There’s this moment no one warns you about.
You’ve just had a baby. Your body is still healing. Your brain is mostly mush. Your heart is cracked wide open in the best and hardest way with this newfound love for your tiny human you made. And then one day, whether you’re ready or not, you’re expected to show up at work again like nothing happened.
Back to Slack. Back to performance reviews. Back to normal.
Except nothing is normal. You’re not who you were before.
That moment broke me. Twice.
And then I decided to rebuild.
Not overnight. Not all at once. But that exact moment—the messy, lonely, unsupported return from maternity leave—is the reason I now run a business helping companies fix it.
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The Reentry No One Plans For
I had worked in corporate America for almost 10 years. Led teams, built relationships, led strategic projects. I was organized. I was “high potential”. I had dreams of working my way up to the C-suite one day. I knew how to lead high-performing teams, hit KPIs, and build systems. But when I returned from both of my maternity leaves, I felt like I had walked back into a room where the lights were still on but no one noticed I had been gone.
– There was no plan.
– No manager conversation.
– No role clarity.
– No one asked how I was doing—not really.
Just the expectation that I’d be ramped back up after the second day, or certainly by the end of the first week.
I felt invisible. And I was one of the lucky ones. I had a job. I worked remotely from home so I could have my baby at home with me. I even had 3 months of paid leave. But what I didn’t have was a reentry strategy—and neither did my company.
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Reinvention Looks Like Rage-Turned-Blueprint
Some women pivot with a big “aha” moment. Mine started more like a slow-burning fire. A fire fueled by conversations with other working moms who felt unsupported. Managers who felt unprepared. Founders who cared but didn’t know what to do.
And a realization that even if I did have the language to ask for support, I wouldn’t have, because I feared I’d be judged, and my capabilities would be questioned, and my future promotions feared.
So I did what any overachieving, postpartum, spreadsheet-loving millennial would do: I built a framework.
I turned that missing gap into a visible system. I called it The Reentry Blueprint—a leadership training and workplace workshop that helps companies actually support working parents when they return to work.
– It’s not about ping-pong tables or “Welcome Back!” cupcakes.
– It’s about manager training. Role clarity. Workload planning. Retention strategy.
– It’s about building the system I wished I had.
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From Pain Point to Business Pivot
Starting this business was terrifying. I had two kids under two and a voice in my head constantly whispering, Who are you to lead this?
We had daycare costs, a mortgage, living expenses, and more. It was scary to suddenly have no income coming in yet.
But every time I got quiet, I’d hear from another working mom who was navigating reentry alone. Another HR leader who wanted to do better but didn’t have the tools. Validation after validation, and I knew this was right. I felt it in my bones, in my soul. This was something I wish I had when I came back from my maternity leaves.
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Reinvention Is Messy
This wasn’t a clean pivot. I had so many moments when I questioned everything, cried from anxiety, and doubted myself. But I knew that this had monumental potential for women to allow them to stay in their careers with the right supportive culture.
So I started getting louder. I had to speak up even when my voice shook. I had to press publish on LinkedIn posts when my hands were still sticky from snack time or questioned if this post was perfect enough. I had to trust that my story wasn’t just valid—it was valuable.
That’s the thing about reinvention. It doesn’t always look like a rebrand. Sometimes, it looks like naming a problem no one else wants to touch, and then building the solution anyway.
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Your Next Step
If you’re a leader or people manager, ask yourself:
What would it look like to actually plan for someone’s return, not just their leave?
– Start the conversation. Rebuild the system.
And if you’re a working mom navigating this yourself, know this: you’re not the problem. The system is. And you’re allowed to want better.
Reinvention starts when we stop pretending and start rebuilding. Let this be your moment.
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Sources
1. National Institute of Health
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Contact: Alexa Starks
Cell: +31 0628181976
Email: connect@executivemoms.co
Name: Alexa Starks
Professional Title: Founder & Ceo
Bio 50 words max: Alexa Starks Is A Leadership Expert, Mom Of Two Toddlers, And Founder Of Executive Moms. She Partners With Companies To Transform Parental Leave Reentry Into A Leadership Advantage—redefining What It Means To Support Working Parents Through Bold Systems, Equity-driven Strategy, And Unapologetically Human Leadership.
Social Media Handles:
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