Last week, I pulled the most-listened-to episode of Dr Julie's Coffee Chats out of the archives — The Controversial School Holidays Episode.

This week, we're picking up the conversation three years later. And Anna is joining me.

Because when you look at the hours our children are at school, the weeks they're at school, and the hours and weeks we're expected to work…

the maths simply doesn't math.

In this episode, we go beyond the statistics and talk about what navigating this system actually looks like.

Anna shares more of her own story — becoming a doctor, training as a specialist in obstetrics while having two babies, and now balancing motherhood with a demanding specialist medical career.

We also look at where our current school-day and school-year structure actually came from, and why a system created for a very different world continues to shape the lives of modern families today.

Then we get personal.

After reflecting on our very different careers and journeys through motherhood, we each share:

• The one piece of advice we'd give a new mum.
• What we would do differently if we could go back.
• Our biggest challenge with the current system.
• What we've found actually helps make it work.
• And what we would most like to see change.

This isn't about whether we love having our children home during the holidays — of course we do.

It's about acknowledging that our expectations around work, school and parenting simply don't fit neatly together, and that families — particularly women — are often left to somehow make up the difference.

There are things we've learnt the hard way, things we'd approach very differently now, and plenty we still haven't figured out.

So grab a coffee and join us for an honest conversation about motherhood, careers, school holidays and trying to make the maths math. ❤️

A huge thank you to my podcast partner, Fuel Box, a fellow Wellington business supporting busy Kiwis to fuel their day.

Three years ago, I recorded what became the most-listened-to episode of Dr Julie's Coffee Chats — and listening back, I was struck by just how relevant it still is today.

So I'm bringing it back.

While school holidays might seem like a simple issue of juggling children and work, the reality is much bigger. In this episode, I unpack the research and statistics behind what happens to women's careers, income, financial security and wellbeing when they become parents — and why this matters to ALL women, whether you have children or not.

We look at the gender pay gap, occupational segregation, parental leave, why women are more likely to reduce their hours or leave the workforce, and the longer-term consequences of these decisions.

Because these aren't simply individual choices happening inside individual families. There are much bigger structural factors at play.

And school holidays are just one small window into a much bigger conversation about how our workplaces, childcare systems and society are set up — and who ultimately carries the cost when they don't fit together.

I'm now coming back to this episode three years later with three boys all in school, but the research and the questions at the heart of this conversation remain incredibly relevant.

This isn't an episode about blaming parents, women, men or employers.

It's about looking at the evidence, understanding what is actually happening, and asking whether we should be doing things differently.

And next week, Anna and I will continue the conversation and bring our 2026 perspectives to this topic.

But first, let's go back to where it started.

This is The Controversial School Holidays Episode.

A huge thank you to my podcast partner, Fuel Box, a fellow Wellington business supporting busy Kiwis to fuel their day.

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you've seen the Sydney Sweeney ad taking over the internet — and EVERYONE seems to have an opinion.

So, naturally, Anna and I had to sit down and talk about it.

But this isn't an episode about hating on another woman, judging her body or deciding what women should or shouldn't wear.

Instead, we're asking: why has this ad created such a huge reaction — and what does the conversation around it say about us?

We share our own reactions to the ad, the wider conversation around beauty and women's bodies, and some very honest reflections on our own body-image struggles over the years.

We also talk about getting older, comparison, the impossible standards women can place on themselves, what our children are absorbing from the world around them — and what we hope we can do differently for the next generation.

As always when Anna and I get behind the microphones, there are different opinions, plenty of honesty, a few tangents and a LOT of laughs.

Because sometimes a viral ad isn't really just about an ad.

It's about beauty, bodies, ageing, motherhood, self-worth and the messages we're passing on to our kids.

Grab a coffee and join us. ❤️

This season of Dr Julie's Coffee Chats is proudly supported by Fuel Box, a fellow Wellington business helping busy Kiwis fuel their day.