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Five Hour Club is One! Here's our story
122 Plays4 months ago
In this anniversary episode to mark one year of Five Hour Club Amy shares her full career story, before and after children, and where the idea for the Five Hour Club came from.
To celebrate, we asked parents to stand up and share their stories to remind others that #ParentsBelong in the workplace.
Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to hear more stories.
Find your own Five Hour Workday on www.fivehourclub.com
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Transcript
Podcast Anniversary Reflections
00:00:09
Speaker
Hi, I'm Amy and I'm Emma and this is the 5-Hour Club podcast where we navigate life between the school runs.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hello, well and what an exciting few weeks this has been for us. It is officially one year of the 5-Hour Club. Can you believe it?
00:00:32
Speaker
i I literally can't. So on one hand, I feel like we've been doing this for years and years and years in the best possible way. And on another hand, it really, really, it feels like this time last year, doesn't it?
00:00:46
Speaker
It does. Yeah, I think it does because this time last year, was completely unexpected.
Unexpected Momentum and Opportunities
00:00:51
Speaker
We were not expecting a response to my post and then just kind of, we jumped in with two feet and we're responding and talking to people and meeting new people and the momentum was so fast and so quick that we just kind of got on with it. Whereas this year, we have to celebrate our one year, we asked parents to share their own career after children's stories as a way to
00:01:18
Speaker
highlight just how big the problem is, but also to highlight that actually we really do belong in the workplace and to hear all of the different perspectives and hear all of the different stories. Because over the last year, we've heard so many stories, haven't we, Em? And we just felt like it was such a shame to be the only ones hearing them.
00:01:35
Speaker
When actually, everybody has such a different story to share, yet we all have this sort of overwhelming sense of actually we do belong and we still are in brushes and we still want to work together.
00:01:45
Speaker
So, you know, we need to highlight that because that's a huge problem that so many of us feel this way.
Encouraging Parental Career Stories
00:01:51
Speaker
And so, yeah, it's been incredible because honestly, I'm not going to lie, before we went live with this, I was really nervous because i thought nobody's going to share their stories because I thought, well, it's quite, it can be quite a vulnerable thing to do. You you have to be quite brave to put yourself out there like this, especially on LinkedIn, and maybe you've got, you know, old employers looking at you.
00:02:12
Speaker
And so I thought, oh gosh, nobody's going to do it. And my Gosh, have people shared their stories in numbers. Like it has been, every time I've opened up my laptop the last two weeks, like I've literally seen more and more stories and it has just left me in awe, if I'm honest. Like I'm so grateful for everybody who shared their stories because it just brings it home every single time because everybody has such a different perspective. Everybody's story is slightly different.
00:02:40
Speaker
Yet we've all got this same feeling. And I think you get that from every single story that you read. So yes, I'm so grateful to be able to sort of celebrate our one year by almost handing it over to the parents that have been supporting us this whole time. So thank you. I'm so grateful for
Vulnerability in Sharing Publicly
00:02:58
Speaker
everybody. I am so, so pleased that we were finally able to give, you know, that opportunity to share those stories because every single, like you said, every single unique story is so unbelievably powerful.
00:03:13
Speaker
And like you said, like, I mean, this time last year, we were drowning, were drowning in messages, again, in the best possible way. But it was by getting those messages and and those people telling us their story, we were like, this needs to be told. Like, this is so important.
00:03:29
Speaker
So yeah, I'm so, so pleased that we got to hear and share those stories because it is so important. Yeah, I agree. It's just been the best way to celebrate ah Yeah.
00:03:40
Speaker
And so thank you. And even just to see people's, you know, changing their profile picture of an and adding parent to their headline, just all of those tiny little things that we can do to normalize that they're our parents and they belong in the workplace, whether you like it or not.
00:03:56
Speaker
So yeah, it's been so great. So thank you. And, you know, we had a ah mini party around our kitchen table, we? We did. And I think hopefully maybe this time next year, we'll be able to have a party with but everybody. But ah for now, that has been the best way to celebrate.
00:04:11
Speaker
It has.
Impact of Hiring Through the Podcast
00:04:12
Speaker
And there was another thing. and So I met EcoG, the team at EcoG, who hired all of their parents through us. and And that was only just a couple of weeks ago. And that was a real like pinch me moment of it's been a year, you know, they've got a ah full team, you know, we were really thriving um to see them in person. And it just, yeah, it was just such are and an incredible moment um that it's it's not just theory.
00:04:43
Speaker
it really is working. And, you know, to see it in practice. Yeah, absolutely incredible. It's so cool. That is so cool. I just can't believe there was actually teams of parents working together during the school days out there. And that is incredible. So thank you to all of those employers who have hired through us this year, because that in it itself just is progress, isn't it? Like this time last year, that wasn't happening or, you know, it wasn't known about. So now the balls are rolling and things are happening. And we are just so grateful to still be here a year later, because who would have thought it?
