It IS possible to thrive in motherhood and your career! This is the message that Molly Dickens, co-founder of &Mother actively promotes.
&Mother’s vision is a culture where motherhood is not a limiting factor in how women succeed professionally or personally, and where women can openly express their needs and receive support without retribution. It is a working world where mothers are supported as leaders and sought after as employees. Where the value of mothers in the workforce has become intrinsic such that new structural norms facilitate the needs of the modern family.
The mission is to break barriers that limit a woman’s ability to choose to thrive in both motherhood AND a career.
One of organization’s first initiatives is creating cultural and structural change within the sports industry and shifting the narrative.
This week, Sonya sat down with Molly, a scientist, writer, advocate, and mother of two. Formerly an academic researcher, Molly became a founding team member of a maternal health startup to pursue her passion of empowering mothers. And by co-founding &Mother, she is continuing to support women and their choice to pursue career and motherhood while enabling mothers to become the driving force breaking down a system that has historically dismissed, undervalued, and discriminated against them.
“We shouldn’t let other people use this as an asterisk on our accomplishments and say we are less than because we’re mothers. No, we’re more than. We have value. This is a value add of who we are. We are all these things and we’re mothers. It’s just another piece of who we are. It doesn’t take away from the other things that we are as humans. Our name came out of that ownership. And then back to this narrative, this myth, of how to do both, and how to have it all. I mean, one, I hate that, but two, this idea that you should slow down or you should shift and focus on one over the other, or that they are mutually exclusive, this will change in our generation.”
Molly Dickens
Listen Now
Key Takeaways
- Why &Mother was formed
- Stereotypes and barriers that mothers face
- Systemic and structural failures for women
- The motherhood penalty
- Equity over equality for women in the workplace
- Maternal mental health
- What &Mother is doing to create change
- The pressure to be a trailblazing mom
___
Links
- Check out &Mother
- Liked this episode? Listen to other episodes about parenthood & pregnancy
- Check out my Substack about high-performance mindset
- Sign up for my weekly newsletter!
___
Try Inside Tracker Blood Test for Athletes
For 25% off, get the Inside Tracker Discount code! The Inside Tracker Discount Code is good for all purchases store-wide.
How does the InsideTracker blood test work?
- They measure over 30 biomarkers like cortisol, hsCRP (inflammation), magnesium, vitamin D, ferritin and so much more.
- Each biomarker shows an optimized range and how you can add in healthy foods to get your blood biomarkers to perform better.
- Offers InnerAge testing
- Over 2,000 partnering labs in the USA + home testing in Canada
- Gives you a big picture view of your health and wellness. It’s empowering to know what to do to enhance your performance and see tangible results.