The Breadwinners

For The Breadwinners Season 5 we’re tackling your stickiest work-life questions: This week, Jennifer + Rachael consider what to do when your client asks you to grow your business — and you’re not feeling ready. How should you respond?  Have a question for Rachael + Jennifer? Email us at thebreadwinnerspod@gmail.com or visit us at thebreadwinnerspodcast.com. We’re also on Facebook and Instagram. Le...

For The Breadwinners Season 5 we’re tackling your stickiest work-life questions: This week, Jennifer + Rachael consider what to do when your dream job starts off with a bang — as in, landing in a war zone between two warring factions. Is it even possible to broker a cease fire? Have a question for Rachael + Jennifer? Email us at thebreadwinnerspod@gmail.com or visit us at thebreadwinnerspodcast.co...

For The Breadwinners Season 5 we’re tackling your stickiest work-life questions: This week, Jennifer + Rachael share what to do when you’re promoted into a manager role that comes with a demoralized team — and yes, running for the hills is certainly an option. Have a question for Rachael + Jennifer? Email us at thebreadwinnerspod@gmail.com or visit us at thebreadwinnerspodcast.com. We’re also on F...

The Breadwinners is back for Season 5 and we’re tackling your stickiest work-life questions! This week, Jennifer + Rachael consider the classic breadwinner quandary: Is it time to look for new job? Have a question for Rachael + Jennifer? Email us at thebreadwinnerspod@gmail.com or visit us at thebreadwinnerspodcast.com. We’re also on Facebook and Instagram. Let us know what you think! And please,...

In 1978, Carol Evans helped launch Working Mother magazine. In 2001, she returned to become the first and only working mother to own it. In between, she would launch the Working Mother Best Companies as a way to encourage companies to compete to do better for their employees. In our Season Four finale, Carol shares the history, impact and legacy of the Best Companies — and what work still needs to...

A billionaire executive, author, philanthropist and working mother of two, Sheryl Sandberg has long been one of the most influential — and controversial — breadwinners in the world. This week, we dive into Sandberg’s “sort of a feminist manifesto,” Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, to consider its legacy nearly 10 years later. Support Abortion Rights Visit abortion.cafe to find resources....

In 2013, new working mom and newly minted tech CEO Marissa Mayer announced a bold new policy: no longer could employees work from home. The change not only impacted hundreds of employees at Yahoo, it sparked a debate that roiled workplaces nationwide. In this episode, Jennifer tells that story and how it prompted the launch of #NationalFlexDay. Support Us  Share us with your favorite breadwinners...

In March 2007, Tim Ferriss told a room of over-caffeinated tech engineers that they were working too hard. That he was more successful doing much, much less. From that day on, Ferriss became known as the “4-hour guy,” turning his passion for productivity into a one-man franchise. This week, Rachael + Jennifer take time to consider how to save it, use it and even, waste it. Support Us  Get The Brea...

When the pandemic forced non-essential workers home to work from the kitchen table, the bedroom, the backyard, they benefited from decades of improvements to technology and collaborative tools. In this episode, Rachael reveals how the modern era of work from home began — and its powerful impact on today’s changing workforce. Episode Links  Dad in Viral BBC interview Speaks Out  Our Favorite News R...

Today, the typical public school year is 180 days long, leaving about 16 weeks of child care to be covered by working parents who have only two to three weeks of paid leave (if they have any at all). How did we get here and what happens when we try to change tradition? Jennifer + Rachael break out their calendars this week to track it all down. Support Us  Get The Breadwinners t-shirts, stickers a...

From Ann Romano to Clair Huxtable to Jane the Virgin, this week The Breadwinners take a deep dive into how modern working mothers have been portrayed on TV. Rachael shares her favorite takes, considers the time that the NYTs’s front page asked, “Is Murphy Brown really a tramp?” and lets Jennifer belt out the theme song to “One Day at a Time.” Sing along! Support Us  Get The Breadwinners t-shirts,...

Shocking news: Paying women less is nothing new. Back in the 1860s, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton made a case for bridging the wage gap even as they fought for our right to vote. Jennifer and Rachael consider what’s happened since as well as the impact the pandemic is having on women’s wages now.     Support Us  Get The Breadwinners t-shirts, stickers and more!  Episode Links Batgirl...

