100 Women in Marketing Share Their Greatest Challenges From a Year of Isolation

When International Women's Day arrived in 2020, the world was unknowingly poised at the threshold of a year that would test everyone in ways they'd never experienced before. And the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic's impact would overwhelmingly fall on the backs of women. After a year defined by economic, physical and emotional hardship—all under a smothering cloud of lockdown-fueled isolation—Adweek asked women in advertising, marketing and related industries to share their experiences for International Women's Day 2021. We were flooded with candid and often heartbreaking stories about work, life and the disorientingly blurred lines between. Following are 100 of the responses we received, with minimal edits for space and formatting. All respondents had the option of sharing their stories anonymously. 1. "My team at work wasn't really forgiving" I had four family members pass away over the past year, and a lot of the time I found that my team at work wasn’t really forgiving of my work shortcomings as I was grieving. This went so far, on occasion, as me having to explain myself for missing a meeting to go to a burial, and working an extra five hours on my first day back after bereavement because “I’d missed so much” and “deadlines can’t move.”—Art director, New York 2. "My motivation collapsed, my anxiety increased, my sleep suffered" My mental health has suffered hugely over the last year, and I don't feel I've been adequately supported by my employer. Motivation, energy, confidence and creative idea generation are all fundamental to my role as a creative lead. Yet they've all been adversely affected by long hours, living alone and increasingly hefty demands placed on me by both our clients and the agency itself. We had our wages halved during the pandemic, yet the workload intensified to far greater extremes than we'd see under regular circumstances. We had extensive furloughs and some redundancies, meaning that those of us still working full-time were stretched to the absolute limit. While struggling to cope with all of this, and with poor communication from my managers and team, my motivation collapsed, my anxiety increased, my sleep suffered and I began to feel socially isolated, also experiencing severe migraines as a result of so much screen time. I continued to hit deadlines, win pitches, and work consistently. But in an annual performance review (which it was insisted we all undergo, despite wholly alien working circumstances) I was called out for my "shift in mood" and "clear struggle to cope." I was effectively told to pull my socks up and get on with things, and offered very little in the way of meaningful support. It felt like my performance and attitude was being judged by the standards of a regular working environment, with no allowance at all for the difficult circumstances under which I was working. I live alone, no partner and no children, and no local support bubble. I was struggling, but still performing. Yet it felt like I was being punished for having a very human reaction to a very difficult situation.—Design director, London 3. "I'd like to be given some grace and space" I'm an under-30 staffer at a major global agency. I live alone, with no pets or children. I highly respect my colleagues that are navigating the pandemic with other spouses working from home, Zoom school, and all of the challenges that presents. But I am getting very burnt out from team members assuming that because I am not married with kids, I'm available to staff ALL of the early morning and late evening calls. I'd like to be given some grace and space, too.—Brand strategist, Western U.S. 4. "It absolutely gutted me" I faced a tough layoff this year at what I saw at the time as my dream job. It absolutely gutted me emotionally. I found a new job and while I feel it may not be my forever gig, I learned that there's no time to waste not getting what I want out of life. I stepped into a new role and was able to advocate for myself in a way I never could before. I ended up asking for a raise 8 months in because I felt like I deserved it, and I got it. I noticed that our parental leave policy was not up to par and I advocated for that to change too; it did. Basically, I realized how much power I have and I started trusting my instincts more.—Molly, senior copywriter, Midwest 5. "The workload increased, and the silos deepened" I work in the marketing department of a mid-cap, male-dominated company. When Covid-19 hit, we transitioned to full-time remote work—and then struggled through a series of furloughs and layoffs. My department shrunk considerably, the workload increased, and the silos deepened. It's hard enough to network effectively when you're not being invited to golf outings and happy hour, let alone when those things aren't happening. I'm fortunate to have my health and a job, but it isn't easy being one of the only women in the company.—Communications director, Cleveland, Ohio 6. "I’m supposed to maintain a normal, pleasant demeanor" The biggest challenge I’ve faced this past year is that women more than men are just expected to continue doing everything under extreme amounts of pressure. I’m single, I own a house that I maintain by myself, I’m never away from work due to working from home but I’m supposed to maintain a normal, pleasant demeanor and carry out my work tasks (which is doing everything) as usual. It’s exhausting.