Welcome back to Witching Hour: the show that looks at what's exciting, delighting, intriguing, and frustrating us as we make work, work alongside parenting. It's Ready or Not's loose little sister coming to your ears every Friday.

In today's episode, we cover:

• How a construction industry giant tripled the number of men taking parental leave.
• Recent research indicates that Millennial fathers dedicate three times as much time to their children compared to their own fathers, but if you're Joe Jonas, you're spending allll the time with your children.
• I haven’t got all day: a mum’s search for a flexible content design role and her winning formula for landing a part-time role.
• Inspired by Lucinda's Ready or Not interview with solo mother Rachel Maksimovic, our Instagram community share their best tips on how to support solo and single parents.
• Plus, we share some of our own career tips to round things out.

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THIS WEEK'S PARTNER

This episode is brought to you by The Tenth Co, creators of science-backed supplements created for mothers, by a mother.

You can shop The Tenth Co’s top-rated product Flow State and learn all about the burnout that led to the creation of this incredible product by visiting thetenthco.com

Listeners of Witching Hour will receive $15 off using code FEELCALMTHROUGHWITCHINGHOUR at checkout.

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Thanks for listening to Witching Hour! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

We Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Picture yourself living the good life in Bali. You pee on a stick thinking you'll quickly quash any fears that you might be pregnant, but those two lines appear. The test is positive and you're keeping the baby. Only, you're doing it solo.

You work for yourself, you don't tell your clients that you're pregnant for fear of losing the work and the much needed income, and maternity leave isn't a thing.

But you make it work, and every day, your beautiful boy serves as a reminder of everything you've done.

This is the incredible story of mother and marketing strategist Rachel Maksimovic.

It's warts and all, it's real, and it's beautiful. (And while I have you, there may be a few swear words!)

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Listen to Mothering on My Own here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour: the show that looks at what's exciting, delighting, intriguing, and frustrating us as we make work, work alongside parenting.

In today's episode, we cover:

• Michelle Wolf's having it all analogy has us re-thinking our affinity for the breakfast buffet.
• The professional women who are leaning out, and why the term itself needs a rebrand.
• Can't we all just get along? Inspired by this brilliant post from The Midwife Mumma, we take a look at some research into the often judgemental space of motherhood, and how society's expectations of mothers has us unintentionally pitting ourselves against one another. (And we're guilty of it, too!).
• The depressing reason that Loz missed out on a place on the family Father's Day card drawing, and some of your funniest Father's Day stories.
• Plus, we share our Instagram community's best tips on preparing for the return to paid work.
• Just a heads up, there's a few swear words in this episode. Sorry, we can't help ourselves.

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THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR

This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes. Keep listening to learn how you can receive a free month of access to Our Pilates.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

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Thanks for listening to Witching Hour! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you return to work after a pregnancy loss when you support pregnancy, mothers, and babies for a living?

This is the situation that Lactation Consultant, Midwife, Naturopath & Educator Joelleen Winduss Paye found herself in when she lost her baby girl 16 weeks into pregnancy. She experienced labour, her milk came in, and she somehow got through what she didn't think she could.

Here, Joelleen intimately walks us through it all: how she navigated it, how she returned to work after a postpartum that came much earlier than expected, and how we can better support parents experiencing loss.

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THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR

This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

______

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Visit JWP Care here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour: the show that looks at what's exciting, delighting, intriguing, and frustrating us as we navigate making work, work alongside parenting.

In today's episode, we cover:

• Are you my momager? The burnout that millennial managers - particularly women and mothers - are experiencing in managing their team's emotional wellbeing, not just their workload. Plus, where do we draw the line between the personal and the professional and what should we expect from our bosses? (Find the piece and subscribe to our Ready or Not Substack channel here).
• Girl math is way more fun than the mental gymnastics of mum math and why we're afraid to admit that we spend money on anything that helps us parent (read the piece here).
• Workplace discrimination is rife for pregnant women and working parents, and why we're done with over apologising for taking sick days to tend to our sick kids (read the study here).
• Plus our Instagram community answer two of your questions: how to prepare financially for babies when considering trying to conceive, and making mum friends in a new town (submit your questions to our DMs via Instagram).
• Plus, Loz shares a mother's group tip.
• Just a heads up, there's a few swear words and we briefly touch on a story including attempted suicide in this episode.

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THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR

This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes. Keep listening to learn how you can receive a free month of access to Our Pilates.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

---

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An hour in conversation with Amy Pearson feels a lot like a session with a business coach, which comes as no surprise given she splits her professional time between brand design, education, and mentoring. She's incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to her work, but more than that, she's generous and honest when it comes to making work, work alongside parenting.

She's a mother of two, She's the founder of Sun Mother Studio and Birth My Business and she's deeply passionate about helping mothers make money while finding purpose in their work.

Here, she talks us through the pivots that have led to the thriving, meaningful career she has today, her experience with postnatal anxiety and depression, the struggle that is navigating pregnancy alongside motherhood and career, and the importance of finding something outside of being a mother, even if just for an hour or two.

And just a head's up, Amy briefly touches on her father's prostate cancer diagnosis in this episode too.

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THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR

This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes. Keep listening to learn how you can receive a free month of access to Our Pilates.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

______

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.

