Looking Back: Fertility at work 20 Years ago

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode deals with discussions of in/fertility and/or baby loss.

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There’s a growing trend towards establishing a career path before considering starting a family, but this is not right for everyone and traditionally was not so prevalent.

Our guest today began her fertility journey and became a mum in her early 20s, but not without many struggles – not least polycystic ovaries - and the devastation of miscarriage.

Adding to Elizabeth Cowper’s story is that this was twenty years ago when fertility was not a topic that was talked about openly (even less so that today!) especially in the workplace.

That led to Elizabeth, an HR professional who was working in recruitment at the time of her first IVF cycle, to hide what she was going through, fearful that it may harm her career prospects and “embarrassed” by her infertility.

GUEST BIO:

Elizabeth Cowper has over 20 years of HR leadership experience and is a working mother of 3 and Founder of Ludo.

Ludo provides multi-award winning tech for inclusion in the workplace. Elizabeth spent her HR career working for brands such as Planet Organic, Harvey Nichols, LVMH and Tapestry. Tapestry is the umbrella company for Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman where Elizabeth was VP HR Europe, Global Head of Wellbeing and part of the Global DEI Committee.

Elizabeth has been described as the ‘Culture Adjuster’ and has listed in the HR Most Influential Awards for 5 years straight.

Elizabeth understands how to engage talent and drive wellbeing in the workplace. It’s her thing. In 2022 Ludo won Inclusion Initiative of the year by Corporate Livewire and Rising Stars in Corporate Wellbeing.

Elizabeth has been listed as one of 10 Most Futuristic Business Women Pioneering Innovation 2022 and Top Five Unstoppable Women Leaders to Watch 2023.

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CONNECT WITH US

You can engage with the hosts and the growing In/Fertility in the City community by:

emailing us:

• info@infertilityinthecity.com
• Website: www.infertilityinthecity.com

following us on:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/infertilityinthecity
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/infertilityinthecity
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/InFertilityCity

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OUR SPONSOR

Finally, our thanks go to Horsfield Menzies, a modern boutique law firm and consultancy practice specialising in workplace matters, for sponsoring this season of the podcast.

You can find out more about Horsfield Menzies here https://www.horsfieldmenzies.com/.

You can also contact their co-founders, Simon Horsfield and Angus Menzies, here: simon.horsfield@horsfieldmenzies.com angus.menzies@horsfieldmenzies.com