Jennifer Vena is Vice President of Horizons Workforce Consulting, a global consulting practice that provides workforce well-being assessment, work/life strategic planning, and dependent care needs assessment consulting to clients across a variety of industries.
Horizons Workforce Consulting is a division of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a leading provider of high-quality child care, early education and other educational advisory services to more than 1,100 clients across the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada and India.
Jennifer has more than 25 years of experience developing strategic work/life initiatives. In addition to working directly with employers, Jennifer also advises on Horizons Workforce Consulting’s research projects, including a recent study on what constitutes a “dream company” and the resulting positive impacts for the employees and the organizations of creating supportive workplaces.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from UCLA. With an adult son and a daughter away at college, Jennifer lives in Manhattan Beach, California with her husband and youngest child.
Sneak Peek Into What You’ll Learn…
02:28 – Jennifer tells us more about the consulting work she does to help employers improve the experience parents have at work.
05:13 – Jennifer explains the Modern Family Index Study, the mental load carried by working parents, and how it disproportionately affects mothers.
08:32 – We discuss the surprising insight about breadwinning moms revealed in the Study.
10:37 – We learn that working fathers want to be more engaged with their family and what they would be willing to give up in order to have more family time.
16:42 – Jennifer provides advice to moms who are carrying the majority of the mental load for their families.
19:15 – Jennifer shares steps employers can take to decrease the impact of the mental load on working mothers.
24:33 – Jennifer tells us more about her career at Bright Horizons and what has kept her there for more than 20 years.
30:00 – Jennifer shares the personal habits she has which help her to be successful at work and in life.
33:14 – Jennifer discusses the importance of mindset in growing your career.
37:20 – Looking back, Jennifer shares what she would have done differently if she had to do it all over again.
40:12 – Brass Tacks – The lightning round of concrete advice and tips.
Quotable quotes:
- “I reduced my work schedule…but the mistake I made was I did not redefine my responsibility…I essentially set myself up for failure.
- “Supporting employees in their overall journey will enable them to bring their best self to work.”
- “My advice would be [to parents] do your best to be there for the big stuff…”
- “Never underestimate the power of a positive note to a teenager because they’re going through so much.”
- “My Dad always told me, ‘Plan your work and work your plan.’”
Share the Show
If you enjoyed the podcast, please tell your friends and give us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts. Click here to subscribe.
Links to Resources
Bright Horizons Modern Family Index Report
Join us in our private Facebook Group, The Working Mother’s Mentor Community
