Being stuck in the middle isn’t just a metaphor — it’s daily life for the sandwich generation. These are the working parents juggling the care of kids while also supporting aging parents, and it’s a lot. Between the rising costs of childcare, senior care, and just everyday life, the pressure is mounting, especially for women who still tend to shoulder most of the caregiving. In this episode, we speak with Naaz Nichols, chief customer experience officer at Care.com about her own difficult journey...
Apr 12, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 6
For working moms, the rising cost of raising a family isn’t just a financial burden — it’s a daily source of stress that impacts careers, well-being, and the ability to plan for the future. In this episode, we dive into the rising financial pressures facing working parents today. From the skyrocketing costs of childcare, school supplies, summer camps, and college tuition to the everyday expenses of raising a family – the financial burden has never been higher. We speak with Kendra Cole, a PR pro...
Apr 05, 2025•32 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Working moms constantly juggle two nonstop ticker tapes — one filled with work deadlines, the other carrying the endless mental load of motherhood. It’s a daily reality that rarely gets the attention it deserves. In this episode, we discuss the daily dance that so many moms perform: the push and pull of balancing professional goals and financial stability with family responsibilities. We speak with global operations director Barbara Nicholas about how she had to take sick days or unpaid leave wh...
Mar 29, 2025•30 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Returning to work after maternity leave should be a transition, not a battle — but for many women, it’s anything but smooth. In this episode of Mom’s at Work, we explore the hidden struggles of working mothers re-entering the workplace, especially in hostile or unsupportive environments. From being sidelined or laid off to facing subtle (and not-so-subtle) biases, many mothers find that their roles have changed — not because of their abilities, but because of how they’re perceived once they beco...
Mar 22, 2025•34 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Starting a family is one of the most exciting moments in life. But for so many people, the reality comes with unexpected hurdles — whether it's struggling with fertility, figuring out what benefits your job actually offers, or realizing, too late, that your employer doesn’t provide much support at all.` Fertility issues are more common than ever, and the cost of treatments like IVF is sky-high. That means fertility benefits, paternity leave, parental support, and family-friendly policies are bec...
Mar 15, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Being a working mom is hard. Being a working mom with a child who has extreme medical needs? That’s a whole other level. In our first episode, host Jess Davies and Katie Martin, EVP of marketing agency Front Row talk about their personal stories of navigating intense caregiving journeys while juggling careers, and how they spent three years sending each other daily voice notes – across different continents – sharing the raw, unfiltered realities of balancing work and motherhood in impossible cir...
Mar 08, 2025•38 min•Season 4Ep. 1
If there is one thing that has revolutionized the working world this past year, it’s the surging popularity of generative artificial intelligence. Technology like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s CoPilot can take notes for you, draft emails, summarize meetings, write performance reviews, provide tips for tough conversations, and as I’ve learned, even write you an introduction for your podcast. It’s been revolutionary for middle managers who are looking for ways to streamline their workflow and get more t...
May 28, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 6
One of the most common ways workers can find support and camaraderie is through a union. But what if your role doesn’t allow you to be a part of a union? That’s the case for middle managers. According to the National Labor Relations Act, managers are prevented from joining unions because it creates a conflict of interest. So where does that leave managers when it comes to support? Like in so many other instances, they are falling through the cracks. Without formal support groups, middle managers...
May 21, 2024•28 min•Season 3Ep. 5
A therapy session and a one-on-one with your manager can be eerily similar. In fact, middle managers are often navigating tough conversations with team members. That is heightened today in this return to work era that puts new dynamics at the forefront like hybrid and remote work. Those conversations range from figuring out a flexible work schedule so that your team member feels comfortable picking up their child from school instead of attending a 4 o’clock meeting to telling a team member they’...
May 14, 2024•27 min•Season 3Ep. 4
What does it look like when an organization doesn’t have any middle managers at all? In our last episode, we spoke to Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at the University of Manchester, about the pitfalls of promoting an “accidental manager.” He doubled down on why the best player doesn’t always make the best coach, why proper management training is crucial, and how the younger generations are changing management. So to avoid creating an “accidental manager,” what d...
May 07, 2024•34 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In the sports world, the best players don’t always make the best coaches. Wayne Gretsky is called hockey’s “Great One” for a reason. As a player, he won 4 Stanley Cups and 9 MVP awards. But what some people may not know is that he also coached in the NHL. In his four seasons coaching the Phoenix Coyotes, they didn’t make the playoffs once. That story often repeats itself. Magic Johnson is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He won 5 NBA championships with the Los Angel...
Apr 30, 2024•31 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Middle Managers’ Difficulties. Frustrated Middle Managers. Discontent of Middle Managers. Job Outlook for Middle Managers. Middle managers are the least confident they’ve ever been. Why are middle managers so miserable? How to loosen the squeeze on middle managers. Those are all headlines about middle managers. The first group were published between the 1970s and 1990s. The second, in 2023 and 2024. How has the story not changed for middle managers in over 50 years? That’s what we are diving int...
Apr 23, 2024•35 min•Season 3Ep. 1
WorkLife is proud to present season three of The Return, a podcast about the modern workforce, with this season focused on middle management. Last season, we heard what it’s like for Gen Z to enter the workforce for the first time in a post-pandemic world. We highlighted themes like why values are so important to Gen Zers, whether or not they are loyal to their employers, how they use TikTok for career advice, what it means to be a young professional who is a boss to older workers, and so much m...
