After a decade working in high-pressure corporate environments, Louise Siwicki knew something had to give.
The writing on the wall came in the form of a warning from her fertility specialist about the impact of stress while trying to become pregnant.
Her career demanded long hours that strayed deep into her personal time; to the point that midnight emails stopped being exceptional.
Then there was the "show up or shut up" culture that filtered from the top down.
She was trying to navigate workplace toxicity amid multiple rounds of IVF and repeated pregnancy loss, yet felt she couldn't disclose it to her managers because it would impact her career.
"There was no real compassion or understanding and an attitude that you just had to get on with it," Ms Siwicki told AAP.
