Most managers want to support working parents. Few have ever been shown how.

What happens after an employee becomes a parent can shape their confidence, career progression and sense of belonging for years to come. Yet many managers are left to navigate these conversations without any real guidance.

In this episode, leadership and career growth coach Fiorenza Rossini explores how managers, leaders and organisations can better support working parents, by creating the conditions for them to continue growing and thriving, instead of lowering expectations.

Drawing on her experience coaching professionals through career transitions, leadership development and the identity shift that comes with parenthood, Fiorenza shares practical insights for anyone leading a team.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* The common assumptions managers make after an employee becomes a parent

* Why career development conversations shouldn’t stop after parental leave

* How to create a greater sense of belonging for working parents

* Simple leadership practices that help retain and develop talented people

* Questions every manager can ask to better support working parents

Whether you’re a manager, team leader, HR professional, senior leader, or a working parent yourself, this episode will help you rethink what effective leadership looks like during one of life’s biggest transitions.

“Perhaps the most valuable thing that any manager can do is replace assumptions with curiosity.”, says Fiorenza.

🔎 Jump in

03:09 Becoming a parent changes you - that’s just the reality04:01 The load we can realistically carry has changed05:28 Don’t assume: ask (aka the power of curiosity)06:23 Career conversations should never stop07:32 Visibility or performance08:54 The importance of small moments and showing up09:53 Recognising parenthood as a leadership skill

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review

🔗 Links & resources

* Connect with Fiorenza Rossini on Linkedin.

* Explore coaching, leadership workshops and speaking: here

Topics covered:Working parents | Leadership | People management | Career progression | Parental leave | Employee wellbeing | Workplace culture | Belonging | Inclusive leadership | Talent retention | Career development | Working mothers | Working fathers

What happens when a high schooler tells you your positivity feels fake — and it changes everything about how you lead? That’s just one of the moments that shaped Elysha Weissglass ’s path from school counsellor to leadership coach and people development partner.

In this episode, Fiorenza sits down with Elysha for a conversation that moves fluidly between boardrooms and kids’ dinners to career pivots and grief. They talk about what it really takes to support people through change — and why the messiest transitions are often the most important ones.

🔎 What we explore

In this episode, we explore:

* From classrooms to corporate: why Elysha made the leap

* The dual vantage point: working inside organizations building career tracks and coaching managers, while running a private coaching practice.

* The sandwich generation struggle: aging parents, young kids, and how to find presence in the middle of it all

* An exploration on how to allow joy and grief to co-exist

* Belonging as a practice: what it looks like in moments of grief, identity shifts, and becoming

* Fiorenza opens up about anticipatory grief, her grandmother, and the chair that was always set for anxiety at the dinner table

A thread running through it all: the in-between spaces — in a career, in a family, in yourself — are not obstacles to get through. They’re where the real growth happens.

"Things don't always fit into some perfect box. And there are ways to notice what really is here in the moment so that you can have connection and joy and feel what's really there.", says Elysha.

🎙️ Tune in for the full conversation!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review!

🔗 Links & resources

* Explore Elysha Weissglass here on Substack.

* Connect with Elysha on Linkedin.

What is the true cost of navigating early parenthood while trying to maintain a career? In this episode, host Fiorenza Rossini sits down with Sam Allman-Briggs—a marketer, devoted father, and advocate for parental rights—to pull back the curtain on the modern fatherhood experience.

From the harrowing grief of pregnancy loss and the workplace anxieties that follow, to navigating a culture that frequently overlooks fathers, Sam shares his raw, personal journey. They dive deep into the gaps in paternity leave, the reality of workplace redundancies for new parents, and why the corporate mask needs to slip to make way for genuine, hands-on parenting.

🔎 What we explore

* Fathers are being overlooked: The baby and toddler industry frequently defaults to viewing mothers as the sole primary consumer, alienating hands-on fathers and limiting long-term industry progression.

* The Reality of Pregnancy Loss: Miscarriage and stillbirth affect one in four pregnancies, yet the emotional and psychological toll—especially the secondary anxiety during a subsequent pregnancy—remains a taboo subject in corporate environments.

* The Paternity Leave Gap: Current statutory paternity leave models fail to support the realities of postpartum recovery (such as C-section healing times), highlighting a severe need for progressive parental rights.

* Dropping the Corporate Mask: True workplace inclusivity means moving past seeing people as a professional or a parent, and letting employees combine their identities without fear of professional penalty.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Enjoyed this episode? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

🔗 Links & resources

* The Dad Shift: An advocacy group campaigning to change paternity leave law and corporate rights for men.

* Parenting Out Loud: An organisation pushing to change perceptions and increase visibility for hands-on fathers in traditionally female-dominated environments.

* Connect with Sam Allman-Briggs on Linkedin

About your host Fiorenza Rossini

Fiorenza started building her coaching business in 2016 while still working in investment banking. When her first child was born in 2019, she knew something had to give. Like many parents, she realised she couldn’t keep growing her career in the same way while also being the parent she wanted to be. Her priorities became clearer, and she chose to leave corporate life to focus fully on her coaching work. Today, Fiorenza supports driven professionals & leaders who are also parents of young children, who find themselves to be at a pivot point - whether that’s returning to work, stepping into leadership, or rethinking what career growth now looks like.🔗 More about Fiorenza’s work 🔗 Fiorenza on Linkedin 🔗 Fiorenza on Instagram

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?

If this conversation stayed with you, consider sharing it with another parent who might need to hear it.

And if you haven’t already, you can connect with me on LinkedIn for more reflections on belonging, leadership, and navigating career and identity alongside parenthood.