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SheCanCode's Spilling The T
SheCanCode's Spilling The T
Navigating new parenthood at Foundry: Tips, Stories and Support
Join us as we dive into the rollercoaster journey of new parenthood, and what it's like as a new parent working at Foundry. Whether you're expecting your first child or navigating the early days with a newborn, this episode is packed with valuable insights, heartfelt stories, and practical advice.
Our special guests, Christy Anzelmo, Linda Hogg, and Felix Raimbault, share their wisdom and support to help you through the challenges and joys of this life-changing experience. From balancing work and family life to managing sleepless nights and celebrating first smiles, tune in for an episode filled with empathy, encouragement, and essential tips to make your parenting journey a little smoother.
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Hello everyone, thank you for tuning in Again. I am Katie Batesman, the Content Director at she Can Code, and today we are discussing navigating new parenthood at Foundry Tips, stories and support. Today we're going to discuss the rollercoaster journey of new parenthood and what it's like as a new parent working at Foundry. I've got three willing parents who have come forward for a chat with me on this topic. Today I've got Christy, linda and Felix all from Foundry, who are here to share their wisdom and support to help you through the challenges and joys of this life-changing experience. Welcome everybody. Welcome to Spilling the Tea. Thank you so much for joining me this morning. Can I hear a little bit about each of you to set the scene for our listeners today? If that is okay, linda, shall we start with you?
Speaker 2:Sure, hello everyone. My name is Linda Hogg. I've been with Foundry for a little over five years, although I was on maternity leave for one of those years, so effectively four years. So I'm a research engineer on the research team working on real-time projects.
Speaker 1:Amazing and just for a bit of context, Linda did you fall into tech? Is that something that you really wanted to do, or did you take a strange career route into tech?
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say tech. I started off doing math so I did a math PhD and then started working in banking and wasn't quite sure about that and then did some more training in computer software and programming and kind of fell into image processing and computer vision and Been quite a roundabout career but ended up at Foundry about five years ago.
Speaker 1:Amazing, amazing a very good listing and we house back into Linda. Before we did a fantastic video with Linda and the other ladies in the research team at Foundry, so if you haven't already seen it, you can check that out on chicancodeio, but you do. I noticed from that interview that you had a really interesting job with a really interesting team, so if anyone anyone's interested in research, you might want to go and check that video out. Félix yourself, tell us a little bit about you, what you do and a bit about your background.
Speaker 3:Sure. So yeah, I'm Félix. I'm an engineering manager for the Nuke team at Foundry. I've been in the company for a bit over nine years. I started out in the research team as a research engineer and I worked in the London office for my first year. Then I moved to Dublin, we started a small office there and now I'm fully remote in France. Along the way I switched teams from research to Nuke and I switched changed roles quite a few times from research to research engineer, to senior research engineer, then lead engineer and now engineering manager. So I'm currently looking after four Nuke teams, four Scrum teams that are working on a variety of topics, from 3D to performance to UI improvements for the product. So it's quite varied. There's always lots of things happening. I have to have conversations with many, many people and try and make our plans a reality, which has never ended up being what we thought it would be at the start of the year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and. And what is your background? Do you have a background in stem subjects as well?
Speaker 3:yeah, so, uh, interestingly so, when I uh, when I was a younger like much younger I had either I wanted either to make video games or be a movie director and after a few you know, taking some advice, like I was told you know you're good at at math and stuff and, yeah, you have some.
Speaker 3:I'm french and in france you have some good cinema schools. But you need, after a few years of taking some advice, I was told you're good at math and stuff, I'm French and in France you have some good cinema schools, but you need to have a good technical level, a good science level, to get in. So I followed the science track and then I liked engineering and I did a PhD. And after my PhD, one of my former colleagues he worked at Fund Foundry and he said we have a job opening and you know it could be interesting for you, and I applied and I got there. And then for me, you know, because we're working on making VFX tools. So it's a bit of a dream come true. You know it's linked to cinema and I like tech, so it was a good mix.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, oh, that's a great story. Yeah, that you had two things that sound quite different, but actually you managed to combine them and find a really good role for yourself. That's brilliant, and Christy yourself. Last but not least.
