Naomi Seddon knows what it is like to scramble to the top of the career ladder while navigating an array of female health issues. At the age of 22, Naomi was diagnosed with endometriosis and von willebrands disease. Not long after being appointed as a partner at global law firm Littler, Naomi started her journey to become a parent with her husband Dave. In the space of approximately 3 years, Naomi suffered 4 pregnancy losses including the loss of a baby at 5 months, underwent over 100 tests, three rounds of IVF, 9 surgeries including a hysterectomy and ultimately had twin girls born premature at 28 weeks via surrogate. Naomi and her husband Dave then underwent a public journey to obtain parental rights and citizenship for their children in Australia where surrogacy is not legal throughout the country and a criminal offence in 3 states. This experience was the start of Naomi’s journey to advocate for change in surrogacy laws in Australia through her work as a member of the Board of Surrogacy Australia. 

Throughout her journey, Naomi learnt many hard lessons about maintaining a high-pressure career, the perception of weakness and not wanting to disappoint or be perceived as ‘weak’ while attempting to navigate health issues, fertility challenges and grief along the way.  Lessons that she has taken together with her years of experience as an international lawyer and board member, to formulate helpful information for companies that want to tackle the issue of gender equality in their organizations more effectively. 

Milk and Margaritas is both a story of grief, healing and success and a useful tool that employees, leaders and boards can use to start discussions and formulate plans within their own organizations around developing smarter ways to assist women in the workplace to be productive, successful and have access to opportunities in an equal way.