Isabel Theissen

Founder of &BEYOND

Isabel Theissen is the founder of &BEYOND, the maternity transition consultancy.

She brings together her professional expertise and lived experience to help make maternity transitions work – for both women and the organizations they return to.

Through &BEYOND, she advises organizations on creating more structured and sustainable return-to-work processes that support and retain talent, while guiding ambitious women through the personal and professional shifts that accompany motherhood.

Informed by qualitative research and hands-on experience supporting women through this critical career transition, Isabel challenges the idea that returning from maternity leave is simply a matter of “bouncing back.” Instead, she sees it as a significant life and leadership transition that can reshape identity, priorities, and career direction.

With her Motherhood & Leadership Framework™, Isabel addresses four critical phases: Pre-leave, On leave, Re-entry, and Beyond. The framework brings greater clarity, structure, and support to the transition, with particular focus on the critical return-to-work phase.

Her work helps organizations move from well-intentioned policy to meaningful implementation, creating the conditions for women to continue growing in their careers while strengthening talent retention, leadership pipelines, and more sustainable ways of working.