037: Moms in Government Relations + Public Affairs, Part II
Parents At Work
In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview Jewelyn Cosgrove, a government affairs professional in Washington D.C. Jewelyn currently serves Melwood, a 501(c)(3) organization serving people with disabilities, as the Vice President of government relations, bringing with her 15 years of experience in public policy, lobbying, and advocacy. Outside of work, Jewelyn is passionate about elevating the needs of mothers and families and serves as the treasurer of Raising Our Future Political Action Committee, a PAC that’s aimed at electing congressional candidates...
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036: Dads in Government Relations + Public Affairs
Parents At Work
In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview two working dads who work in government relations: Clif Porter and Jeff McNichols. Clif is the Senior Vice President of government relations at the American Healthcare Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL), which represents more than 14,000 for-and not-for-profit nursing homes, assisted living residences, and facilities for the care of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He has been married for 31 years and has three children (Chanel, 28,...
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035: Moms in Government Relations + Public Affairs, Part I
Parents At Work
In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview Nedra Pickler. Nedra is a partner at the global public affairs firm, Finsbury Glover Hering, where she advises clients on communications strategy, including crisis communications, reputation management, thought leadership, and brand awareness. She brings deep perspective from inside the media after 17 years at The Associated Press and as a commentator on television and radio. Nedra covered the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, and the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Nedra is a single...
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34: Welcome Our New Parents at Work Co-Host!
Parents At Work
In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori welcomes to the podcast her husband and new co-host, Jason Levin, MBA. Jason is the founder of Ready Set Launch, LLC where he helps organizations, professional associations, executives and lawyers with career transition and business development needs through outplacement, individual coaching, training and webinars. Jason comes on as a guest to share his own experience with parenting (during a pandemic!) while also holding down a job and working for himself in his own business. Jason shares some empowering and actionable tips on everything from how...
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33: An Interview with Podcast Founder Tom Spiggle
Parents At Work
Being a working parent can be a long and intimidating journey, but we are fortunate to live in a time when there is an array of resources to support you on your path. Today’s guest is none other than Tom Spiggle, founder of the Parents at Work Podcast and Spiggle Law, an employment law firm. Co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin interviews Tom about his inspiration for starting the podcast, as well as his own personal journey as a working parent. Join Lori and Tom in this conversation for tips on how to navigate your working parent journey and to say farewell to Tom in his co-host role. Show...
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32: Engineer Dads
Parents At Work
In today’s episode, Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin interview two engineer dads about their experience as working parents. We are joined by Matt Jensen, Business Owner and Senior Project Manager at Kimley-Horn, who has been an engineer manager and structural design specialist for over 20 years. We were also joined by Paul Andrukonis, Director of Personalization for Citi’s US Consumer Digital organization. Both dads share what it’s like to be a parent in the engineering field, as well as the cultural shifts that have been happening in the workplace. They discuss the importance...
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31: Engineer Moms
Parents At Work
What is it like to be a mom in a field where only 15% of practitioners are women? In this episode of the Parents at Work Podcast, we interview Dhruva Lahon and Victoria Hills, who share what it’s like to be working mom engineers. They talk about the experience of being managed, of managing others, and of parenting during COVID. They also share how they found supports in this male-dominated field, along with how they leaned on family and friends and adopted flexible hours. Join Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin in this knowledge-filled and inspiring...
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30: Mental Health Dads
Parents At Work
Being a working parent looks different for every career, every family, and every parent. In today’s episode, Robin Smith, licensed marriage and family therapist shares his experience as a working dad in the mental health field. He shares wise insights, including the self-inflected pressure that can occur as a parent from having heightened awareness as a mental health professional, the shifts happening due to COVID-19, what it looks like to have grace and compassion for yourself and your children, and the many elements of being self-employed. Join Tom Spiggle and Lori Mihalich-Levin in this...
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29: Mental Health Moms
Parents At Work
This month, we’re focusing on moms and dads in the mental health field. And today we‘re delighted to be joined by two working moms who are mental health professionals, Dr. Elizabeth Allen and Dr. Aimee Danielson, to talk about navigating life as a working parent. Dr. Elizabeth Allen is an assistant professor of psychology and clinical psychiatry, and she’s also an assistant attending psychologist. She specializes in treating adolescents and young adults with anxiety disorders and OCD. Liz lives in New York, and she’s the mom of two girls, ages one and three. Dr. Aimee Danielson...
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28: Shifting From Work to Work From Home
Parents At Work
COVID-19 has seemingly shifted everything about our work force and our family dynamics. As many of us are working from home and have children who are also now occupying that space, it can be a process to find a routine that works for everyone. Today Tom Spiggle and co-host Lori Mihalich-Levin share what has worked for them in their shift to working from home and actionable tips for parents to find some small amount of sanity in their work and parenting.. Join Tom and Lori to learn more about how you can integrate a schedule and use connections to make your at-home experience as...
info_outlineIn today’s episode of Parents at Work, Tom Spiggle and co-host, Lori Mihalich-Levin, introduce us to 2 working dads in the HR field: Wiley Simmons and Adam Calli. Human resources are generally a women-dominated industry, yet men contribute a unique and valuable perspective.
Wiley Simmons is a single father of 2 and came to the HR field through a complete accident. Having an executive and administrative assistant background, he took an admin assistant temp job in the human resources field, and his boss was so impressed with his work, he was offered a position as a benefits coordinator. What he found was that with being prior military, the rules and regulations of the HR profession, as well as his enjoyment of helping people and interacting with staff, turned out to be the perfect career choice for him.
Adam Calli is the proud father of 2 and an HR professional. He is also the principal consultant and founder of the human resources consulting firm, Arc Human Capital, LLC. Prior to working in HR and having children, hotel operations were Adam’s specialty, but it was not especially conducive to family life. He did something quite revolutionary for 2002: he saved up his leave time and took 3 weeks FMLA leave after the birth of his son.
Both HR and non-HR professionals alike will enjoy hearing this discussion on industry trends, and finding that perfect balance between work and life. There’s something for everyone here. Please join us!
Show Highlights:
- Hard to trust HR personnel when you’re on the other side of the fence
- HR doesn’t get the accolades as a profession that it deserves
- Allowing time off to take care of family issues
- A support system is extremely important
- Parents need time off, too
- Mandatory leave law
- Talking to a therapist as a way to maintain balance
- Dealing with mental health issues
- Taking care of yourself and enjoying parenthood
- Watching other parents and deciding what kind of parent you want to be
- Why more companies are becoming interested in paid parental leave plans
- How the opportunity to utilize technology makes it easier for today’s parents to be more productive
- Why the “work/life balance” terminology is becoming obsolete
- The “work/life blending” concept is more practical for today
- Work and life is still just life
- Why progressive companies will accept and embrace the blending concept
- Old-school-mentality companies are in danger of fading out
- Hyper-efficiency as a brand new parent
- Which generations might be less accepting of this work/life blending
- HR availability to remote workers
- Helicopter parents
- Families being committed to everything but the family
- The value of committing to your children and your community
- Learning how to say no and understanding the commitment of saying yes
- Being a victim of your own success
- Encouraging employees to tap into the employee assistance program
- How a phone is critical technology when managing multiple people
- The benefit of family-shared calendars/apps
- How to teach our children time management as members of the family
- Time management is an incredibly valuable skill to have no matter what your field
Links / Resources:
https://www.spigglelaw.com/podcasts/parents-at-work/