00:05:16
Speaker
Who would have thought, Amy?
Amy's Career Background
00:05:25
Speaker
So given that it has been a year, um not everyone might be aware of your full story. So we've had kind of little glimpse here and there and you know, kind of knowing and we know that you had five year gap, you know, from from the workplace before at five hour club.
00:05:44
Speaker
But I would love to, given that it's been a year of Fiverr Club, I'd love to revisit and share a little bit of your story. So how did it all come about?
00:05:55
Speaker
What was your life before a kid? um So for anyone who doesn't know, you have two young boys together. You have a nearly six-year-old and a three-year-old boy. um Can you tell us a little bit about what life was like before Five Hour Club and before me? Because I met you when you were pregnant with your four year oldest.
00:06:17
Speaker
Life before Emma, absolutely. It was definitely not as funny. What can I say? A bit more calm, was it? I don't know. In many ways, yes.
00:06:28
Speaker
And you're not just the reason for that. No, I know, gosh, when you think back five years, it feels like a long time ago, but
Career Shifts and Family Planning
00:06:35
Speaker
actually it feels, you barely anything, but so much has changed since then. So if you want, I can, I can take you how far back do you want can take you right back to the beginning and, yeah and go that before kids, tell us what your career looked like before kids.
00:06:49
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So started, so I was the first to go to university in my family and I went and I got a first degree in psychology. And after uni, I kind of, I was a little bit stuck because, you know, ah got this degree, I was really proud of it. And I was like, okay, well, I need to go and get a job. And I didn't, you know, didn't necessarily have that sort of career guidance to sort of know what I should be doing next and I sort of figured out from you know from my first jobs were working with kids so I did party planning planning at my local leisure centre was my first job and I've done play schemes and I've done all these sort of roles working with children I figured that I love working with children and I've got this psychology degree so I'm going to go and be an educational psychologist
00:07:32
Speaker
And at the time, you needed five years teaching experience to do that. So I went and did that. I went and got a GTP. So I worked as an unqualified teacher for year, which i don't think exists anymore.
00:07:45
Speaker
But that's how I started my teaching experience. I got the degree had. enjoyed a couple of years working here in the UK and then I went overseas and as part of this I was sort of progressing all the way through quite quickly at the beginning of my teaching and career. So i yeah before i went overseas I became a middle leader, then when I got over there i was promoted to the senior leadership team, became a reading specialist, so I was moving pretty quickly through the ranks as a teacher which is really really great.
00:08:13
Speaker
however I did know that long-term, I did not want to be a teacher forever. ah Part of the reasons, know, I didn't want be a head teacher. And for me, I'm quite ambitious. And i if I didn't want to get to the top or somewhere, then that's a problem there.
00:08:26
Speaker
I also looked at it and thought, I'm not sure this is a great fit for having a family. Now, bearing in mind, I was, what, 25 at this point? I just got married to my ah childhood sweetheart, shall we call him?
00:08:36
Speaker
and um And I wasn't ready for kids, but I did know that teaching... wasn't my long-term career path so when I go back to the UK I had done my feet five years and revisited looking at doing my educational psychology doctorate and being in my mid-20s thought well you know what I'm having quite a lot of fun at the moment and I don't want to be a teacher you know lots of reasons it was at that time yeah I mean, it still is. It's a really difficult place to work. I couldn't be the teacher that i wanted to be. um remember but teaching year two and, you know, they were coming crying because they to the SATs tests.
00:09:15
Speaker
And I thought, this is not for me. I'm not going to stick in this because I couldn't teach the way that I wanted. So I then thought, okay, well, I could go and do the doctorate,
Exploring New Roles Beyond Teaching
00:09:25
Speaker
which is, you know, three-year course, get that under my belt.
00:09:29
Speaker
But I chose not to do that, which in hindsight was a bit of a silly decision because what I thought was, oh I'll go and do that when I have children. I'll go and do that when I'm on maternity leave.
00:09:43
Speaker
I'll have some time. I'll be able to do your doctorate and raise young family. course I will. You know, well, that's what be doing. is a bit laughable, isn't it? A little bit, yeah. So and nobody at that point told me, no, get it under your belt, just do it and then you've got it. and So I decided to step away from teaching but not do my doctorate and when and see if I could find something else to do. and ah And honestly, as a teacher, I kind of felt like I didn't have many options. I was like, what else am I going to do?
00:10:12
Speaker
I don't feel like I've got any transferable skills. Where coming am I going to go? And I felt a bit lost. But then luckily landed upon a charity, the National Literacy Trust, and the manager for the role was ex-head teacher.
00:10:26
Speaker
So she completely understood what I would bring to the table as a teacher. And so I got the opportunity to work on projects and create resources with alongside corporates, which gave me sort of both sides of the story.
