How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty
Working and having a family is hard. But what is really fatiguing is that it is only mothers that pay a penalty when they become parents. It is only mothers that pay an up to 60% salary penalty over the first five years of establishing their family. Only mothers that see their retirement savings penalised because of the caregiving requirements they are fulfilling. And only mothers that get sidelined in their careers because of the lack of quality part time roles. In this podcast we are going to get curious about the system that creates the motherhood penalty and curious about...
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The Economic Value of Unpaid Work: Qiulae Wong on Systemic Political Reform
<p>The traditional eight-hour workday was built for an industrial era that simply no longer reflects how modern families live or work. While workplaces slowly adapt to hybrid setups, the systemic pressure on working parents. And the long-term financial hit taken by mothers, remains largely unaddressed.</p><p>In this episode, Emma kicks off a special series bringing political leaders into the conversation to explore real, systemic solutions to the motherhood penalty. First up is Qiulae Wong, leader of The Opportunity Party (TOP) and mum of two. Drawing on her career in purpose-led business and corporate sustainability, Qiulae breaks down...
Intentional Conversations & Whiteboards: Managing Work and Family with Jessie & Brendan
<p>Navigating a fast-paced career, higher education, board governance, and ultra-marathon training is a massive feat on its own. Add two young kids into the mix, and keeping a dual-career family on the tracks requires more than just goodwill. It takes real systems, radical transparency, and constantly checking in on intentions. </p><p>In this episode, Emma sits down with dual-career Auckland couple Jessie (Product Compliance Manager, MBA candidate, and ECE Board Director) and Brendan (Banking Marketing Technologist and Ultra-Marathoner). Jessie and Brendan open up about how they move past default parenting roles, handle the invisible mental load without getting...
Invoicing the Patriarchy: Ash BG on Quantifying the Mental Load
<p>When you’re pregnant with your first child, the return-to-work plan feels straightforward. But for so many mothers, the reality of unyielding corporate cultures, zero workplace flexibility, and an unsettled baby closes the doors on that career plan fast. It isn’t a choice. It’s running out of options.</p><p>In this episode, I’m joined from across the Tasman by writer, content creator, and app founder Ash BG (known online as @youwantedthis). After being backed into a corner and forced to quit her corporate PR job post-maternity leave, Ash began pulling back the curtain on weaponised incompet...
Fatherhood, Flexibility and te ao Māori with Tāmati Rimene-Sproat
<p>I'm joined this week by a repeat offender, Tāmati Rimene-Sproat, TV presenter and host of Counting the Beat, who's now 18 months into fatherhood. We first met when Tāmati interviewed me for the show before he'd even had his son, so I wanted him back to talk about what those 18 months have actually been like on the other side.</p><p>Tāmati is refreshingly honest about the highs and lows: the sleep deprivation, the "no one tells you how hard this actually is" reality, and how quickly it all flies by. We talk about how he and his...
Davinnia Tan: Pumping Milk in a CCTV Room and Other System Failures
<p>I'm joined this week by Davinnia Tan, an employment relations leader who has served as a member of the Employment Relations Authority, an independent reviewer of ACC decisions, and a peer reviewer for workplace investigations. While serving as a member, Davinnia became only the second person in the ERA's 25-year history to have a baby, and what followed was a front-row education in just how far Aotearoa's institutions still have to go when it comes to caregiving. Outside her day-to-day work, she writes Ngākau Reworked, exploring the motherhood penalty and matrescence through a tikanga-informed lens.</p><p>Davinnia s...
A Slight Detour: Jayne Chater on Navigating Career and Family
<p>I'm joined this week by Jayne Chater, executive coach, leadership development specialist, and author of A Slight Detour: A Guide to Navigating Family and Career. Jayne has spent decades helping women accelerate their careers at every stage of life, and she brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this conversation as a mum of three navigating a blended whānau of nine.</p><p>We get honest about what the motherhood penalty actually feels like from the inside: the guilt of going back to work early, the guilt of staying home, and the quiet resentment that builds when c...
Fair Share: Building a More Equitable Workplace with Brad Johnson & David Smith
<p>I'm delighted to welcome two next-level guests to the podcast: Dr. W. Brad Johnson and Dr. David G. Smith, authors of Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together. Between them, Brad and David have spent decades researching mentoring, sponsorship and male allyship, and this conversation is a masterclass in why "today's workplace is broken" and what it will actually take to fix it.</p><p>We dig into the archaic 20th-century workplace built for men with a stay-at-home partner, why senior leaders often can't imagine anything different, and the granite wall dads hit...
Missed Opportunities and Other Working Parent Policy Things
<p>I'm back with the marvellous Stephanie Pow, founder of Crayon and a repeat offender on this podcast. We recorded this the same morning we'd both been doing media commentary on the National Party's newly announced parental leave policy, so this episode is a bit of a riff session: two working parent advocates unpacking what the policy actually says, what it misses, and what we'd both want to see instead.</p><p>Steph walks me through the detail of the proposed staggered increase from 26 to 30 weeks of paid parental leave and the option to share it between partners, and we...
I'm Back: What Remains Stuck in the Fight for Equity
<p>I'm back, my friends. After six months away writing a book, I'm kicking off this new season of How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty with a solo episode, sharing what I've been up to, checking in on my word of the year and unpacking three big "what remains stuck" ideas.</p><p>In this episode, I get into why dads are the missing piece of the equity puzzle, why New Zealand still doesn't have a dedicated voice advocating for working parents, and why the mental load remains stubbornly gendered, no matter how many boundaries, girls' weekends or to-do lists...
Ep 5: Books and Podcasts That Emma Recommends | It’s Good to Talk Summer Edition
<p>Happy Holidays and welcome to my Limited Edition Summer Series! This summer, I’m bringing you this limited-edition mini-series designed to help you reconnect with you. These episodes are all about reflection, self-leadership and setting yourself up for a year that feels intentional, not accidental.</p><p>In the final episode of the Summer Series, I close the series with a personal book roundup, sharing six books that deeply influenced my thinking, mindset, and growth in 2025.</p><p>Rather than a traditional book review, this episode is a reflective conversation about permission: permission to want more, to seek pleasure, to...
