In this episode of Untidy, Matilda and Hannah are joined by the fiercely insightful Emma McLean, founder of Works for Everyone, who’s on a mission to dismantle the motherhood penalty and reimagine how work and family can coexist. Emma brings 25+ years of corporate experience and the lived reality of parenting and solo-parenting three children while navigating a system that quietly punishes caregivers, especially women.

Emma talks about how workplaces edge mothers out of leadership, how returning parents get offered ‘pity roles’, and why the most important career decision you’ll ever make is who you partner with, and how the dynamics at home directly affect your confidence, ambition, and financial future.

The girls explore why resentment builds when one parent gets to stay late at work while the other carries the mental load of school lunches, daycare hours, and being the default caregiver, and how partners can start having the brave, messy conversations to find better balance.

If you’ve ever felt your career got parked or stuck in reverse when you had kids, or, this is something you want to avoid, this episode is a call to action for parents, partners, and employers. It’s not just about helping mums, it’s about building a system that actually works for everyone.

About Emma
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. 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.

Links mentioned in the show:

• Emma’s website: worksforeveryone.co.nz
• Emma’s podcast: How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty
• Follow Emma on Instagram @worksforeveryone
• The Motherhood Penalty Series by Capsule
• The NZ Part Time Power List
• Jobs For Mums NZ
• UK Dad Equity Campaign – https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/sep/17/campaigners-model-baby-slings-statues-london-paternity-leave 
• Follow @dadshiftuk
• ‘Not Like Other Dads’ by Sean Szeps @seanszeps. An example of equitable parenting in same-sex partnerships.
• Not like other dads with Sean Szeps on Untidy (Spotify)

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