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Welcome to the bringing the 
Human Back. 

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To human resources. 
Podcast I'm Tracy Chernoff and 

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I've spent my entire 
professional career in HR. 

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Each week, we'll explore the 
delicate balance between people 

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and business with the aim to 
reconnect the two and create 

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meaningful outcomes. 
Listen in as I share my own 

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experiences, challenge the 
status quo, and chat with guests

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from various industries about 
our mission to bring the human 

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back to human resources. 
Hello everyone, Welcome back. 

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To the Bringing the Human Back 
to Human Resources podcast. 

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It is my first episode back 
since maternity leave and I 

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haven't done this in, Oh my 
gosh, I don't know, at least 

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seven or eight months because I 
basically did all of the 

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recordings for the podcast for a
while. 

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I was out through the summer, so
I don't know. 

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Hopefully I can remember how to 
podcast and know where to look 

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for those of you who watched the
video, and hopefully my 

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microphone is working well and 
everything else. 

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So anyway, I guess the first 
thing, first thing's first, I'm 

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back from maternity leave. 
I'm actually recording this 

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episode one month to the day 
from my return to work, so I 

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have a lot to catch up with you 
on, but I do want to do some 

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housekeeping One you might hear 
my daughters in the background. 

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It's just my new reality and 
hopefully I've been able to 

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curate a an environment at least
for podcasting that is as least 

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distracting as possible or as 
little distract has as few 

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distractions. 
There we go as possible. 

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And if there is some background 
noise like toys or pianos or 

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music or babies crying or 
screaming or laughing, I do 

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apologize in advance. 
We are going to work to edit 

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that out if possible. 
But you know, this is just 

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reality, so let me catch you up 
in case you don't follow me on 

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Instagram. 
I had two daughters, they're 

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twins. 
We actually found out that they 

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are identical, which is really 
exciting and they are now almost

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six months old. 
They're like 5 1/2 months old at

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the time of this recording. 
I'm not trying to rush time, 

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just trying to accurately 
describe their age. 

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I was out on maternity leave 
from the end of October until 

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the middle of March, and it was 
a great amount of time for me. 

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I felt totally ready to come 
back. 

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But also, you know, equal parts 
like sad that it was over. 

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But I have a lot to kind of talk
about through that return from 

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leave with all of you. 
But just to quickly see, I think

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there might be a baby in the 
background there. 

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Just before I go into that 
topic, I do also want to say 

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that I know that there have been
some replay episodes throughout 

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these last few months and you 
know maybe you have been totally

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craving a new and fresh episode.
So I get that you can expect 

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that they all of these episodes 
that will be up and coming with 

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the exception of a few because 
of course I had some scheduled 

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already. 
Most, I would say 98% of them 

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are fresh recordings. 
So hopefully you're really 

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excited about that. 
I know I am. 

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I know my guests are really 
excited to join. 

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And then thinking about the 
podcast, I mean right now I do 

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plan to have an episode every 
week. 

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It is, of course, a lot of work 
to work full time and be a mom 

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to two kids and a wife and just 
a person in general, like 

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outside of those things. 
So right now my goal is to 

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continue with one episode a 
week. 

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I think realistically there 
might be some months or even a 

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part of the year where I say, 
you know what, I can't do an 

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episode every week. 
I need to do every other week. 

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So we'll see. 
All I ask is for your patience 

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and for you to maybe just go 
along for this ride with me as 

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you always have, if you've been 
here from the beginning, so that

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I can kind of learn what works 
for me as we go along. 

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But I definitely, definitely, 
I'm keeping up with the podcast.

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It's a very important part of my
life and how I see my career. 

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So I'm just excited to kind of 
get back into it, you know? 

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So that being said, I do want to
share with you what some 

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reflections are that I have from
being out of maternity leave and

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coming back to work. 
And with all of that, I also 

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encourage you to follow me on 
Instagram. 

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While I'm not necessarily the 
most active on stories, as maybe

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other people in this, you know, 
podcasting world or realm, it's 

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where I tend to be able to 
interact with you the most 

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directly. 
And you can visit my website at 

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hrtracy.com for tons of 
information and blogs and 

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newsletters and everything like 
that. 

