In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat to Danielle Chew, a senior leader at ANZ and co-chair of the ANZ Whānau Network, an employee-led group transforming the experience of working parents inside one of Aotearoa’s biggest organisations.

Danielle shares her personal story of navigating motherhood, senior leadership, part-time work, caring responsibilities, and the very real juggle so many parents face. She opens up about raising two young daughters, becoming a primary carer for her grandmother, and the moment she realised workplaces must change if parents are going to thrive.

Together, we unpack the realities of flexible work, parental leave, the “line manager lottery,” why dads need to be part of the conversation, and the huge role organisational culture plays in either empowering or burning out working parents.

It’s an honest, practical and uplifting episode for any parent trying to make work and life fit together and for any leader committed to doing better.

We speak about:

· How Danielle built a senior career at ANZ while working part-time

· The family and cultural experiences that fuelled her passion for supporting working parents

· Why she founded the ANZ Whānau Network and how it’s driving strategic change

· The barriers parents face inside large organisations and how to shift them

· The “line manager lottery” and why leadership capability matters more than policy

· Why parental leave for dads and secondary carers is essential for equity

· How flexible work, part-time roles and good job design keep women in the workforce

· Why most people are caregivers and why caregiving is not a niche issue

· The conversations every working parent needs to have with their partner, leader and themselves

Connect with Emma

This podcast was funded and created by Emma Mclean, the founder of Works for Everyone.

Emma Mclean is a mum of three and founder of Works for Everyone, a professional development business that partners with NZ's leading corporates to help them retain and grow their working parent talent. She does this through innovative leadership programmes, executive coaching and keynote speaking. She founded her business in 2019 following a 20-year career in corporate strategy where she experienced first-hand how hard it was to have a career and a family.

As an impatient optimist when it comes to system change, she launched her successful podcast “How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty” in 2023 where she talks to humans who are actively working to change the system that creates financial penalties that only mothers pay. And in 2024 she launched the first NZ Part Time Power List – to shine a light on those senior roles in NZ that are career building, not side stepping." To work with Emma or enquire about speaking – [email protected] www.worksforeveryone.co.nz https://www.instagram.com/worksforeveryone/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-mclean-9176217/