—Megan, account manager, U.S. 7. "The work increased, but we weren’t allowed to take in new employees" I was new to the agency when the pandemic hit. It has been very difficult to work without having context as to who you’re working with. Working from home and meeting your workmates online, you really miss a lot of the nonverbal cues that are essential in leading you [regarding] how people want to be treated, how you react to them, etc. The work balance (or lack thereof) has also greatly affected my mental health. Aside from having to adjust to the new agency plus new work environment, we’re forced to work more in order to get more revenue for the agency—all while we were under a freeze hire. Essentially, the work increased, but we weren’t allowed to take in new employees.—Strategic planner, Philippines 8. "It’s not worth my time and energy" I’m really tired of picking up after my male colleagues who constantly expect me to be there to assist in their jobs but don’t do the same for me. The situation has only worsened and I’m contemplating leaving the job because it feels like it’s not worth my time and energy. The pay is too low to care anymore either.—Anonymous, Sri Lanka 9. "I felt unable, I felt ugly, I felt alone" I think that the worst thing during this pandemic was the distance of our family and the big amount of work. In seven months of work, I had plus-one month of extra hours. All the time I'm tired. I'm exhausted. The things start to became better when I made a department change and changed the people I need to answer to. I'm still working a lot. I didn't have any holiday this year (and in Brazil we stop for three days at the Carnival). I worked in all of them. But my boss now is more respectful and this helps a lot. Until I changed departments, I was thinking that I couldn't do a good job anymore and I felt terrible about it. At the same time, I was exhausted and could not work anymore to improve what I thought was bad. I felt sad, I felt unable, I felt ugly, I felt alone.—Julia Wagner, senior art director, Brazil 10. "I was sexually harassed by multiple men" I took my very first job at a small agency. I was sexually harassed by multiple men, belittled because of my gender and age, and told that I was a disappointment of an art director/designer. It broke me. I left three months in after weeks of sleepless nights and contemplated never returning to the industry. That was in October, and this week I accepted an art director position at a large agency after a lot of consideration in hopes that I would never be treated like that again. This agency employs a lot of women in higher-up positions which gave me hope that what happened to me at the small agency wouldn’t happen again.—Art director and designer, Dallas 11. "What used to take a week takes three" Personally, I'm burnt out. Professionally, I'm burnt out. I've turned down big projects because I know the bandwidth isn't there and I scaled back some of my regular clients because the idea of another year of pretending everything is normal when it's not is just ... terrible. I've told people before that if I didn't run my own business, I'd 100% have to be one of those women who is forced to leave the workforce. I see it in my clients too—90% of my clients are women and they are also less focused, things get missed (on both sides—I had a client pass on doing a budget this year because "Who knows what we'll need?"), and what used to take a week takes three. I also see them—like me—working odd hours, sending emails late at night, and apologizing for a kid who runs into a Zoom call.—Marketing consultant, Midwest U.S. 12. "Twenty years of experience didn't matter" I was laid off from my position due to the pandemic and then found myself remote schooling our three kids. In applying to many jobs, I felt that employers were also feeling the crunch since they seemed to be looking for the most affordable candidate to meets needs that they may not fully understand. Twenty years of experience didn't matter if they could find someone cheaper. I realized that I needed to create my own platform to offer services and value to clients, so I returned to school to polish up my skills in the meantime.—A. LeBrun, marketing director—available for work, New Hampshire 13. "It took months to feel like I was starting to forge strong relationships" I started a role at a much larger agency on 4/1/20 that was already a big, slightly intimidating step up in my career, one that got more stressful as I was under the same roof as my young toddler. Making connections with people organically was almost impossible. It took months to feel like I was starting to forge strong relationships and feel truly a part of a team in a meaningful way. The situation has gotten better. It took developing a confidence to reach out to people virtually myself more often than not, as awkward as that could feel. A year later, I feel far less insecure in general and stronger for it, though there were truly isolating and sad moments along the way.