With her red polka dot kerchief, blue work shirt and confident “We Can Do It” pose, Rosie the Riveter emerged an icon for working women during WWII. The men who created her, however, never meant for her to be permanent. In this episode, Rachael tells her story, from her birth to her disappearance in the 1950s to her rebirth — and shares what it took to make her possible in real-life. Learn more ab...

When it comes to feeding infants, we seemingly all agree that “breast is best.” In 2015, CDC reported that 83 percent of U.S. babies start out that way. But we didn’t always think this way. In this episode, Jennifer and Rachael dive into the pressure on new moms to not only breastfeed, but to breast pump as well and how it has impacted the workforce and public policy. Support Us  Get The Breadwinn...

Pandemic pressures have pushed millions of women out of the job market. What will this mean for their careers and earning potential — and what really needs to change in order to support working parents’ ability to support their families? In this episode, Rachael and Jennifer dive deeper into The Great Resignation’s impact on women.  Episode Links  Women are leading the way in the ‘Great Resignatio...

Yet another phrase created with the influx of working moms into white-collar professions in the 70s and 80s, “work-life balance” has stuck around as the concept we love to hate. Where did it come from and where will go from here? Jennifer + Rachael break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Family Medical Leave Act passed in January 1993, supporters hoped it was the first step to paid leave but here we are, still waiting. This week, we track the long and bumpy road to FMLA, look at what it actually offers and to whom, and try to name the five other countries that still don’t offer paid leave.  Support Us  Get The Breadwinners t-shirts, stickers and more!  Episode Links   Get...

When a 4.3 million workers in America quit their jobs in one month, they might be telling you something. In this episode, Rachael and Jennifer consider the factors driving the job market today — and whether calling it “The Great Resignation” is the right way to go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women with children have been working as long as there have been women, babies and work — but the phrase “working mother” is a modern description. This week we launch Season Four with a deep dive into its complicated history.  Support Us  Get The Breadwinners t-shirts, stickers and more!    Episode Links  Employment Characteristics of Families — 2020  Nation’s Working Mothers Increase 800% Over La...

In her most recent Women in the Workplace report, Stanford University sociologist, research and author Dr. Marianne Cooper reveals who is holding our workplaces together during the pandemic: “Women leaders are disproportionately doing the work to make their companies be better and do better. Their companies should do better by them.”  Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwin...

At age 16, Dr. Mary Bell Carson was already starting her financial career, working as a bank teller in her hometown. After a career as a financial behavior expert in the military and government sectors, Dr. Carson now brings her expertise to Chief Financial Mom, where she helps moms make smart money decisions and have healthy financial relationships.    Episode Links  Chief Financial Mom  Real Mon...

Keeping track of passwords and logins can be hassle enough for us, but how about our parents and loved ones? Christopher Huziak of Final Security shares how his company is helping the Sandwich Generation deal with its digital legacy, whether for themselves or their parents and loved ones — and why it’s so important to protect it.    Episode Links  Final Security  Want more Jennifer? Visit Jennwork...

Chelsea Brennan founded Smart Money Mamas to help women build thriving relationships with money — and teach their children the money lessons most of us never got. Today, her company is helping thousands of women create lasting financial change for themselves and their families. On this episode, Chelsea shares her tips for changing your POV around money with an eye towards building generational wea...

Sutter Health operations executive Cecilia Aviles returns to The Breadwinners to continue her conversation with Jennifer about life as a breadwinning mom. In this episode, she shares how raising two biracial daughters teaches her something new every day about race, gender and the next generation, as well as what surprises her most about living in the Sandwich Generation.  Episode notes  Episode 78...

A working mom of two, Tamar Smith first met Jennifer in those heady first days of childcare drop offs and pickups, when their toddlers daughters chose each other as their first-ever friends. Now with their girls off to college, Tamar and Jennifer reconnect to talk about life as a family of three at home, responding to “how do I?” texts from our freshmen daughters — and how we plan to pay for the n...