Kundra

How do you manage maternity leave when half your team is stepping away - and performance still needs to hold?
In this episode of the Kundra Podcast, Theresa sits down with Valentine, Product Marketing leader and therapist, who shares a rare perspective: how to design high-performing parental leave as a manager who hasn’t experienced it herself.
After witnessing firsthand how poorly managed maternity leave can derail careers and cost companies top talent, Valentine took a radically different approach — turning a high-risk situation into a win for the team, the business, and the individuals involved.
When two of her four team members went on maternity leave simultaneously, she had to make fast, high-stakes decisions: how to structure coverage, justify budget, protect partnerships, and ensure a seamless return.
Inside this conversation, you’ll discover:
From Failure to Framework: What goes wrong when maternity leave is poorly handled - and how to avoid it
Continuity Under Pressure: How to design coverage when capacity drops by 50%
Smart Trade-offs: How to decide between freelancers, hiring, and internal redistribution
Business Case First: How to secure budget by linking leave coverage to revenue and partnerships
Reboarding That Works: Why the first weeks back matter more than the handover
The Human Layer: How a therapist mindset - listening, empathy, and “persona thinking” - transforms outcomes
Whether you’re a manager, HR leader, or future parent, this episode offers a practical and deeply human playbook for turning maternity leave into a moment of growth - not disruption.

In this episode we cover:
00:00 Introduction to Valentine
02:53 Why This Topic Matters: Even If You’re Not a Parent
04:45 The Worst-Case Scenario: When Maternity Leave Goes Wrong
08:36 Managing Two Leaves in a Four-Person Team
09:06 Coverage Decisions: Freelance, Hire, or Redistribute?
15:27 Making the Business Case: Budget, Partners & Performance
21:12 Reboarding Done Right: Energy, Identity & Motivation
25:56 The Manager Playbook: Listening, Personas & Long-Term Impact
About Kundra
Kundra is building the future of parental leave.
We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.
This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.
We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.
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What if taking three months off work after your child is born made you a better father - and a better professional?
In this episode of the Kundra Podcast, Theresa sits down with Gaultier, Product Marketing Manager at Kolecto, who shares a deeply honest story about becoming a father during a moment of professional transition. After closing his startup and questioning his professional identity, Gaultier chose to take three months away from work to fully experience the early days of fatherhood.
What followed reshaped how he thinks about success, work, and the role fathers play in building the foundations of family life.
Inside this conversation, you’ll discover:
Choosing Presence Over Pressure: Why Gaultier paused his job search after his son’s birth - and how stepping away from work allowed him to truly become a father.
The Hidden Value of Paternity Leave: How early time with his son built confidence, strengthened their bond, and created the foundation for a lifelong relationship.
Fatherhood as Leadership Training: The unexpected professional skills developed through parenting - from empathy and prioritization to sharper focus and better energy management.
The Legitimacy Gap: Why many fathers still hesitate to take longer leave, and how cultural expectations and a lack of role models hold men back.
Reframing Commitment at Work: Why taking parental leave doesn’t reduce ambition - and how companies can recognize parenthood as a meaningful life experience that builds stronger professionals.
This episode is a powerful reminder that taking time for early parenthood isn’t a career risk - it’s an investment in family, leadership, and long-term wellbeing.
Whether you’re a father-to-be, working parent, manager, or HR leader, this conversation challenges the assumptions around paternity leave and shows what becomes possible when fathers give themselves permission to be fully present.
In this episode we cover:
00:00 Introduction & Gaultier’s Story
04:19 Choosing to Pause Work and Take Time With His Newborn
09:07 What Fatherhood Changed About Work and Leadership
15:56 Navigating Career Fears as a New Dad
22:23 Why More Fathers Should Take Parental Leave
About Kundra
Kundra is building the future of parental leave.
We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.
This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.
We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.
Want more from each episode?
Subscribe to Kundra Notes for insights, recaps, and HR toolkits

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Et si le problème de l’égalité professionnelle ne se situait pas au sommet… mais bien plus tôt dans les trajectoires ?
Dans cet épisode du Kundra Podcast, Theresa reçoit Florence Masquin, co-dirigeante de Companieros, cabinet expert en diversité et inclusion depuis plus de 25 ans.
À l’approche de l’objectif légal des 30% de femmes dans les instances dirigeantes d’ici 2026, beaucoup d’entreprises découvrent une réalité brutale : elles n’ont pas assez de femmes prêtes à accéder au sommet.
Mais Florence apporte un éclairage essentiel.
Le véritable décrochage ne se produit pas au niveau du COMEX.
Il se joue plus tôt - souvent au moment du passage de manager à manager de managers.
Et très souvent, il coïncide avec une transition clé : la maternité.
Non pas parce que les femmes manquent d’ambition.
Mais parce que les normes implicites de disponibilité, les biais “protecteurs”, et la culture du sur-investissement professionnel créent un déséquilibre structurel.
Cet épisode explore :
Pourquoi les quotas révèlent un problème plus profond de pipeline
Comment la maternité devient un point de rupture silencieux dans les trajectoires
Ce que le “plancher de verre” dit des attentes envers les pères
Pourquoi la disponibilité reste le critère implicite de leadership
Comment repenser le design des postes à haute responsabilité
Par où commencer concrètement : diagnostic, données et actions prioritaires
Que vous soyez RH, manager, dirigeant, ou parent - cet épisode vous aidera à comprendre où l’égalité professionnelle se fragilise vraiment… et pourquoi soutenir la parentalité est un levier stratégique de rétention et de performance.
Dans cet épisode, on parle :
00:00 Introduction à Florence & le constat des 30%
07:03 Le vrai point de rupture : le passage manager → manager de managers
10:20 Maternité, disponibilité & normes implicites
18:32 Repenser le design du travail : postes, charge & viabilité
24:51 Par où commencer ? Diagnostic, données & actions concrètes
About Kundra
Kundra is building the future of parental leave.
We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.
This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.
We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.
Want more from each episode?
Subscribe to Kundra Notes for insights, recaps, and HR toolkits

