The ROI of Moms in the Workplace

Episode Transcript

Kelly Callahan: Welcome to the Two Marketing Moms Podcast. I'm Kelly Callahan-Poe. Today's episode is called The ROI of Moms in the Workplace. I am joined today by Heather Lane Powers. Heather is the founder and CEO of The Power Lane, a consultancy that guides organizations to accelerate their business and revenue goals through more effective engagement and retention of working mothers. She's a former corporate executive and now coaches, speaks, and consults on simple and systematic workplace changes that benefit both employees and the bottom line. Welcome, Heather.

Heather Lane Powers: Thank you so much for having me.

Kelly: Thank you for joining me, and thanks for giving me a sneak peek at your book. I was so excited to get a chance to read it on my iPad. I have so many questions, because this is such an important topic. Let's start with a broad question first, and then I want to go a little deeper and talk more about the historical context of your book.

Your book is called The Power Lane: Why Keeping Moms in the Workplace REVS the Economy, and you have the word "REVS" in all caps—R, E, V, S. Your premise is that American moms lack the support to fully engage in the economy and solving this is a business imperative—not just for organizations, but for the economy as a whole. What inspired you to write this book, and why is this mission so important to you?

Heather: Yeah, so really, COVID is what got me interested in this idea and made me decide to jump into it. During COVID, I think we all realized that what we thought we had in place wasn't really working—and it certainly wasn't working for working moms. I experienced that firsthand. My kids were entering middle school and high school at the time, and we had a lot of conversations like, "Oh, thank goodness they're not babies or toddlers, or launching into college or careers." But still, everyone faced a challenge at some point.

I had been working before I had kids, and continued working all the way through, and I thought I had it all figured out. But I realized abruptly that what I had pieced together, or the structures I thought I had in place, weren't that solid—and it all kind of came apart during COVID. That's what started me down this journey.

Kelly: Well, I want to roll this back, because I feel like women around our age are having the same journey. A dozen years ago, this conversation really started in my mind—you tell me if I'm wrong—with Anne-Marie Slaughter's 2012 article in The Atlantic, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." It caused a lot of chaos at the time. But what she really meant, that didn't come across clearly, was that yes, women can have it all—if they have a supportive partner, if they are already at a certain income level so they can afford childcare, and if they have a flexible job that enables it.

That article, to me, kicked off a conversation that women hadn't necessarily been having. And then the pandemic happened—the "She-cession"—when 2 million women left the workforce because they had to help their kids do Zoom school. Since then, things have changed. In your book, you talk about the July 2024 workforce participation rate among women being back at pre-pandemic levels. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Heather: Yes, we saw the She-cession—so many women left the workforce out of necessity. When it's your family or personal obligations versus work, you choose your family. We left because we had to. But then, we realized—we needed to come back. We have to support our kids, pay for food, shelter, everything. And many of us had worked so hard to build careers that not contributing—whether to the family income or the community—felt disempowering.

It's been fascinating to track this shift. From 2 million women leaving in the early months of the pandemic, we talked about that a lot. But now, women are coming back. Some of it is necessity—rents didn't go away, mortgages didn't stop, food prices rose. And some of it is about passion and ambition. Many women want to return because they've invested in their careers.

What's shocking, when you look at the labor participation rate over the past 9 to 12 months, is that women—especially moms—are back at even higher rates. And it's not just moms of teens like me. It's moms of kids under 12—and even moms with children under age five. Those early years are so demanding; they need you constantly. So it's incredible that these women are finding ways to make it work.

Kelly: I had an opportunity to interview Joanne Loveland, who wrote the book Power Moms, and she gave a stat that kind of blew me away. It was the whole idea of the motherhood penalty — over a 30-year career, mothers could lose as much as $510,000 in wages, assuming that earnings remain constant. That's a pretty big slap in the face in terms of what that means over the course of a career. At the same time, you found research that shows the most productive women — mothers — are those with two or more kids over a 30-year career. Is that correct?

Heather: That is, yes. It was an interesting study done by the Federal Reserve, and it was pretty extensive. It wasn't just a few hundred or even a few thousand — they looked at a significant group of employees and asked: who are the most productive? And it came down to, interestingly, moms — moms with two or more kids. When you dive into it, you're like, well, of course, right? They have to be productive. They make the most out of every minute of their day, and they're going to be as productive as possible at work to be able to go home and take care of their home and family responsibilities.

Kelly: Which is why we're recording a podcast on a Saturday morning.

Heather: Right? We fit it in where we can!

Kelly: Let's dive into the structural barriers to women's participation in the workforce. I think we know the basics, but maybe you could recap?