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So without further ado, let's 
jump into what my takeaways are 

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from being back for maternity 
leave. 

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OK, so my first take away from 
maternity leave is that I I 

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think the one of the the best 
things that I did was prepare 

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while I was out on leave for my 
return because it was always the

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plan for me to return. 
I'm, you know, I'm obviously 

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very driven by my career. 
I have this podcast. 

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I love my career in HRI, love 
what I do. 

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I love where I work and with 
whom I work. 

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And the first episode of 2024 
was with Laurie Mihalik Levin 

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and we talked about the Mindful 
Return. 

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And she of course knew at that 
time that I was pregnant. 

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And I shared that obviously in 
the episode as well. 

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But we were talking. 
We recorded that podcast 

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episode. 
I want to say maybe in August, 

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July, August or September and 
maybe even a little bit earlier.

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Anyway, not the point. 
She and I were talking about how

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important it is to be prepared 
when you come back from a 

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maternity leave, paternity 
leave, whatever it is. 

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And I took her mindful return 
course in January. 

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So at that point I was two 
months postpartum, almost three,

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and I was I I took the course 
throughout. 

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I think it was like a six week 
course if I'm remembering 

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correctly. 
And it really allowed me to 

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think about what I would kind of
prepare for as I was returning 

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from leave, whether it was 
setting boundaries, what my 

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schedule was going to look like.
Would there be any changes to my

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schedule, changes to the way 
that I needed to work And 

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especially being a remote 
employee, of course, I have 

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innate flexibility already, but 
there are elements of my job 

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that sometimes do require me to 
color outside of the lines 

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within, you know, a daily 
schedule, let's say. 

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And so it really, that course 
really allowed me to think about

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what I needed, which for those 
of you who have been here for a 

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while, you you've heard me talk 
about myself in the way that, 

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you know, sometimes I just am 
very quick to action and I don't

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necessarily like fully think 
through all of the implications 

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of what I do for myself. 
And so that was a really 

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important exercise and very 
impactful exercise for me 

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because it slowed me down and 
anything that slows me down is 

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usually going to get the best 
and most thoughtful interaction 

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from me. 
So, you know, personally that 

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was really important because I 
don't know that I would have 

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really thought about what the 
differences would have been or 

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what I needed that might have 
been different from when I was 

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working prior to my maternity 
leave. 

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So that was really helpful. 
And Lori is awesome and her book

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is great. 
And if you haven't listened to 

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that episode, it was the, I 
think it was the the first 

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episode of 2024, it was the 
first or second. 

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Definitely have a listen to it 
because we kind of walk through 

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the mindful return theory and 
her book and how you can have a 

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successful return from leave 
because it is a major 

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transition. 
I mean everyone would ask me 

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kind of leading up to returning 
like Are you ready, how do you 

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feel? 
And then even now being back one

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entire month, I'm, I've been 
asked by my supervisor, 

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colleagues, etcetera, how has it
been, how has the transition 

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been? 
And so certainly it is a 

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transition for me. 
I think that preparation was 

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key. 
The 2nd take away that I have 

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from maternity leave is kind of 
lending to this idea around the 

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transition that you are a 
different person. 

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When you come back, as much as 
you are the same, you also are 

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different because you might, 
they're a major life event and 

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you had a child, in my case two 
children, and there's just a lot

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that changes when your 
responsibilities change and when

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your priorities change. 
And for me, although my my work 

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is absolutely my, absolutely my 
priority, you know, if one of my

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children is sick or, you know, 
our nanny isn't able to come to 

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work, right? 
Like that changes the way that I

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am able, God forbid, on all 
those fronts, right? 

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Like, 'cause we don't want that 
to happen, but inevitably things

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happen and I need to be able to 
be agile and shift and balancing

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those priorities that are really
important. 

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Life at home and life at work. 
It it can be challenging and 

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it's something that you do have 
to kind of think about. 

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And so my take away with the 
transition in coming back to 

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work is that I was and still am 
excited to be back at work. 

