EPISODE OPENER | Strength of Parenthood with Claudia Timmermans

WDYKTBT 25 - The Strength of Parenthood with Claudia Timmermans

Claudia: Whenever you say, Oh, like the hardest job in the world, what you would think about naturally is about everything that you can learn, like from those experience, right? Like, both in the sense of personal growth and professional growth. But I think in the parenting space, it's, it's often not like seen as that, especially for, for women.

And I think for me personally, like this was really something that I couldn't really appreciate when I was. Uh, a new mom, um, during the global pandemic when there was no childcare and I was sitting home with a sick child trying to do like my work, uh, as well, taking care of my children. Um, it was really not that I was sitting there thinking like, oh my goodness, like, look at me, like, look at all these sick kids.

Strengths. I'm building this patience and resilience that I'm learning through this experience. I had was more like, Oh my goodness. Like, how am I going to ever like make this work? So it wasn't until I finally like left corporate America and looked in the rear view mirror and thought I'm like a different person now than I was five years ago.

Right. And like, the reason being is that like all these Things that I learned through, um, through being a parent.

Roger: Hi, I'm Roger Kastner and welcome to the, what do you know, to be true podcasts. In these conversations, I talk with ordinary people about their extraordinary skill, their superhero power, and the meaningful impact it has on others. The goal is not to try to emulate or hack our way to a new talent. Instead, the intention is to learn more about their experience with their superhero power.

And in doing so, maybe we could learn something about the special talent in each of us that makes us unique and also helps us find our path to purpose. This conversation is with Claudia Timmermans and her superhero power of the strength of parenthood. You've probably heard people talk about the polarities of parenthood, this incredible loving experience while, you know, Also being a struggle for survival.

And sometimes it's both of those things moment to moment, but we know in the workplace, the experience and capabilities one gets from parenthood is sometimes not just devalued, it's penalized. Claudia not only flips that thinking on its head, highlighting that those experiences and capabilities make for better, more capable employees.

She also makes the case that gender equity is critical. For higher performing organizations. However, she suggests that true gender equity won't come from new and different HR policies. It will come from someplace else. Claudia believes that gender equity starts at home. If you're ready. Let's dive in.