00:10:42
Speaker
um And that was really great. I really enjoyed my time sort of out of the classroom, but still using my teaching experience. And then I got to a point where I was sort really interested in sort of the business side of things. And I was quite excited about and that side of things.
00:10:56
Speaker
So I then went and worked for an ed tech startup, which was really exciting. you know they just got backing and they had a really exciting product. And and I went there and actually I learned, first of all, how...
00:11:09
Speaker
not to run a company, but also that, you know, you have to really appreciate what you've got. And that particular ed tech startup did not appreciate teachers. So why um it wasn't a great culture to working.
00:11:21
Speaker
So at that point, I sort of thought, well, I've learned a lot. um yeah I mean, had massive growth in terms of marketing and all these things that I had no idea about before. But I thought,
Teaching at a Hospital School
00:11:31
Speaker
right, I'm ready to go back and maybe revisit my ed psych doctorate. And so then I landed on a role which was at King's College Hospital in the school room there. So i was a teacher within the hospital school.
00:11:44
Speaker
And my gosh, that was the best job I've ever had. You know, it was that teaching, but I was able to do it in a place where I felt like I was really giving back and I was really able to make a difference to these children. you know, they were coming in with 18-year-olds who had had strokes and 10-year-olds who had a liver transplant just before Christmas and all of these really...
00:12:06
Speaker
you know horrific conditions that these children were going through, but they absolutely loved coming into the school. And that sort of wellbeing piece was sort of built into our ethos in the schoolroom. So i was really grateful to be given that opportunity to work there, but then I fell pregnant.
00:12:21
Speaker
Dun, dun, dun. Oh my goodness. There is so much to dissect there. And I feel like obviously there's so much I relate to. There is, you know, the education feeling stuck as a teacher that, you know, not recognizing him any transferable skills that you have.
00:12:37
Speaker
And how funny is it, but also not funny and a systemic problem that we've got these preconceived notions of, oh, I can do that in my maternity leave. Not not realizing how challenging it is on so many different levels that that might not be the.
00:12:53
Speaker
I most ideal time to to do a PhD but at the same time you were you know you were planning ahead and thinking oh um this may not be the best career to juggle a family which I think actually was you know incredibly forward thinking of you because me as a teacher it was I really tried and I tried and I tried it and and i I did in the back of my head I was thinking I don't know how on earth I'm going to juggle it and then when I was a teacher I was like no I cannot do that And then the last thing is, it's so funny, ah literally was just saying today that one of the red flags, how I knew that education wasn't for me, was that I didn't want to progress to senior leadership, but I am ambitious.
00:13:33
Speaker
But I think kind of it's a different type of ambition and in the and and again, the education system, when you're trying to do things and, and and and you know, ah work against the system and and um do that. I completely agree and I completely relate to that. But what really stands out is that you've had this incredible career. you know It was really squiggly in a great way and and clearly you would have learned so much in all of those different roles um you know that led you up until um pregnancy and you were in an an amazingly rewarding role just as you got pregnant.
00:14:10
Speaker
When you got pregnant, did you, had you planned out what you were going to do next? What happened? What happened next?
Pregnancy and Career Pause
00:14:19
Speaker
ah No, is the answer. m I did not plan it. and Bless my eldest. He was a happy accident, but I didn't plan it at all. ah This role that I was in as a teacher at the hospital was a temporary role. I was literally paid by the day to go there, you know, no expenses. And i Basically, I found out that I was pregnant, I think a day or two into getting the job. Like I got really ill and I was like, what is wrong here?
00:14:42
Speaker
And then I realized I was pregnant. So I had to go in that following week. I think I was in day two or three of the job and I was about three or four weeks pregnant. And I had to tell head teacher that I was pregnant because working in that environment, you know, you have to protect yourself. You have to protect the people that you're working with. So there are certain patients that I couldn't go work with because I was pregnant.
00:15:02
Speaker
So that was really hard thing to do. you know, i barely knew this team and they were so... kind they were so supportive they you know the head teacher she was a mother of twins and she completely understood and that what it was the best environment to work with in when I was pregnant because they completely supported me and unfortunately i had moved away from the area whilst I was pregnant so I could be closer to family but that meant it was going to be 45 minute expensive train journey into the school
00:15:34
Speaker
which I knew it just wasn't possible to then return there. and There was no way, even without the cost of the train and anything else, it just wouldn't have been possible to return.
00:15:45
Speaker
So then I had to take maternity, statutory maternity pay. And I had no, from that point, it sounded like I had a really, you know, big plan up until that point. First of all, I didn't. It just kind of these things I went with my gut at the time.