—Sondy Bojanic, senior strategist, Midwest U.S. 14. "My husband did nothing" The biggest challenge was focusing on work/meeting deadlines while virtually schooling a young child, running the household and all errands, etc. I'm currently married, but my husband did nothing despite having a much more low-pressure job with fewer hours, so it was difficult to say the least. An added stressor was that my agency at the time (I am at a different job now) is owned by a woman who consistently downplayed Covid and punished some of us who worked at home last year and rewarded/gave bonuses to those who continued to come into the office. There's more, but long story short, because of her short-sighted leadership, many people had to choose putting their safety at risk and going into the office under unsafe conditions (masks optional, in-person meetings, etc.) or quitting/searching for a new job in a volatile industry in the middle of a pandemic.—Anonymous, Midwest U.S. 15. "I'm working at least 10 hours more a week than I used to with no compensation" The biggest challenge for me has been figuring out how to balance it all. I don't have a husband or kids, but I feel like this has been the most trying year of focusing, doing good work, and giving myself space to breathe and step away. I feel like I'm working at least 10 hours more a week than I used to with no compensation difference. I find myself exhausted, no longer interested in connecting virtually with colleagues or personal contacts, and very short with people.—Agency strategist, Boston 16. "It all falls on the woman" Childcare. I don’t need full sentences, that’s it. Just childcare. Doesn’t matter how supportive your partner or how much clients say they understand, it all falls on the woman, and you can’t say “I can’t do that, I have to feed the kids,” without feeling it somehow reflects badly on you.—Anonymous, London 17. "I'm told I need to take the emotions out of it" One of the biggest challenges this past year has been how my feedback, perspective and ideas are acknowledged and viewed by the men who lead the agency I worked for (have since left because of this). I see my male colleagues heralded for their innovative ideas and "real, honest" feedback, and yet when I provide my own perspectives and feedback, I'm told I need to take the emotions out of it when I'm not crying, not angry—just simply providing my opinion in a forum where my opinion is solicited. It's unbelievably frustrating to have that sexism exist in a small agency whose "brand" has a heavy emphasis on inclusion. For instance, the owners were considering the hire of a creative director who is a known predator and has been fired by multiple agencies because of this. Several of the women in our agency brought this up only to be told we were reacting "emotionally" to having another male at the agency when that couldn't be further from the feedback provided. They ended up hiring this man knowing about his past and the multiple concerns from current female employees.—Anonymous, Minnesota 18. "It has made me feel stagnant in my career" I've been working in a silo for a year. There were very few team meetings before the pandemic, so this has just further exacerbated the feeling of not having real direction or support. I feel that this is the result of less physical visibility and having an old guard in senior management, who likes to do all the decision making and only requires a team for execution. Since there is currently no need for consistent two-way dialogue, email or quick check-ins suffice. Personally, it has made me use my free time to connect with passion projects. Professionally, it has made me feel stagnant in my career. My current job is a role that provides income, perceived "growth" and a placeholder on my resume.—Marketing director, New York 19. "I had to furlough myself" As a mum of two self-employed, the biggest challenge has been juggling homeschooling with work, meaning I had to furlough myself during Lockdown 1 while my husband worked full time. Sadly the pressure seems to have been more on mothers during the pandemic. I took a hit initially professionally but due to nurseries being open the second (and third) time round, I’ve been able to continue to work. While the work has been consistent, the stress of the situation has got increasingly worse to the point of nearly burning myself out.—Sophie, senior designer, Manchester, U.K. 20. "Just feeling like a fraud" The biggest challenge personally was just feeling like a fraud. I had just been promoted (in February) to head of social/content strategist and then all of a sudden we went into lockdown and the strategy had to change. There was no easing into anything, and I didn’t get a handover from the person who left. So it was just me at our company, facing this pandemic alone. Because no one in upper management knows enough about social, they had other really terrible ideas that would for sure have pissed people off. So trying to explain, asking them to take a step back, and trying to lead them in a different direction was tough. They also did not stop putting pressure on us for one second. It was amplified, and hard to handle. Everyone at the company was given more responsibility because people were being retrenched and someone needed to take on what they were doing. At the end of every day I thought “I’m not cut out for this, I don’t know what I’m doing, I can’t do this job.” And I was anxious for months about work. I’m still stuck in that mindset, and I still feel the same pressure I felt last March.