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And I do think that that's in 
part because I love what I do 

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and where I work and with whom I
work. 

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Also because I was prepared for 
it. 

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And then thirdly, I think 
because I work remotely and 

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because I feel some agency over 
my schedule, I didn't 

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necessarily feel that the 
transition was so difficult or 

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complex or frustrating. 
And I really think that the 

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emphasis is on the preparation 
and being remote, because I 

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don't know that I would be 
having the same conversation 

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with all of you if I worked in 
an office. 

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I've said it ad nauseam on my 
podcast that I will only ever 

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look for remote work if ever I 
was not where I am today. 

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And for anyone that I work with,
don't worry. 

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I love being where I am and I 
have no intention of leaving. 

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But obviously, like just 
generally speaking if if I were 

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ever to be in search for a job, 
it would never be looking for an

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office based role. 
Because now being a mom, seeing 

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the flexibility and what that 
affords me as a parent that now 

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it went from being like the most
important thing to the tippy top

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most important thing, I would 
take a pay cut to keep that my 

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reality. 
So and I feel like I've probably

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said that before being a parent 
too. 

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So maybe not much has changed on
that front, but regardless, like

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you really do change. 
And for me again, that 

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transition really didn't feel so
complicated and I feel grateful 

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for that. 
I mean, I'm very fortunate that 

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we're able to have someone come 
in for daycare basically and and

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caregiving for my daughters 
rather than needing to send them

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out of my home. 
I think that's 1A privilege that

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I have from working remotely and
to a privilege that I have just 

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from a financial perspective 
because childcare is really 

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expensive. 
And I'm sure that there are 

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listeners out there who either 
have not returned from maternity

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leave or don't plan to because 
of the cost of childcare. 

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And two, maybe are returning to 
the job force because they left 

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in order to be the the primary 
caregiver in their homes because

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of the cost of childcare. 
And it is so expensive, 

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especially in New York and New 
Jersey. 

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It's crazy and I think it's 
probably just expensive 

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everywhere, but I mean for two 
kids it is kind of comparable 

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like daycare and having someone 
come in and and be with them. 

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But regardless, like that is a a
major factor for many parents, 

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especially women. 
And I think we kind of talked 

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about that in the episode Lori 
and I that, you know, not 

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everyone is able to go back to 
work because the cost of of 

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childcare is more expensive than
what they receive monthly from 

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their job. 
So it's just that it's a lot for

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people to have to think about. 
And fortunately for me, I was 

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able to and we were able to my 
husband and I make it work so 

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that I could come back to work 
and so that we could have 

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someone in our home while, you 
know, while I am working and 

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that, you know, I it's not lost 
on me that COVID did have this 

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or create this opportunity for 
me. 

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I don't know that I would be 
remote or be in this situation 

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today had it not been for that, 
you know, every everyone kind of

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challenging the status quo, so 
to speak and moving remotely. 

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Although I work for a tech 
company and they've always been 

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remote, who knows where things 
would have landed me if if COVID

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didn't happen. 
Like would I still be in retail,

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would I still be in fashion? 
Would I be in tech? 

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Who knows. 
I always ask. 

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I always like think about those 
things. 

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Like, what if things happen 
differently? 

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What would I be doing now? 
And I really, frankly, I I don't

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know that I would return to work
if I wasn't remote. 

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It's really hard. 
It's really hard to, especially 

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in the US where I mean 
fortunately in New York you get,

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you know, a really nice amount 
of time. 

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But in the US you're in some 
states don't get any paid time. 

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It's just, you know, FMLA, 12 
weeks hopefully, if you qualify 

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and you know that's that. 
So for me, fortunately, I had 

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almost five months, but it was 
hard. 

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Even though I'm right here and 
my children are literally, I 

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don't know, 15 feet away, it's 
hard to realize that you are 

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inevitably not spending that 
same amount of time with them. 

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And whether you want to be a 
full time, you know, caretaker 

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or you know, home taker or not, 
it is still difficult to, you 

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know, be a a hands on parent and
walk or not walk away but step 

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into work and change the amount 
of time that you're spending 

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with your kids. 
So I mean, I feel good. 