Speaker 4:Yes, hi, so I'm Christy Anzalmo. I'm the Chief Product Officer at Foundry, so I look after product and innovation strategy for the business. Like Felix, I Product Officer at Foundry, so I look after product and innovation strategy for the business. Like Felix, I've been at Foundry for 9 years now. Hard to believe 9 years has already passed. I've been in this current role for the last 3 years, also flown by but yeah, 3 years on the exec team and prior to that I started out in product marketing actually, then moved over to product management and I led the product management team for Nuke. So I was on the same team with Felix for a little while working on the suite of compositing tools that we have, which is the biggest product category at Foundry.
Speaker 4:My background, unlike the other folks on this call, did not come from a technology background. I actually started my career in fashion, so I have a degree in design, textile and apparel design. I did fall into product management quite early on, but in physical products, so quite different from software. So I worked in fashion and apparel for a few years and then ended up in electronics so hardware electronics and then moved over to software. So I worked in fashion and apparel for a few years and then ended up in electronics, so hardware electronics and then moved over to software. So I'd say I'm a professional product manager, but not always in the software space.
Speaker 1:Amazing. I love that you said that you come from fashion because our community. They come from all walks of life and they all somehow end up in the tech industry. So it's always good to hear when people have found their way in, no matter what they've done, whether or not they've taken a traditional stem background or, for instance, a computer science degree, which is what most people think you have to have to come into tech. But it's always refreshing and that's why this podcast was started to actually hear all of the roots that people take into tech and to dip into all of the different careers, and that you can come in any which way and have fabulous careers anyway. So brilliant. Well, we have so much to cover today, so we're going to kick off with a question to set the scene, so I'm going to throw it out to the floor what kind of support does Foundry offer to new parents, and how has that support been helpful to?
Speaker 4:you. I think Foundry has quite a good record of supporting parents, quite a generous family leave policy. So for birthing parents it's 24 weeks paid and for secondary parents it's six weeks paid, which is nice. But one of the best things, when you come back, we do offer 80% time for the first month so you can work four days or build a flexible schedule for yourself, which is really helpful when you're transitioning back.
Speaker 4:So I can say for me, so I actually had a baby end of last year, so September last year, and came back in end of February, so I've only been back for four months now. So I feel like this is all quite fresh and new for me, but definitely coming back, especially because I chose to come back after only six months away. Having that, you know, flexible time at the beginning was really helpful and in terms of getting settled but also starting to, you know, transition myself around being away from my baby and I was still being able to enjoy more time with him. So I think that was really something really helpful for me. Yeah, is that your first child? Yes, first one.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so a good employer to be at yeah, absolutely, and I think to um, beyond the, the policy too, I think my, my team, so the both the executive team and, you know, the team that I work with, my team team were all really supportive and really understanding with me coming back and giving me even more flexibility beyond that policy, knowing that I would need to adjust and figure out, as I was going to see, what was going to work in my new life, my new work-life balance, and I think I also benefited from having a really great manager who really helped me not feel guilty about not being able to focus as much when I came back.
Speaker 4:I definitely didn't hit the ground running and she did a great job of really giving me a bit of space to find my feet and also setting really clear priorities on, you know, not coming back and being expected to do everything 100 percent right away, but focusing on just a couple of things and, yeah, giving me the space to do that and not feel like I was letting the team down by not being 100% fully engaged at the beginning.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I don't the fact that you use the word guilt there. You, you hear that a lot with you have mum guilt because you're not at home, and then you have work guilt because you're not quite sure what's happening there. So if somebody is setting clear priorities for you and then you have that space to be able to um to achieve those, then that, yeah, must have been really, really helpful just to eat yourself back into to work life. Yeah absolutely um, linda.
Speaker 1:What about yourself? How? How do you find um? Or how did you find that foundry was supporting you when, when you had um your child do you? How many children do you?
Speaker 2:have you when, when you had um your child. How many children do you have? One, just one, so it's the first one as well um, so he came along. He's two and a half now, so um november 2021.
Speaker 2:So I've been back at work for um a year and a half and I totally agree with with christy here. That flexibility for me was like everything. I'm still on 80, I I started on 80% and stayed on. I was able to stay on 80%, which really helps when you kind of puzzle your your schedule together. So my partner is freelancing, so he's taking baby some days and he's at nursery some days and just, you know, puzzling together so everybody can do all the things they need to do. So I find that extremely valuable. And also the work from home is a lifesaver for me because I save two hours a day and it means I can do nursery pickups and nursery drops and I'm not sure how we would have been able to cope with that, you know, time-wise.