Heather: Yes. We mentioned childcare — that's a big one, and it's an expensive one. We're not even back to 2019 levels of childcare availability — and 2019 wasn't sufficient six years ago. On top of that, we now have extended childcare deserts — areas of the country where there is no childcare. So when you say, "Go back to work and figure out childcare," it really depends on where you live.

Workplace flexibility is a big one. If we can find a silver lining in COVID, many in knowledge-based jobs proved that we can be just as, if not more, productive with flexibility. Whether it's working from home or integrating personal and professional life, that's been a major shift. But now, many organizations are requiring people back to work.

Another barrier is expectations. There are still deeply rooted assumptions around mothers being the primary caregivers. And for single parents — 80% of single-parent households are led by moms — they're trying to balance the need to provide income and care for their children.

Kelly: One part of your book talks about how men frequently get a bump in salary when they become a parent, but women don't — because men are seen as having more pressure to support the family.

Heather: Yes — that "fatherhood bonus" can be upwards of 6 to 10% for every child they have. Whereas women lose 4% or more for every child they have. That adds up to significant losses in earnings and savings over a lifetime.

Kelly: To me, the headline of your whole book is this: from a macroeconomic lens, how does retaining mothers in the workforce contribute to long-term economic resilience and innovation? What are the numbers?

Heather: The numbers are stark. If we were able to support women in the workplace at levels we had before the pandemic, we could see a 25% increase in GDP. That's huge. It's one of the reasons I wrote the book — to take that broader lens. We've already proven that having women in the workforce is productive and beneficial. Having women in executive and leadership roles leads to more resilient and financially successful organizations. But what we haven't argued enough is that we're in a talent shortage — across every industry. We have this cohort of highly qualified, eager-to-work women — and we're not thinking hard enough about what they need to stay in or reenter the workforce.

Kelly: That leads us to the five levers you talk about in your book — solutions organizations can adopt to make this a reality.

Heather: I'll start with what leaders can do: talk to your moms, your parents, your caregivers. Assess what they need. It seems simple, but it's not happening enough.

Now, the five levers:

1. Leadership: This is critical. An employee's primary connection to the organization is their immediate supervisor. But most supervisors haven't received proper training when they were promoted. We need to invest in good leadership training.

2. Workplace Flexibility: This could mean where people work, when they work, or how they work. These don't have to be big or expensive changes. It might just mean establishing core hours that work for the whole team.

3. Paid Leave: This is still wildly inconsistent across organizations and jurisdictions. We tend to think only about maternity leave, but it's broader — PTO, sick leave, holidays.

4. Pay Equity: Organizations need to evaluate how they're compensating all employees — salary, bonuses, benefits. Bias shows up, even unconsciously. It's about evaluating the work, the impact, and compensating people fairly.

5. Childcare: Understand what your employees need. Some organizations have done this well — like Whirlpool. They realized they were in a childcare desert, and many employees worked shift hours that didn't match up with existing childcare options. So they built their own center — The Eddy — and it's been a huge success.

Kelly: The title of your book includes the abbreviation REVS. Can you talk a little about those four gears — or action levels — that everyone can take to help moms?

Heather: Yes — it's a little play on words, and I like to describe it in reverse because I think that helps.

The S is for Self, and that means we all have a role to play. Let's say you're an individual contributor who doesn't have children or caregiving responsibilities — you can still take your paid leave and reinforce a healthy culture. You can step in and offer to take something off a colleague's plate when things are hectic.

V is for Village. We've all heard the phrase "It takes a village." You might be a manager, or maybe you're someone who's earned influence because of your experience or relationships. Use your voice to influence culture more broadly.

E is for Ecosystem. This applies when you're higher up in the organization or have broader influence. You can use that influence to highlight where improvements are needed or where systems can be strengthened.

Finally, R is for Regulatory. This refers to policies, laws, and broader systems. It also refers to leaders who are in a position to influence beyond their organization — maybe within their industry or community.

Kelly: How do we get that message out? Is it your goal for this book to create awareness?

Heather: Yes. I think we've all accepted that women are educated, capable, and want to work. We've talked about the value of diversity — but now we're at a point where it's impacting the bottom line. And that's where organizations tend to pay attention. We can't clone more workers. But we can support the skilled people — especially moms — who are ready and willing to contribute. Hopefully, the accelerators and solutions in the book help leaders see some practical ways to make that happen.

Kelly: How can listeners learn more about you or purchase your book?

Heather: Thank you! The best place is my website: heatherlanepowers.com — I keep it up to date. The book is currently on Amazon, and we're expanding to other retailers. I'm also on LinkedIn and always happy to connect there.

Kelly: Thank you so much for joining me, Heather. I really appreciate the conversation.

Heather: Thank you for your time.