The Juna Women podcast is a weekly discussion where Juna Founder, Sarah, talks to Moms about their health, work, parenting, and all the different ways they’re keeping it together. This is Episode 008, Balancing Motherhood and a Demanding Career with Domina Holbeck.
Domina Holbeck always wanted to have a kid and knew that having a family was important to her. She also knew she was working in an industry where she’s the first woman to have a baby in her office in 10 years.
Domina is a talent agent for actors in television and film. She moved from Utah to LA and started working as an assistant. Twelve years later she’s now a partner at her company.
Her path to marriage and motherhood
When I turned 30 I remember thinking I have to start dating. My job is very time consuming. I remember thinking I need to take a minute If I ever want to have a family and so I started making dating a priority,” she told us.
Shortly thereafter I met my (now) husband. We were both 32 and things escalated quickly. We started talking about marriage just 4 months into dating.
As a female over 30 who knew what I wanted, I made sure to ask any guy by like the 3rd date if they want to have kids someday. So I asked my (now) husband, and he said that he would if he met the right girl. Turns out I was that girl.
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Career and Motherhood
11:08: Sarah: So you got pregnant and there wasn’t really a maternity leave policy in place. Can you talk a little about that?
I’m the only person that’s had a baby here in the last 10 years. It’s funny because I went to talk to one of the owners and I mentioned the fact that I’m the only one who’s had a baby in the past decade. But, I think it’s cool because I’m still here and they’ve kind of grown with me.
They know my work ethic and I’ve proved myself and had I not been in that place it would’ve been much more difficult. I basically went in and talked to them and went on my maternity leave around Christmas and in my mind I was like I have to be back for Pilot season. I took 12 weeks off. I was on my e-mail. I did two deals for “This Is Us” while I was in the hospital. I learned a lot though.
For the other females in my office who want to have kids, I would tell them not to do that. We deserve a maternity leave. I want to enjoy it. I look back at my maternity leave and I was on e-mail and calling my assistant. Now I look back and she’s big now and I feel like I missed out on the baby phase a little bit.”
15:50 Sarah: When you were out on maternity leave, were you feeling like you wanted to be at work? Were you resentful? What was the emotion?
As a first time Mom, I don’t think I had postpartum depression necessarily, but I was in a slump. I maybe had a hint of depression. The baby felt like a foreign object for a while. I loved her and I was excited that she was here, but everything felt foreign and I kind of felt like my life was over for a few weeks. Work has always been my scapegoat and I would just be on my phone working. I think in the first few weeks my husband bonded with her more than I did. I also had a really tough pregnancy, but once I started feeling better and didn’t feel like life was over, I started to enjoy it more.
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18:19 Sarah: How has having a baby impacted your work life?
I don’t stay in the office as long as I used to. I get in the office and work harder. I use to be able to stay as late as I need to. Now I work my ass off and then I leave. Maybe I am the Mom that gets the bad rep because I’m in and out, but I get what needs to be done and then I leave.
28:29: What’s your Mom community like?
I was the first of my friends to get pregnant. And I was very much in the Hollywood life before having a baby. We would go out and stay out late and I don’t want to do that anymore. I recently moved and there’s a few Moms on our block and we get together on Mondays. At first we were going to watch the Bachelorette, which wasn’t my thing, but I went anyway and it’s been great. It’s cool, it’s nice that I have a neighborhood of Moms. That’s totally what I wanted when we moved. It’s hard to build your Mom community. Plus, I call my Mom 100x a day.
If you have feedback or know someone who would be a great guest on the show, please reach out via Twitter, @juna_app or by email to Sarah@juna.co.
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