How To Stay Solvent and Successful...With Career Coach Kathryn Sollman

Show Me The Way

When mothers give up work they don't just lose their current salary, but their future earnings growth and the benefits they would've accrued over their career. Kathryn Sollmann is a US-based career coach and author of Ambition Redefined, Why the Corner Office Doesn't Work for Every Woman & What to Do Instead. She advocates for staying in work once you've had children even if you think childcare expenses mean you think you can't. Kathryn recognises that the examples of women in leadership roles are not appealing or realistic for most women's lives. The huge job managing hundreds of people on a vast salary will invariably mean you have little time for other things - like children and family. But as she explains in her book success isn't about a certain job title, it's about finding the flexibility that means you can be home nursing a sick child or ageing parent at 2pm or in the office to lead a big meeting at 7am.

She says women can have substantial careers but they have to do a professional pitch for flexibility. Doing this works 80% of the time. Not doing it, often results in rejection.

Kathryn Sollmann's book: Ambition Redefined https://www.amazon.com/Ambition-Redefined-Corner-Office-Instead/dp/1473679095 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynsollmann/ Books4Emmeline:Reach Out by Molly Beck http://mollybeck.co/reachout

Other resources: Kathryn talks about the hidden cost of not returning to work. Here's more on that and a handy calculator in the link so you can see how much you'd lose out. https://www.kathrynsollmann.com/do-the-right-math-cost-of-childcare-vs-staying-home/ The Center for American Progress https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2019/03/28/467488/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/