There is so much great content out there that sometimes it’s really hard to decide what to watch and what not. I had a lot of time last year to consume some content and today I would like to share my favorite Ted Talks for working mums with you. However, even if you are not a working mum, you should find some time to watch them anyone. Maybe we will understand what struggles do we have, maybe you will learn how to support us or maybe you will change your own beliefs and trust mums more. Enjoy!
1. “Don’t underestimate Working Mothers” by Dr. Dana Sumpter
What a strong and inspiring women! In her talk Dana Sumpter admits that she didn’t have the best opinion about working mothers in the past. She used to think in cliches and stereotypes. She thought that one cannot really rely on a women in the workplace after she became a mother, that hiring a mother causes only problems and that their productivity drops. She had to become a mother herself to realize that it’s exactly the other way around – that mothers are extremely productive and efficient and can be trusted with basically every task.
2. “The perfect mother needs to go” by Andrea Jansen
Work-life balance for working mothers – is this even possible? Can we have it all? Will we always be feeling like we are not giving enough in one of these areas? How can we be able to juggle career, family and personal needs and stay sane? Can we meet our expectations? Are we even setting realistic ones? Andrea Jansen is a journalist, entrepreneur and former host of several shows on Swiss Television and she tries to answer these questions in her TEDx Talk. Very moving and very close to my heart.
3. “How motherhood supercharged my career” by Gesine Thomson
Very authentic, inspiring and moving talk by Gesine Thomson. She’s a world-class architect, large scale community planner, author, artist, poet and philosopher, but first and foremost she’s a Mother. Her way of working “integrates wisdom of the past with cutting edge technology but most of all uses common sense. The base of all her work is love of nature and people.” This approach became stronger than ever after she experienced the whole spectrum of the motherhood.
4. “After baby, don’t bounce back. Bounce forward! by Tiffiny Hall
I cannot stress enough how much I love this one! Tiffiny Hall is one of the best fitness trainers in the world, so try to imagine what kind of pressure was placed on he after she became a mother. Everyone wanted to see her bouncing back to her old shape. She refused and she made it public. She prioritized self-care, healing, her milk supply and first and foremost her baby over fulfilling some unrealistic expectations. Postpartum is still a taboo and we need more woman supporting the gradual returning to fitness after pregnancy and birth. Brilliant, brilliant speech!