—Social content strategist, South Africa 21. "I am just trying to get through" Women are still seen as the main caregivers, so as a working mother what already felt like balancing two full-time jobs feels impossible. I've accepted the laundry won't get done when I want it, the house will be a mess, and I am just trying to get through things one day at a time.—Senior manager 22. "Leadership prioritized output over wellness" Addressing imposter syndrome virtually is a nightmare. I was in my role less than a year before we all went virtual, and leadership prioritized output over wellness, support and development every time. Telling people to use their vacation isn’t a fix for organizations who won’t support their new hires. This was a problem before the pandemic, but even worse now when no one wants to receive extra emails or sit on more meetings than needed to mentor or address the issue.—Marketing manager, U.S. 23. "More distracted and annoyed than in the office" The biggest challenge over the past year has been the lack of my own visibility and voice since we have all been working from home. Zoom calls are difficult for me, because it's a lot easier for me to communicate and be heard in face to face conversations. Despite just me and my husband at home, I find myself more distracted and annoyed than in the office. As a strategist, lacking the outside stimulus of travel, friends, events, etc. has made me feel more close-minded and less creative. I find myself getting worse as it is been a whole year of this!—Planning director, Southern California 24. "I’m coming off as too 'pushy' or 'bitchy'" Finding a job has definitely been the biggest challenge. It’s become better, as I’ve gained more freelance work, but now my entire life feels like work. I’m not getting paid enough. And I’m constantly worrying that I’m coming off as too “pushy” or “bitchy” when I ask for what I deserve.—Megan, freelance copywriter, Virginia 25. "Losing interest in providing big ideas" My biggest challenge has been the idea people have about "juniors." Working with a creative director always saying my ideas were not worthy because everyone around him were juniors, even me. The result was simple: Losing interest in providing big ideas and keeping my head on reaching a deadline. There are no mentors anymore. I think juniors have great, big ideas! But most "seniors" just keep thinking about shining. People keep forgetting advertising is a TEAM job, and are ready to throw others under the bus.—Ale Santander, digital creative, Quito, Ecuador 26. "I felt like my voice didn't matter" I recently changed jobs after being let go from my previous agency during Covid-19 restructuring. The biggest difference that I'm noticing between my new agency and my old one is that my old one didn't value opinions that came from women, in particular Black women who did not meet a respectable Black standard. While I understand that there is a certain level of respect and poise one has to have in the corporate work space, I don't think it requires anyone to feel silenced or that their ideas don't deserve to be heard. There were a lot of projects where I felt like my voice didn't matter. And often times I would delegate that responsibility to my art directors, who were always male, just so my ideas could be shared. Turns out that actually worked, which is even more telling of how embedded that culture really was in that organization.—Senior copywriter, Chicago 27. "There's a deep lack of empathy all around" Transitioning to working way more over Slack and email has forced me to be even more aware of how my tone is perceived by others in text. Women already have to police ourselves to make sure we sound more friendly and positive in our messages, and that's just been magnified now. I've had superiors tell me that my tone came off as aggressive, condescending, or overly critical on Slack when I thought I was sending a very normal message. There's so much more opportunity to misinterpret and project your own feelings onto text, and if you don't communicate about it over video calls it just snowballs into a huge problem. I'm also finding that as a single woman with no kids, mothers I work with are incredibly resentful of my relative freedom and do not respect my work-life boundaries. A lot of them are being stuck with the childcare while working insane hours, and I understand that is an extremely difficult situation to be in. I have a lot of empathy, and I wish they had more support. They, on the other hand, do not have empathy for any struggles I might be going through. Several have said they wish they could be in my position because it looks so much easier, without any knowledge of what my experience has been. There's a bit of a martyr mentality among them. There's also an expectation that I will work my regular hours while ALSO working during the late night hours that they're able to be online after the kids go to sleep. I understand that working late at night is necessary for them, but they also take hours off during the day for childcare. I don't. So I work both shifts for half the salary because I don't have kids. We're all going through an extremely difficult time, and there's a deep lack of empathy all around the longer we work from home.