Kylie Ostle couldn’t wait to get back to work after maternity leave. But just weeks before returning to the office, she received an email informing her she’d been made redundant.
It was a significant blow and came as a shock. Ostle had only recently met with her HR manager who said everything was going well. She’d pushed to come in one day a month throughout her leave to make contact with colleagues but had been told to just, ‘Worry about the baby’.
“I didn’t want to get mad, I wanted to get even,” she tells Women’s Agenda. “I started talking to people and quickly realised that so many other mums had been made redundant at the same time.”
She also didn’t want other mums to feel the way she did: uncertain about her career, doubt about her abilities, and absolutely lost.
So she pulled out a pen and paper and started writing ideas for creating a group of career-minded mums like herself. Those that may have seen the benefits of a mothers group in assisting with the early years of raising a child, but were looking for a different network to assist with the personal and career development still needed after having a baby.
A few weeks later, after a couple of glasses of wine, she came up with the name Mum Society, and set to work organising a number of events for small groups of women.
Two years later, Mum Society holds regular networking events (babies and toddlers invited, with nannies on hand to help out) for mums, while also promoting flexible employment opportunities and skills development. The events are relaxed, friendly, and place an emphasis on excellent coffee.
The chief aim is to help sustain, or rebuild, the confidence of mums during maternity leave and while raising young children. It’s also a place to share the inevitable uncertainty that happens during maternity leave: no one can predict the future of their employer or business, nor can they know exactly how they’ll cope once returning to work.
“We try to inspire mums to take control of that leave, and their personal development, so that they’re prepared for anything: if it’s redundancy, a job change, or just that huge change that occurs when you return to your previous job as a new mum.”
Mum Society has an impressive Facebook following of more than 5500, has hosted more than 1200 different mothers, and given a platform to over twenty speakers.
Ostle believe much of its success comes down to hope, as well as a shared sense of being ‘in it together’. Posting flexible jobs and other opportunities on Facebook reminds new mums of the career opportunities available. “It gives hope. These are real, flexible jobs. These mums like to know that it’s possible, even if they’re not actively looking.”
Next week, Ostle will host former Olympic swimmer turned television personality (and mum of three) Elka Whalan, at The Grounds in Sydney’s Alexandria. Whalan will share some of the realities and pitfalls she’s faced, as well as strategies for staying positive.
Tickets for next week’s Mum Society event are available here.