Follow Kundra on LinkedIn for product updates and thought leadership

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Et si l’égalité professionnelle passait aussi par la place que nous laissons aux pères ?
Dans cet épisode du Kundra Podcast, Theresa reçoit Simon, Senior Learning Product Manager chez OpenClassrooms - et premier homme invité sur le podcast.
Alors qu’il démarre un nouveau poste, Simon devient père de jumelles nées en grande prématurité. S’ensuivent des peurs rarement exprimées par les hommes au travail :
la peur de perdre son emploi, de ne pas faire ses preuves, de voir la parentalité perçue comme un manque d’engagement professionnel.
Des peurs que l’on associe encore trop souvent uniquement aux mères.
À l’heure où le congé naissance ouvre la possibilité pour les pères de prendre un véritable temps de congé parental, cet épisode montre pourquoi inclure les pères n’est pas un “bonus” - mais une condition clé de l’égalité professionnelle.
L’histoire de Simon est aussi une preuve très concrète :
lorsqu’une entreprise investit réellement dans le soutien à la parentalité, elle crée de la confiance, de l’engagement - et une loyauté durable.
Quatre ans plus tard, Simon est toujours chez OpenClassrooms. Et il raconte pourquoi.
Dans ce conversation, vous découvrirez :
Pourquoi les pères vivent, eux aussi, les mêmes peurs professionnelles que les mères après une naissance
Comment la culture d’entreprise influence la santé mentale des nouveaux parents
Ce que le soutien à la parentalité change réellement - sur le long terme
Pourquoi inclure les pères est un levier clé d’égalité, de rétention et de performance
Ce que les entreprises ont tout à gagner à investir dans des politiques parentales ambitieuses
Que vous soyez parent, manager, dirigeant ou professionnel RH, cet épisode vous aidera à repenser la parentalité non pas comme une interruption - mais comme un moment clé de transformation.
Dans cet épisode, on parle :
00:00 Introduction & parcours de Simon
06:15 Rejoindre une nouvelle entreprise en attendant des jumeaux
10:02 Naissance prématurée, hospitalisation et choc des premiers jours
12:53 Minimiser, avoir peur et vouloir “faire ses preuves” en tant que père
15:52 Congé parental, intervention des RH et soutien de l’entreprise
31:48 Enseignements pour les leaders – soutenir les pères, renforcer la rétention et l’équité
About Kundra
Kundra is building the future of parental leave.
We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.
This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.
We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.
Want more from each episode?
Subscribe to Kundra Notes for insights, recaps, and HR toolkits

Follow Kundra on LinkedIn for product updates and thought leadership

Follow Kundra on Instagram for stories, quotes, and behind-the-scenes

What can companies learn from countries where parenthood still pushes talent out of the workforce?
In this episode of the Kundra Podcast, Theresa speaks with Claudine, founder of Promama, an Italian startup working to make workplaces genuinely more family friendly. Claudine shares how her own maternity leave experience - marked by silence, lost role clarity, and stalled progression - became the catalyst for building a data-driven solution to a systemic problem.
Together, they explore what Italy’s parental-leave reality reveals about workplace culture, why good intentions aren’t enough without structure, and how companies can retain parents through simple but deliberate design choices. This is a rare peer-to-peer conversation with someone tackling the same challenge from a different national, cultural, and policy context—and uncovering lessons that travel far beyond borders.
Whether you’re an HR leader, manager, or working parent, this episode offers a grounded look at what actually moves the needle when it comes to parental leave, retention, and performance.
Inside this conversation, you’ll discover:
How a maternity leave breakdown exposed a wider, systemic problem
Why nearly 1 in 5 Italian women leave the workforce after becoming mothers
What “family-friendly” looks like in practice—not just in policy
The hidden cost of losing parents (and why retention is the real ROI)
Where companies most often fail—and the low-effort fixes they miss
Why flexibility is the single biggest enabler for working parents
What it takes to turn personal experience into scalable change
In this episode we cover:
00:00 Introduction to Claudine & the Career Turning Point
03:31 When Maternity Leave Breaks Trust - and Careers
09:29 The Data: Why This Is a Systemic Issue in Italy
11:48 Building ProMama: From Personal Pain to Platform
14:33 The 4 Pillars of a Truly Family-Friendly Company
19:26 Retention, ROI & the Business Cost of Getting This Wrong
32:36 Flexibility as the Foundation - and What to Change First
About Kundra
Kundra is building the future of parental leave.
We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.
This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.
We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.
Want more from each episode?
Subscribe to Kundra Notes for insights, recaps, and HR toolkits

Follow Kundra on LinkedIn for product updates and thought leadership

Follow Kundra on Instagram for stories, quotes, and behind-the-scenes