Welcome to Season 3 of the Womenemies Podcast!

As we reset after summer and step into a new season, I want to begin with a reminder many of us need to hear: other people’s actions are not your identity.

As mothers, leaders, daughters, partners, and professionals, we can easily begin carrying the choices, behavior, successes, and failures of the people around us as if they are a reflection of who we are.

But they’re not.

In this episode, I talk about separating your identity from your children, the people you lead, and even your own parents. We explore why taking responsibility for other people’s actions can create anxiety and defensiveness—and what actually is within our control: how we respond, the boundaries we set, the behavior we allow, and our willingness to listen and learn.

I also talk about why the healthiest homes and workplaces aren’t built on feedback flowing only from the top down. Whether we’re parenting children or leading teams, we have something to teach—and something to learn.

As we begin Season 3, I want to leave you with this:

Their identity is theirs. Your identity is yours.

You cannot control another person. You can control how you respond, the boundaries you set, and the person you choose to be.

We often put our health at the bottom of the list, believing we'll get to it after everything else is done.

The problem is... everything else is never done.

In this episode, I share why movement isn't a luxury. It's one of the greatest investments we can make in our physical health, mental well-being, and our ability to show up for the people who matter most.

We discuss:
• Why invisible labor makes it so difficult to prioritize ourselves
• The mental and physical benefits of movement
• Why strength training is especially important for women
• How organizations can better support employee well-being
• Practical ways parents can make their health a priority without guilt

As someone who has worked both inside and outside the home, I understand how easy it is to put yourself last.

But your health isn't something to get to "if there's time."

It deserves a place on your calendar.

If you're interested in learning more about Listening Audits or bringing conversations like this to your organization, send me a message.

What if we started valuing the work that keeps families and organizations running, even when no one sees it?

In this episode of the Womenemies Podcast, Marilena Fallaris explores one of the most debated questions she's ever asked:

Should domestic engineers (stay-at-home parents) receive a salary? Should they have retirement accounts?

But the conversation doesn't stop at home.

Marilena also examines the invisible work happening inside organizations, including the mentoring, emotional support, culture-building, event planning, and relationship management that often fall outside a job description but are essential to healthy teams and workplaces.

In this episode, we discuss:
• Should domestic engineers receive a salary?
• Should full-time caregivers have retirement accounts?
• The hidden mental and emotional load of managing a household
• Why couples should have conversations about financial recognition and long-term security
• The "office mom" phenomenon and invisible labor in the workplace
• How leaders can recognize mentorship, emotional safety, and culture-building alongside traditional performance metrics

This isn't about assigning a dollar amount to love or caregiving.

It's about making invisible work visible so families and organizations can better recognize, appreciate, and support the people doing it.

If you're a parent, partner, leader, HR professional, financial planner, family law attorney, or someone interested in building healthier families and workplaces, this conversation is for you.

If you're a family law attorney, HR executive, financial planner, or organizational leader and you'd like to continue this conversation, let's talk. I'd love to have you on the Womenemies Podcast so we can explore these topics together from different perspectives.

📧 Connect with me: [email protected]

In this episode of the Womenemies Podcast, I sit down with my aunt, Caroline (Carol) Gaynes, a former Director at Disney who built a successful career in entertainment before transitioning into what she proudly calls a "Domestic Engineer."

We discuss her journey through motherhood, balancing a demanding career with raising two daughters, returning to work after maternity leave, and the realities of childcare, mental load, and invisible labor.

Carol shares her experience navigating breast cancer before becoming a mother, the support she received at Disney, the importance of quality childcare, and why she believes motherhood and domestic work deserve far greater recognition.

Together, we explore:

• The transition from career professional to mother
• Returning to work after maternity leave
• The emotional and invisible labor mothers carry
• Why childcare support matters for employee retention
• The concept of the "Domestic Engineer"
• Making invisible work visible
• Self-compassion and lowering unrealistic expectations
• Advice for the next generation of mothers

This conversation is a reminder that whether work happens inside or outside the home, it is still work. And every mother deserves to have her contributions seen, valued, and respected.

