Nicola Hodd knows that parenting while working can be extraordinarily challenging. She also knows it doesn’t have to be. Nicola, a marketing operations wrangler for Automattic’s WooCommerce business unit, shares her experience of returning to work after maternity leave two years ago, when her child was just starting daycare:
“Those first few months, especially, were quite hard to adjust to working life again, and juggle the schedule with a little one,” Nicola said. “And not only that, but he joined daycare in the winter, and just caught every bug that seemed to be going.”
Benefits not only a mother could love
What made this transition manageable was Automattic’s exceptional flexibility. Nicola could work from home, attend video calls with her child present when needed, and adjust her working hours to coordinate childcare with her partner. She adds that these benefits “might not be absolutely groundbreaking, but they really do make a massive difference to my life, being a mother of one child.”
Nicola emphasizes that this level of understanding and flexibility is still relatively uncommon in the UK workplace culture.
“To have a bit of flexibility was just, yeah, it was just amazing, really, that if he needed to be home, I could sit there on calls with him there with me,” she said. “You know, none of my team minded at all. They totally understood.” As time progressed and they settled into a routine, this flexibility continued to prove invaluable.
Additionally, working from home frees Nicola to participate in her child’s daycare activities, such as holiday parties, and respond quickly to any needs that arise. Nicola reflects that without all this flexibility, she might have had to reconsider her career aspirations, as she couldn’t imagine managing a rigid office schedule with a long commute into central London while being a parent.
“So I think, as good as employers are getting nowadays, Automattic just stands out,” she said.
This equality helps reduce the common concern that taking time off for childcare might disproportionately impact women’s careers.
No penalty for parenting
Notably, Nicola highlights another significant aspect of Automattic’s culture: the normalization of parental leave for both mothers and fathers. This equality helps reduce the common concern that taking time off for childcare might disproportionately impact women’s careers.
“It puts less of an onus on the women feeling like it’s like their career that’s being jeopardized because they need to take time out for their children or, you know, they’re taking leave because they’ve got a new child coming. I love the fact that it’s very equal here, and actually everybody is used to just covering for somebody being on leave. I think that changes the perception of women a bit, like not being as worried about taking time out—because actually a lot of people take time out here for different reasons.”
Nicola appreciates that the company treats many different types of leave—whether for parental responsibilities or sabbaticals—as a normal part of work life, with established systems for coverage during absences.
Work-life balance is more than corporate jargon
While Nicola acknowledges that her story might not appear “groundbreaking,” she emphasizes its importance precisely because it represents an ordinary experience that significantly impacts many families’ lives.
She notes that while some people choose not to have children, others make this decision due to workplace constraints rather than personal preference, underlining the importance of more employers adopting flexible policies like Automattic’s.
“A lot of people are choosing not to have children nowadays because it is so hard to juggle everything,” she said. “And if that’s a choice, that’s fine. But I think it’s hard when the choice is made up for you because of the circumstances and not because that’s what you chose to do. So, yeah, I think it’s very important. Employers need to be more like Automattic in general. Automattic raises the bar high, that’s for sure.”
Help us keep raising the bar
Our thanks to Nicola for sharing her story.
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