Where were you at in your music career when you had your first child? Was there much discussion about how that life choice would affect your career within the music/entertainment industry?

My first child was born in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. My career was on hold (as was the case for so many in our industry) and I had very little idea of what my professional future might be. In an odd way, it was freeing to enter motherhood without having to think about career balance or feel like I was falling behind at work. There was no work to fall behind on!

By the time I had my second child in 2022, we were working our way back out of COVID and it was a vastly different experience. The cyclical pace of festival production wasn’t conducive to a maternity leave so I kept going with the kids in tow.

A gold star to my husband who brought my daughter to me every four hours during our 2023 festival to breastfeed! Like most things in our business, the show had to go on so we just made it work!

As a working parent in the music industry, what are some of the biggest challenges you face or have faced?

It’s the classic misconceptions of parents (particularly working mothers) that come up as barriers. When I have my kids with me in a work setting, I have folks ask me how I can possibly focus with them around. When I don’t have them with me, I get asked where they are and who’s taking care of them.

I have even been asked if my employer knew I was a mom before they hired me. It can be tough to work with folks who express those views to you. You basically know that you’re going to have to convince them that you’re a qualified professional deserving of respect.

That said, I do think this is slowly changing and there are more and more folks who are happy to see my girls backstage or giggle when they parade behind me in fairy wings during a zoom call. The more working moms show up in the industry, the more it will become the norm.

What is one change (big or small) within the industry that could make a positive impact for working parents?

One small change that I think gets overlooked is accommodations for parents and families at industry events and conferences. Both of my parents are veterinarians so we traveled to many veterinary conferences when I was a kid. These events expected delegates to travel with their families and every conference we attended had a kids program that my sister and I would attend while my parents were in sessions.

13 years into my career and I have never seen anything even close to that at a music industry event. Not only that, but most of the sessions and showcases are so late at night that attending with a young family in tow is out of the question. I mean, I tried it once and never again!

How do you find support and community with other working parents in or out of the music industry?

As much as it can be a barrier at times, having my kids with me in my work environment is the fastest way to find other parents. My oldest daughter once ran into an artist trailer before I could grab her and the artist was so excited to see her and told me all about his daughter back home who he was missing. Kids are the ultimate ice breaker!

What’s one specific example of an organization/venue/company doing something great to help support working parents?

Break Out West included a parent’s hang in their program this past year. It was great to see and I would hope to see that idea grow.

What could a music event (festival, conference, etc.), do or provide to make it easier for you to participate?

I go back to my earlier story about attending veterinary conferences as a kid. The kid programs were great and the hours were way better but the real difference was that those events anticipated that some of their attendees would be parents.

I think we could make so much progress if organizers just stopped and thought “Hey, some of these folks might have kids, why don’t we move the showcases earlier?” or “Why don’t we make sure there’s a comfy place to breastfeed and a change table in each washroom?” Small, thoughtful changes add up!

Can you shout out another music mama doing great things?

Her son is all grown up now (we went to school together) but Marian Donnelly is the ultimate music industry mom!