about epicycle

Epicycle group was founded to address the challenges professionals face as they work to carve out both meaningful careers and fulfilling personal lives.

We support purpose-drive leaders, women and working parents, so they succeed at work and at home. And we partner with organizations seeking to develop talent, retain women, and build family-friendly and inclusive work cultures.

Our services include coaching, women’s initiatives, and building teams and culture.

The Why

Leaders and professionals must consistently grow and evolve.

The pace of change, and our day-to-day lives, is fast. And we live with ongoing uncertainty. This has intensified what was always difficult at work—managing people fairly and constructively; building diverse, high-performing teams; and creating inclusive work cultures that retain talented employees.

Today’s leaders must uplevel their skills to achieve results, be open to deepening their self-awareness and examining their blind spots, lead with empathy, and create open dialogues with those who have had different lived experiences.

Like all of us, leaders and professionals have many layers to their identities. People from marginalized groups, including women and working parents, face additional challenges at work.

• 43% of high-achieving women who have built successful careers leave their jobs for a period of time to raise their children

• 74% of professional women who temporarily opt out will rejoin the workforce in some capacity

• Just 40% will return to full time jobs

  
  
  

Many women don’t want to give up their careers completely or permanently opt out of the workforce. But there is not a well-defined path to return to work. Depending on the field, resuming one’s career where it left off can range from impossible to requiring significant effort and creativity.

This departure of educated women from the workforce reduces talent in the workplace, hurts women’s future career prospects and earning potential, limits their families financially, and is an avoidable drain on the economy.

Men who prioritize fatherhood face difficulties as well. When men take time out from their careers to raise their children, they are often judged even more harshly for their decision than women.

Many women choose to stay employed full time without interruptions. Yet they face other challenges.

Whether it’s being the only woman or woman of color in the room, experiencing sexual harassment, feeling guilty for their divided attention, or being less available to network because of caregiving responsibilities at home, women grapple with similar questions:

• “Do I assimilate back into the same work culture, or stake a stand and carve a new path?”

• “Should I go out on my own rather than fight for flexibility with my current employer?”

• “Can I feel successful as a parent and as a professional here?”

It is challenging to evolve our approaches and to change norms. Yet solving the complex problems we face at work requires multiple solutions, including more equitable systems and a shift in work culture.

Acknowledging the connection between the professional and the personal is critical for the success of both employees and employers.

By providing opportunities to grow and develop, and by designing inclusive cultures that promote belonging, collectively we can build workplaces where all employees can excel.

The How

Self-awareness is connected to systems-level change. It takes courage to follow your inner compass and do things differently. It’s hard, but it’s also unbelievably fulfilling. When we embrace authenticity ourselves, we can then model intentionality for our teams, our colleagues, and our children.

Growth often means sitting with discomfort. Yet once we identify our core values and clarify what we want, we can build an action plan to create meaningful changes in our lives and in our workplaces.

Epicycle addresses these challenges and promotes growth and change by supporting individuals and teams.

Through our Coaching and our Women’s Initiatives, leaders and professionals can uplevel their skills, reframe their thinking, make powerful mindset shifts, and take action.

Our Teams & Culture services help employees to work together as part of high-performing teams and allow leaders to create thriving cultures that retain top talent.

With diverse solutions in place, professionals can enjoy meaningful careers and workplaces can thrive.