Welcome back Sarah (and baby Sam)!
Some of you may remember when our client manager Sarah Stevenson went on maternity leave last August. 10 months later, we welcome not only Sarah back to the business, but also our newest addition to Murphy Group – baby Sam (who is already melting hearts)!
Whilst it has been one long journey for Sarah (Sam was overdue by 2 weeks), we are so excited to have her come back to join us as a client manager and mother of one.
How did you feel before maternity leave?
As we were expanding the business, I was quite nervous to tell the team I was expecting. There were changes happening at the time with recruitment, the structure of the team and moving into the new office. However, both Adrian and Neil were extremely supportive and encouraged that I came in for ‘keep-in-touch days’ during my leave.
How was your maternity leave?
Sam was born on 24th September. It was my first pregnancy, therefore quite nerve-racking! However, I had a smooth pregnancy and thankfully not many problems. Sam was originally due in early September, and I worked right up until the end of August. Little did I know he would be overdue by 2 weeks - I was initially twiddling my thumbs after going on leave!
Please tell us about your ‘Keep-in-touch’ days.
The ‘Keep-in-touch’ days were exactly as they sound and allowed me to stay in touch with the team, see the new office, and meet new team members that had joined.
I came in to visit with my husband Gavin when Sam was 3 weeks old. Sam was stealing all the attention with photos and cuddles, as expected. During my 10 months leave, I visited the office 3 times just to check-in. I would see the team out-with that too as I attended Christmas lunch, the new office opening party and team lunches. I really enjoyed time off with my family, but even more so knowing that the team were extremely supportive. It also meant that I could fully enjoy my time-off with no surprises, since I always felt involved enough to know what was going on, but with no more detail than I needed.
What are you looking forward to most about being back?
The simple things! It sounds silly, but it will be nice to have a routine and get back to “normality” as I knew it before. Having a baby changes your whole life, and maternity leave allows you to focus primarily on the baby which I really appreciated. However, I am really looking forward to getting back my role as client manager and meet clients face-to-face again.
I am also going to continue working towards my Diploma in Financial Planning. The business has always been extremely supportive of my personal development, so it will be great to continue earning credits and qualify for my Diploma.
All-in-all, it’s great to be back with the team, to see familiar faces but also meet new team members. There has no doubt been a lot of changes since I left for leave, but they have all been positive and it’s an exciting time!
Sarah will be working part-time, with Wednesdays off, allowing her to spend time with Sam as well as integrate back into her client manager role.
At Murphy Wealth, we really want to make sure that we can support our team in every way possible. It's in our best interest to promote a good work-life balance and environment where team members can be flexible in the way they work and have the power to drive their self-development.