—Copywriter, New York 28. "I just now feel like I'm back to myself" I was laid off from my in-house content marketing manager role six weeks after returning from maternity leave. It was "due to Covid" but I had the intention of finding something else anyway. It ended up being a blessing as I spent all of 2020 with my baby, had severance, unemployment, and eventually fell into full-time freelancing. The abrupt change in career at such a vulnerable point in my life definitely impacted my worth as a woman, mom and marketer. I just now feel like I'm back to myself and getting in a groove of work-life balance (mainly due to my child back in daycare).—Maria, copywriter and content manager, Florida 29. "It has gotten worse as the situation doesn't change" Trying to manage/facilitate my son's at home distance learning while doing my job—it's impossible. He is not capable of the independent learning, and the strain of trying to help him and do my job is grueling. It has gotten worse as the situation doesn't change. I feel like a failure to my child (yelling, frustration) and to my agency for becoming such a lesser version of my professional self.—Anonymous, public relations, Los Angeles 30. "I have never felt so degraded in my adult life" As an in-house marketer at a tech firm, I have seen a disturbingly varied response internally during Covid. Our marketing team—who not only contains over half of the females in the company, but is headed by the only female leadership—has been simultaneously micromanaged while also expected to shoulder the emotional burden of all internal communications. It has gotten significantly worse over time as we proved our worth last year despite slashed budgets and limited resources yet still are under high scrutiny while other teams face limited oversight. Professionally, I have realized I will not grow in this company. Personally, I have never felt so degraded in my adult life and refuse to let this squash my love of the industry.—Marketing director, U.S. 31. "It's like doing five jobs all at once" Juggling working from home, having my toddler home, and my husband also working from home—it's like doing five jobs all at once when you factor in the cleaning and cooking required to be at home 24/7. It's just not normal. My husband shares the load, but it's still a lot.—Brand marketing manager, Atlanta 32. "Every day is all output and no input" The biggest challenge I've experienced over this past year is balancing the demands of my career in marketing, and the demands of having two young children to care for while working from home. While I'm thankful to still have a job and two beautiful kids, it takes a lot of energy to balance caring for my family while being an effective leader on my team. Right now I feel like every day is all output and no input.—Amanda, head of marketing, New York 33. "Striking the right balance between productivity and preservation" As a Black woman working in multicultural marketing, the past year has felt like living in a conundrum. It's no easy task to create impactful and meaningful work for multicultural audiences, while multicultural communities get hardest hit by the pandemic while being part of the multicultural community myself during one of the biggest racial injustice movements in history. There is real responsibility that comes with ensuring proper representation and authenticity in multicultural marketing. There is also real responsibility that comes with maintaining sanity and self-care when working in multicultural marketing during a crisis. Over the past year, striking the right balance between productivity and preservation has been the assignment of my life. I feel the situation has neutralized over time, not necessarily gotten better or worse. Each day feels like a continuation of the previous day and there don't appear to be any real "breaks." The state of the world, coupled with virtual working, has brought all facets of existing into one lumpy ball. Everything has become more interconnected, including personal and professional life. What impacts me in one arena, impacts me in another. That can make for hopeful and optimistic days or daunting and doubtful days. Either way, I'm happy to have the days.—Bria Purdiman, head of public relations and communications, Chicago 34. "I always have to fight twice as hard to get the recognition I know that I deserve" Like many others, I lost my job last year. After five months of grueling job searching that included 46 interviews with 20-plus companies/agencies, I finally got an offer and accepted. While I'm excited about the potential of my new role within the agency, the job itself is a lower title and salary than I previously held. I decided that the stability outweighed my desire for those at the time. But I keep seeing men with less or the same amount of experience surpass me and it's getting hard not to feel frustrated. I keep telling myself that everyone's career path looks different, and I know I shouldn't be comparing myself to others, but it's hard. I'm really tired of feeling like I always have to fight twice as hard to get the recognition I know that I deserve. Along with that, I've learned the hard way over the past few years of my career to not wrap my entire identity up in my work. However, the pandemic has largely taken away the other parts of my identity. I have a constant inner struggle about how much I let this weigh on me. I hate that I'm going to bed and waking up thinking about work, but all of my attempts to find a new hobby haven't panned out (looking at you, jewelry-making tools sitting in my drawers). I'm lucky to work at an agency that supports and encourages a work/life balance, but the pandemic has made it hard as an extrovert who likes to travel and go to concerts to find joy in the "new normal" of life.—Laura Kelley, senior copywriter, Brooklyn 35. "They weren't able to challenge or engage in the debate" [My biggest challenge was] having to listen to senior C-suite level women in a boutique PR agency dismiss trans women's rights in front of the entire team and then as a result having to help more junior members channel their anger and frustration because they weren't able to challenge or engage in the debate for fear of being reprimanded.—Taylor, marketing and new business 36. "Having to redefine who I am" Over the last year I’ve had to deal with the loss of a job that I loved because of a large company restructure right at the start of Covid. My mental health suffered because I went from having all this amazing stuff to do on the daily to now having to redefine who I am, and that was the toughest bit.—Rhea Mathew, social care executive, Dubai, UAE 37. "It’s so hard for the things I say to be taken seriously" I feel like it’s the same obstacle every year. It’s so hard for the things I say to be taken seriously or as valid, factual information. Unless one of my male counterparts repeats my words or claims them as his own, which is far more likely, my ideas are not considered.—Brand manager, Brooklyn 38. "I've sacrificed so much of myself over the last year, with no real payoff" The biggest challenge for me personally has been the total disregard for work/life balance, boundaries at home, and lack of personal time needed to process all of the events over the last year. It is challenging enough to live through these moments, but to then have to address these events THROUGH the lens of our jobs and our clients—it's been maddening and soul-crushing, frankly. I don't think that this obstacle has become worse, but I am feeling extreme burnout with each passing day, so it at least feels worse. As a result, professionally, I don't feel like I'm able to give 100% to my job, or even think super clearly sometimes. Just getting through each day feels like climbing a mountain most days. I just don't care about the work anymore, because I feel like I've sacrificed so much of myself over the last year, with no real payoff. Personally, my mental health has suffered quite a bit, because it's felt like I've needed to put my job above everything else.—Social media strategist 39. "The workload and pressure of insane timelines" Our company had a serious sales process pivot after moving fully remote, compounded by [the fact] we were in the midst of integrating a recent acquisition. As a small marketing team, the workload and pressure of insane timelines was challenging. We rose to the occasion, but now it seems as if that level of output and timing is "the new normal." Expectations are out of line. The other challenge is getting leadership to trust the marketing experts.—Brett C McCarty, svp of marketing, Boston 40. "An impossible and sometimes toxic workplace" [My biggest challenge was] getting back into the workplace after leaving in 2019 due to a #MeToo scandal at my company. I took a year off to detoxify and heal. When I was ready to return, the pandemic hit and the market for senior-level marketing roles seemed to contract. I wish there was openness to those who have taken a “pause.” We are just as ambitious and committed as we were before the pause. External circumstances forced us to choose between our health, well-being and the health and well-being of our families or remaining in an impossible and sometimes toxic workplace. We made the right choice—do not punish us or look down on us for it.—Anonymous 41. "It feels very predatory of my time and energy" The biggest challenge I've faced over the past year professionally is being tasked with upholding agency culture on top of my formal (very non-related to this ask) job duties that already are over 100% allocation. I'm fielding the emotional labor of 300-plus employees on the daily, trying to bring "joy and culture" to our WFH employees through taking the agency on as another client on top of my unwavering current workload. I can't help but feel that I was asked to do this because I'm a confident woman who has been at this company for a few years, but the thing is, I'm still junior level, I haven't had a raise in two years, my actual creative role is nowhere near HR department, and I, too, am experiencing a global pandemic. It's hard to explain, but it feels very gendered. It feels very predatory of my time and energy. It feels very unfair.—Writer, Los Angeles 42. "I struggled the whole year" The main obstacle was adapting to a new reality. However, I also had to sell my new plan and ideas to very old-fashioned family company owners, which took a lot of time. In addition, they cut the marketing budget, so I struggled the whole year.