00:16:00
Speaker
And secondly, I just did not think beyond pregnancy or having like the child like it wasn't I didn't think about my pension or my career I didn't think about anything I literally was just thinking day by day let's get through this get through to when I go off on maternity leave and then I'll figure it out because I thought oh well you know I'll be able to go and find some work at home locally I'll be able you know my trained teacher and all of these things I'll be able to I'll figure it out and that I would say it was my biggest learning, which I'll take from this is that, you know, because I wasn't intentional about that, I didn't think about my long-term financial security. I didn't think about my long-term career path, progression, any of those things.
00:16:42
Speaker
And so that is something I really wish I did. And i only by going through this process, only in this last year, have I really realized the impact that had on me. So, yeah, I went off on my maternity leave and my husband and I had a discussion about,
00:16:59
Speaker
what life would look like after we had children and he was in you know a well-paid job full-time and he you worked for an overseas company so he had to go back to work it you know and I very much had always said that I would like to be there with my children when they are small just something inbuilt in me that I just you know part of my own child whatever it is i wanted to be around I wanted it to be the parent wanted to be the mom there at the end of the school day So we'd said, okay, well, I'll take five years off.
00:17:27
Speaker
Sort of guesstimating, okay, we'll have five years off when I have kids. Didn't even think about it, literally, didn't think about it. And I just felt so, i mean, now I'm so grateful, realizing the position that i was in to be able to do that. I'm very grateful.
00:17:40
Speaker
But the implications that's had on so many different things, you know, even on our relationship and our dynamic as a family going forward has been pretty huge. So i wish I had thought about that.
00:17:51
Speaker
and So, yeah, so I went off maternity leave.
COVID-19 and Family Dynamics
00:17:54
Speaker
I met you a couple of weeks later. i think maybe a week later I met you at NCT and had my first. And I was so in love and so happy. I just wasn't thinking about anything else. It was just enjoying being there with my newborn.
00:18:12
Speaker
And then COVID hit. And in a weird way for me, they say he was 10 months old and I was, and my husband and started working from home for the first time ever.
00:18:23
Speaker
Like he never worked from home. He went back to work four days after my son was born back into London. I remember it because my son actually got got a tick and I had to take him to hospital.
00:18:35
Speaker
That is another story. But He, you know, he had to go back to work. He had a full-time job. He, you know, he was supporting us. He had to go back. And so that moment when we found out that he could work from home, it was magic.
00:18:49
Speaker
Honestly, like I felt probably one of the only lucky ones that felt like, actually, we're we're gaining something here. This opportunity for him to see our son walk for the first time and for him to be around for bedtimes and bathrooms, even though he wasn't able to necessarily help, it was just having that additional background support that I was very grateful for.
00:19:07
Speaker
And then as that sort of progressed and obviously COVID got more tricky and challenging and things and I got to a point, and I can't remember what point it was, I think it was really about a year old and I had gone knee deep into being a parent. Like I was like, well, if I'm going to do this full time, I'm going to do it full time.
00:19:26
Speaker
Like I'm going to. be that parent who does the activities, who does this and that. I'm putting him into like boxes with water and soap and ladles and whatever else, try and entertain him because it was COVID and there was nothing else to do. But also because I was like, I was loving it and it was great.
00:19:45
Speaker
But then I got to a point where I was like, okay this is great. but I need more than this. Like I do need a little bit more. and We got to a point where he was starting to go to my mother-in-law's a day a week just to give us a bit of a break.
00:19:57
Speaker
And I didn't i didn't want to I felt really guilty sending him to hers, even though it was really good for everybody without almost another
Retraining and Starting a Business
00:20:07
Speaker
purpose. Like I, and I'm not going to lie, when he started napping properly, i would look at those two hours and be like, right, I can either clean the house Right.
00:20:17
Speaker
Or I could learn to do something so then I can pay somebody else to clean the house and I can do like a job where I can. So I'm going to train myself up to do something else. um And at the time I was really into Montessori and I'd learned about that and then yeah gone down that rabbit hole.
00:20:32
Speaker
And so I retrained to be a Montessori qualified teacher during that next year. and So I applied and got into an online course and went knee deep into Montessori.
00:20:44
Speaker
So much so I then decided that I'll start a business from it as well. And that was, um I often forget this part of the story because I don't know why I forget about it really, because I learned so much and I'm so grateful for it and it gave me so much purpose at the time. But essentially I had realized there was a bit of a gap in the market for Montessori furniture. And so maybe a meal and started to make my own.
00:21:12
Speaker
So um I went and found this guy to help us and we designed together these this Montessori furniture and we sold it. And as part of doing that, i wanted to educate parents around what Montessori in the home was and all of those things.
00:21:23
Speaker
And I created ah you know an e-commerce store and it was great because i found a purpose again. was like, I can make some my own money. I've got this driver within me. I was having a great time. I was learning all sorts of things.
