💌 SOWM Digest 026 | working hard or hardly working?

Fun fact: did you know that most of the people who join this community had no previous experience with Slack? It’s true!

I chose Slack — a workplace communication/collaboration tool first, and a community building platform second — because I figured (incorrectly) that it would have some sort of network affect… oh, I use Slack for work, so it’ll just be another workspace that I add to my dashboard. Not so!

All that said, don’t let your unfamiliarity with Slack (or even a previous bad experience, whether the silent 🦗 or the chaotic 🤠 variety) deter you from joining. I promise you: it will be different.

I just added a little how-to to our website as a way to, I hope, help ease some fears.

If you have any questions at all — about Slack or about something else entirely — let me know! I’m assembling an AMA-style sheet that includes answers from both me AND community members. I’ll share that out in the coming weeks!

Hello! If you’re new here, this weekly newsletter is part and part digest to make the Slack experience
Links followed by a ‘🔒️’ are links to the WM Slack community — everything else
You can learn more at www.working-moms.com.

If you’d like to re-up or manage your membership, you can do so at this link. (If you’re a returning member, please forward me your confirmation email and I’ll reactivate your Slack access.)

🌐COMMUNITY NOTES🌐

• Welcome to our newest member, Clare! 👋 

  • (*ahem ahem* member drive how-to and BINGO card is here 🙃)

• Speaking of which, we are officially more than ½ way through September, our declared “member drive month”! Remember to let me know if you have gotten a BINGO (5 across, border, or blackout) so I can enter you into our prize drawing!

• Can you have too many custom emoji options? We just added 22 more! (See them under the Slack icon under the emoji menu.)

• This week’s coaching conversation is about self discovery 💡 — the science behind our identity. Tune in TODAY at 12PM CT in #coaching-convos!🔒️

• Our first Ask-The-Expert is coming up, and our next is slated! This will be a way to regularly bring in experts and authors without having to organize the low-stakes book club around it.

🗓️UPCOMING EVENTS🗓️
Member-led sessions are noted with an *asterisk.

• Wednesday, September 18 @ 12:00 - 1:00 PM CT - Group Coaching (RSVP)

• Thursday, September 19 @ 8:30 - 9:00 PM CT - Working Moms Speed Networking "Happy [1/2] Hour" (RSVP)

• Friday, September 20 @ 10:00 - 11:00 AM CT - September Workshop — Enclothed Cognition: The Hidden Impact of Clothing (RSVP)

• Tuesday, September 24 @ 11:00 - 12:00 PM CT - Creative Command: Design Best Practices with J Sherman Studio (RSVP)*

• Wednesday, September 25 @ 12:00 - 1:00 PM CT - Group Coaching (RSVP)

• Thursday, September 26 @ 12:00 - 1:00 PM CT - Ask the Expert: What's grief got to do with it? with Katie Huey, ACC (RSVP)

• Friday, September 27 @ 10:30 - 11:00 AM CT - New & Prospective Member Orientation (RSVP)

A reminder that Group Coaching is only available to women within the Slack community.
You don’t need to RSVP via Luma, but when you do, you get a calendar hold and handy reminders.

💡WEEKLY READ💡 

Profound Brain Changes of Pregnancy Revealed in Scientific First
(4 minute read)

➡️ “Neuroscientist Emily Jacobs from the University of California Santa Barbara compares the process to Michelangelo chipping away at a carving of David. The artist starts with a big block of marble, she explains, but through careful honing it turns into a refined piece of art.” 😎 
➡️ Do you think your “mother brain” helpful or a hindrance? 🧠 How does it show up in your life at home? Your life at work? 🤔 
➡️ Join the conversation here🔒️ (thanks to Natalia for posting!)

🤝WARM LEADS🤝 

• Solutions Engineer @ Spot AI (Slack post / social post)

• Junior Publicist @ PB&J (Slack post / PD)

👉️MEMBER RECS👈️

This cacao-based low-acid coffee alternative, these surprisingly stylish Crocs, this site to find volunteer opportunities, this book on becoming a brace and courageous leader, this “antidote to toxic company culture,” this book to make you unstoppable, this book on how to grow your influence, this design contest for creative kids, this free resume masterclass, this giving-centric book/philosophy/movement on growing a business, and this org that is trying to bridge the political divide in the US through community conversations.

