The Truth About Going Back to Work After Baby

As a new mom going back to work, I was worried about how I would adjust. Trust me, I love my job and wouldn’t want to do anything else, but having my daughter introduced an entirely new sense of responsibility and a major priority shift. So yes, I was worried that my job would suffer and others would guilt me into thinking I wasn’t working hard enough.

How would I be able to meet a pressing deadline if I was at home with a sick child? Would I be able to continue working and advancing at the same rate that I did before my daughter? Or would I have to lessen my work load in order to integrate my job with my new role as mom?

Addressing these concerns I had with my performance advisor showed me that by going through the building blocks of the Wise Firm, I would be able to find a work-life integration that best suits my needs. Sure, there would be some changes in how I performed my job, but that didn’t mean my career would be sidelined by any means.

The culture at HORNE is one of growth, both as a firm and as team members. It’s also one that honors our founding values: faith, family, community and our clients. My performance advisor was there to help me navigate during this difficult time and was understanding of my new fears returning to work. She showed me that the building blocks of the Wise Firm, including a sense of belonging, flexibility and positive energy, are prevalent throughout the workplace and are crucial to my work-life integration.

We had discussions around hard decisions, such as traveling for client meetings and collaborated on how to integrate work and home. She gave me the opportunity to really forge my own path and empowered me to continue getting results. By doing so, I am able to still address my clients’ needs and meet them on a daily basis, but I’m free to define how I achieve those goals. With the flexibility to work from home as a new mom, I have a new sense of positive energy that goes into my work. As a result of this empowerment, within seven months of coming back from maternity leave, I received a promotion and within nine months, I passed all parts of the CPA exam.

This is the Wise Firm culture at HORNE that I’ve come to know and love—one that is truly focused on how to beBetter on both a personal and professional level.