00:21:37
Speaker
And, you know, I didn't feel guilty for sending him to my mother-in-law's. So yeah, so that was my sort of mini business that had in between my two boys. There is just so much to that. and And I think it makes a lot of sense.
00:21:52
Speaker
What you were saying there about that sense of purpose is just so incredibly important. Because it's okay to recognize and reevaluate being stay at home mother is incredibly challenging, but that there's, it's not quite, you know, filling me with everything that I need to do.
00:22:13
Speaker
And once we become a mother, our identity shifts. We're trying to figure out what to do next, how to balance it. um you know So that that purpose piece, it's just so, so important.
00:22:25
Speaker
And also what you're saying about the and those preconceived notions and not planning and pulling out an arbitrary number. I'm pretty sure the majority of us do that. you know that is not That is not you. We we don't know.
00:22:36
Speaker
the challenges that we're going to face, et cetera, et cetera. We do. We're, you know, with the hard time, we're trying to just do it one step at a time, aren't we? Well, that's it. And for me, it was, you know, in the five years, it felt like, you know, I was going to be there for the bit that I felt was important in the first five years. But for other people, it's different parts of their children's life that they want to be there for, for different reasons. And I think we have to acknowledge that, you know, it may sound idealistic, but why should we not be able to be there? Why should we not, you know, be able to have this choice of, you know, we're raising a family, we have a family for a reason. It's not just to tick a box.
00:23:10
Speaker
and I will say on the purpose piece is that, you know, part of the reason that I did my Montessori qualification and started the business was not just to give me something to do. And I had a real bugbear during this time was that I felt like the perception that people had was that, oh, Amy's busy now. Amy's keeping herself busy. She's got something to do. It's a little job on the side. And I remember somebody saying, oh, you know, that's a nice...
00:23:35
Speaker
and hobby or something and I was like excuse me what this is not a hobby like this is me trying to give myself some financial stability and independence and giving myself some purpose and to use my ambitions and drive that I know is so in there and this is not a hobby this is not just keeping me busy and I'm a real bugbear and I really feel for any parent, mother who is having to go out on their own, having to create their own business because there is no other choice. Actually, is not just a hobby. It's not just keeping you busy.
00:24:08
Speaker
It's because you feel like there's no other way. Oh, that is honestly the most patronizing thing I've ever heard. and Like, it's not, we we still need work and, oh, honestly, but because that's the thing. So many of us are driven to set up our own business. We, it's, it and it's not just purpose. We need that Bloody financial
Second Pregnancy Challenges
00:24:28
Speaker
stability. We also need the money. You wouldn't say that to a man.
00:24:31
Speaker
Oh, that's nice for that you have something to do. You are now running your own business. Exactly. Never has that been said to a man, I bet. No. Dadrepreneur is not a thing.
00:24:49
Speaker
Okay, so you are running your fabulous business. Your youngest is about one, and then you get pregnant with your second. Yeah, so, yeah i was yeah, in the midst of doing both, and then, yeah, pregnant and...
00:25:06
Speaker
I honestly, that second pregnancy, but the second birth and the few first few months, a couple of years really of my youngest was really hard.
00:25:18
Speaker
Unlike my first, where it felt like everything came easy and I was one of those annoying ones. When it came to my second, I just struggled. I really had such high anxiety. I struggled really.
00:25:30
Speaker
with everything, everything felt so much harder, whether it's because I had two now and I was very rare with my eldest and didn't want upset him, but everything felt so much harder. that second time around so much so that actually stopped the business, um partly because of circumstance, but also that I just couldn't see how i was going to make it work. I didn't have the time, the capacity, the energy, you know, my anxiety was so high that I just stopped that.
00:25:55
Speaker
So it took me, I'd say, a good year of my youngest until I really felt a little bit like myself again. And then after that second year, where um he was you know going to be two I started to get those same feelings like I did with that person that sort of itchiness to do something for myself again and it was then that I at the same time I think I was seeing you going off and doing an incredible thing changing your career doing courses doing everything you can boot camps in the evenings to make
00:26:31
Speaker
life work for you and your family and I was so incredibly to be proud of you and majority of our friends at that point were going back to work and honestly i just felt really lost like I felt left behind I felt like stuck I was like well if everybody else is doing this how why can't I do this? I really want to do this.
00:26:52
Speaker
i want I need to go back to work. I need to do something for myself again. I've got a little bit of time now, not much, a day or two without children. And I want to use it.
00:27:03
Speaker
um And I don't want to clean house because let's face it, that's horrendous. So... Yeah, so I, at this point, I was like, right, I'm going to, you know, go back and have a look at my doctorate again, see if it's a possibility.
