Meet Anna McKay: Return to Work & Leadership Development Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna McKay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
As a parent, I think one of the most important things that you can teach your child is about empathy. It is an important skill in life for building deep and meaningful relationships. It is also an important skill in a professional setting as a leader building a productive and cohesive team. This can be a hard skill to learn, but luckily as parents we have lots and lots of opportunities to practice using empathy and modeling this for our children.

At home, I try to foster an environment where my children learn to understand their own feelings and those of their friends and family members.

As an entrepreneur and parent, I also have the opportunity to talk through what it is like to “fail” and learn from those experiences. If things don’t go the way I had hoped, then I can share that with my kids and model getting back in the game and trying something different next time. 

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
After a decade in the corporate world, I began my coaching journey in 2008 helping others find careers they connected to and could excel at in addition to doing some leadership coaching. I moved to the Philippines and China on expat assignments with my husband, had 2 kids, and decided to focus on being a mom while coaching on the side. We moved to Houston in 2013. Over all these years, I met so many other parents, mostly women, who were transitioning from high-powered careers to expat spouse and/or mother. After “opting out” of the workforce for a few years, like so many women are doing today as a result of this pandemic, to focus on their children and family, many of these women were now ready to get back to paid work but found that they felt lost, isolated, and didn’t know where to start. That’s why I decided to start Parents Pivot, where we help parents find careers they love! We offer coaching and consulting services for parents at key transition points in their lives.

For the returner with an extended career pause: We are the go-to spot for helping you reconnect to your career with strength and clarity. Navigating this transition can feel overwhelming and isolating but it doesn’t have to feel this way. We help you confidently talk about your career pause, experience, and skills in resumes, LinkedIn, during interviews and throughout the job search process. We offer workshops, 1:1 coaching, and our signature 3-month group program THRIVE Like a Mother where we help stay-at-home-parents tackle a lot of those fears and anxieties and position themselves better for the current job market. It’s incredible to see our clients transform into confident women who are able to carve out a new identity for themselves as working moms. That makes it all worth it!

Our signature program is the THRIVE Like a Mother return to work program for individuals. You will build CONFIDENCE in your professional skills, find CLARITY around job options or what’s next, and build CONNECTIONS with a COMMUNITY of other parents returning to paid work and provide all the tactical job search tips that you will need around resumes, LinkedIn, networking, interviews and more. Learn more about THRIVE in person and online programs here: https://www.parentspivot.com/group-coaching.

For the parent returning from parental leave: We offer 1:1 and group coaching programs to support you through the transition to becoming a working parent whether this is your first time or your fourth time. Becoming a parent is something that we celebrate personally but often try to hide or ignore professionally. We believe that parents should celebrate this transition professionally too as there are so many strengths that you bring from parenting to work and vice versa. Our 1:1 and group coaching programs can begin to support you before you take your parental leave, continue through your leave and help you through a successful transition back to work.

For the working parent: We coach mothers in the workplace to help them find the work, life, leadership, and parenting blend for them using out proprietary framework to reduce stress, and feel empowered to show up as the leaders they want to be. Reach out to learn more about 1:1 and group coaching.

If you want to stay updated with helpful tips for working parents and parents returning to paid work, receive discounts on our latest programs and online workshops, and start your journey back to paid work off on the right foot with the Ultimate Checklist for Moms Returning to Work, then sign up here: https://www.parentspivot.com/newsletter-signup and follow us on Facebook & Instagram @ParentsPivot, and Anna McKay and @ParentsPivot on LinkedIn.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We love living in Houston and although we have been staying closer to home during the pandemic we love supporting our favorite restaurants with take out and exploring Houston’s outdoor venues. Some of our favorite restaurants are Coppa, D’Amicos, Fajitas A Go Go, and Istanbul Grill in Rice Village. Our favorite family activities are bike riding around Buffalo Bayou and Herman Park and visiting the many art museums that Houston has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I honestly believe that I would not have got to where I am without a group of people in my life who have encouraged me to learn and grow. My parents set wonderful examples of entrepreneurs who worked hard in their businesses and had a lot of fun along the way. My mom always gets me to take an honest look at myself and encourages me to grow in the most loving and supportive way.

So many coaches and mentors that I have had along the way have been incredible by asking the thought-provoking questions, helping me explore my professional journey and take on those bigger risks and challenges when fear creeps in and threatens to hold me back. I love the support of a group and have been lucky to find some good friends in coaches like Aisha Crumbine and Jamil Higley in addition to my incredible mastermind group of other female founders including Ana Rojas Bastidas from Orolait, Abbey Donnell from Work & Mother, and Lynda Attaway from Bevy.

Website: www.parentspivot.com
Instagram: @parentspivot
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/annammckay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.mc.3344
Other: https://www.facebook.com/parentspivot Join our free Facebook group for parents returning to paid work: https://www.facebook.com/groups/522991885107262