Speaker 2:And the other thing I wanted to say is I felt extremely lucky in that my manager had a baby two months before me.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, yes, and my colleague had a baby two months after me.
Speaker 2:So I had, I had both my manager and and one of my colleagues were very much in the same position, so they were extremely understanding and sympathetic and we could share stories about sleepless nights and you know, uh, what's being all these parent things that you know, you, you just uh, it just feels great to be able to talk about them.
Speaker 2:So, so that that was great for me. Um, and I think, yeah, for my maternity leave, the, the keeping in touch days were a really nice feature they offer at foundry so you can go in and work a couple of days, um, you know, just a handful, just to keep in touch and not feel a stranger when you kind of come back. So I thought that was really great. And also, um, I was a lot things like, little things, like I was invited for the summer party when I was on my maternity leave and it's just saying hello to people and when you come back, because it's a long time, right, you know, for I was away for for a year, nearly 11 months, I think. So it's a long time to be away from work and coming back.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's great those touchings, yeah, those those check-ins. We actually um, we we held a hackathon recently and a lady that we knew, um one of our she Can Code partners. She came in with her baby just to catch up and it just happens to be a she Can Code event because she knows us, she thought we'll come in, we'll say hello to she Can Code and she'll touch base with all of her team as well, which also we loved, because I got to see the baby she's only four months and that was adorable. But it was just nice to, she said, said I didn't do that with my first child and she felt quite isolated by the time she came back.
Speaker 1:So just checking in um every now and then, um, also, so everybody could give the baby a squeeze, she said, has been actually, um, she said, I feel like a little bit better this time, second time around, um, I love the fact as well that you said um your manager and a colleague, uh, that tends to happen in offices, doesn't it? You tend to say there's something in the water in this team and suddenly everybody is having a child at the same time. Um, so at least you had lots of people that you could um all relate to each other?
Speaker 2:um when, when that time came around, and the real-time babies, all these babies in the real-time babies, all these babies in the real-time team at the same time.
Speaker 1:That's nice. That's nice, felix yourself. What about you? Tell us a little bit about your story and your family and how Foundry supported you along the way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean it's my actually second child I'm having while working at Foundry, and for the first one it was over four years ago and there was, you know, the policy was not as good as now. So hardly two weeks of leave and that was way too short, like I was completely wrecked when I came back and my manager was really supportive and understanding.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it was really tough, it was really too soon to get back, but this time, after six weeks, I really saw a big difference and I could really more help my partner and be there for a lot of first things and be actually much less tired when I came back because my second one was already starting to sleep much better, like maybe not full nights but almost, and.
Speaker 3:And then the the 80 percent time, like phase return, was also very helpful and I was a bit worried that this could add to all, although my you know I was only away for for six weeks, plus it was my my child was in the beginning of of the year, so I had also the end of the year holidays, so that kind of like added to that, and so it was not as long as as linda and christy. Uh, you know that I was away from war, but still there was a lot to catch up on and I was a little bit worried that the 80 time would kind of like add to that backlog and how you, how to manage that. So, um, but what I did was block time at the start and end of my day so that I was not feeling guilty of finishing early or starting a bit late and at the same time I was there during the co-hours in case people needed me. So that way I was not getting more stuff I did to my backlog to catch up on, but still starting back slowly.
Speaker 3:That was really good, same as what Linda said, and Christy as well. I guess the flexibility is really the thing that I think it's in the culture of the company and it's really something that sometimes, as a parent, you have to take a day off, like on, like zero notice, on very, very short notice, because the baby is sick or something, and that's great to be able to do that and know that you know your manager would be yeah, okay, sure, you know that's your priority yeah, and do you have the flexibility as well to work from home?
Speaker 1:and then, as linda was saying, you know you save on the commute and and just all of that wastes your time. Where then you can do? You know what you need to do in the morning and and in the afternoon yeah.
Speaker 3:So I'm, um, I've been fully remote for for a few years now, even before it was cool before the pandemic. Uh, I, I've been pretty remote for a while, uh, and that's yeah, that's great, and that's also something that, for instance, when my baby, my youngest, was ill and I was very, very anxious because he actually got something quite serious. He got whooping cough at four months old. He's vaccinated and all, but there's an epidemic at the moment. So I was really worried about it.
Speaker 3:But because I was home, I could hear sometimes. So I was really worried about it. But because I was home, I could hear sometimes my wife taking care of him and I could go and check on him if I had a break. And that was very reassuring and helped me then be able to focus more on my work. And even there was one time where my wife so I was taking a break and my wife called me, said come and see he's smiling, he looks like he's better, and that was really good kind of experience. You know, shut off like under things, and I'm feeling good. Now I can go, go back to work and it's going to be fine.
Speaker 1:And so that that surely would make you a more loyal employee as well, that you, you had that flexibility, you could be at home to have that reassurance of he's okay. And you must've been thinking, oh, thank gosh, at least in my work life you know, this isn't this my work life, you know this isn't, this isn't a problem, and I can have the space I need to also be a parent as well. So, um, I've received from from all of you and a lot of people actually that I've spoken to at Foundry people tend to stay for a while, for good reason. Um, you've all mentioned um ways that Foundry have supported you. Um, but obviously, being new parents, that has come with its challenges as well, so I wanted to ask you a little bit about that. Are there any specific challenges that you encountered, that you encounter as a working parent, and how have you overcome them?
Speaker 2:for me, the number one is sleep, the lack of sleep. I've always been one, you know I need a lot of sleep and with a new baby you do get woken up in the nights. My mom didn't start sleeping through the night for ages, so it wake me up three times. And then you have to come into a morning meeting and try to be coherent, and that is a struggle. And it really helped in that scenario that, like I said before, my manager was in a similar position, so I could just come in and and tell them like look, there's been a bad night, I'm not going to be altogether corpus mensis here and he would laugh about it. And it just really helps that you feel comfortable to say this, to be honest about it, rather than trying to pretend you're okay when you're not. Yeah, so that you don't have to leave that at the door either.
Speaker 1:You don't have to attempt to leave being a parent and being incredibly tired at the door. You can just say you know what it is what it is and like we didn't have a great night, I can see.
Speaker 4:I can see I was nodding about lack of sleep yeah, I mean, I think lack of sleep is a big one for sure. I think we all, we all understand that. Um, I think one of the things for me which I was a bit surprised about like I didn't anticipate this coming back, which is the, I guess, the kind of mental, mental load and really switching between the kind of home responsibilities and the work, especially my role, which is very much like strategic thinking or it's people and, like you know, managing people and collaborating it's. It's a very different kind of thinking than you know. How do I feed the baby, all the work that you need to do, and you kind of work through that routine, and so that was something that, yeah, I wasn't expecting, I wasn't sure how to navigate when I came back and I think only now so now it's been, let's say, four months back in the office that I feel like I can be fully engaged and do the deep thinking work as well as the surface work and kind of get my mind into that.
Speaker 4:And I think to manage that well first is again like being kind of kind to yourself and knowing that you're ramping up and you're in this big transition and, you know, for me, like becoming a mom, like I've changed right, like who I I'm still who I was, but I have this whole other part of my identity and it takes a bit of time to kind of settle into that and definitely you have to be patient with yourself through that and I give it, like you know, like when they said, with lack of sleep, being able to communicate that like to your team, to your manager, to say you know, like I'm totally engaged on this thing, I'm having a harder time with this other project and helping work through it, not trying to put the all on yourself as well to work through.
Speaker 4:I think everyone at Foundry is very sympathetic and understands that you need that in a flexible time. But definitely I think my advice to other people that are about to become parents or new parents is to give yourself that kindness too. That level of performance you may have been at right before you left may not be where you start and it takes a bit of time to go easy on yourself yeah, but you are as you said, I'm the same person, but you have a different identity.
Speaker 1:But actually you brought, you suddenly discovered all of these different skills, like time management and, you know, being able to to, to shut off from one thing and have to think about another thing, and something that you hadn't previously probably done or needed to do. So you did come back a different person, almost a new, improved, full of skills, different skills kind of person.
Speaker 4:That is true. Yeah, I think I was good at multitasking before, but it's a whole different level now, Like the number of things like in RAM at any given time is, you know, significantly more than before. But I also find that, like again, like now getting back to it, like the ability to be present is is also stronger, because I think that's how I've helped navigate that, that transition about you know you're balancing work time with the baby, with yourself. Everything in your life becomes about quality time versus quantity time and needing to really have that deep focus. There is no time to not be present or not be making the most of really, to not be present or not be making the most of really, and I think that is a skill. Another skill I didn't anticipate building as a new parent, but, um, something that I definitely feel like is just just my way of being now on how to manage everything is really essential yeah, definitely, and Felix, I could see you shaking your head about sleep.
Speaker 1:Is that also something that you found a challenge like, perhaps finding ways to be present in the moment when you're torn, sometimes, between several different identities?
Speaker 3:Yes, sleep is definitely a big one. You can manage to make some time for a power nap during your lunch break. That could be a lifesaver in like 10 minutes and then you're all much more energized for for the rest of the of the afternoon. So yeah, you know that's something we should make a policy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that um I actually visited an office, uh, recently. They um that it was a company that wanted to possibly partner with us and they have a room downstairs for employees to do that and they have a nice, um kind of like spa environment with a low lamp and they're like, if you want to go and sit downstairs for 10-15 minutes, go and do that, come back and just feel like you have the afternoon to yourself because, um, sometimes I just realized you know what there are other things happening in people's lives and they made a little space for people just to go and have a moment, have a little lie down and, um, come back and be your best self sometimes that's all you need.
Speaker 3:You know, like, if you have an idea, something you're you're trying to to crack and it's kind of escaping you, and if you get tired and you keep insisting it's not going to come to you, but if you just take a bit of a step back and maybe maybe a power nap and then after that like, yeah, like light bulb, okay, I know what to do, um, but for me, I think what was even more maybe the sleep was a bigger deal.
Speaker 3:For the first, for my first child, for the second one, I think it was more the context switching and because, like, also, I'm so I'm working from home and when mark is finished, like uh, go, and. And because we have two kids, like we, I really have to go and help, you know, and and the baby, like half like, draws you in. You know they're so intense and you have to be there and I cannot be, you know, like, maybe in my head thinking about something else. No, no, I have to really stop working and be there, be with, with him and uh, and yeah, be really present in the moment and uh, yeah, that's what I'm. I guess I'm still struggling a bit with this. You know, there are always things in your head. It's a problem at work. You know you're thinking about in the background.
Speaker 1:You have to just try and stop or put it on pause yes, I understand that's a good point, because I wanted to ask you a little bit about self-care, um, and how you prioritize self-care, um and find time for yourself amidst the demands of parenting and working, um. But both of you um, christy and Felix, you just kind of mentioned that, making sure that you're present and almost pausing for a moment and finding that time to yourself, linda, is that something that you do or is it something that you do in terms of self-care just to ensure that you know you take a moment to pause absolutely invaluable is, um, I took up a hobby, uh, whilst on maternity leave because it was driving me stir crazy with the bottles and the nappies and not sleeping and everything, um.
Speaker 2:So I found a tai chi club down the road which is five minutes away, and I've got classes every week so it's very flexible, which means I can make sure I find one slot a week.
Speaker 2:Um, so it's an hour and a half of complete me time getting out of the house and it really helped, like doing something physical, because, as you know, katie, I've been doing kind of dancing most of my life and I had to give that up because it's too far away and it would be too inconvenient. But with this just finding a bit of breathing, calming down, doing something physical, which is something that I always enjoyed, I found that really really helped. This is just one hour and a half and it really helped my mental health and my ability to focus and cope with stress and all the rest of it. So my advice would be, if you could find something you enjoy and you can arrange to have that time each week to go and do something just for you, you know, to just to look after yourself and make sure it doesn't all kind of build up and get on top of you.
Speaker 1:That's something I found extremely useful, yeah especially Tai Chi, that was a brilliant one. Just to have that that time to stop and be, as we said, present and mindful of what, what you're doing, um, uh, there for yourself, um, that's really really good advice. And to find something, um, just around the corner to you, um, felix christy, what, what, what are your self-care tricks there? Have you, have you taken up a hobby, or is there anything that you've kind of found that you? That's for me? I need to do that for me um, yeah so.
Speaker 3:So for me, the the problem has always been it's not really the lack of like hobbies or, you know, things I I would like to do is more like never finding the time or never really being serious about about them. And this this time around, like, uh, me and my wife were kind of like organizing, we're doing better time management, we're blocking our time and saying, okay, you have me time that day, me time that other day, and uh, and it's really what's really important is to have your own time, like not even like what time as a couple as well, but also time for yourself and like to do activities any kind of activities that you enjoy.
Speaker 3:You know sports, or you know playing a game, watching tv or something like that. And yeah, I, I found it, planning it really like is helping me. At the moment. I need a structure, you know, like it's. It may sound a little bit, a little bit uh, I don't know um, extreme or strict, but really that's helping me. It doesn't mean that every time that I plan something I can do it, because then maybe you know kids, emergencies or things getting in the way, but at least I can do a bit more of them. And yeah, doing doing some exercise, going out, running, and I want to play tennis also, like I restart tennis, I keep like stopping it and starting it again and uh, um, and now, like I'll try to organize that my eldest is going to, you know, coordinate like he's going, he's going to have tennis lessons and I'm going to play with a father of his, uh, his friends and you know. So that's where we, you know, make the both, uh, the best of both worlds yeah, that's nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, even if your plans change, at least you have a slot where you can do something, something for yourself. Christy, do you do? You do anything like that? Do you find some time for yourself and that kind of is your thing for self-care?
Speaker 4:yeah, this is one still work in progress on this. For me, I think only probably in the last month or so got into that point of setting a routine, a bit like Linda and Felix mentioned. I think that is really the key thing to be able to say like for me it's Wednesday mornings before work like my husband gets up, he takes the baby, he does all the morning routine so that I can go do spin, bike and get some cycle time in, which is something I did before I had the baby, and it's really great. I think we just established this routine and I finally got to the point where I have enough energy, I feel like I can do a proper workout and it's really helpful really to have it in the calendar, know that that time is there. You know, one week it may be a more intense workout than another week, but it's always there and I can choose to to use that time for that it. It does take a while to get the routines established but it does really help to help them.
Speaker 1:I think the structure it sounds boring but it's really important to to make sure it actually happened yes, definitely yes, at least, and and like you said, things might change, but at least, um, you have that set for for Wednesday morning, um, and that is your time to yourself. And, on that note, we we've spoken a little bit about finding time for yourself, um, but what about finding your um support network as well? So how important is having a support network, and how have you built yours whilst working at Foundry?
Speaker 2:So it's quite challenging for us because my family's in Sweden and um my partner's family's in Liverpool, so we don't have family, you know, there down the road, which would really help. So I think the key here to really as you said, katie, to build a support network, um, so we went out and did things like um, they have, um, the local authority has got a baby club like a play group. Um, when he was was young, so we used to take him there when I was on maternity leave and we actually met some other parents that live locally so that we have been keeping in contact with and going out and doing stuff with the babies and when, also, I was really impressed by how much, um it's almost like a baby attracts people. Um, like, we were friends with all the neighbors in the house and they all offered to help out when I came up. Just, you know, they become good friends now. Some of them and then everybody offered to take a half an hour for me to get a nap.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure if we took them up on it or not, but it was really lovely to see how, how people get involved and like people around you. So I think, building sort of local communities if you're not lucky enough to have family very nearby, like meeting other parents, um, talking to to your neighbors and and quite often you'll find that people are quite happy to to help out. And the other thing also we had my, my family, staying a lot, so they came over a lot of them and we went there. And here again is a way where it was really helpful with the flexibility at foundry, because I could go away and work from Sweden for a month, um, and I still do that every now and then to me so that he gets to know that side of the family and we get a bit of support and help with babysitting and stuff.
Speaker 1:So that again has been absolutely fantastic for me oh, oh, that's a really nice, nice perk to to be able to to do that, especially, um if you have family abroad and and you you're not going to visit them for a weekend, um, if you have family, it's not like going away for the weekend, um, so that's, that's a really nice perk, um. Uh, felix yourself, how have you found, um the importance of a support network? Like Linda, did you find there was actually a support network that you didn't know?
Speaker 3:was there before. So for me my family is not very near, but they're not that far either, but it's more kind of like my wife's family who is nearby, so her mother helps us a lot and that's been, yeah, very. That's family who is nearby, so her mother helps us a lot and that's been very. That's been invaluable. Actually, when she comes in and can take care of, like one of the kids at least you know there's only one to take care of and that's much, much easier.
Speaker 3:And I find like something that when you become a parent, it starts to show a divide.
Speaker 3:There's a divide in between you know, your friends if they have kids, or the ones that that don't, because there's a very different priorities. So, um, I find it helpful to have some of my friends like, uh, well, some are starting to have kids, other like had kids before me and maybe I didn't understand them before, but now I'm like, okay, I know what you're talking about. I think it's really helpful to be able to talk to people that are experiencing the same thing and kind of exchange wild stories and make the time to still be able to catch up with them and go out or make that time. Again, it's about blocking your time and arranging your calendar so that it's possible and because it's really easy to get to get too busy with like the kind of like day-to-day you know, child care and stuff and and but yeah, again, it's important to to make the time so that you can be gross. Your friend have you know exchange about something that happened, and so I'm kind of like realizing my kind of thought there.