00:27:18
Speaker
And at that point, I sort of changed more towards the clinical psychology doctorate because it looked like it had more scope, you know. Ed psych is a bit more restrictive. You're still sort tied to school and things like that. So I wanted to give a bit more scope. And I was also a lot more interested in the mental health side of things of children. so i sort of started to revisit that. And as I was doing that, I was really desperately looking for some...
00:27:41
Speaker
part-time work that I could do, you know, essentially between school hours and nursery hours. and And my God, it was horrendous. Like I literally she was Googling, you know, part-time roles, you know, and things like Amazon delivery driver, cleaner came up, all of these very low level, low paid jobs, which, you know, but that was it. There was nothing else. like That was how grim it was. And I just remember in that moment thinking, wow,
00:28:09
Speaker
What the actual, there needs to be something
Frustration with Job Flexibility
00:28:12
Speaker
done about this. Surely this is not the only option. Like I am a qualified person, I should be able to find a part-time role. And I remember at the same time, Anna Whitehouse is doing a lot of work around the Flex Appeal and she sort of said, well, there needs to be these job boards for people to actually get jobs that are flexible.
00:28:28
Speaker
And I couldn't agree more. I was literally like, yes, yes. And and so slowly the seed started to get planted. um it hadn't quite developed yet, but it was there. and i was getting And I was starting to get frustrated because I was desperate to work, honestly. I would have ah pretty much would have done anything.
00:28:44
Speaker
and But it had to be worth it because I was taking the time away from the kids. So I was like, whatever I'm doing, it's got to be worth it. And so I was lucky because I, I say lucky, but I managed to sort of land two roles the same time. So I landed and NHS bank assistant psychology role, and which took so long to go through the process that I, and there was so little work actually available.
00:29:09
Speaker
um And it was so, it was almost too flexible in the point where it's like, well, you could be working here and there and you might go over there and, It didn't really work. And then you had this, I had this other opportunity where I could work um up to 10 hours a week for a private practice online as an assistant psych. And I was like, this perfect.
00:29:28
Speaker
Brilliant. I called it my five and a half hour job because that's how much I was able to give at the time. And then sadly... And this is not their fault because they were a growing practice, but they needed more of me, which I couldn't give. They needed me to do meetings in the evenings, which I couldn't do because my husband worked for the US.
00:29:45
Speaker
And i they needed me to do extra hours over the holidays. And they needed me to do, and from what we had agreed up front, what they then were expecting me to do, I felt like I was just failing the whole time. I couldn't give them what they wanted.
00:29:58
Speaker
So I was kind of not achieving what I wanted, which was to be productive. I felt like actually I wasn't doing enough. So I stopped doing that. And also part of the reason was that i I looked at that and i thought, my gosh, this is, if I'm doing this part-time, this is like at least a 10-year path to where I want to be, which is, you know, a clinical psychologist.
00:30:18
Speaker
And it's not going to be easy. I was like, is it doable? and So yeah, so that's sort of where we got up to. And then my eldest started school. And that's when...
00:30:29
Speaker
That's when the identity crisis happened, Emma. Oh, yes. ah First of all, you know, before we we kind of talk about the seeds of Five Hour Club, I just want to say thank you for sharing that and thank you for being honest, you know, about the reality of what it was like when your second came along.
00:30:45
Speaker
Because the truth of the matter is when you're in that situation, like you do have to take it day by day and you're not going be thinking ah about your career, you know. So thank you for being honest. Yeah.
00:30:56
Speaker
Now, I do remember, like, we were having a lot of discussions at this time, like, during our play dates, and we were talking about our frustrations, and, and and you know, I remember this one particular walk where...
00:31:07
Speaker
we went and it was on a pretty dreary day. um The boys were in their buggies and you told me about your seeds of the idea for Five Hour Club. Can you talk us through that in that initial seed and to kind of then what happened after that? How did we get from that seed to where we are today, Amy?
00:31:26
Speaker
What happened?
Inception of the Five Hour Club
00:31:29
Speaker
Great question, Emma. Well, part of the problem is that our toddlers have synchronized their naps for the first time, which gave us space to actually talk. That's what happened. Yeah, that's what happened.
00:31:40
Speaker
One and only time we decided to come up with a, you know, a global organization to take over the workplace. But i honestly, where the Five Hour Club really kicked off was where my eldest started school. And I honestly, i just had a bit of an identity crisis. Like people at the gates would ask me, oh what do you do?
00:32:01
Speaker
And i I didn't know what to say because honestly, at that time, i was... being a stay-at-home mom like I wasn't working on a career path I wasn't working I wasn't training to do anything else I was in limbo I was stuck I didn't know what the hell I was who I was what I was going where I was going and that question just threw everything under the bridge I was just like oh this is horrendous I just what do I do now And I was like, I have five hours a day.