Apr 09, 2024•3 min
Since we first started reporting for season two of The Return in January, a lot has changed. Our guests have continued to face uncertain workforce conditions that include, for some, layoffs or difficulty finding a job, while others have talked about how they have experienced new jobs or being promoted. Throughout the year, we’ve seen artificial intelligence continue to boom while people worry how it’ll impact their jobs, return to office mandates plaguing the country forcing people to change the...
Dec 13, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Gen Zers are thinking about their identities and how they want to show up at work. This generation is all about authenticity, but for non-binary or transgender persons, that might mean jeopardizing your job, which is a lot to consider. Corporate America has stepped up its support of LGBTQ+ rights. It is more widely accepted to be out in terms of sexual identity in the workplace. However, there is still a long road ahead to foster a truly inclusive environment, especially when it comes to gender ...
Dec 06, 2023•36 min•Season 2Ep. 7
WorkTok, or CareerTok, is in full force. Combined, those hashtags on TikTok have over four billion views. There are sneak peaks into “a day in my life” from the perspective of everyone from McDonald’s employees to top executives at Fortune 500s. You can hear people vent about how they struggle to nail a work-life balance and there are those who share their 9 to 5 routines and how they find time for fun things to do after work. And there are salary transparency videos and even tips from career ex...
Nov 29, 2023•26 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Our whole lives we're told to look up to older people, learn from them and take their guidance. But what happens when a Gen Zer ends up in a leadership position managing people older than them? We spoke to Gen Z bosses about the realities they face as they work with older generations. They’re bringing fresh perspectives that might be misunderstood by more seasoned workers. In this episode, we check back in with Jerah Reeves, who we spoke to earlier in the series, to see how he handles these dyna...
Nov 15, 2023•26 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The days of working for one employer for the majority of your life are long gone. Our relationship with work has slowly evolved over time. In 2022, 22% of workers aged over 20 years old spent a year or less at their jobs – the highest percentage with a tenure that short since 2006, according to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. About 33% spent two years or less in their jobs over the same period. But Gen Z takes it a step further: they aren't even dedicated to a single employer ...
Nov 08, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this episode, we break down how important corporate social responsibility is to Gen Zers looking for a job. Making sure that a company’s values align with their own is at the top of their checklist. That mindset has impacted their job search, to the point they even say no to the highest paying positions to work at a company that closely aligns with their values instead. Choosing a career that aligns with your values was the case for recent college graduate Aldrin Villahermosa II. Growing up o...
Nov 01, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In this episode, we talk about the importance of mentorship in the workplace. There’s an awful lot to learn from experienced workers, and there has been a long tradition of passing down that experience – usually, in the office. But when Gen Z entered the workforce, it was remote. How did that impact building mentorship in the earlier days of their careers? Tracy Ziemer, one of host Cloey Callahan's first mentors, shares what advice she passed on to Callahan over Zoom at the beginning of her care...
Oct 25, 2023•20 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In this episode, we cover Gen Z’s origin story: they were raised to be resilient from the get-go. We discover how major world events – being born around 9/11, entering school during the time of mass shootings, then graduating into a pandemic – have shaped them as they enter the workforce today. And we meet Jerah Reeves, a Gen Zer who works at the Binghamton University School of Management in New York State, who had to leave behind his dream of being an NFL football player, and switch careers ent...
Oct 18, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 1
WorkLife is proud to present season two of The Return, a podcast about what it’s like for Gen Z to enter the workforce for the first time in a post-pandemic world. In season one, The Return followed an Atlanta-based advertising agency as the company returned to the office after a two-year pandemic hiatus. There were clear challenges among this population of workers who knew what a “normal” office used to look like. But what about a generation that is entering the workforce post-pandemic and has ...
Oct 02, 2023•3 min
It’s been six months since Atlanta advertising agency Fitzco officially returned to the office. The team has weathered spikes in in-office Covid cases, blurring lines between work life and home life, and technological hiccups. But ultimately, it’s been a smooth transition. In the final episode of The Return, we’ll do one more check in with Fitzco staffers Erick Arenas, Bryce Burton, Jennifer “Jay Jay” Jones, and of course, CEO Dave Fitzgerald. We’ll also take a final look at what the future of w...
Aug 17, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Fitzco sees its first positive case. While the team is disappointed, there are no active plans of turning back the clock to pandemic lockdown. Meanwhile, future of work experts talk workplace protections and how they’ve evolved to face Covid-19.
Aug 10, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Atlanta-advertising agency Fitzco has officially returned to the office. That third Tuesday in February was something like the first day of school–colorful balloons, reuniting with old friends and the feeling of a fresh start in the air. But that first-day-of-school feeling comes after two years of fear and loss and the nagging sensation that things won't ever be the same and the future of being an employee, or an employer, is very much uncertain. In the second episode of The Return, senior mark...
Aug 03, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Over the last two years, a lot has changed for Atlanta-based advertising agency Fitzco. Like the rest of the world, the agency has weathered the Covid-19 pandemic. At the top of this year, the agency started return to office plans, grappling with what in-office work looks like today. On the first episode of The Return, host Kimeko McCoy talks with Fitzco’s staff about everything from disappearing lines between work life and home life to how they’re now managing expectations ahead of their first ...
Jul 27, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Digiday is proud to present The Return, a podcast about what the return to the office can look like as corporate America adapts to the new, not quite post-pandemic normal. The Return follows the staff at one Atlanta-based advertising agency through Covid outbreaks, as well as the highs and lows of transitioning to hybrid work after two years of pandemic lockdown and working remotely. While the future of work is still under construction, employees across the country are forging their own paths to...
Jul 07, 2022•3 min
