Helen Wright
Moving on up...

The post-maternity-leave return to work is not an experience which is widely known for its relaxing qualities. I mean, it's true that I spent the last two weeks of my own maternity leave joking to my friends that the workplace would feel like a spa weekend in comparison to looking after a small child 24/7…

Moving on up...
Helen Wright
(Un)natural Selection

Last Spring, I went to the gorgeous, glorious wedding of a friend who works in AI.  The bride was radiant, the groom beaming, and the vicar performed a heart-warming service.  In many ways, it was a very traditional occasion. But when we came to the wedding breakfast, the Best Man's speech had a very modern twist.  It had been written by ChatGPT.

(Un)natural Selection
Helen Wright
Inspiration

This week, for the first time, we realised that it was light when we awoke.   It's funny how such a small thing can lift your heart so much, isn't it?  And in our newly-cheery state, we've noticed other tentative suggestions that winter might finally be drawing to a close.  The cherry blossom at the school gate is cutting a dash through the grey afternoons.  When the sun does come out, the March sky is so intensely blue - so sharp and crisp - that it almost hurts to look at it.  They're tiny, incremental steps, but every day feels a little brighter here at 9-2-3 HQ.  We're looking forward with renewed excitement to the months to come.

Inspiration
Helen Wright
Child's Play

Leaving your children for the first time is a big step - there's just no getting around it.  Whether you're re-joining the workforce after a career break or your maternity leave is coming to an end, the return to work can be nerve wracking.

Child's Play
Helen Wright
Is it just January blues, or have I fallen out ...

Michael Georgiou from Aligned Career Coaching, helps professionals who have fallen out of love with the work they do find careers that both fulfil them and bring them joy. We asked Michael what falling out of love with a career might look like, and what professionals can do to start the process of finding a job they love…

Is it just January blues, or have I fallen out of love with my career?
, , ,

#dadsflextoo - An interview with Andy Philip

, , ,

Hi, I’m Andy Philip; self-employed freelance musician; Dad to six year old twins. My work involves live performance, recording sessions, arranging, composing and some teaching. Performance-work always tends to be in the evening which means leaving home around the kids’ dinner time to make the commute into the West End (I’m the contracted guitarist on the musical Wicked).

, ,

#dadsflextoo - An interview with Jonathan Sherlock

, ,

Hi I’m Jonathan. I currently work two days a week as a change consultant in Local Government and spend two days on a small online retail start-up which I launched with a friend of 25 years in March of this year called Ctrl and Shift. I am the primary carer of my two youngest children, Dylan (6) who is in Y1 at school and Catherine (2) who is in nursery. I also have a 13 year old son, Benjamin.   

Flexible working for me

Flexible working for me

This month we’ve taken on another five members of staff to join the 9-2-3 team, and it’s led me to think about what flexible working means for me. I set up 9-2-3 Jobs following a frustrating (and fruitless) period of looking for work myself. For the first few years I would work alone from my own home….

, , ,

Flexible working is just for Mums, isn't it?

, , ,

Actually no, it really isn’t and it’s something that we often challenge businesses with when we talk to them about the wonderful benefits of flexible working. We talked to Jackie C Whittingham, Special Projects Senior Manager at Grant Thornton UK LLP who gave us an insight into what life is really like for those seeking flexibility within the company (and you guessed it, it isn’t just Mums making this work for them)…

, , ,

How technology facilitates flexible working…with Flex IT

, , ,

If you're wondering if it's possible to implement flexible working within your team...but you keep getting that niggling feeling that it would just be too time consuming and expensive, we can assure you that it's not the big task mountain that you think it is. …

, , , , ,

Build Your Confidence by Anna Morris of First Focus Consultants

, , , , ,

Confidence is a funny thing, we can be super confident in one area of our lives, yet crumble and feel nervous, or worse, terrified at the prospect of facing other situations.  The key thing to being confident is EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE…