had never left. I came back to the office and it was crazy busy as always! I just got mucked in. Balancing motherhood and full time work in a demanding job has been hard, but I feel as we have directors who are parents their selves, they understand what comes with parenthood – the appointments, days off when your child is sick etc, I think Essential support this totally.
‘I often feel ‘mum guilt’ but I know the hard work I do is for him’
I work hard so that my son can have the best now; holidays, swimming lessons, days out… the list goes on!
‘Would I be able to return and pick up with my progression after Maternity leave?’
I wasn’t sure what would happen with my role when I went on leave, but my Manager, Alison called me whilst I was in Hospital to tell me I’d been promoted to Branch Manager. It was the biggest achievement for me – Essential believed in me, and wanted me to return as a Manager!
‘It really is possible to have a career and balance being a mummy’
For me, having a bath at night once everything is done is absolute bliss – it’s my time and I can have complete silence! This is mainly when I’ll catch up on emails as I’m not going 100 miles an hour!
I didn’t know it was possible to be a mum, cook, cleaner, and work full time, whilst getting by on 4/5 hours sleep… but it really is possible!
Lisa, our Compliance Manager has been with Essential since 2009. She’s previously worked as Branch Manager of our Worksop office, but when her Daughter came along some flexibility was needed. Here’s how it’s gone…
Returning from Adoption Leave was a strange one, as I returned to a different post. Before I was a Branch Manager, and when I returned I came in as Compliance Manager. It was a fairly new role to the business so it took me a while to find my feet!
‘Over the years things have grown and developed and now my role is a very busy, diverse one, which I absolutely love.’
I started back with just 3 hours a day when my daughter was little and in nursery. As she has grown, so have my hours – I’ve been allowed to increase my hours at my pace, and Essential have been entirely flexible with that.
‘I know Essential realise the importance of work/home life for mums, and I’m not sure if other companies do’
Essential have been consistent in their support with parenting – I have also always had the option of working from home (before it even became what it is today due to Covid!) so I had the assurance that if my daughter was ill, I could be at home with her and still work.
‘I have never missed one assembly, sports day or school event’
They have always allowed my hours to be flexible – often just taking an hour here and there to attend events without me ever feeling guilty.
If you’re looking for a role where you can progress, see our internal vacancies here:
