THE GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER PODCAST

Redefining our careers and purpose as mothers

August 22, 2022

BUILDING CAREERS, PURPOSE, WOMEN AS MOTHERS, STRUCTURAL BARRIERS, MOTHERING AND CAREER, SOCIETY PODCAST EPISODE

with best-Selling author, speaker, journalist, Matrescence Activist and Mama of three, Amy Taylor-Kabbaz

In this episode, I speak with best-selling author, speaker, journalist, Matrescence Activist and Mama of three, Amy Taylor-Kabbaz. We examine the individual and social costs, consequences and challenges of mothers navigating and engaging in paid work and building/maintaining careers in a system that isn’t set up for mothers. Amy shares her experience of this, the development of her business, and how the way we ‘work’ shapes how we see and experience ourselves as women and mothers. We discuss some of the social and structural barriers that face mothers and what it can mean to contribute to the world through our mothering and a career. We reflect on re-valuing the role of the mother within our society, and the need for institutional and system change to better support and value women when we become mothers.

— Amy Taylor-Kabbaz in conversation with Sophie Brock, Ep #79 The Good Enough Mother Podcast

"The protest movement before the Vietnam War, where everyone was standing in the street saying 'hell no, we won't go’. I feel like that's what mothers are saying after the pandemic is like 'no, we're not doing this anymore. This is not okay anymore.

  • Correll, S.J., Benard, S (2007) Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty? American Journal of Sociology, 112(5): 1297-1338. 

  • Fiona Joy Green (2015) Re-conceptualising motherhood: reaching back to move forward, Journal of Family Studies, 21:3, 196-207 

  • Kmec, J (2010) Are Motherhood Penalties and Fatherhood Bonuses Warranted? Comparing Pro-Work Behaviors and Conditions of Mothers, Fathers, and Non-Parents. Social Science Research, 40(2): 444-459. 

  • The value of unpaid childcare makes it Australia’s largest industry – larger than any in the formal economy (PWC, 2017)

  • The Labour Market Ate My Babies. Work, children and a sustainable future by: Barbara Pocock click here for the book.

sources referred to:

  • Can’t Buy Me Love? Young Australians’ views on parental work, time, guilt and their own consumption by: Barbara Pocock and Jane Clarke. Click here to read the full report.

  • “The neoliberal state intends to get two roles for the price of one”  (Manne, 2018)

  • “We need a movement which transforms all mothers from obliging but exhausted female packhorses of neoliberalism into ‘dangerous mothers’, threatening and transforming the status quo.” (Manne, 2018)

  •  Manne, Anne. “Mothers and the Quest for Social Justice: From ‘The Universal Breadwinner’ to ‘The Universal Caregiver’ Regime.” In Dangerous Ideas About Mothers, edited by Camilla Nelson, and Rachel Robertson, 17-34. Crawley: UWA Publishing, 2018. Get Dangerous Ideas About Mothers here.

— Amy Taylor-Kabbaz in conversation with Sophie Brock, Ep #79 The Good Enough Mother Podcast

“When motherhood came along, I honestly assumed that nothing would change in my career. I mean, I knew that my hours might change a little bit at the beginning, but I could get back as quickly as I could. But I never expected the way I felt about my job to change. I thought I would always be that driven, always willing to work those crazy hours, you know, I had my sights set on being a foreign correspondent for The ABC. And I honestly imagined myself in the field with a baby strapped to my back, like that wasn't just not going to change. And then along came motherhood. And suddenly, I didn't want to be at work, I didn't have the same drive, but I still wanted to be that journalist. But something had shifted in me. And because I didn't understand my true essence and how our identity changes, not just as a woman and a mother, but in all areas of our life. I, it was an incredibly uncomfortable and unknown feeling to me, to suddenly not know who I am.”

“I think I look at that version of myself, as someone who was so who had swallowed the poison of our culture. That said, your value comes from your success in your job. And I never saw the value. It's hard to say this out loud because this is now what I do. But at the time, I didn't see value in slowing down and being with my baby. I really felt the race to get back to work, otherwise, someone else will take my job. I really felt that ticking. That ticking time bomb of both a bit of a baby before it's too late. But also, I can't step away from my work too much. So I really view that version of myself with sadness, because she honestly didn't know any better. And she honestly thought she was doing the right thing. You know, I really thought that that's what I needed to do.”

Meet Amy Taylor-Kabbaz

Amy Taylor-Kabbaz is a Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Journalist, Matrescence Activist and  Mama of three. After more than a decade covering breaking news and current affairs for ABC around the country, her 'traditional' career took an unexpected turn when she found herself lost, overwhelmed and diagnosed with a thyroid condition after the birth of her first daughter. 

14 years - and two more babies - later, she is now the best-selling Hay House author of Mama Rising, the host of the ‘The Happy Mama Movement’ podcast (with more than 400,000 downloads), an internationally awarded Life Coach, runs numerous online programs for mothers all over the world, expert contributor to media outlets around the globe, and the creator of the #1 iTunes meditations for children with more than 18 million downloads ‘Bedtime Explorers’. 

In 2019, she launched her world's first Matrescence Facilitator Training - Mama Rising - sharing her unique formula of coaching and support for a mother’s transition through matrescence. In 2022, Mama Rising was recognised by the ICF and currently has more than 180 accredited Mama Rising coaches globally. 

Listen on SoundCloud.

“I was never taught, actually I was told very clearly you can't just be a mum can't be a mum, that's not you can't grow up and that is your life purpose. What are you going to do? What ceilings are you going to smash through? I mean, I was brought up to be very ambitious. I could do anything I wanted. And I loved that about my upbringing. But within that, I had no idea how to value this role of mother. And I think that's the same thing that happens in all of our workplaces. You know, we don't value anyone's personal life outside of the workplace.”

— Amy Taylor-Kabbaz in conversation with Sophie Brock, Ep #79 The Good Enough Mother Podcast

Check out Amy’s Online Certification Program

Mama Rising®

THE 5 MONTH ONLINE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM TO TEACH AND SHARE THE GROUND-BREAKING INSIGHT OF MATRESCENCE WITH THE WORLD.

Mama Rising® is a unique and trademarked coaching training that empowers and equips you to support a woman’s experience of becoming and being a mother, whether that’s in pregnancy, postpartum, in the workplace or in the community.