BubbaDesk partner, LittleOak, empowers working mothers with flexibility and support, while advocating for gender equality and fostering female entrepreneurship. Learn how parenthood and career can complement each other from LittleOak Founder & CEO Elke Pascoe.
“As women, we are often defined by our relationships – a wife or partner, a mother, a single mum, a daughter. I am proud to be all of these, and also feel incredibly privileged to be an entrepreneur, running a company dedicated to supporting families. My entrepreneurial journey is inseparable from my identity as a mother. Yet, when I look at the state of gender equality in Australia today, “entrepreneurship” and “motherhood” often seem mutually exclusive.
In Australia, women’s earnings fall by an average of 55 per cent in the first five years of parenthood, while men’s are unchanged. Often dubbed the default caregiver, women pay a high price for growing their families while in the workforce, with “unequal caring responsibilities” cited as a primary challenge to achieving gender equality. While motherhood is the very reason I am an entrepreneur, it is, unfortunately, a significant barrier to career progression and earning potential for too many women.
Before launching LittleOak, I had a strong desire to do something meaningful in the world. I was a single mum with two children at the time and found myself on a journey to find an answer to my son Freddie’s health issues. This led me to look closely at the formula I was feeding him, soon discovering the long list of terrible ingredients in the products on the shelf. Maltodextrin. Palm oil. And so, so many preservatives. I launched LittleOak on a mission to provide families around the world with a formula they could wholeheartedly trust, and today, we’re proud to nourish children around the world with truly natural, clean nutrition.
While our mission is to ensure that each and every child has access to the very best nutrition to grow and thrive, we are equally passionate about supporting working mothers; we’re committed to ensuring they have the support, flexibility and resources needed to excel in their careers while being amazing parents. LittleOak is a team of mums and dads, spread across three countries who work when, where and how they want. We embrace flexibility – many of us work part-time, fully remotely, or in shared workspaces, with some even opting for night shifts to enjoy more time with their children. We show up at work each day as parents first, creating space for life’s demands: the after-school pickups, last-minute doctor’s appointments, and all the unpredictable needs that come with caring for a child. As a mother of three, with a 10-month-old at home, I know well how often schedules shift, and am committed to creating an environment where other parents can thrive. It’s why I’m so inspired by leaders like Lauren Perrett and her vision for BubbaDesk—a place where parenthood and career don’t have to compete but can complement one another. Parents – mothers especially – should not have to choose between their careers or their families and this is a philosophy we are committed to nurturing at LittleOak.
Beyond our internal policies, we believe that as an organisation, we have a responsibility to support the community in which we are privileged to operate, using our voice and platform to advocate for the key issues affecting them. We proudly launched our inaugural campaign “The Power of Mum” earlier this year, working with Lauren Perrett, alongside a fantastic lineup of women in business to discuss the key issues impacting mothers today. From the motherhood penalty and the mental load to female entrepreneurship, we identified nine recommendations to accelerate gender equality at work and home:
- Implement a universal childcare system
- Enhance parental leave policies
- Redistribute the household mental load
- Mandate annual pay equity analysis
- Close the superannuation pay gap
- Mandate flexible working arrangements for all parents
- Support women experiencing separation and divorce
- Foster female entrepreneurship
- Eliminate gender-based discrimination and unconscious bias
After all, being a mother is hard. Starting a company or holding down a job is hard. And when you combine them both without the necessary systems of support, we put women at risk. While significant reform is needed, I have to say that it is incredibly inspiring to be advocating for these changes alongside such remarkable women who are shaking up the perceptions of working motherhood, moving us towards a future where mothers can truly flourish.”
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LittleOak is a proud partner of BubbaDesk. Enjoy 20% off your first LittleOak order with code bubbadesk20.
