The Mummies: Esther Parsons and her sweet LIA Angel, Sylvie, 2
Meet the expecting Esther Parsons, Art Director, Clemenger BBDO and her daughter Sylvie, 2, our mischievous LIA Angel. We can’t tell who is glowing more… Sylvie’s halo or Esther’s pregnancy?!
Clearly not this creative talent’s first mat leave rodeo, this time round feels a lot different than when she was with Sylvie. Esther says, “before I had my first child I hadn’t seen any mothers in a creative department take maternity leave and this was only a couple of years ago. All I’d heard were the horror stories of being made redundant while on leave, being left behind career wise and of course the financial burden that came with it.”
And breaking the news wasn’t easy, “When I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I felt really nervous career wise. Luckily I had some great advice from a leader, he said ‘you will have new perspectives and new experiences to draw from and you will come back an even better creative.’ He was right. And it wasn't just those things either, there were a whole bunch of skills built during motherhood like resilience, multitasking and empathy that I found could be applied to work too.”
And her return felt as good as the new skills, knowledge and experiences she equipped herself with being a new mum. “I've had an overwhelmingly positive return to work experience. One that I didn't think was possible working in advertising a few years ago. It makes me excited to know future mothers can have the same and that our industry is slowly changing.”
On her return, she was determined to make the best work of her career, and her managers wanted to support her to make this happen in many small, but potent ways, “they continuously checked-in, fiercely protected my days off and importantly lead by example – like setting their “OOO” to “looking after sick kids” or leaving on time for pickups and bedtimes. This is all so important. Having a killer traffic manager is also a key part of this. I've really felt the support and eagerness to make it work across all different parts of the agency from fellow creatives to incredible producers and accounts teams. There will always be difficulties with working part-time and the solutions aren’t always simple, but for me it's worked really well to have some flexibility. I'm happy to attend the rare presentation that falls on my days off or work a bit later at night so I can still leave early for pickups and bedtimes.”
But like any new mum finding her advertising feet, it hasn’t been all sunshine and crayon rainbows, she says “although overall my experience has been a good one I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was hard at times. I've felt a lot of mum guilt - being preoccupied with an exciting brief or staying late to finish something. And then there's been times when I've felt guilty to my work team like if I've been off looking after a sick toddler (daycare bugs hit hard that first year).”
The work/parenting juggle has been a tricky one to crack, “I think if you’re ambitious and hard working it can be difficult to find the right balance. You can end up being your own worst enemy when it comes to sticking to boundaries. That's why it's so important to have good people around you who respect and hold you to those boundaries.”
Esther believes in the power of sharing and hearing more of the good stories will help other agencies and managers follow suit. She says, “we need to show young women that if it’s something they are considering for the future it won't necessarily negatively affect their career. Programs like The Aunties and Mums in Ads are crucial in accelerating these conversations and making positive return to work experiences and part-time work the norm within our industry.”
And others have made it known Esther’s return could inspire them to do it themselves one day too. “When I returned, I was humbled by how many young women had told me it’s been inspiring to watch someone come back and make it work. I realised how important it was to talk about our experiences and for future mums to see it is possible so we don't keep losing great female talent. While still being honest about the difficulties and challenges.“
Esther was the brilliant art director brains behind our operation — we couldn’t have done it without her. We also couldn’t believe how effortlessly she could navigate a set at 8 months pregnant!
While you’re reading this, Esther has given birth to another gorgeous angel, Violet. We ‘re wishing her and her family all the best.
📸 by Heather Dinas
📝 by Phoebe Sloane
