How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty

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. In the final episode of the Summer Series, I close the series with a personal book roundup, sharing...

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. In this episode, I dive into mindset. Why it matters, how it shapes our behaviour, and how we can ta...

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. The third episode of the Summer Series brings together the themes of the series with a practical, ho...

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. In this episode, I explore change. Why we crave it, why we resist it, and how meaningful change actu...

Happy Holidays and welcome to my Limited Edition Summer Series! Over the next five weeks, I’ll be 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. Across the series, I’ll share tools I’ve used for years as an executive coach and...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat with Art Green, dad of three, entrepreneur, and one of New Zealand’s most recognisable modern fathers. Art shares his journey from rural small-town kid to The Bachelor NZ, to building businesses, becoming a husband, and now raising three young children with his wife, Matilda. But what makes this chat so powerful is Art’s vulnerability and intention as a...

In this episode, I chat with Georgie Dent, one of Australia’s leading voices on gender equality, parental support, early childhood education, and the motherhood penalty. As CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie has spent years campaigning for a system that recognises, values, and properly supports the work of caregiving. Georgie shares her own lived experience, from her early career as a lawyer and journ...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat to Danielle Chew, a senior leader at ANZ and co-chair of the ANZ Whānau Network, an employee-led group transforming the experience of working parents inside one of Aotearoa’s biggest organisations. Danielle shares her personal story of navigating motherhood, senior leadership, part-time work, caring responsibilities, and the very real juggle so many par...

In this episode, I chat with Michelle Allbon and Julia Bower, the powerhouse duo behind The Fractional Directory, a progressive platform redefining what leadership and productivity look like in today’s world of work. Michelle and Julia share the story of how they met as new mums in an antenatal class and went on to build a global business helping leaders and companies embrace fractional work, a mo...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat with Roam With Kids founder Renata Wiles to talk about the invisible work of parenting, financial fairness, and the conversations every couple needs to have before, during, and after becoming parents. Renata shares how a lockdown pregnancy, one income, and the realities of raising two young kids inspired her to build Roam With Kids, an app helping paren...

In this episode, I chat with Nicola Raynes-Pene, Partner at KPMG, mother of three, and 2024 Part-Time Power Lister, about what it really takes to build a thriving senior-level career while working four days a week. Nicola shares her story of burning out during the GFC, returning to Aotearoa, and reshaping her life and work rhythm to protect her health and her family. She opens up about how boundar...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat with Josie from Play Based Pēpi to talk about the very real journey of parenting, relationships, and rediscovering who you are after kids. Josie unpacks conversations she and her husband have had around parenting their three children and the work that goes on inside and outside of the home. She shares the challenges, the laughter, the love, and the grow...

In this episode, I chat with Jane Sweeney and Carolyn Kerr , co-founders of Anthem, one of New Zealand’s leading communications and marketing agencies. Together, they unpack how they’ve built a purpose-led, family-first workplace that challenges industry norms and how flexible, trust-based leadership can help smash the motherhood penalty for good. Jane and Carolyn share candid stories from their o...

Welcome to this bonus and unique episode where as part of the TVNZ documentary “The Motherhood Penalty TBC”, I interview Tāmati Rimene-Sproat. Well, in fact, Tāmati actually interviews me in advance of him becoming a first time dad. We talk about what his expectations are as he looks forward to becoming a dad, what kind of a dad he wants to be and he gets curious about how he might best support...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat with Sophie Moskowitz, founder of Imperfect Parents, to unpack what it really means to parent in today’s world, without the pressure to be perfect. Sophie shares how her experience as a mum of three and an early childhood teacher led her to create Imperfect Parents, an inclusive community offering antenatal classes, postnatal groups, and playgroups that...

In this episode, I chat with Jane Wrightson, New Zealand’s Retirement Commissioner, to unpack how motherhood impacts women’s long-term financial security. Jane shares her personal experience of becoming a mother in the 1990s without paid parental leave and highlights how policies like KiwiSaver, superannuation, and workplace flexibility directly shape women’s financial futures. From the gender pay...

In this episode of It’s Good To Talk, I chat with Emily Parks, marketing manager at the Dr. Libby Group and host of the Have It All podcast, about the realities of working parenthood, the messy middle of motherhood, and why honest conversations matter. This candid conversation offers practical insights and gentle encouragement for parents navigating career, kids, and everything in between. If you’...

In this episode, I chat with Stephanie Pow, founder of Crayon, a startup on a mission to reduce financial stress in the moments that matter most. Crayon is best known for creating the New Zealand Parental Leave Register, which brings transparency to over 300 verified parental leave policies nationwide. Stephanie shares the personal journey that inspired her to launch Crayon, and why even with a fi...

How often do dads get real about what’s going on in their heads? In this episode, I sit down with Aidan Kyrke-Smith, founder of Dadventure, to unpack the often-unspoken world of fatherhood, masculinity, and the invisible mental load that dads carry. From late-night worries to guilt around “who has it harder,” Aidan shares insights from years of working with dads who are desperate for deeper conver...

What would our workplaces and homes look like if caregiving was truly valued, shared, and supported? In this thought-provoking episode, I sit down with Joe Consedine and Jess Stuart from Mobilise to unpack the invisible labour of caregiving, the systemic barriers that keep gender norms in place, and the opportunities we have to innovate for equity. From the daily “mental load” of running a househo...

Welcome to. It's Good to Talk. The podcast that equips working parents with the conversations they need to be having. My name's Emma McClain. I'm an executive coach and I work exclusively with working parents. I know for sure that working and having a family is hard. But I think the answer to real long-term sustainable change is talking. So in this podcast, we're gonna shine a light on conversatio...

What are the conversations that truly make a difference for working parents? In this episode of It’s Good to Talk, I turn the tables on Anna Johnstone, executive coach, founder of The Female Career, and host of the podcast of the same name. Anna shares her journey from global corporate roles in Europe to returning home to New Zealand and building a business dedicated to lifting women up in their c...

In this episode, I talk to Victoria Crockford, Project Director of the Coalition to End Women’s Homelessness, to shine a light on an issue too often hidden from view: the growing housing insecurity faced by women in Aotearoa New Zealand. Victoria brings her wealth of experience across community housing, advocacy, the arts, and climate action to unpack the complex realities behind women’s homelessn...

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Amanda Sterling, Principal Director, award-winning consultant, and proud mum, to unpack her groundbreaking PhD research to help organisations remove systemic barriers and close gender pay gaps. Amanda combines decades in corporate leadership development and culture change with work that is backed by data, driven by curiosity, and fuelled by a deep commitment to creat...

In this episode, Emma sits down with two of New Zealand’s 2024 Part-Time Power Listers: Emma Thompson and Liz Blythe. Emma is a partner in PWC’s private business team and a chartered accountant with a passion for simplifying finance through technology. She supports privately owned businesses with virtual CFO services, finance function, transformation and general accounting and tax. Emma co-leads P...