(So many book recs! 🤓 Speaking of which, let’s talk #low-stakes-book-club🔒️…)

🔦MEMBER SPOTLIGHT🔦 

Hannah Hammond | Technical Account Manager @ Recurly | Technical Support, Customer Retention, Customer Success

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦Kids: 5, 9, and 14
📍Location: North Georgia 
💗Favorite thing about the WM Slack community: Being in a community where others understand what life as a working parent is like. Working in tech, especially as a woman, you don't hear a lot about other women/people juggling their kids and their careers. It makes me feel like I fit in better.
🫘Favorite food: I'm a terrible native Texan because my favorite food is Fritos, Chili, and Cheese, but I make my chili with beans (when possible, the other Texans in my house revolt.)
📚️Reading right now: Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham & The Money Trap by Alok Sama
🛫Most recent trip: We went to the Virgin Islands in July. It was amazing. I hadn't had an adults only vacation in a long, long long time.
📽️ Favorite movies: "Hocus Pocus" because I am the standard Halloween-centric millennial, and "A League of Their Own" because I love baseball and my mom and I used to watch it together.
🐶Pets: We recently had our dog of 16 years, Abbergold, pass. I'm grateful for the long life she had with us and that we still have our sweet 3 year old dog, Meadow, and 11 year old cat, Stormy.
🍅Hidden talent: Gardening. I somehow killed a succulent (that I thought was fake), so I thought my green thumb didn't exist, however, this year I've grown a ton of tomatoes, tomatillos, and jalapeños. I've made salsa verde, tomato soup, different tomato pasta dishes, and even spiced up some queso.
🤞Recent win: I don't have one quite yet, but hopefully come early October, our family will have one. Too afraid to share it and jinx everything now.
💤Favorite way to relax: Napping. I have some autoimmune disorders and relaxing is not something I'm great at, but I've started to figure out how to nap without feeling groggy and it's been a lifesaver.
🎯Goal for the upcoming year: I'm working on building my hobby of art into a small business. I'm hoping within the next year to have everything set up, including time to create, plus hoping to have sold at least 1 creation.

(Want to be featured here? Send Kate a DM on Slack or respond to this email!)

🔗LINKEDIN HIGHLIGHTS🔗

Here’s what some of our members are saying outside of Slack:

• Personally, I'm really not a fan of bananas… (read more)

• In college, I became widely known as "the girl with the dog." … (read more)

• I have not been able to stop thinking about the Surgeon General's Warning… (read more)

• I asked you all to weigh in on what a retreat is, so now I’ll give my perspective. Read on if you've wondered what in the world I'm doing lately! … (read more)

• It's easy enough to say we've created a space for working moms, but how does it actually measure up?… (read more) (and psssssst: if you’re a member and you haven’t already, weigh in in the comments, please and thank you!)

(Want to be featured here? Post in #like-my-post🔒️!)

🧵SLACK-TIVITY🔒️🧵

• Daycare transitions (send tips!)

• Crazy hair day gone wild (rock on!)

• How to drop a nap for a 3.5 yo (help!)

• Positive second interview (celebrate!)

• Tough rejection reframed as a win (hugs!)

• Night time potty training advice? (weigh in!)

• Playing hooky for a daytime date (celebrate!)

• Any Redditors in the house? (share insights!)

• Rolling with the vacation plan change chaos (a win!)

• Do you rest or work in your “quiet hours”? (weigh in!)

• Starting out the weekend by puked on (commiserate!)

• How to negotiate your pay — salary, rate, etc. (take notes!)

• Tips for organizing personal study for leveling up? (weigh in!)

• Needing a little support after a few rounds of interviews (lift up!)

• Much improved headspace for this job seeker one week later (whew!)

• Sending a thank you to the hiring manager for a job you didn’t get (wwyd?)

• Struggling with a child’s intellectual disability diagnosis (send a virtual hug!)

• Cutting back on coffee/tea to [hopefully!] reduce heartburn (share thoughts!)

• How to pep/prep for an interview you’re just not that excited about (share tips!)

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