Parents At Work Podcast

Menopause is a normal life event for women (trans gender and non-binary people too), and yet we very rarely talk about it, even amongst our friends and particularly not in the workplace – but why?

Given that women aged over 45 comprise 17% of the Australian workforce and menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 – you would think that conversations about such a natural event would be common place.

In this podcast, Parents At Work’s Customer Experience Director, Fiona Hitchiner, interviews Thea O’Connor to learn more about menopause, some of the signs and symptoms, what we can do to prepare for this phase of life, and even find joy in it. Thea O’Connor is a senior advisor on workplace wellbeing and productivity, helping leaders, teams and individuals improve their workplace engagement and effectiveness through body intelligence and better health. She draws on 30 years experience in health promotion including in the fields of nutrition (as a dietitian), body image, sleep science and workplace health.

Here are some useful resources to learn more about menopause:

https://www.thea.com.au/menopause/

https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/menopause

https://www.menopause.org.au/

Improving the Quality of Our Relationships (and how this affects our wellbeing)

Do you feel you are being yourself in all your relationships? Are there any relationships you would like to change or improve that may currently be quite negative or destructive? Does how you relate to others impact on your health and wellbeing?

When we are free to be our real selves we connect more deeply with others and we enjoy life more - we feel more fulfilled in our jobs and we are naturally enriching as parents. Life doesn't feel hard and problems don͛t feel like big issues to tackle. Why isn͛t this a reality for most of us, most of the time? It comes down to our relationships. We have a relationship with every aspect of our life. We say, this is what my relationship is with my partner, my kids, my clothes, my dog, nature, our house– every aspect in life. Therefore, doesn't it make sense to stop and reflect on the quality of our relationships if, indeed, everything is about relationships? Yet most of us are not approaching life this way. This month Katie and Sam look at how we measure our relationships, whether we are holding back in any areas or have different versions of ourselves with different people? What happens

if we are and what impact does this have on our overall health and wellbeing? Most importantly, how can we work with any issues that arise so that we not only have fulfilling relationships with others but also ourselves.

This episode, the team talks to Aaron Williams about the challenges that arise within relationships when we become parents. Aaron Williams is the CEO and co-founder of Mindstar, a leading workplace wellbeing provider that works with some of the biggest companies across Australia on how to manage these challenges.

Aaron is a counsellor who has worked closely with many couples to help them adjust to this change in relationship dynamic. He has found that many people upon becoming parents, had difficulty balancing work and family and found that their personal wellbeing and relationships with their partners is what suffers the most.

Aaron states "to be that bloke you want to be it takes a lot of work and a lot of balance… it takes self discipline and self leadership”.

Join Aaron and the team at The Father Hood as they explore how we can keep a strong connection with our partners amongst family life with kids.

"It takes a village to raise a family and if you don’t feel accepted by that village, it’s a lonely place" - Ashley Scott

In this episode of The Father Hood podcast the team talks to Ashley Scott about his personal experience with being a gay dad and his interaction with other LGBTQI+ families through his work as Executive Officer at Rainbow Families. Rainbow Families aims to 'build a community which fosters resiliency by connecting, supporting and empowering' LGBTQI+ families.

Ashley talks about the challenges and opportunities he has experienced as a gay dad, especially how the freedom from traditional gender roles has allowed himself and his partner to divvy up the household and parenting work in a unique way that best suits each person. He also discusses his work at Rainbow Families and how his interactions with other LGBTQI+ families has allowed his two daughters to interact with children sharing similar family dynamics as well as have access to positive female role models, which he feels is important to provide.

Ashley feels that his work with Rainbow Families is helping LGBTQI+ families feel more accepted in their community and provides a unique support for parents outside the usual social circles.

As school holidays approach, most of us are thinking about re-connecting with family, taking some well-deserved time off as well as finding creative ways to engage the kids over the break.

In this podcast Fiona Hitchiner from Parents At Work interviews Adrian Rokman, co-founder of KidsCo, known for their award winning School holiday programs in the workplace and recently named as one of the most innovative companies in Australia by the Australian Financial Review. Together they will provide ideas and inspiration to families to provide fun and educational ways to keep the kids busy and entertained which will also create space for a bit of me-time for the grown ups! You will also get to take away practical resources for the kids.

In the 1970 U.S. census, only 6 men in the whole of America identified as a stay-at-home dad, but by 2014 this number had risen to 2 million people.

In this latest episode, The Father Hood team interview Rory Brown about his experience with being a stay-at-home dad in today's climate. They ask about the benefits of being a stay-at-home dad, if he has experienced any negative stigma surrounding his role, what his personal experience has been like, and what he has learned or gained from being a stay-at-home dad.

Rory talks about the opportunity to spend in depth time with your children as they grow right before your eyes. He also discusses the feeling of joint success when watching his wife strive for and meet her career goals, something that would have been harder to achieve without Rory being the stay-at-home parent. Through his role, Rory has also come to appreciate and understand the difficulties involved in managing a household, something that his wife had predominantly been in charge of early in their marriage. He feels it has been a massive learning experience for both partners gaining experience in their respective family roles and also in how today's society reacts to the idea of a dad being the primary carer.

Rory hopes that fathers continue to take on the role of the stay-at-home parent, that people will begin to understand the difficulties associated with the role, and that it starts to be viewed as a very accessible role for both mothers and fathers.

In this episode of The Father Hood Podcast, the team interviews Tom Docking, the founder of Dads Group. They discuss the unexpected ways that being a new dad can affect you, especially your mental health, and how social connection is so important as a form of support for dads.

Tom opens up about why he started the Dads Group, stating that the opportunity to talk and listen to other dads is a very restorative experience and provides the chance to heal from the challenges involved in the transition to becoming a parent. He has found that dads retain information and pick up on parenting advice more efficiently when it is in the context of a dads group and that his aim is to make all the wonderful parenting content available to dads through this medium so that it is not just sitting there "collecting dust".

Tom hopes that through these dad groups that he can help encourage the perspective that fatherhood is more than just a responsibility, its an opportunity, and he believes that’s the direction that fatherhood is moving into the future.

Learn more about Dads Group:

www.dadsgroup.org

www.facebook.com/dadsgroupincorporated

www.instagram.com/dadsgroupinc

www.twitter.com/dadsgroupinc

With all the events that have transpired this year, carers deserve recognition now more than ever. In this podcast, Emma Walsh, CEO of Parents At Work, interviews CEO of Carers Australia, Liz Callaghan, to discuss both the work of Carers Australia and National Carers Week.

National Carers Week aims to recognise the 2.65 million unpaid carers in Australia and the work they provide for their loved ones. It aims to raise awareness of this crucial role and the incredibly impactful service they are providing for not only those they are caring for, but the community as a whole.

Ultimately, Carers Australia wants to see unpaid care recognised as a shared responsibility between family, community businesses, and government especially as the role of unpaid carers seems to be invisible to many.

The lack of recognition leads to insufficient support of carers, especially during this pandemic where this already isolating role has become even more distant from society and existing support networks shutting down.

To put things into perspective, the replacement value of all unpaid care this year (prior to COVID-19) is nearly 78 billion dollars - that's nearly 1.5 billion dollars per week!

This Carers Week we aim to raise awareness to create more carer friendly options within employment and the general community.

In this episode of The Father Hood Podcast we're joined by Emma Walsh, CEO of Parents At Work, to talk all things parental leave for fathers. What are you entitled to from the Government? What benefits can your employer offer you?

We know that asking for paid parental leave at your workplace can be difficult. 50% of employers offer paid parental leave schemes, and Emma Walsh stresses the idea for fathers that "if you don't ask, you won't get".

We talk about the current trends in Aussie fathers taking parental leave, what's happening globally and why taking parental leave doesn't hinder - but rather - benefits your career.

Blake Woodward is a dad, management consultant and founder of suittiestroller.com - a website supporting corporate dads in finding work life balance while raising a family, as well as advocating for gender-equal parental leave and support policies. In this episode, Parents At Work talk to Blake about his Global Dad Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on fathers, and his views on empowering working parents to choose the best way to raise their families through gender neutral workplace policies. You can access the Global Dad Survey Report here: https://www.suittiestroller.com/dad-survey-report