Speaker 1:Um, I I am, I don't have children, but my friends, um, a few of them. One of them said to me recently that when she had had children it was quite an eye-opener as well as to, um, which friends were still around, because, like you said, they suddenly have very different priorities. And she said it was such an eye-opener to see which friends were still around and those that didn't have children were still making an effort. Like I love her children, I still want to see her and her children. But she said it was actually it's quite a time where you suddenly realise who is a good friend and perhaps who was just around because they're just, you know, an acquaintance kind of thing, and who actually still wants to be involved and get to know your children. So it's quite a. I mean, linda, you said I didn't know actually the neighbours were going to be that supportive. You know you might not have known that unless you'd had a child. Actually I didn't know you were this nice as a neighbour.
Speaker 2:You definitely get different circle of friends. I wouldn't say I mean, the things you do are so different. Like before I had children, I would meet a friend for dinner or go for a drink, or no, I'm too tired to go for a drink and I pretty much stopped drinking altogether. So, um, and some people they might come every now and then and go. They find this a bit of a novelty to go to some sort of child related activity. But for me anyway, I found that, um, meeting up with other parents, I didn't have that many friends who had kids around, although I have now made connections with the people who do.
Speaker 2:So. If you know that friend from university you haven't spoken to and all of a sudden they have kids and all of a sudden you've got a lot more in common than maybe you did before, while some of the other friends you were seeing a lot you have less in common with. So you have to change. Just accept the fact that your life has changed and the people you spend most time with might change too. Yes, exactly yeah, christy.
Speaker 4:I can see you nodding away yeah, I mean I absolutely, I totally agree. I mean I think it's um, it's I'm from the US. Everyone can hear that I'm from the US originally. I've been in the UK for 11 years now, um, but I found that the transition in our you friends and our close network is very similar with becoming a parent, as it was after we moved abroad.
Speaker 4:Like you, there may be friends that you were really good friends with when you lived in the same city, but that friendship didn't last. At a distance or at the same time, you might rekindle friendships with different people that you may have been less close to, but they also travel a lot. They lived abroad. They, you know, have a bit more, um, kind of, yeah, sympathy, empathy for your, your situation, and you have more in common now, right, than you did previously. And I think it's the same with having children, like it, you know I have, you know I have three friends now that they all had children within um and first babies within three months of me. So we have our own little close network now that you know.
Speaker 4:We were almost in the acquaintance stage before, but it's brought a new connection between us, um, and, like linda as well too, I I think we had to put in the effort to build our network for families that are near us. And I mean, the nice thing in London is there are so many great playgroups and services for babies and opportunities to meet other parents and it is work, though it does take time to find those other families that you can really connect with, but it happens right and there are lots of resources nearby that you can really connect with. But it happens right and there are lots of resources nearby that you can use and find those people. For me it's really baby swim classes. That's where I met the other kind of moms which I think are going to be our lasting kind of nearby network.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you definitely go out and and do a bit of that friend uh matchmaking to find those connections yes, definitely yes, and um, on that note, you've you know, you've all been through this experience, um, and you've all had positive experience, um, at foundry, but um, and you've, all you know, find way, found ways to find your network, um, and to to make things work for you. But what can other work, uh, workplaces do? What can they do to better support new parents? Do you think, based on your own experiences, do you think there are things that other workplaces could, could, work on to make things better for new parents?
Speaker 2:Just to reiterate here what I said before like, for me, flexibility is the number one, like work from home arrangements, um, reduced hours, um, and also understanding, being sympathetic, having a manager that is sympathetic and understands that things are out of your control and in a way that they weren't before you had a child.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, can definitely help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I found as well, um, that that that really does depend on the team you're in and the stage that you um are at in life, because there are some companies that have very young teams and that as well.