You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

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AMY'S LINKS:

• Follow Amy's work here.
• Listen to her original podcast, Mother/Other, here.
• Listen to hew newly released podcast, Brand Conversations, here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[Just a heads up, there's a few swear words in this ep] Welcome to the first episode of Witching Hour, coming to your ears every Friday.

Think of Witching Hour as Ready or Not's loose little sister: a place to share what's exciting, delighting, intriguing, and frustrating us in the world of parenting and career.

She might be Lucinda on Ready or Not, but she's probably more likely to be Lu or Luce here, because on this podcast, we have a new co-host: Lucy's cousin who feels more like her sister, Loz.

We're both obsessed with how mothers and all parents make work, work, and each week, we'll be dissecting all things career, motherhood, feminism, identity, and more.

In today's episode, we cover:

• Loz's experience being made redundant while on maternity leave,
• Charlotte York Goldenblatt finally becomes somewhat relatable, and creates some boundaries with her children in And Just Like That, and Lisa Todd Wexley deals with her career-pregnancy crisis while her husband Herbert seemingly sleeps soundly through the night,
• The role that grandparents play in caregiving, and Loz's unique position in the granddad being the regular caregiver in her family, (Read Lucy's Substack piece here),
• Our Instagram followers answer this week's Instagram community questions: how do you approach pay rises and promotions when you're secretly pregnant or thinking about trying to conceive?
• And lastly, we have a few tips for sharing the mental load, and it's not just about sharing it with your partners. If you're the sister or daughter who wears the mental load for their family, this one's for you.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're an avid consumer of lifestyle and travel media in Australia, there's a fair chance you've pored over the intelligent words of Caroline Clements.

As one of the first editorial leaders in the very early days of Broadsheet, Caroline helped shape the publication into the authority on Australian city culture that it is today.

Since then, she's worked in editorial and production roles with some of the country's biggest magazines and brands, before taking her passion for storytelling to a new subject: swimming and its place in Australian culture.

Together with her partner Dillon, the author has published the wildly popular Places We Swim and Places We Swim Sydney, and has just handed in the manuscript for Places We Swim California.

Here, we talk working and parenting from a motorhome on the wide open roads of California, how she makes freelance life with studying work, and the couple's approach to 50/50 parenting.

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This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes. Keep listening to learn how you can receive a free month of access to Our Pilates.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jemmason Power is an Aboriginal & South Sea Islander mother who lives in Meanjin Brisbane with her husband and her son. She works full time as a consultant & facilitator in indigenous cultural responsiveness, she was a lead actor in Stan's recent original series Black Snow, she's a model, and in a former life, she was also a professional netball player. She was born into a Pentecostal church, she played elite netball until she was 18 weeks pregnant while hiding her bump under baggy jumpers, and if you haven't picked it up by now, she'd led a colourful, busy life.

Here, we talk about landing a lead role in Stan's Black Snow and the whirlwind that was balancing filming with motherhood and returning to her regular 9-5 job after this otherworldly experience.

Jemma also reflects on how she got into modelling, the pressures that come with the cultural load of parenting an Indigenous child, why we feel like we owe someone that offers us help, and how looking back, she was always trying to fit herself into a palatable version of an Indigenous girl.

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This episode is sponsored by Our Pilates, an online platform with over 150 physio-led Pilates classes. Keep listening to learn how you can receive a free month of access to Our Pilates.

To redeem your complimentary month of Our Pilates, simply head to their website and enter the code READYORNOT when you create an account and select their monthly membership option.

Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might not find a more honest conversation on motherhood and career than the one you're about to hear.

Ava Chandler Matthews is a mother and the co-founder of Ultra Violette, a skincare brand stocked at some of the biggest retailers in the world.

She went back to Ultra Violette at three months postpartum, she travels a lot, and while she loves her son to no end, she's open about missing her old life and not considering herself a particularly maternal person.

Here, we talk about some of the struggles she had with breastfeeding, postpartum anxiety, feeling like the business she founded didn't need her, and getting used to this new weight of responsibility.

While it never got to the stage where she genuinely thought she might harm herself, one night, her thoughts did lead her to wishing she had sustained a small injury just so she could spend one night alone in hospital.

She's so generous with her honesty and she walks us through it all.

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Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram at readyornot.pod.

This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which I''m lucky enough to raise my son always was and always will be Aboriginal land.I Pay The Rent and you can too here.

PANDA’s National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline is Australia’s only free national helpline for people affected by changes to their mental health and emotional wellbeing during the perinatal period. They support people throughout pregnancy up until their baby is 12 months old.

If you need some support, call the PANDA National Helpline (Monday to Saturday) 1300 726 306

Very Luxe Face Cream means business.*

• Clinically proven to increase skin firmness by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin elasticity by 39%.
• Clinically proven to increase skin smoothness by 15%.
• Clinically proven to strengthen the skin barrier function by over 45%.

*Based on a 12 week clinical trial of 30 participants.

Serious business.**

• Over 95% of participants said their skin felt smoother and tighter.
• Over 90% of participants said their skin felt significantly firmer.
• 100% of participants said they noticed a more even skin tone.
• 100% of participants said their skin looked more youthful.

**Based on a 12 week clinical study of 30 participants.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.