Telling the stories of moms who work in zoo, wildlife, vet, and conservation organizations. Working with wildlife brings a unique set of challenges for working...
Postpartum is Hard! But so is Being a Working Mom with Carly Hornberger from Smithsonian's National Zoo
My guest this week, Carly, and I talk about the postpartum period. There are so many changes that occur during that "4th trimester". As you approach the end of your maternity leave you might find yourself excited to return to work but also guilty about having to leave your child. You've just gotten into a rhythm of being a mom and then you get thrown back into work and trying to figure out how to merge that new mom life with your work life can be hard! Especially when you have to navigate a new normal at work in the form of pumping - how to pump, where to pump, and when to pump. Can you ever really figure it out?As a primate keeper, Carly has some amazing experiences training gorillas for maternal behaviors and she and I also talk a bit about primate behaviors and whether or not great apes can sense pregnancy changes in pregnant women.Mothering Wildlife links:Facebook MotheringWildlifePodcastInstagram @motheringwildlifeEmail: [email protected]
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More Than a Mom and Not Just a Zookeeper with Kristine Duplisea of the Fort Worth Zoo
As a working professional, when you suddenly step into the world of motherhood, it can sometimes feel as if you now have two identities. Motherhood, and in the case of most of this podcast's guests, zookeeper. My guest this week, Kristine Duplisea, and I talk a little bit about this. We also talk about how maternity leave can feel so isolating, especially if you don't have a "village" to help you out. We put so much emphasis on learning how to be a mom prior to having a baby that after their arrival it often seems that we forget about the immense amount of support that new parents, especially mothers, need. Returning to work has its own set of challenges to navigate, especially if you are a pumping mom. Kristine and I talk about navigating finding the time to pump at work and trying to find the balance between the bigger picture of needing to provide food for your child and the responsibilities of your job, in that very moment, that need to be finished before you can take time to pump. Finally, Kristine and I also talk about the self-inflicted guilt that comes with taking your child to daycare on your day off. Time alone is so precious to some, but it sometimes comes with a side of guilt as we feel bad for sending our child to daycare when we know we are capable of taking care of them at home. Mothering Wildlife links:Facebook MotheringWildlifePodcastInstagram @motheringwildlifeEmail: [email protected]
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Working Your Dream Job but Feeling Like You’re Needed at Home with Kristen Beedle, former primate zookeeper
Animal care professionals work so hard to get into the zoo field. Internships, commutes, low pay, time spent away from family and friends - all this because they love what they do and oftentimes consider it their passion. They can’t imagine doing anything else. My guest this week, Kristen, and I talk about how it feels to be working your dream job but also feel like you hate leaving your kid to do it. Kristen has definitely worked hard to make it work throughout her career. From being a mom during her internship to living far from where she worked, she has recently considered whether her dream is the best for her family; and thus, she recently decided to step away from being a zookeeper for a bit. We talk about the emotions that come from leaving something you worked so hard to obtain. When around her amazing coworkers and animals, she loved her job, but as soon as she stepped away from the good things at work she would think about everything she was missing at home. Her and I talk about feeling like she was “being split in half”. A feeling I can also relate to as a working mom - and one that we have discussed on the podcast before because so many women also feel like they have two different identities; zookeeper and mom. Mothering Wildlife links:Facebook MotheringWildlifePodcastInstagram @motheringwildlifeEmail: [email protected]
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Kids Will Work for Chocolate Chips with Sarah Kirkman of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Can you train your kids the same way you train zoo animals? My guest this week, Sarah Kirkman, is a zookeeper at the Columbus Zoo and mom to two small children and she has a great story about putting her animal training skills to use!How zookeeper skills transfer over to one’s mom life is not the only thing Sarah and I talk about though. We talk a little about whether it is harder to go back to work after the first kid or after the second. Everyone has different experiences and there are definitely things you are already prepared for with the second kid but going back to work after the first is a whole new world!Sarah has great advice to find the other moms where you work. It can feel so good to connect with other professionals that understand what you are going through and who just “get it” about all the weird and stressful things in motherhood. It just makes you feel less alone!Mothering Wildlife links:Facebook MotheringWildlifePodcastInstagram @motheringwildlifeEmail: [email protected]
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Penguins, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Comparison with Lindsay Ireland of the Detroit Zoo
My guest this week, Lindsay Ireland, is a penguin keeper at the Detroit Zoo. We talk a bit about being pregnant while working with penguins and then dive into how as a new mom it can be so hard not to compare oneself to other mothers and your baby to other babies. As a new mom, Lindsay found herself researching everything but realized that having her mom nearby helped keep her grounded and confident that she didn’t have to do the same as everyone else. We also talk about the finances of daycare vs. deciding to stay home because all of your paycheck will just go to pay for daycare. Most in the zookeeping profession would feel it’s “worth it” to have their paycheck go entirely to daycare because they love their job so much. Lindsay and I talk about why zookeepers tend to embrace the persona of zookeeper wholeheartedly and see it as an identity. Finally, we talk a bit about schedules (hers is a rotating off schedule) and how that impacts family life and scheduling family vacations and events. It can be hard for extended family to understand how your schedule works and why you can’t make plans very far in advance. Mothering Wildlife links:Facebook MotheringWildlifePodcastInstagram @motheringwildlifeEmail: [email protected]
Telling the stories of moms who work in zoo, wildlife, vet, and conservation organizations. Working with wildlife brings a unique set of challenges for working mothers. Join me weekly as I interview moms working primarily in the zoo field as we discuss their journey as moms, navigating the mental, emotional, and often physical challenges that come with caring for wildlife and caring for kids.
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