Laid Off One Month Before Giving Birth: How Make It Work Was Born | Sarah Wong on Community At Work

<p>I lost my job one month before giving birth.</p><p><br></p><p>It was 2022. I had just moved back to Singapore from the US with an 18-month-old and a second baby on the way. I still remember sitting in a half-furnished flat in the heat, eating instant noodles in my singlet with my hair in a messy bun, wondering who I was now that the job was gone.</p><p><br></p><p>My career had been such a big part of who I was. When it was ripped out, I felt lost at sea.</p><p><br></p><p>So I started talking to women who were a few steps ahead of me, one conversation at a time. Those conversations became Make It Work.</p><p><br></p><p>This time, I&#39;m the one in the guest&#39;s chair. I joined Brandon Lee on Community At Work to talk about how Make It Work began, what our community of moms is really looking for, and where I think communities like ours are heading.</p><p><br></p><p>For the first time, I opened up about the actual pains of building this community. Like anything worth doing, it&#39;s taken a lot of late nights and tears. I&#39;m thankful I got to share honestly about what keeps me up at night trying to keep this going.</p><p><br></p><p>What we get into:</p><p><br></p><p>🌊 Getting laid off one month before giving birth, and the &quot;period of wilderness&quot; that followed</p><p>🎙️ How a handful of honest conversations turned into a podcast heard in 40 countries</p><p>🤫 Our mystery question feature, and the &quot;selfish&quot; things we carry as moms but rarely say out loud</p><p>🇸🇬 Why the tension between career and motherhood looks so different in Singapore compared with my experience in the American South</p><p>🧩 Why moms join asking for a 4-day work week script, and why that&#39;s never where the conversation ends</p><p>🌙 The real cost of keeping a community going: editing videos at 9pm, hunting for venues, and one very dodgy yoga studio</p><p>🧠 Matrescence, and why your brain literally rewires after becoming a mom</p><p>🤝 What institutions can do to back grassroots communities, including showing alternatives like job sharing</p><p>🤖 Our AI Moms Party, and why human connection matters even more in the age of AI</p><p>🪜 Why seeing your career as seasons will serve you better than seeing it as a ladder</p><p><br></p><p>If you&#39;ve ever wondered whether the thing you&#39;re building on late nights and very little sleep is worth it, this one is for you.</p><p>—------------------</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY AT WORK</strong