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PEOPLE & ARTS Tuesday 7 February 2017
Book Review: ‘Work Pause Thrive’ by Lisen Stromberg

TRACEE M. HERBAUGH top of their industries have For the book, she conduct-
Associated Press taken breaks, Stromberg ed first-person interviews
It’s no secret that work- points out, including tele- with 186 women and sur-
ing parents have a difficult vision journalist Meredith veyed almost 1,500 others
time with the elusive work- Vieira and U.S. Supreme to get their experiences
life balance. For starters, Court Justice Sandra Day balancing work and fam-
there is the 40-hour work- O’Connor. ily. Most of the women who
week, which often spills The classic career ladder responded to Stromberg’s
beyond 8-hour days. Then paradigm, climbing one survey said they never ex-
there is the ever-present rung after another until the pected to take a career
flow of emails, meetings top is reached, “doesn’t break, but ultimately did
and occasional work trips work for those of us with once children came into
that must be juggled with caregiving responsibilities,” the picture. Those who
quotidian chores: making Stromberg writes. stayed out of the workforce
dinner, cleaning up and A former advertising ex- less than five years found
helping with homework, ecutive, Stromberg faced re-entry easier than their
just to name a few. a tipping point in her ca- counterparts who stayed
This balancing act is the reer. The book opens with out longer.
subject of “Work Pause a scene where she’s on a Though readers may be
Thrive,” a new book by business trip and the plane familiar with some of the
Lisen Stromberg. It’s the lat- hits turbulent air. At the factual pillars supporting
est book that extrapolates time, Stromberg is 33 years the book’s structure, they’ll
on how women, and men old and 24 weeks pregnant likely be encouraged by
to a lesser degree, can with her second child, and the central theme: it’s OK
get ahead in their careers she goes into pre-term la- to pause for parenting.q
while in the thick of parent- bor on the flight. .
ing. Stromberg argues that Stromberg’s frustration in This book cover image re-
mothers can “pause” their dealing with a high-flying leased by BenBella Books
careers and focus on care- career in advertising and shows “Work Pause Thrive:
giving duties without harm- parenting two young chil- How to Pause for Parenthood
ing their professional paths, dren — and eventually a Without Killing Your Career,”
as some tend to believe. third — segues into her re- by Lisen Stromberg.
In fact, many moms at the search on the subject. Associated Press