00:32:33
Speaker
and I said five hours because I was like, it takes me a little bit of time to get to and from school or whatever. But i have five hours day where I know I can be really productive if I wanted to. And so actually the beginnings of the Five Hour Club for me was just, I wanted to start sharing what actually do in that time. Like share some of the invisible stuff that happens behind the scenes. Share me doing the washing, the cleaning, the sorting out the clothes drawers. these things.
00:32:57
Speaker
things that have to happen and I was doing them mainly throughout the school day but I was there's more to it than that I know that if I was given a role I could work between the school day very easily and very productively and I was like why are there not roles that do this And I've been speaking to parents and plenty of play groups, you know, our rants and our chats about it. I'd seen you successfully transition to a place where you could do this.
00:33:23
Speaker
And I wanted it too. And, you know, speaking to so many other moms who had that same thing, their kids were just about to start school and you'd have that, oh what are you going to now thing? it's like, well, I don't know. i want to do something for me, but I don't know how.
00:33:36
Speaker
And so, yeah, so the the start of it really was just build up and see if anybody else felt the same way that I did. because I felt really alone I felt really lost um and very lonely honestly so that's where sort of the five-hour club beginnings was and over time you know we we got chatting more about it and then and then your birthday happened Dem and then had more time together it did it was my birthday day but you know it
00:34:07
Speaker
It's going to happen sometime. so so em So to explain, on Emma's birthday, she very kindly came over to my house. I threw her a pretty crappy kids party with our toddlers.
00:34:18
Speaker
And she was say she was so happy at the time. And I say she, I'm talking to you. But you were so happy. And you were so full of your new role.
00:34:29
Speaker
And you were so kind to be like, OK, you think we were a bit fueled pro-Poseco. But you sat me down and said, look, Amy, I'm sorry. What is it that you want? Take me through your options. So on your birthday, i sat you down and you coached me and I told you my three my options. So one of them was to continue trying to do the clinical psychology route, which was long, going to really long, hard, tricky path.
00:34:52
Speaker
Um, the second was to start a beach school, um, because we, we'd lost our beach school and I was like well, there's training in September. I could do that. And I could do a beach school for the next couple of years when my youngest is still at
Encouragement to Start the Podcast
00:35:07
Speaker
home. That'd be a really great thing to do. I live right by the beach.
00:35:09
Speaker
What a great option. Uh, the third was to just, stick in and dig in to being a parent for the next couple of years and just you know accept that I'm going to be a stay-at-home mum and really go for it you know before my youngest started school and then the last option was to see if there was anything in this five-hour club idea and you were like do that one that's the one you gotta do it was just so obvious that the others were like oh well I could do this and I could do this
00:35:41
Speaker
Or five-hour club, which is obviously what you were passionate about. But the thing, and I feel very grateful that had those options. i Honestly, I can look back on that and i think I'm very grateful that I was able to think in that way. and But really, my my key drivers were that, you know I wanted to find people that felt the same way as i did, but also, you know, find a way to, you know, give myself purpose again, because I just felt so lost.
00:36:09
Speaker
So you very kindly, on your birthday, decided to, said that you'd do the podcast with me, which, know, was very exciting. And we got out the flip chart paper and the kids are drawing on it and we were writing down all of our ideas.
00:36:21
Speaker
And then, yeah, we just sort of, that was that. And we sort of left it for a few weeks and, you went off and thought, oh, we'll do that at some point. Yeah, we we kind of behind the scenes, we were sending each other our own little podcast, weren't we? Because we started to kind of research more into this.
00:36:37
Speaker
And the more that we researched, the more that I think this fire kept going and we couldn't stop. And what we didn't realize, you know, on that IKEA paper on my birthday, that we were planning and mapping out not just the podcast, but actually five-hour club.
00:36:54
Speaker
and then And then finally, um i i was saying to you, like, I had barely been on LinkedIn, to be perfectly honest. it so I was like, come on, come over to LinkedIn now. It's time, Amy, because you hadn't really been on LinkedIn. You hadn't posted.
00:37:07
Speaker
um And then what happened next,
Launching the Podcast and Job Board
00:37:10
Speaker
Amy? Yeah.
00:37:12
Speaker
Well, then I did post, which is so bizarre. Like you said, i literally, I don't think I'd ever really gone on LinkedIn prior to this. Like I'd barely made a profile. And we had said, well, if in a couple of years time we want employers to get on board with this idea, then we probably should go on LinkedIn.
00:37:30
Speaker
Right. And you were like, look, it's all here. There was movement here. People on LinkedIn are talking about this stuff. Look at this. They're talking about the wrong stuff. Whatever. Like you were just fired up by LinkedIn. So I was like, okay, all right.
00:37:42
Speaker
I'll just do ah i'll do a post and nobody's going to read it and it'll just rip that plaster off because you had taught me, we just got to do something. Just about with the podcast, you're like, we just got to do something.
