Refuting The Motherhood Penalty with &Mother's Molly Dickens

The Sonya Looney Show

It IS possible to thrive in motherhood and your career! This is the message that Molly Dickens, co-founder of &Mother actively promotes.

&Mother’s vision is a culture where motherhood is not a limiting factor in how women succeed professionally or personally, and where women can openly express their needs and receive support without retribution. It is a working world where mothers are supported as leaders and sought after as employees. Where the value of mothers in the workforce has become intrinsic such that new structural norms facilitate the needs of the modern family.

The mission is to break barriers that limit a woman’s ability to choose to thrive in both motherhood AND a career.

One of organization’s first initiatives is creating cultural and structural change within the sports industry and shifting the narrative.

This week, Sonya sat down with Molly, a scientist, writer, advocate, and mother of two. Formerly an academic researcher, Molly became a founding team member of a maternal health startup to pursue her passion of empowering mothers. And by co-founding &Mother, she is continuing to support women and their choice to pursue career and motherhood while enabling mothers to become the driving force breaking down a system that has historically dismissed, undervalued, and discriminated against them.

Key Takeaways

• Why &Mother was formed
• Stereotypes and barriers that mothers face
• Systemic and structural failures for women
• The motherhood penalty
• Equity over equality for women in the workplace
• Maternal mental health
• What &Mother is doing to create change
• The pressure to be a trailblazing mom