Over the Christmas break, while most people were eating leftovers and debating whether pavlova counts as breakfast (it does), I fell headfirst into a full-blown obsession with the Netflix show Younger. And when I say obsession, I mean obsession. I binged five of the seven seasons in a week. Five. In. A. Week. That’s not watching TV - that’s a lifestyle choice.
If you haven’t seen it, Younger is set in New York and follows Liza, a forty‑year‑old woman who left her publishing career in her late twenties to raise her daughter. When she tries to re-enter the workforce, she’s dismissed as “too old” for an entry-level role. So, she does what any desperate, sleep-deprived, midlife woman might fantasise about doing: she pretends to be twenty-six. And boom - she lands her dream job, a fabulous wardrobe, and a too-good-to-be-true twenty-six‑year‑old tattoo artist boyfriend. As you do.
Now, yes, I’m hooked because of the fashion, the shoes, and the eye candy (I’m only human). But underneath the silliness and farce, there’s a nugget of truth that hit me right in the solar plexus.
Because like Liza, I took years off early in my career to raise our three kids. I loved it. It made financial sense - my husband earned more, and someone had to keep small humans alive. But that hiatus changed me. It changed my career. And for the last few years, it’s driven me. I’ve felt this quiet, persistent need to work a little harder… to reach the potential I had before I stepped out.
But here’s the thing no one tells you: raising kids is the most intense professional development program you’ll ever do.
You learn to manage time like a Navy SEAL.
You negotiate like a diplomat.
You stay calm under pressure (or at least pretend to).
You meet deadlines with seconds to spare.
You think laterally on very little sleep.
And you become a master of creating something out of nothing - whether that’s a Thursday night dinner from an empty fridge or a Book Week
costume made entirely from a garbage bag and sticky tape.
But are these skills embraced when a woman tries to restart her career?
In most cases, the answer is a resounding no.
I was one of the lucky ones. In 2000, I somehow landed with an employer who hired holistically. The interviews were about life stories, not just job titles. They assumed you could do the job - the real question was whether you were a decent human who could gel with the team. It was refreshing. It was rare.
But even then, it was hard. Re-entering corporate life with three small children was… a lot. There were nights I’d come home, lie on the floor of my wardrobe in the foetal position, and cry. But the skills I’d learned raising kids? They held me in good stead. And yes, some days I absolutely treated the consultants I was wrangling like my children.
“Have you done your timesheet?
Uploaded your travel expenses?
Got your library bag?”
But not every employer looks at a forty‑year‑old woman and thinks, “Perfect employee.”
So why not? There are a couple of common reasons - and here’s why they’re completely wrong.
1. The myth: “She’s been out of the workforce too long.”
The truth: Mothers return with more capability, not less.
They’ve been multitasking at Olympic level. They’ve been making decisions under pressure. They’ve been managing competing priorities with no
sick leave, no HR department, and no Friday drinks. That’s not a gap - that’s growth.
2. The myth: “She’ll be too distracted or inflexible.”
The truth: Mothers are some of the most efficient, focused workers you’ll ever hire.
Give a mum three hours and she’ll deliver what others do in eight. Why? Because she’s spent years doing everything in the cracks of the day.
She knows how to prioritise. She knows how to get things done.
When employers overlook mothers as the perfect employee, they miss out on
Watching Younger reminded me that reinvention isn’t just possible - it’s powerful. Women don’t lose their value when they step out to raise kids. They expand it. They deepen it. They return with skills you can’t teach in a boardroom.
And if employers can look past the outdated assumptions and see the whole person - the life experience, the resilience, the grit, the humour - they’ll discover what I already know:
Mothers don’t just make great employees.
They make workplaces better.
And if Liza can reinvent herself at 40 in a pair of killer heels, then honestly… anything is possible. Does this also make my obsession for Manolo Blahniks tax deductible?
Stay beachy!
