Exploring the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids.

Bring Your Kid to Work: The podcast that explores the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids.

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Nicole Lessio has taken the big leap out of the paid workforce to venture into the world of podcasting, and to keep with the theme, her podcast is about work. Called Bring Your Kid to Work; in each episode, Nicole talks with a parent and one of their children about the parent’s job and their child’s reactions and ambitions.

Where did it start?

Nicole says the idea of Bring Your Kid to Work has been percolating for a long time. 

“I’ve got four kids of my own. I’ve been a high school teacher, and I’ve seen kids go through this whole phase of what I am going to do with my life.”

“I think part of the podcast is just a manifestation of my desire to be Richard Fidler, but in a way that suits me and is particular to me. Because I love these conversations.“

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Nicole says children can often be very anxious about having to choose subjects and to choose a career.

Nicole’s mum worked as a hairdresser, and her dad had a butcher shop, and their jobs were her childhood experiences of what work involved.

“When you’re choosing a career, you don’t necessarily know what you’re choosing.”

“You have a clue that there are doctors, lawyers, nurses, and teachers, but you don’t really know what the whole gamut of work is. So, you’re seeing a tiny sliver of possible career options, and that can guide you onto a path that isn’t necessarily something that you’re passionate about.”

“Seeing it in my own kids questioning and trying to figure out what they want to do with themselves and seeing the anxiety at the high school where I taught, gave me the idea of interviewing parents and kids about the job the parent does. When I ask the kid how much they know about their parent’s job in can be quite entertaining.”

Nicole started her series with a clinical psychologist and her son.  

“Back in the day, jobs were very clear. You were a doctor, you were a butcher, you were a postie, you were a teacher. There were very clear jobs. Nowadays, there are so many jobs that are a little bit obscure in kids’ minds, and not so visible. And so, it’s harder for young people to visualise what that job means day to day and how they might do that as a job themselves.”

“A clinical psychologist is more challenging because it’s a job done behind closed doors. So just cracking that open and finding out what that means and how they do their job is interesting.”

Kit who was the son of the clinical psychologist had an idea of what his mum did that she did talk to people.

“During the pandemic, there was a whole lot of consulting happening at home, so he realised that mum had to close the door because she had to talk to people about their feelings and make them feel a little bit more comfortable. That its private.” 

While both his parents are clinical psychologists, Kit has decided he wants to be a soil scientist.

“I think it is also really important in the conversations that I’ve been having to note that no one is doing the job that they thought they were going to do when they were a kid.”

The changing world of work.

Nicole is also interested in exploring with parents how their skill set has enabled them to do different jobs and expand their opportunities throughout their working lives. 

“I think that is going to be a trend in work. That it’s transferable skills that you need to be marketing rather than heading for a particular career direction.”

As well as the clinical psychologist, Nicole has interviewed a Talent Acquisition Manager (if you don’t know what that is, tune in), a CEO in innovation and economics, and has lined up a Fire Ecologist and a chaplain, who was also a chemist. 

“I’m going to be interviewing a cook in an aged care facility and her son who thinks it’s the best job ever because she just gets to hang out with nice people that she gets to nourish, which is brilliant.” 

“I haven’t yet got a baker. I do have a warehouseman who works in an IGA warehouse. I want to make sure that it’s truly about all the different ways in which you can work and there is not just one particular job, and that university isn’t your only pathway.”

Nicole said the most surprising thing she has been told during the podcast was about someone’s early work in science, collecting brains from the morgue and putting them on a deli-slicer for the coroner doing an autopsy.

“We’ve got kids who are interested in doing all sorts of things. I’ve done an interview with a 10-year-old girl who is enamoured with animals and believes very strongly about animals’ right to dignity and compassion.”

Seeing your job through your children’s eyes.

Nicole is also interested in asking kids how they react to, or notice, changes at home when a parent’s deadline is approaching and what that means.

“Kids don’t miss a trick: they know when their parent is happy at work or miserable at work.”

“And I’m getting a front row seat at the parent and kid relationship; seeing that relationship through the lens of work. It’s delightful to watch people interact and to hear their ideas and how they’ve gotten to where they are from their first jobs. It’s been wonderful.”

Nicole says there is also the question of people learning to enjoy and be valued for what they do in the non-working parts of their lives.

“That’s important, too. I think the generations coming up have seen parents or grandparents for whom work is everything. And they go, ‘that’s not for me’. Good on them.”

How to listen.

Nicole says a great way to listen to the podcast is in the car on the way to soccer practice or to dance class “because you can listen together and chat afterwards.“

“And I think that’s important. Having those moments that spark conversations in families.”

Nicole would love to have people interact with her. You can find Bring Your Kid To Work on Facebook and Instagram, the website is www.bringyourkidtowork.com and people can simply search ‘Bring Your Kid To Work’ in their favourite podcast player to listen and subscribe.