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Like I feel happy that they're 
right here. 

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And when I'm in between 
meetings, I can kind of step 

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away and just, you know, pop 
over and like, I don't know, 

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cuddle them for like a moment 
before I go into my next meeting

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or get back into whatever 
project I'm working on. 

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And that's obviously, again, not
lost on me, that I have that 

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opportunity. 
And I'm sure that many people 

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feel that same way. 
And that I know that there are 

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many people who really look 
forward to leaving the house 

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when they return from maternity 
leave because it gives them kind

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of like another refreshed or 
renewed sense of self because 

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your sense of self also changes 
when you become a parent. 

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At least it did for me, I think 
probably for most people. 

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Because you're no longer just 
thinking of yourself, you're now

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thinking of your children. 
So it's just a really 

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interesting change and I'm 
really grateful for it. 

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I love being a parent and a mom 
and I love being a working 

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parent or working mom and 
obviously all moms are working 

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at some level. 
But I guess I should say a mom 

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in the quote, UN quote, typical 
workforce. 

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Because being a stay at home mom
is definitely a job. 

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Like when I was on maternity 
leave, it was work, hard work, 

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especially with two at the same,
you know, stage of development 

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and the same age. 
So the third take away that I 

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have is that you really benefit 
from returning from maternity 

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leave or leave in general when 
you have an amazing supervisor 

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and peers that you enjoy working
with. 

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That was probably the biggest 
take away that I had kind of 

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like learned and appreciated 
outside of the other two of 

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course. 
But really, the the thing that 

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stuck out to me most was that, 
oh wow, I'm not stressed or 

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unhappy about returning because 
I'm looking forward to working 

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with my peers and I'm looking 
forward to working with and for 

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my boss. 
And I'm very, very fortunate for

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that. 
I know so many people who 

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dreaded returning from maternity
leave because they either don't 

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like their leaders or they don't
like who they work with. 

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And that is just not what the 
case was for me. 

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And I'm very. 
I feel very lucky that I have a 

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boss that I really admire and 
look up to and enjoy working 

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with, and that I have colleagues
that I can say the same thing 

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about, that I really enjoy 
working with, that I love 

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learning from, that. 
I love just chatting with and 

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all those. 
That is, I don't know why. 

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It's not something that occurred
to me. 

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I guess I when I was out on 
maternity leave, I was only 

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00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,800
thinking about preparing for the
stuff that I could control. 

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00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,800
And then I was like, oh wait, 
I'm really looking forward to 

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00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,240
returning. 
Why is that? 

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00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:16,160
And introspectively I had, you 
know, spent this time thinking 

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00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,560
about why. 
Why was I excited to go back to 

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work? 
Not like, why am I feeling this 

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00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,160
way? 
But also it it, or I should say 

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it wasn't coming from this place
of like, why do I feel this way?

295
00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,720
It was coming from a place of 
why is that? 

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00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,240
Why am I so excited? 
And why aren't other people more

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00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,680
excited when they want to go 
back to work but they're feeling

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00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,960
like this dread or this burden? 
And of course, all of those 

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factors that I had already 
mentioned have an impact on 

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00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,200
that. 
But really, it's profound to me 

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00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,000
that when you have someone that 
you enjoy working for and you 

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00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,960
work with people that you like, 
it makes returning much, much 

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00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,440
easier. 
So if you're someone that is on 

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00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,560
maternity leave or on some sort 
of leave and you're dreading, 

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00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:05,640
coming back or going back, maybe
take that same introspective 

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00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:07,560
journey. 
Think about why that might be. 

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Is it the environment? 
Is it your boss? 

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00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,000
Is it that you need to change? 
Or is it, you know, the other 

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00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,960
stuff that you really don't want
to go back and that you have to 

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00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,560
go back? 
Because certainly that is the 

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00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,840
case for many too, that 
financially you can't make the 

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00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,240
decision to stay at home even 
though you really want to. 

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00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,640
In which case I'm like, well, 
can you figure it out? 

