Ready or Not

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:Is this becoming the job no one wants? Loz’s friend has noticed that children are no longer saying they want to be teachers when they grow up, so she went down a rabbit hole.And then, with International Women’s Day coming up, let’s talk about the hidden cost of being a woman. Find the Two Broke Chicks post here.—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Dear Ready or Not, our weekly Q&A where you send us your questions on work, motherhood and everything in between, and we answer them honestly.This week you’re asking us: Help! I need some advice for looking for a job on maternity leave. How to cope when you’re let down by the support in your family (in this case my mum) gives us. How do I position a pay rise after returning from mat leave? I’ve been back for four months and our performance pay review is coming up. Got a question? Submit it anonymously here! —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:Is AI quietly becoming the new parenting village?And, are you grieving a stage of motherhood that hasn’t even ended yet? Us too. Let’s talk about it. (Read Jodi Wilson's piece here)—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Dear Ready or Not, our weekly Q&A where you send us your questions on work, motherhood and everything in between, and we answer them honestly.This week you’re asking us: What’s one motherhood and one work/career hack that you swear by at the moment?How have mums felt about their career after having a child? I don't want to be a stay at home mum but I also don't feel 100% driven at work either.How do I be part of a team culture that revolves around drinks and lunch?— Got a question? Submit it anonymously here! Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re bringing you a bonus episode, all about childcare. In this chat, we've teamed up with Care for Kids to cover:What the three-day guarantee actually means and who it impacts.Why waitlists are more competitive than you think, especially for under twos.The truth about daily fees and what you’ll pay out of pocket.How the childcare subsidy works for second children and school-aged kids.The most common Centrelink mistake parents make.What to look for on a childcare tour beyond the obvious checklist.How to handle drop-offs and separation anxiety.What’s changing nationally when it comes to childcare safety and quality standards.— Starting the childcare search? Join 3 million parents who choose Care for Kids to find the right care.Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:In the age of social media and constant hot takes, is the definition of the “good mother” constantly changing, or does society still favour one version of motherhood above all?And, as promised, Loz and Lu go more in depth about what their week to week logistics look like, including what the start of kindergarten and primary school is actually like. Got a question for Dear Ready or Not? Submit it anonymously here! —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Dear Ready or Not, our weekly Q&A where you send us your questions on work, motherhood and everything in between, and we answer them honestly.This week you’re asking us: When should you ask for flexible work arrangements, now or closer to your return?Compressed work weeks are being removed from my workplace. What do I say to management to advocate for myself and those who currently have it?Job hunting while pregnant: when and how do you tell a potential employer?Got a question? Submit it anonymously here! —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chantella Perera was familiar with the juggle before motherhood ever entered the picture. Before motherhood, she was working two jobs as a professional athlete playing WNBL and AFLW, because women's sport alone would never cut it as a pay check. And then, when becoming a mum, it became the double shift – navigating the paid work alongside what society dubs the world’s biggest job. And here, we talk all about it: the push pull and guilt that comes with being both the primary earner and the mother, how Chantella went from someone that went from hiding her motherhood journey at work to now being open about it, and how her relationship with feminism has changed over time.Chantella is also incredibly vulnerable in reflecting on what it’s like to become a mum after losing your own, and she’s really open about the fact that while she adores her kids and would never regret them, she’s not sure if she ever really considered what motherhood actually entailed before she became a mum herself. —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:How early is too early to put your name on a childcare waitlist? And then, Flexibility for mums is great, but can we start talking about flexibility for dads, too?Plus, here’s the Rana Hussain article that Lu referred to—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Dear Ready or Not, our weekly Q&A where you send us your questions on work, motherhood and everything in between, and we answer them honestly.This week, you’re asking us:Should you stick it out in a job you don’t love if you’re planning to have another baby.How to let go of perfectionism when you’re already stretched and thinking about another baby.And how to actually prepare for starting kindergarten, particularly when it comes to lunchboxes.Got a question? Submit it anonymously here! —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:What does seeing me work all the time do to my kids? We go deep on that piece on The Cut that’s gone viral. Then:“I’ve lost my ambition, and I’m okay with it…”: Amil Niazi is the author of a new book called Life After Ambition: A Good Enough Memoir, and she recently shared an excerpt of it on Chatelaine that had led us on a meandering conversation of what ambition means and where we’re at with it. —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Dear Ready or Not, our weekly Q&A where you send us your questions on work, motherhood and everything in between, and we answer them honestly.This week you’re asking us: How to do a full-time job in four days.How long to take off for baby number two without derailing your career.What to do when work wants you in the office more, even though it clearly makes life harder, not better.Got a question? Submit it anonymously here! —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ready or Not, the show where Loz and Lu try to figure out how to make work, work alongside motherhood. Today on the show:Loz goes deep on the fascinating research that tells us how mums start the new year, and just a hint, it’s not “new year new me” and,How to go back to work at a job that makes you feel hollow. This is a brilliant post I stumbled upon on Instagram, and for those of us sitting at our desks feeling a little despondent, I thought this might be the pep in the step that we all need. And particularly today but also everyday, it feels particularly important to acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here.—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_And join us on DOME below! YEEHAW!homeofdome.com/ready-or-not/— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour – the show where two mums and sort of cousins figure out how to make work, work. This week on Witching Hour, we flipped the script and answered your questions, the ones flooding our DMs every week about career, parenting, and everything in between. Some of the questions we chat about include:Can you get promoted part-time?How do I handle work guilt when my child is sick?How much parental leave should I take if I run my own business?How do I switch from work mode to mum mode?Is a boring but flexible job worth it?How do I deal with pass-ag colleagues when it comes to judgement on working within school hours?When can I “lean back in” after having kids?How do I make a career pivot on mat leave? This episode is a re-run, we have fresh content coming to your ears next week!—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Cachia is coming into her own in her mid thirties, and she’s been on quite the journey to get there. She had her first baby at 23, at a time when her career wasn’t certain and people assumed that pregnancy and motherhood would mean the end of it, and just last year, as a successful businesswoman in her mid thirties, her youngest baby entered her family – a family that, as Sophie will tell you herself, didn’t look exactly as she would’ve anticipated at the age of 20.In between all of that, there’s been separating with her older children’s dad, building her business, the online trolling that came with her growing success, and finding love again. Here, we talk about the petrifying feeling of knowing how quickly it’ll all pass and how that informs her mothering, why the fire in her belly is still aflame but burns differently now, what those OG mummy blogger days were like – from the good bits to the nastier side – and what it’s been like to build her multimillion dollar sweepwear label, Cachia.—Thanks for listening to Ready or Not! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour – the show where two mums and sort of cousins figure out how to make work, work. Today on the show:Australia’s most toxic companies Why are we still acting like flexibility for working mums is a favour? —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy New Year! We’ve got some big things happening in 2026 and a few changes as requested by you. You can expect a little bit more of Loz and Lu this year - we hope you’re as excited as we are!—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour – the show where two mums and sort-of cousins figure out how to make work, work. Today on the show:We look back at last year’s New Year’s resolutions and give ourselves a very honest report card. We unpack what stuck, what didn’t, and what we actually learned.Loz and Lu also set their intentions for the year ahead… let’s see what actually sticks!In this episode we cover: default parent syndrome, saying no, mum guilt, post-partum self care, identity shifts, relationship reconnection, mental load pressure, kinder transitions and what resolutions look like when you’re raising small humans.—Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_— This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurong people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we're lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We Pay The Rent and you can too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Witching Hour – the show where two mums and sort of cousins figure out how to make work, work. Except for today, where Loz answers a whole heap of questions with producer Kitch!  —Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review.You can also find us on Instagram:@readyornot.pod@laurentreweek_@lucindamckimm_ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Ask Ready or Not! It’s Ready or Not’s tip-based episode, landing in your ears every Friday.This week, Loz is talking about feeling stuck at work after maternity leave. A listener who returned to work three years ago has written in, she's feeling underpaid, overwhelmed by job hunting, and unsure of her next move. In this episode, Loz shares a step-by-step plan to get clear on what’s keeping you stuck, explore internal opportunities, tackle pay gaps, and job hunt in a way that feels manageable. If you’re wondering whether to stay or go, this episode will help you figure it out. — Thanks for listening! If you liked the show, please tell your friends, subscribe or write a review. You can also find us on Instagram: @readyornot.pod @laurentreweek_ @lucindamckimm_—This podcast was recorded on the lands of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. The land on which we’re lucky enough to raise our sons and daughters always was and always will be Aboriginal land. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.