—Carol, marketing manager, Mexico 43. "One of the most toxic teams I’ve ever experienced" I started a new job when the pandemic threw us into full work from home mode. I didn’t realize that I would be on one of the most toxic teams I’ve ever experienced in my career. Trying to impress my team and create meaningful relationships with my team members was impossible. And being isolated without anyone to share my struggles with worsened my situation. I started balding, also known as alopecia. I felt hopeless, lost, stuck, and trapped. My work suffered because I was worrying about other aspects of my job, rather than focusing on doing good work. I would cry to my partner every night, and he couldn’t do much to help me but comfort me and listen to my struggles. I thought to myself, “My mental health is manifesting physically. I need to do something.” After 3-6 months of multiple conversations, I finally was able to move teams successfully at the beginning of 2021. After getting multiple steroid injections, my hair is growing back, and now I can sleep easy at night. I can be myself again, both at work and at home.—Olivia, art director, Toronto 44. "I am on the verge of tears frequently" The biggest challenge I’ve faced is managing an increasing workload (as team members have left or had to take personal leave) in addition to the added workload of new business which was on boarded aggressively without hiring first. My time has been allocated at almost 200% FTE for five months. I thought it would be better by the end of January, but it’s March. I don’t have energy for my wife, I am on the verge of tears frequently, I don’t have the energy and positivity I usually do for my team, I’m quick to frustration with clients and internal teams. It’s not fun anymore. I work in advertising and at an agency because it’s fun, and human. This is anything but.—Senior strategist 45. "Will I ever get work again?" I am a single female, a freelance creative director/art director. I had a booking with a large agency when this pandemic started in March. On March 13, we all went remote and successfully continued working through Microsoft teams. On April 30, my booking was terminated prematurely and I have not gotten a booking since. It has been many months now and it is a major struggle not knowing when I will get a gig again—and where I will be expected to be physically when I do. I am paying for an empty apartment in Manhattan for a year now, afraid to let it go in case an agency insists I am physically present in their office, rather than having the option of staying remote. I want to eliminate this massive expense, but if I do, will I ever get work again? It's very distressing.—Freelance creative director, Manhattan 46. "Basic existence has taken most of my energy" Simply dealing with the unknown has been immensely difficult. It is a constant undercurrent of stress and anxiety and drains energy in unseen ways. Given the constant existential threat to our very survival, it has been pretty difficult to be creative or get excited about anything new. Basic existence has taken most of my energy and there is nothing left over for "extras." Most people I know who love marketing, love it because of the creative aspects. And it is hard to be creative in an environment of fear, which is the pervasive environment of the pandemic.—Global marketing leader, U.S. 47. "I hate this" My biggest challenge has been doing 1/2 grades Zoom school while either doing marketing gigs, applying for them or trying to interview, all as a single mom. We have been home since last March, and schools may not open until August. Besides never being a faux “SAHM” before, the stress of not working after 25 years of working, combined with daily attempting to wrangle my children has been crushing. I think it’s gotten worse. I rarely have help (or help that is Covid-safe). I don’t know yet what the professional ramifications are, but I will definitely have to look at jobs at a lower level before unemployment runs out, which will affect childcare options. I hate this. I hate this sooo damn much.—Vp, entertainment marketing and promotional partnerships, Los Angeles 48. "In my efforts to stand up for ethical advertising, I've even been forced to resign" The biggest challenge I've faced in the past year is overcoming the existence of small business marketing companies who don't really run their business in an ethical manner or have no idea how to truly create advertising strategies that yield results. I've seen these small businesses "scam" brands out of their advertising dollars to yield subpar results while simultaneously setting up their employees (myself) for professional failure. While this may seem like a localized issue, it has been my experience that global brands also have suffered from these new challenges, especially in the Age of Covid, where businesses have gone strictly "online," causing this trend to go global. As a woman, I have found it difficult to stand up for myself when faced with this situation given that the majority of these business owners tend to be men. In my efforts to stand up for ethical advertising, I've even been forced to resign due to increasingly difficult working conditions and the "good ol' boys" club mentality.