Harriet Berry, Group Product Manager, at FARFETCH
I have worked at FARFETCH for three years in the data department, initially as a Product Manager for pricing algorithms and then leading on Commercial data products; supply and demand optimisation. Since returning from maternity leave I have moved to lead on customer data products partnering with our Marketing team.
Leaving the workplace to go on maternity leave can be daunting. Do you have any words of advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed?
My biggest piece of advice would be to do your handover as early as possible! It’s easy to resist handing control over when you know you’ll be back in your job before too long but trust me, when your baby is here, you won’t give it a second thought. So offload earlier and allow yourself to take it easy in those last few weeks. This will benefit you and your team, allowing them to adjust to the new reality while still having your support. You’ll be thankful if the baby comes early too!
Transitioning to a parent and then returning to work is certainly a challenge. How does FARFETCH support you with flexible working?
As a manager, FARFETCH provides you with hours of business coaching which has been invaluable. The coach is completely independent of the company and works with you to understand your concerns and where you need support. I found the first few weeks back quite challenging in terms of balancing my expectations with reality. Speaking to the coach helped me reset my expectations and set out a plan of how to get up to speed without being too hard on myself.
As a working parent and woman in the STEM fields, what were the biggest lessons you learned on the road to parenthood?
The first few weeks/months going back to work after maternity leave is tiring and similar to starting a new job for the first time; you need to set your expectations as if this was the case and give yourself time to get used to it. Once you have got over the initial shock of going back, being a parent only enriches the work that you do.
Set your boundaries early and don’t shift them, you will never regret spending more time with your family. People understand when you need to prioritise your family over your work and don’t judge you for it.
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
I would remind them that returning as a mother is not a disadvantage, it is the opposite. If I were to start a company from scratch I would employ only mothers; mothers are efficient, pragmatic and resilient. When every second at work is a second away from your child you don’t have time to procrastinate or not effectively prioritise. When you have experienced something as amazing and huge as parenthood, you know there is no need to dwell on the small things and when you’ve woken up endlessly in the night to comfort your crying baby you develop resilience you never knew you had in you. Mothers have a superpower that makes them incredible at their jobs.
Louise Robertson, Senior Director — FPS Brand & Design Solutions, at FARFETCH
Having studied and worked in Product Design (in all its previous guises as digital design, UI & UX) throughout my career I joined FARFETCH to build and lead the Marketplace Product Design team back in 2015. After gaining invaluable experience working on our flagship product for five years I then moved to FARFETCH Platform Solutions where I currently lead the FPS Brand & Design Solutions team who is responsible for onboarding enterprise clients to the FARFETCH platform.
I am also pleased to say that I’m due to mark my 7th birthday at FAREFTCH this September!
Leaving the workplace to go on maternity leave can be daunting. Do you have any words of advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed?
Personally, I took solace in speaking with other women who had recently experienced transitioning to/from maternity leave. I found that hearing other women’s experiences in real time helped me understand what to expect, which in turn helped me to shape and design my own transition i.e how close I wanted to work up until my due date and how often I’d like to stay in touch when I was on leave. That really helped me feel empowered, so I would encourage others to speak broadly with other parents in their network whilst they’re still working.
Transitioning to a parent and then returning to work is certainly a challenge. How does FARFETCH support you with flexible working?
FARFETCH has been incredible at supporting me to successfully return to full-time work. It’s a huge lifestyle shift but thankfully our flexible working policy enables me to openly block short periods of time in my diary in which I need to manage nursery drop-offs/pick-ups and then consequently pick up work at more appropriate times on my return. I was nervous about the inevitable ‘juggle’ but I’m really grateful to work for a company that allows me to make space in my working day to still be a parent. It’s invaluable to me.
As a working parent and WOMAN in the STEM fields, what were the biggest lessons you learned on the road to parenthood?
My all-time biggest learning which still remains today is that if I do less, I can actually achieve more. When you work in technology I think it’s all too easy to mirror the fact that digital never sleeps in how you personally ‘show up’ for work. Before parenthood, I would push myself to work at full pace across everything, all the time. Not only is this unsustainable it is also not compatible with family life.
Becoming a parent helped me understand that my energy is best spent prioritising and thus working primarily on the things that matter most which often translates to fewer things per week. This creates the time and space in my working week that I need to be a more present leader for my team.
What advice would you give other women returning from maternity leave wanting to reach their career goals?
Becoming a parent has been my biggest learning curve to date, but I can honestly say that it has strengthened my professional career to no end. Historically I think there’s an assumption that taking a year out can be damaging for your career, particularly as a woman but that is simply not the case at FARFECTH.
Whilst I attribute most of my personal growth to my experience in becoming a mother, I also took full advantage of the executive coaching offered and that combined has enabled me to hone my leadership skills and even take on greater responsibility within my role. If I can do it so can anyone else, so my advice to others would be to make the most of the support that’s offered and to consider maternity leave as an integral step within your career journey, not a pause from it.