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00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,000
Can you? 
Because I never want anyone to 

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00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,160
feel like they're robbed of an 
experience that they really 

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00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:34,640
want. 
Like if someone really wants to 

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00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,480
be a stay at home mom or a stay 
at home dad or stay at home 

318
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,840
parent, whatever, you know, is 
there a way that they can make 

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00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,880
that work? 
And if not, like, I don't know, 

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00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:48,480
maybe there's just a way. 
Maybe it's like going into 

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00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,000
consulting. 
Maybe it's doing freelance work.

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00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,120
I don't know. 
Get creative with it. 

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00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,240
Don't find yourself in this 
position where you're going to 

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00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,640
regret that you did or didn't do
something. 

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00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,760
So anyway, those were my 
takeaways. 

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00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,440
I actually shared this on 
LinkedIn also because when I 

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00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,440
came back, I felt really 
inspired to just write 

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00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,280
something. 
It was short, it was sweet, 

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00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,680
hopefully, and I feel good about
putting it out there because now

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00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,360
when I go back to it, I'm like, 
yeah, I did feel all of these 

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00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,080
things. 
And then of course, I'm sharing.

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00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:23,640
Those feelings with you on the 
podcast today, but in the end, I

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00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:29,240
hope that as I continue on my my
journey as a a mom that works in

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00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,880
the typical, you know, 
workforce, I hope that I 

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00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:38,520
continue to feel these takeaways
resonating throughout my work 

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00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,400
day and work week. 
And I hope that I keep this as a

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00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,360
reminder that there's so much to
really be grateful for and 

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00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:50,840
thankful for in in not only our 
careers and our experiences 

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00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,520
becoming parents. 
If those of you, you know, 

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00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,320
either are trying to become 
parents or are parents already 

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00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:01,160
or want to be, there's so much 
to really be thankful for. 

342
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,920
And whether it's difficult or 
not, and it's always difficult 

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00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,280
to be responsible for a living, 
breathing human being. 

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00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,360
But yeah, those are those are 
the things that I top of mind, 

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00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:16,080
wanted to share with all of you.
And when I think about the 

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00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,400
podcast going forward, I know I 
already shared how things might 

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00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,680
be a little bit more fluid or 
flexible. 

348
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:28,160
I also want to mention that you 
know my my episodes going 

349
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:33,680
forward are going to have more 
fresh, amazing new guests and 

350
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:39,360
maybe some revisits from some 
fan favorites, so to speak from 

351
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,240
the past few years. 
This is we're going on to the 

352
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,680
4th year of this podcast. 
I just cannot believe it. 

353
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,640
I really appreciate that you're 
all here for the journey, that 

354
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:51,400
you were patient with me as I 
was out on leave and taking a 

355
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:56,040
creative liberty to my podcast 
and doing a replay series and 

356
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,760
things like that and spreading 
the episodes out across my 

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00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,160
maternity leave. 
But I'm really excited to be 

358
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,720
back. 
I highly, highly suggest that 

359
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:08,640
you follow me on Instagram, 
connect with me on LinkedIn, 

360
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,480
head to my website, hrtracy.com.
I am still doing career coaching

361
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,760
and resume and interview 
preparation, formatting, et 

362
00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,880
cetera, et cetera. 
So if those are things that 

363
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,800
you're interested in and want to
learn more about, head to my 

364
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,200
website. 
Also, don't forget to rate, 

365
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,600
review and subscribe wherever 
you're catching this episode. 

366
00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,720
And if you're watching this 
video on YouTube or Spotify, 

367
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,520
make sure you interact with the 
Q&A or give the video a thumbs 

368
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,200
up if you're on YouTube. 
Thank you so much for again for 

369
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,120
being here and I'll see you next
week. 

370
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,440
Hey, just before you go, don't 
forget to subscribe. 

371
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,240
To this show so that you are the
1st to hear when an episode 

372
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,040
drops each week. 
And maybe leave a five star 

373
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,640
review and a comment about how 
much you loved this episode. 

374
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,400
Plus, if you have someone in 
mind who would really enjoy this

375
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:54,560
episode, make sure. 
You share. 

376
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,600
It with them. 
Thank you so much for tuning in 

377
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:57,960
and I'll see you next week.