Date: Saturday, March 8, 2014
Time: 10am-10.40am
Location : Austin Convention Center, Ballroom D Foyer, 500 E Cesar Chavez St
“How does she do it?” Women all over the world ask themselves this question when they see their female colleagues juggling what is now considered normal everyday life – building a career, being a mother and a wife. As a woman, there is a great sense of shame felt when you feel like you’re not coping as well as your counterpart, but the truth is, many women aren’t coping at all.
Katrina Alcorn is a former creative director at a leading interaction agency who knows all about that. A mother of three, she seemed to be superwoman, juggling both her skyrocketing professional and personal life when one Saturday afternoon in 2009, on a routine run for groceries, she broke down under the stress. Over time, Katrina realized that she wasn’t alone in the way she felt. As she questioned other working mothers, she found out that many of them were also struggling to cope.
Her new book, Maxed Out! American Moms on the Brink documents her experience, but it also discusses the issues faced by working mothers. She said “it’s definitely a memoir, but it’s not a typical memoir; I use my personal story as a backdrop to tell a bigger story about the dysfunction between our work and home lives. Maxed Out has been categorized in bookstores under “personal transformation” but I think of it as a social or cultural commentary—sort of the opposite of a self-help book. That said, I’ve received tons of emails from women who read the book and said it helped them. “
When asked if, then, it’s realistic to believe that we can really ‘have it all’, she said, ” Sure
— it’s possible to “have it all” in America, if you’re one of the lucky few who has a flexible job, understanding coworkers, and an incredible support system of paid caregivers and/or family help. But most of us don’t have that. One idea, which I plan to talk about at SXSW, is challenging the notion that we must work long hours to be successful. The research shows the opposite—very long hours actually lead to negative productivity (where we’re creating more problems at work than we’re solving). Yet many of us are rewarded for working long hours, and held back in our careers if we don’t.”
Despite her experiences, Katrina still believes that it is possible to be successful in creative industries that are notorious for their odd work hours. “As a manager, I’ve come to believe that a lot of the late night work sessions are actually a byproduct of people being lazy during the day and not planning well. And then they get rewarded for working late, so we think of that as a good thing.”
By holding discussions like this at SXSW, Katrina hopes to change the conversation about work stress burnout. “Let’s recognize there’s a real structural problem with how we work that goes beyond personal choices, and let’s talk about ways to fix it,” she said.
Katrina will be giving a short reading from her book and then lead a discussion on women, creative professionals and work/life balance at SXSW this year. “Everyone should attend this panel!” she said. “Including anyone who manages people, or aspires to be a manager, and anyone who struggles with feeling overwhelmed by their work, whether they have kids or not.”