Hi, I’m Laura, the founder of

The Parent Shift

and someone who’s walked through the messy, beautiful, and often unsupported experience of becoming a parent at work.

I started The Parent Shift after going through my first pregnancy and parental leave feeling isolated, uncertain, and quietly let down by a system that should have done better. While I was handed policies and paperwork, what I really needed was support, empathy, and guidance — and I didn’t get it. When I returned to work, I found myself second-guessing everything, with no one to talk to who truly understood. I was navigating a huge life transition — and doing it alone.

 Then came the heartbreak of my second miscarriage. And again, I felt that familiar absence: of care, of structure, of humanity. That was the turning point. I decided that if the support I needed didn’t exist, I would build it myself — so no parent had to go through this feeling the way I did.