As Liquid celebrates its 20th birthday, our founder and CEO, Lis Lewis-Jones, reflects on the challenges of balancing work and parenthood, the ways the communications industry has evolved and the growing role of businesses in supporting their employees’ and customers’ personal lives.

Liquid’s 20th birthday and the discussion around why I set up, has made me reflect on the challenges faced by parents as we juggle and balance the demands of being a parent or carer and having a career.

The issues are not as stark as they used to be when it was either one or the other. And maternity policies and flexible working have come a long way in the last 20 years. There’s part of me a little jealous that it’s common now to have 12 months’ leave, whereas I went back to work when both my babies were just 20 weeks old.

Liquid was founded purely because I felt that I couldn’t manage a school and a nursery drop-off prior to heading into Birmingham to be MD of a large independent consultancy. Setting up my own business seemed to be the ideal option for what I perceived to be a work-life balance.

The reality was very different. Suddenly I was MD, FD, office admin and account executive. And a mother. I was a juggler. I was working harder than I’d ever worked before, often going to bed at night reading Sage accounting manuals and bookkeeping for beginners.

I thought I’d be able to dictate my working hours. I failed to factor in the demands of media deadlines and client expectations. 

The vicious circle of needing to have full-time nursery care and working all hours to pay for it was as challenging then as it is today.

So, what are we doing to help? At Liquid we like to think we’re young mum and dad friendly. Flexible working, remote working, being able to streamline with clients in different time zones and job shares are all part of the mix. 

The parents who manage the best are the most organised and importantly they have family close. They have partners who help them to juggle and an extended network to support them.

So, have things really changed for young parents? No, the African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” has been around for centuries. In today’s modern world, that village just now includes not just neighbours and the family but also the workplace.