Finance leader Liz Stapleton Zerella’s moxie landed her a rare senior job share arrangement at Clorox
Episode 11 of Jobshare Revolution podcast is a rare fly on-the-wall moment—the one where two women with moxie (the kind likely to be called “bossy” or “aggressive”) meet for the first time—but it’s like they’ve known each other since birth. Not because they have SO MUCH in common, but because they have ONE THING in common few do: they both job shared a near decade.
Before this podcast was even a thing, Liz Stapleton Zerella set a phone date with me to share her story in the hopes of helping more women in male-dominated industries (like finance) break the glass ceiling without outsourcing mothering the only way she found to do it—TOGETHER job sharing.
Liz was putting out the lighthouse call, proudly wearing “job share” on her LinkedIn profile, in the hopes of finding more from the secret society of job sharers, while empowering others to do the same.
If you’ve wondered if job sharing will negatively impact your career, not only does research prove the opposite (according to The Job Share Project, over 70% of job shares who apply are promoted together)—but Liz and her partner Michelle Shalauta successfully navigated a nine-year job share partnership in four roles while also winning promotion in a job share.
You’re not going to want to miss Episode 11, so throw on your coziest jammies and let’s get to it…
HERE’S A GLANCE AT THIS EPISODE:
- [4:05] Melissa and Michelle exchange job share stories and what they deemed the reason job sharing became an option despite their patriarchal notions in leadership, and how early parenting conversations with her husband, led Michelle to seek out alternative work arrangements.
- [8:30] How Michelle built goodwill early on at Clorox before presenting her flexible work arrangement, but upon realizing traditional part-time work wouldn’t allow her the career trajectory she desired, she turned to a previous leader who’d job shared previously advice on who to job share with
- [10:36] How Liz and Michelle presented the business case for their job share and how their transparency, differences, and honesty with one another helped them rise through the ranks.
- [14:09] Why Liz decided to leave the job and the job share despite the flexibility and satisfying professional life she benefited from. How their team became the “best in class” people managers and how the job share played into or against their success.
- [19:35] Liz’s best advice for being promoted in a job share, and it’s not the advice you think. Liz’s belief that job sharing is not only for women and why the tide is changing in our discussion of stigma and men wanting to be the lead parent or co-parent.
- [25:42] How Liz and Michelle managed a team, including how to coach other managers who they managed with devoted 1:1s with both partners to make sure they were accessible. Why bringing job share champions in elevates your job share.
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Melissa Nicholson job shared for nearly a decade and is the Founder & CEO of Work Muse. Work Muse drives the adoption of job sharing in business as a source of competitive advantage while helping individuals find work-life balance. Join the #JobshareRevolution here.
