Welcome to the Communications Business Advisor™ podcast with Tara McDonagh. This week, we kick off a two-part series on navigating communications leadership through the lens of motherhood, bias, and systemic challenges. Tara shares her personal experiences navigating being in this field both as a mom - and as a child free woman for quite a long period of her career. And she ties it all to why we deal with it and what to do about it.

In this episode of the Communication Business Advisor Podcast, Tara McDonagh explains:

• The Motherhood Penalty & Gender Bias – Women face pay gaps, earning less than men for the same roles. The numbers reduce even worse when you become a mother - the motherhood penalty. Tara shares her own experience navigating workplace bias when she was a child-free woman, challenges in the workplace on the path to motherhood including fertility treatments, and the reality that she was unsupported in a system that made her choose between being a present parent or taking a role truly worthy of her expertise and leadership - but one would need to be sacrificed.
• Bridging the Mom vs. Non-Mom Divide – Workplace structures often pit mothers and non-mothers against each other. Tara highlights shared struggles and calls for collective action to create supportive, equitable environments.
• Fixing the System, Not Ourselves – Citing Nobel Prize-winning research, Tara advocates for systemic reforms like flexible policies and remote work, emphasizing that workplaces—not women—must adapt.

Tune in next week for Part 2, featuring candid insights from women in communications.

This episode is sponsored by Raise the Tide™, a program for women in corporate, healthcare, and higher education communications.

Visit taramcdonagh.com to learn more about how to work with Tara. Or follow her content on LinkedIn at: Tara McDonagh where she posts five days a week on comms.-focused topics.

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