As many moms who have done it before (including us!) can attest, re-entering the workforce after taking time off for kids, whether it’s been six months or sixteen years, is no easy feat. You may have taken a break from your career for personal reasons, financial reasons, more flex-time, or just some much-needed extended time off, but either way, we know it can be a huge source of frustration trying to get back in the game and reestablish yourself as a professional, once you’ve been “mommytracked.”

(And man, don’t you hate that term?)

So we reached out to Cool Mom Picks friend and renowned work-life balance expert and best-selling author, Samantha Ettus, author of the brand new The Pie Life: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction for some help.

We had a terrific chat with her on this week’s episode Spawned with Kristen + Liz! about career moms, work-life balance — and whether there even is such a thing. Listen right now! Then see her tips for getting back into the workplace, below.

Some of the topics we cover in Episode 53: Work Life Balance is a Big Fat Lie

-Why the term “work-life balance” pretty much sucks — and why Sam calls herself a work-life balance expert anyway.

-Why we should think about prioritization instead of balance.

-How to look at the 7 “slices of pie” in your life

-Solid ways to ditch mom guilt because ugh, mom guilt

-How and why to unplug one hour at a time

-Modeling fun for your kids

-How single moms can achieve more balance even when it seems impossible

-The best kind of multi-tasking

-Why mom friends are essential

-Why Shonda Rhimes is the queen of email management. (We bow down!)

5 TIPS FOR GETTING BACK ON A CAREER TRACK AFTER HAVING KIDS

We’re happy to have Samantha offer her own best tips for you moms who want to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, find the strategy and strength you need, and get back to work in the career you want.
1. Be a helper
Are you good at helping people? I thought so. Networking is just a fancy word for helping people. When you give, you get, and now that you are aiming to get back to work, you will need to expand your network fast. One of the best ways to do it is to be generous with your own network. Have a friend who needs a lawyer? Introduce her to your attorney friend from high school. Know two badass working moms? Introduce them. Opportunities to help are everywhere if you look for them.
2. Change your story
If you are like most moms who left the workforce, you have been making a mistake in how you talk about yourself. Don’t be “Molly who stays home with her kids.” Be “Molly who was in marketing for 10 years and has taken a couple of years off before she returns.” The second Molly is employable, the first one is not.

Related: The best states for working moms

3. Lose the guilt
Your plans to return to the workforce should not be saddled with one iota of ambivalence. Instead, change your perspective. When you are back to work, you will be protecting your family financially and serving as a role model to your kids. Plus, we all feel better when we have goals outside of our children, and work will provide that. Win. Win. Win.
4. Keep current
Read every relevant industry publication and blog you can get your hands on. Update your LinkedIn profile. Follow the business thought leaders on Twitter. The more you know, the more employable you are. As a job candidate, you need to make the employer comfortable hiring someone who has been out of the workforce. Knowledge makes you more employable.
5. Ace the interview
Once you land the interview, dress professionally, channel your most confident friend and wear a smile. Talk about how excited you are to get back in and how hard you work. When you show up with enthusiasm and a great work ethic, you reduce their concerns about hiring you after the gap.

Get more tips about balancing life, work, kids, hobbies, partners and more on the latest Spawned with Kristen + Liz! Listen through your podcast app, visit iTunes, or just click right here:

Links From the Show:

Samantha’s new book,The Pie Life: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction (find it at our affiliate Amazon, or your local indie bookseller)

Website for Samantha Ettus

Sam’s “lively” working mom facebook page

Sam’s Cool Pick of the Week: Common Sense Media, and The Nancy Drew audio books and Hardy Boys audio books for family listening in the car.

Kristen’s Cool Pick of the Week: Pure Barre classes

Liz’s Cool Pick of the Week: IWillVote.com and other ways to register to vote. (Voting is cool!)

About Our Sponsor

Thanks this week’s Spawned sponsor, Flapjacked, a great new breakfast alternative for parents and kids. Their high-protein, gluten-free muffins are made with no GMOs or artificial ingredients, and cook in the microwave in just 35 seconds! They make for a fantastic, grab-and-go breakfast, especially in kid-friendly flavors like Chocolate Peanut Butter and S’mores. (Yum!)

Special offer for Spawned listeners + Cool Mom Picks readers: Save $10 (that’s 50% off) the Mighty Muffin Sampler Pack at Flapjacked.com, when you use discount code COOL10.

top photo: william iven via unsplash