Redesigning Workplaces For Parents – Exclusive Interview with Alexa Starks

Alexa Starks is an award-winning workplace culture innovator, leadership strategist, and founder of Executive Moms. After a decade in corporate operations, she witnessed how outdated systems force working parents, especially moms, out of leadership pipelines. Today, she partners with organizations through her acclaimed workshops, creating parent-forward cultures that retain top talent and foster equity. As a mom of two, Alexa blends lived experience with corporate expertise, making her a leading voice on reentry, resilience, and the future of work. Her work has been recognized nationally, earning her the title of Best Workplace Culture Innovator in the U.S. in 2025.

Alexa Starks, Founder of Executive Moms

Who is Alexa Starks? Introduce yourself, your hobbies, your favorites, you at home and in business. Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I’m Alexa, and I’m a wife, mom of two toddlers, and founder of Executive Moms. My husband is truly my best friend, and together we’ve built this wild, fun little family. At home, life is a mix of toddler chaos and sneaking in moments just for us. We’re big foodies and love trying new restaurants when we can find a babysitter or snuggling up on the couch watching cooking shows or sci-fi. I also love working out, it’s my reset time, my de-stress time, my self-care time. And here’s a fun fact, I’m a total sucker for romantic love songs. I’ll blast them in the car and at home and sing at the top of my lungs like I’m auditioning for a rom-com soundtrack.

In business, I help companies build parent-forward workplaces and coach working moms in their first year back after maternity leave. It’s work that’s deeply personal to me, because I’ve lived it twice and I know how tough that transition really is.

What do your workshops cover, and how do they change workplace culture?

I run two types of workshops.

First is the Reentry Blueprint, which helps moms transition back to work after maternity leave. We create 30/60/90-day reentry plans, give employees advocacy scripts, and train managers on how to support without making assumptions or going silent.

The second is the Parent-Forward Culture Workshop, which isn’t just about one person coming back, it’s about shifting the entire culture to better support working parents. That means training leaders to normalize flexibility, creating systems that actually work for parents, and making sure moms and dads don’t feel like they’re hiding the reality of parenthood at work.

Both workshops change culture because they tackle what’s usually left unsaid. When managers and employees have tools, language, and systems, workplaces move from reactive to supportive, and parents stop feeling like they have to choose between career and family.

What mistakes do companies make when supporting parents returning to work?

The biggest mistake companies make is thinking that a parental leave policy is the end of the story. A policy looks great on paper, but it doesn’t help a mom at 2 a.m. when she’s up with a baby and still expected to be at her desk the next morning as if nothing has changed. The real challenge isn’t the leave, it’s the reentry.

That’s when parents come back to full workloads, missed opportunities, and silence from managers who don’t know what to say. Without tools, language, or training, managers avoid the topic altogether. That silence sends a loud message, we don’t know how to support you, so we won’t.

The other mistake is treating support as a one-time event instead of a cultural commitment. Flexible work options, ongoing manager check-ins, and parent-forward policies aren’t “perks,” they’re systems that keep your best talent engaged and loyal. When companies get this wrong, parents quietly burn out or leave, and the cost to replace them is enormous.

How does your coaching program help moms lead with confidence and clarity?

Most moms I work with don’t come to me asking for “coaching.” They come to me saying things like, “I feel like I’m failing at everything,” or “I don’t know how to have this conversation without looking weak,” or “I can’t keep doing this pace.”

The Reentry Reset is designed to change that narrative. Over six sessions, we co-create a 90-day roadmap tailored to her role, her manager, and her home life. She doesn’t just leave with ideas, she leaves with exact scripts for high-stakes conversations, systems that protect her energy, and the confidence to set boundaries that don’t stall her career.

Because it’s high-touch with real-time WhatsApp and email support, she has me in her corner when the unexpected happens, when daycare calls, when her manager drops a new project, or when she just needs to know what words to use in the moment.

The transformation is simple but profound, she stops questioning if she’s cut out for this and starts leading with authority and clarity again. She becomes the version of herself she thought she lost after maternity leave, only stronger, because now she has tools that make leadership and motherhood sustainable.

Can you share a brief success story that shows your impact?

One mom I worked with came to me four months after returning to work. She was exhausted, constantly on edge, and told me she cried in her car before walking into the office some mornings. At work, she felt invisible, projects had been reassigned while she was on leave, and she wasn’t sure leadership even saw her as ambitious anymore. At home, she carried the entire mental load.

We built her Reset Plan together. She used one of the scripts we created to talk with her manager about her workload, and instead of being penalized, she was given clarity on priorities and more meaningful projects. She was able to adjust her work hours to go pick up her son from daycare and pick up on any work after bedtime.

A few weeks later, she said, “I finally feel like I can breathe again and have figured out a much better balance. I don’t want to quit anymore, and I feel like I can actually grow again.”

That’s what this work is about. It’s not abstract culture change or vague empowerment, it’s helping real moms stay, lead, and thrive in spaces that weren’t designed for us.

What does a typical engagement look like, format, timeline, and next steps?

Everything starts with a free discovery call. For companies, that means I get to understand their culture and customize a workshop that usually fits a half-day session and can be done virtually as well, with toolkits and optional follow-ups for sustainability.

For moms, the Reentry Reset is a 3-month coaching program with six 1:1 sessions. We map out their plan, refine it, and make sure they leave with the systems and language they need.

The next step is always the same, hop on a call with me, and we’ll figure out what support looks like for your team or for you personally.

Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!

Read more from Alexa Starks