#Womenemies #Motherhood #InvisibleLabor #DomesticEngineer #MentalLoad #MothersAreLeaders #SupportMothers #RemotherYourself #WomenInLeadership #MakeTheInvisibleVisible #MothersMatter #WomenemiesPodcast #MarilenaFallaris

Parenthood Needs a Job Description

What if becoming a parent came with a job description?

In the corporate world, every role comes with responsibilities, expectations, goals, and conversations about workload. Yet one of the most important roles many of us will ever have—parenthood—often comes with none of those things.

In this solo episode, Marilena explores the invisible labor, mental load, and daily responsibilities that come with raising children. From pediatrician appointments and meal planning to emotional support, school communication, summer camps, and household management, much of this work remains unseen and undiscussed.

Marilena shares why writing down parenting responsibilities can transform communication, reduce resentment, improve partnership, and help families divide responsibilities more intentionally.

Whether you're expecting your first child, raising school-aged children, or supporting parents in the workplace, this episode offers practical tools for making the invisible visible.

Because parenthood is a job—and every job deserves a description.

#Womenemies #Parenthood #MentalLoad #InvisibleLabor #Motherhood #Fatherhood #Caregiving #WorkingFamilies #FamilyWellbeing

In this episode of the Womenemies Podcast, I sit down with my aunt, Caroline (Carol) Gaynes, a former Director at Disney who built a successful career in entertainment before transitioning into what she proudly calls a "Domestic Engineer."

We discuss her journey through motherhood, balancing a demanding career with raising two daughters, returning to work after maternity leave, and the realities of childcare, mental load, and invisible labor.

Carol shares her experience navigating breast cancer before becoming a mother, the support she received at Disney, the importance of quality childcare, and why she believes motherhood and domestic work deserve far greater recognition.

Together, we explore:

• The transition from career professional to mother
• Returning to work after maternity leave
• The emotional and invisible labor mothers carry
• Why childcare support matters for employee retention
• The concept of the "Domestic Engineer"
• Making invisible work visible
• Self-compassion and lowering unrealistic expectations
• Advice for the next generation of mothers

This conversation is a reminder that whether work happens inside or outside the home, it is still work. And every mother deserves to have her contributions seen, valued, and respected.

#Womenemies #Motherhood #InvisibleLabor #DomesticEngineer #MentalLoad #MothersAreLeaders #SupportMothers #RemotherYourself #WomenInLeadership #MakeTheInvisibleVisible #MothersMatter #WomenemiesPodcast #MarilenaFallaris

In this episode of the Womenemies Podcast, I talk about something that so many women, especially mothers, neglect: sleep.

For years, I treated sleep like it was optional. Like it was something I could sacrifice in order to keep up with work, motherhood, caregiving, household responsibilities, emails, mental load, and everyone else’s needs. I told myself I would rest tomorrow. But eventually, my body and mind forced me to stop.

In this deeply personal episode, I share my experience with chronic sleep deprivation, burnout, anxiety, PTSD, and the invisible labor that pushed me to the brink. I talk honestly about the ways I minimized my own exhaustion, stayed up too late trying to finish “just one more thing,” and ignored what my body desperately needed.

I also share practical tools that have helped me begin changing my relationship with sleep, including writing down my full workload to truly see my mental load, delegating more responsibilities at home, creating nighttime routines that help my brain wind down, journaling, gratitude practices, and learning to stop viewing sleep as a reward and start viewing it as a biological necessity.

This episode is not about perfection. It’s about honesty, awareness, boundaries, and taking small steps toward protecting our health.

If you’ve been feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, overstimulated, or emotionally depleted, I hope this episode reminds you that your rest matters too.

I’d love to hear from you: What small step are you taking to improve your sleep?

Σε αυτό το ελληνόφωνο επεισόδιο του Womenemies Podcast, η Marilena Fallaris παρουσιάζει την έννοια του “Listening Audit” — μια ανθρώπινη προσέγγιση που βοηθά τις εταιρείες να ξεπεράσουν τα surveys και να ακούσουν πραγματικά τους ανθρώπους τους.

