End of Maternity Leave
This post has a dual purpose - to express my gratitude for maternity leave and for Cisco Systems, where I work. I just had my first week back, after having been on maternity leave for the past several months. Because I live in California, I was able to take “nesting” leave four weeks before my due date and six weeks of disability. Additionally, Cisco gave me 13 weeks of paid “bonding” leave. I feel very grateful for that. There are countries around the world that offer more time off, and some that offer none (the United States happens to be one country that does not federally mandate paid maternity / parental leave). But, the fact that I had almost 6 months off work, paid, to spend with my new baby and adjust to life as a family of four has been amazing.
We spent the last several months welcoming the baby into our routine; and I spent time re-adjusting to breastfeeding, sleeping with, and caring for a new baby. We hosted family and had a really nice holiday season. I bought a new car to more comfortably fit our growing family. We had a couple short trips out of town. But, plugging back into work this past week has been a welcome change of pace. I love being home with my kids, but I also love having other things to focus on outside of family life, and I am so extremely grateful for my career at Cisco.
I started working at Cisco in 2011, shortly after graduating college, as a Business Analyst. I spent the first several years as a contract employee, but I was hired on as a “blue badge” (full-time, benefited employee) in 2018. Throughout my career, I have worked on various projects, in various roles, in one of Cisco’s sales channel organizations. It’s been such a great company to be a part of. I enjoy the people, the culture, the leadership, and the opportunity to work on new business priorities on an ongoing basis. Cisco has given me the opportunity to learn so many different things — product expertise, sales, learning and enablement, data and analytics, the list goes on. I’ve always been fortunate to have great managers. The benefits are also great — as you can see by the extended maternity leave. Cisco helped me pay for grad school, and it gave me the work / life balance to manage work and school at the same time. And now, it gives me the work / life balance to have a thriving family and career. Not to mention, I am able to work from home, which is the biggest blessing and has allowed me to move here to Humboldt County.
So, I just wanted to take the opportunity to express my gratitude — to Cisco for giving me the ability to take care of myself, my family, and my career. I pray that I can continue growing my career in meaningful ways throughout the years, and I also hope this blog evolves into a secondary “career” of sorts. I want to take all the things I have learned, pour it into this platform, and educate others on important topics. Cisco has been a big part of me growing my confidence in meaningful ways, and that has helped me start with this content creation. So, thanks Cisco, and thank you to my beautiful family for supporting me in being a mom and a creator.
