This month’s CatchUp is with our superstar mom, Julie, who is the Marketing Manager for a smart home technology company. She’s spearheading the marketing initiatives, developing the online communication, and building out the company’s future marketing strategy…Impressive.
Alright, Julie, five questions for you and GO…
Proudest Work Moment
Developing an external company communication tool that was sent out to our trade partners. We ended up creating an online newsletter that had to be built from scratch. It required learning a new software program, writing sales copy, and sourcing all the internal and external material to use for the newsletter.
Hardest Work Moment
First week of work and not immediately having access to company shared drives and files. I had to work with the remote IT department and the local team to gain access which took a lot longer than it should. Plus, learning a new industry, new terminology, new acronyms has taken some time.
Suggestions for balancing home and work
Having open dialogue with your family on the change and keeping the communication open with everyone from your spouse to your kids helps everyone adjust to change. I also noticed in the beginning that my kids were curious about what I was doing at my new job and asked a lot of questions. It also helped to assign a new responsibility to a child or spouse to help keep up with the household chores.
Best advice for moms returning to work
Believe in yourself and be patient. You were successful in your job/industry before leaving work and you will be again. It is really similar to riding a bike, just get back on and pedal away. Although I have to say, have patience with yourself in the adjustment back to work, as things have changed. It takes time to get used to working and all the business tools again such as communication tools, business terms, and delivering deadlines
How do you see the workplace changing since you started and what (if anything) needs to still change?
Video calls are now everywhere! They used to be just for important team meetings now everyone wants to use video calling for every call. I don’t need to always see the caller, just hearing my business associate is totally fine. One bonus, I do enjoy the ease of screen sharing. Being able to screen share makes for more productive calls.
Bonus Question: How did MomUp help?
The team at MomUp was great. They set up the meeting with the hiring manager, provided insight into the position, and were always available to answer any questions I had. I felt they were professional, thoughtful and always had my best interests in mind through the hiring process.
