The Roche Report

My team got into a discussion this week based on an article that someone posted in our slack channel  about caring for aging parents and how it impacts your career. It quickly evolved into a discussion about bringing your whole self to work - and I wanted to share my thoughts on that topic here... ... which is appropriate because that is the very reason that I started this blog. I started this blog because when I started thinking about wanting a family or realized that I was pregnant with Charlie, I realized that there were not many people that I felt that I could relate to at IBM (or in other consulting firms) who had been "in my shoes" so to speak: "young" aspiring executive, young baby, demanding job with travel, husband in a career with similar demands. There are women at IBM who have done some or all of those things, but if I'm being honest, it was hard to find them. When I found out that I was pregnant, I panicked - and started thinking - "ok

I stopped breastfeeding one whole month ago! (!!!) I have written about my breastfeeding journey before; feeling anxious about talking about it so publicly, yet feeling like it was important because not enough people talk about what it is like to do it. I've written about my frenemy (the dreaded pump) , my advice on traveling while breastfeeding . I've tried to be open and honest, and share my experience - and so felt I should do the same on the end of my breastfeeding experience. It is wonderful. I thought I would be very emotional about this change, and thinking about it was emotional. It was a moment where, even in the most hectic of days, I was with Charlie, or, at the very least, I was dedicated to Charlie. I haven't been especially emotional about any of these milestones; really, I am so excited and love each new phase so much, that I'm ready to move on to the next one. I mean, what's better than her saying "MAMA!"? Well surely, her being abl

One of my mentors once told me that I would not be able to realize my full potential as a leader until I became a parent (a surprising comment in the politically correct world today; also, to be clear, I had already told him that this was something that I wanted for myself). I've thought a lot about this since I came back to work - and how or whether being a parent has changed who I am and how I approach my job. This has been front of mind for me this week as it has come up often in two articles that I read this week: This article about Goop and how Gwyenth Paltrow purposefully tries to hire working moms (commenting, “That bitch will get things done .”) This article about how pregnancy actually changes your brain matter - so much so that just by looking at brain scans, researchers could accurately sort people into groups of women who had experienced pregnancy and those who had not Among these different but fascinating excerpts, I, again reflected on how or whether I am dif