Speaker 1:When, when I've been on a young team when I was young myself and you found a couple of people that were at that life stage, I found that they they eventually just left and they went somewhere else. Because sometimes having that balanced team as well, where you don't have too many young people or perhaps not all experiencing the same thing or different life experiences, sometimes isn't a good thing, because a lot of those young people will jump ship quite early and they won't stick around as much, whereas if you have more of a balanced, mixed team of people at different stages of their careers, they tend to stick around a little bit more. All of yourselves have stayed at Foundry for a good reason and you become more loyal, a more loyal employee because of it. So, yeah, I think it's always yeah, finding that team that works for you as well at your life stage, wherever you may be at. But you're absolutely right, linda Felix, yourself, is there anything that you would encourage other workplaces to do, or something that you found that Foundry has helped you with.
Speaker 3:So I was going to say the same thing as Linda. Flexibility, for me, is the top thing, and I think that, yeah, we're really lucky at Foundry that this is something really anchored in our culture. It's not always possible to be flexible. I understand that we are lacking in our jobs.
Speaker 2:We can have that.
Speaker 3:But there may be other jobs where you have to be a bit stricter with the time and all of that.
Speaker 3:But as much flexibility as you can give to your employees I think is really helpful. And then it's so. I think it was maybe Linda, I can't remember if Christy said that but like we've been lucky that our managers have had children or you know kind of like are sharing that experience. But I think, even if they're not, you know they should really. You should really put emphasis on having managers that have the empathy and can understand you know where, where you're coming from and be understanding and all of that. And, and even if it's not time flexibility, it may be flexibility and kind of like the performance and saying, yeah, you won't be, I understand, you know you won't be at a hundred percent from the start, and that's we're going to gradually ramp up and have have that understanding and have a have a plan for for, yeah, phasing the return. I think that that was also very helpful for me yes, definitely, and especially as a parent.
Speaker 1:It's not if somebody isn't empathetic. It's not like you're going to say, oh okay, that's fine, you know, I'll just not work at a flexible place or I'll just come in even though my child is sick, you're still going to do that. That's your family is still the priority. So instead you'll just be thinking now I just need to look for another job if your manager, for instance, isn't empathetic towards things that happening in your personal life. So I found that when I had a parent that was sick and the team that I was on was just great, I didn't have to run anything by the two companies that I worked at at the time. They just knew I had to go, you have to go and you have to be somewhere.
Speaker 1:It's not something that you have to explain away and also it wasn't something that I was going to say oh okay, that's fine, I'll just stay here, it's gotta, you're gonna do it anyway and it just. It makes everybody's world so much better if you all just and think you know what family is first and whatever that that may look like or what is happening in your day. That employee just needs to know you need to go and deal with something and then come back your whole self when you're ready. Christy yourself, have you got anything that you think workplaces could do better, based on your own experiences? I suppose, like Linda and Felix said, flexibility is a huge one there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, I totally agree with Linda and Felix on this one. I do think Foundry's culture right is really key to this and even when I think I joined you know nine years ago, much earlier in Foundry's history less mature of a company, it was always a place where you could bring your authentic self. It was always a place where you could bring your authentic self Like there was always a understanding of us all being people and having lives and having you know more than just just your work, you know around you and it always felt like a safe place right To bring that into work and that has persisted right. So now we have a more kind of clear way of articulating that we are a people first culture. You know we have tools for managers to help with you know setting, you know, clear priorities and working on development plans and all the policies that support you know family leave and the flexible return and all of those things.
Speaker 4:But I do think those policies come from that culture right, that's been part of Foundry since the beginning and it goes back to the you know, the leadership team from the start and I think for any business it's really key right To be able to support, you know, new parents but, like you say, like people who have sick parents or they have different caregiving responsibilities or other life changes. Um, and yeah, certainly it's a positive for Foundry compared to other places I've worked which I know would not have been as um understanding or flexible or even aware that they weren't understanding or flexible yes, and and you're right, I love that authentic self.
Speaker 1:It is exhausting if you are a different person at home than you are in work, and not being able to bring your full self to work and say this is me and this is me at this moment in my life, um can be exhausting and, like we said throughout all of this, if you can't feel that way, if you don't feel that way every day in work, you're going to go somewhere else. So good companies know um to embrace that and know how to keep you and to keep good talent um, which is uh, obviously, what they're doing at Foundry um for all of you to stay put and to have such positive experiences, um. So we are almost out of time, um, but I just wanted to um thank you all so much for coming on and sharing your stories uh with our community today, and so it's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you all. Linda, felix and christy, thank you so much for joining us, um, it's been a pleasure thank you thank you very much to be here and for everybody listening, as always.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for joining us and we hope to see you again next time.