00:37:53
Speaker
So then, yeah, so I went away and kind of without real intention or anything, just went and wrote and shared that post last May, back holiday. And then the rest is history.
00:38:05
Speaker
The rest is history. Just went bunkers and then we were able to launch podcasting five-hour club jazz board two months later. so we just act, you know, it is unbelievable, um you know, what that post was able to achieve in that time.
00:38:23
Speaker
And by so many people sharing their stories, you know, that feel, that fueled us. i So yeah, what think, like, it's so cliche, but genuinely what an incredible journey. And it makes so much sense knowing you kind of like now understanding what happened before children.
00:38:45
Speaker
Normally we ask our guests kind of two questions at the end, but I actually want to ask you one question and it's a little bit different because you were in the thick of it because you were, you know, having that identity crisis and you really struggled with that question and you felt so, so, you know, so much of the pain and the struggles of finding that role, knowing what you know now, a year after hour club,
00:39:10
Speaker
and having talked to so many different people and so many different employers, is there anything that you would say to someone who is in the midst of all of it, who is in the midst of that search, who's having that identity crisis, who is really struggling at the moment? Is there anything that you, is there any advice that you would give to them?
Advice to Struggling Parents
00:39:31
Speaker
You are not alone. Like there are, sadly, there are so many of us that feel like this now or have felt like this or, you know, will likely feel like that in the future, you are not alone. And if you can just trust the process that it is not your fault, like it is not your fault that you feel that way, you haven't done anything to make, you know, that happen, it's the system which is broken. It's a system, which is the problem. It's not you.
00:40:04
Speaker
And so if you can just sort of take away that it's not you doing anything, there's nothing you can do do about that, but know that and trust in the process that It will come right again. Like I do believe that if you really just trust your gut, look out for those red flags of companies that you think, no, they're not going to serve me right as a parent. you know Really just trust the process that you will find your fit one day.
00:40:31
Speaker
and you will find where you belong because they are out there. And that's what the one, you know, one of the really brilliant things from going through this last year that we have seen so many incredible employers, companies, people who are backing us, who are supporting us, who want parents to succeed and really recognize what parents can bring to the table.
00:40:51
Speaker
So just trust that you will find one of those because hopefully we will, there'll be more of them. You know, the more that, it becomes normalized, that we work in a slightly different way, that we but we are still productive. Hopefully it will change the system so that actually works for us a little bit more. It's not going to happen overnight.
00:41:10
Speaker
but hopefully you'll be able to find the one that works for you for now. And I will say what's been really nice about this year, which has been unexpected is that, you know, this time last year, we know that this became a huge problem. We know there was all this support out there. We know so many people felt the same.
Creating Supportive Workplaces
00:41:27
Speaker
And now a year later, we're still talking to some of those people that we met this time last year who were in a position like me, who were really stuck and in limbo. And throughout this last year,
00:41:37
Speaker
They have found a place where they belong. They have found a company that supports them. They have made a change so that they can work in a way that works for them. And that has been so incredible to hear about because it is those success stories to show that it can be done, which really gives us a boost to know, okay, it's worth doing. It's worth making the noise. It's worth sharing the story. It's worth talking to your employer, it's worth, you know, listening to those red flags because, you know, if you trust that process, you will find what you deserve.
00:42:10
Speaker
Absolutely. Could not have said it any better. And I totally agree. It has been so incredibly empowering, like working, collaborating and following and seeing other people just like you. Like it's been incredible to see the transformation in yourself.
00:42:25
Speaker
um But yeah, I just want to say thank you so much everyone for following us on this journey, for sharing your stories, because this is why we're doing it. Like this is what fuels the fire.
Gratitude for Community Support
00:42:38
Speaker
um Because you're right, it is a systemic problem. and It's a global systemic problem. and we're not going to be able to solve it ourselves that's what we you know we realized that very quickly and so we are honestly we are so grateful for all of your support for you all being here for you sharing your stories for you you know pointing us in the right directions of great employers all of those things really make a big difference to what we're doing and it really does just drive us every single day at the moment there's only two of us and we're doing everything we can from around our kitchen table but I do I feel like we've got an army behind us and I
00:43:10
Speaker
Honestly, we are i so, so grateful for that. We could not be doing this without you. yeah No, we absolutely could not be doing it without you. So yeah, so thank you so much for sharing your story, Amy. i loved hearing all of it.
00:43:24
Speaker
um So thank you. And thank you, Em, because honestly, could not be here without you either. This has been a roller coaster. My gosh, if I was doing this on my own, I don't think I'd be here a year later. So thank you for jumping in with both feet when that post went crazy and joining me on this crazy, crazy journey.
00:43:42
Speaker
Well, it has been fun ride. Indeed it has. Wow. here's to Here's to another year at the Five Hour Club. Thanks so much, everyone. Thanks so much. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.