Μέσα από την εμπειρία της στο employment law, το operations management και την ηγεσία οργανισμών, η Marilena εξηγεί πώς οι εμπιστευτικές one-on-one συζητήσεις μπορούν να αποκαλύψουν πράγματα που οι εργαζόμενοι συχνά φοβούνται να γράψουν σε ένα survey.

Σε αυτό το επεισόδιο συζητά:

• Γιατί πολλοί εργαζόμενοι φοβούνται να μιλήσουν ανοιχτά στο HR
• Τη διαφορά ανάμεσα στο “checking the box” και στην πραγματική υποστήριξη των ανθρώπων
• Πώς τα Listening Audits μπορούν να βελτιώσουν το workplace culture, το retention και την εμπειρία των εργαζομένων
• Γιατί οι μητέρες χρειάζονται ουσιαστική υποστήριξη και εκπροσώπηση στον χώρο εργασίας
• Το invisible labor και το mental load που κουβαλούν πολλές μητέρες
• Πώς η υποστηρικτική ηγεσία επηρεάζει την αυτοπεποίθηση, την αφοσίωση και τη μακροχρόνια παραμονή των εργαζομένων
• Πώς μικρά σχόλια και υποθέσεις στον χώρο εργασίας μπορούν να επηρεάσουν βαθιά τις γυναίκες και τις μητέρες

Η Marilena μοιράζεται επίσης προσωπικές εμπειρίες από την επαγγελματική της πορεία στην Αμερική και εξηγεί πώς ένα πραγματικά υποστηρικτικό περιβάλλον μπορεί να κάνει μια μητέρα να νιώθει ασφαλής, αποδεκτή και πολύτιμη.

Αυτό το επεισόδιο απευθύνεται σε leaders, HR professionals, εταιρείες, μητέρες και σε οποιονδήποτε θέλει να δημιουργήσει πιο ανθρώπινες κουλτούρες εργασίας βασισμένες στην εμπιστοσύνη, την ενσυναίσθηση και την ουσιαστική ακρόαση.

#WomenemiesPodcast #ListeningAudits #WorkplaceCulture #Motherhood #WomenInLeadership #EmployeeExperience #WomenAtWork #Leadership #CorporateCulture #MothersAtWork #EmployeeRetention #InvisibleLabor

In this deeply personal Episode 7 of Season 2 of the Womenemies Podcast, Marilena Fallaris opens up about what happens when overwhelm builds silently… until we snap.

From the invisible labor of motherhood and running a household, to the pressure of leadership roles and workplace expectations, Marilena shares raw real-life stories about burnout, resentment, emotional overload, and the importance of making our work visible — both at home and outside the home.

This episode explores:
• Invisible labor and the mental load women carry
• Why “home is work too”
• How resentment builds when overwhelm goes unspoken
• The emotional impact of not feeling seen or appreciated
• The importance of documenting your workload
• How writing things down helps with confidence, communication, boundaries, delegation, and asking for support
• Why women often minimize the work they do
• Productive communication at home and in the workplace

If you’ve ever felt like you were carrying too much, doing everything for everyone, or silently drowning while trying to “hold it all together,” this conversation is for you.

Because if it takes mental or physical energy… it counts as work.
And it deserves to be visible.

🎙 Follow, rate, and share the podcast if this episode resonates with you.

Companies, have you actually checked your culture when it comes to pregnancy?

Not your policies.
Not your compliance.
Your culture.

Because how a woman feels when she’s pregnant in your company will determine whether she stays… or quietly plans her exit.

In this episode, Marilena Fallaris speaks directly to leadership and decision-makers about the reality women experience when navigating pregnancy at work.

From representation in leadership to everyday language, this conversation goes beyond what’s required and into what actually matters.

We talk about:

• Why women may feel afraid to share they’re pregnant
• How representation of mothers in leadership changes everything
• The subtle comments that create pressure without intention
• What true support looks like before, during, and after maternity leave
• How companies lose talent without realizing it

If your culture doesn’t support mothers in practice, not just on paper…
you risk missing out on the next generation of mothers in your applicant pool.

And that impacts everything.

This is where companies need to start paying attention.

📩 For listening audits, coaching, or workshops, message Marilena directly