—Fey, digital strategist 49. "I cannot wait to get out of the industry" I have worked in social media professionally for close to six years. Unfortunately, 2020 kind of "killed it" for me and I cannot wait to get out of the industry. The pandemic, of course, made it difficult for many reasons: being isolated working from home with nothing but timelines to scroll, managing bizarre commentary about the pandemic on social on behalf of my clients, dealing with angry people lashing out online. Social unrest last summer is what broke me. After being isolated at home for months to begin with, watching the discourse over racial issues dominate social was so, so toxic to witness. I couldn't look away. I quite literally had to "be in the know" on behalf of my clients. I'm very sensitive to violence, and I'll never forget watching people get stomped on, attacked and murdered on my Twitter timeline during protests, counter-protests and riots. I had a breakdown a few times, and it resulted in massive issues with my family, friends and peers who had no idea what I was witnessing. My coworkers were my only solace. We'd stay up late on Slack messaging each other back and forth as we literally watched the world burn. I try to keep perspective about my life and position in the hellscape that was 2020. After all, I'm still employed, I haven't caught Covid, I'm safe, and I do have a support system. That being said, I cannot imagine what 2020 was like for those who didn't have those things. I really, really struggled mentally and emotionally. Support from my boss was nonexistent. I never once got a "How are you holding up?" inquiry. It caused a lot of resentment to build. Here I am "on the front lines" of 2020's bullshit from a media perspective, and my boss is determined to act like it's just another day. Zero support. It was rough.—Social media manager, Southern U.S. 50. "Recovering from a cripplingly low self-esteem" I have done a lot of work to move past bad experiences at previous jobs. I struggle with social/performance anxiety specifically in the office environment, something I never expected would happen to me as someone who was always outgoing prior to starting my professional career. A few of my first career experiences made me question if I could get where I wanted to go as a woman in this industry, and I struggled for many years afterward to believe that my opinions or skills would ever be considered with equal value to my male peers.' Needless to say, I've spent a long time recovering from a cripplingly low self esteem as a professional, despite consistent feedback from freelance clients and prospective / current employers complimenting my talent over the years. I'm so happy to say I'm currently employed at a place where I have felt respected and valued from Day 1, although it is a daily effort for me to show up fully without those experience-based reservations.—Creative, U.S. 51. "Exhausting, personally and emotionally" Working from home has been exhausting, personally and emotionally. Being cut off from my team has stymied brainstorming and collaboration, and I feel stuck working all day because we’re always “available.”—Social media manager, U.S. 52. "My husband struggled to maintain boundaries" I worked from home prior to Covid-19. My husband struggled to maintain boundaries when I was working, like asking me to help him with chores or something that would not have been possible when I worked in an office. This has gotten worse since Covid. Because my company has always been remote, they understand the impact having our environment overtaken by children and other family members that are home now too. As a result they've been even more accommodating. My husband seems to see that as an opportunity to have me do more house work and childcare then. Whenever he is home with our child, I am regularly interrupted by the two of them. This does not happen when a grandparent is able to help out for the day. Before Covid, he would take our child out to the park, museum, zoo, etc., so I understand it is hard to keep them entertained. However, I still need to be given the time and space to be able to work.—Marketing strategist, U.S. 52. "We are all struggling as new additions to put a stake in the ground that we should be valued" I recently started at a new job, and by being remote from the start it has been incredibly difficult to come across as a confident woman who knows her worth and her expertise rather than come off as a "bitch." With a lack of bumping into people in the office, open flow of communication, and knowledge of tone outside of Slack messages, it's been increasingly difficult to get coworkers to want to work with me OR value me as an asset as they only hear from me in quick soundbites or DMs. I've worked to improve this issue, but with Zoom fatigue, so few people want to add another meeting to their calendar just to "say hey!" and introduce myself or work through communication loops. My immediate team and I have a great rapport, but we are all struggling as new additions to put a stake in the ground that we should be valued and listened to as experts in our field.—Brooke Strozdas, senior copywriter / creative strategist, U.S. 53. "We are told we should 'be grateful'" [My biggest challenge was] being let go/thrown under the bus by a female leader who touted inclusivity, support, and championing of her employees. Foreign workers are too often used as political pawns. Record numbers of international workers in the ad industry were let go last year, and it deserves investigating. We are employed to make the agency seem inclusive of diverse talent, but are “sent home” at the drop of a hat. We are told we should “be grateful” our employers brought us to this country. It’s exploitative and disingenuous. Too many agencies are ill-equipped to support international workers, with environments that are not inclusive.—Senior creative, U.S. 54. "I’ve been told my messages are rude, short or snippy" My biggest challenge has been with remote work. Many conversations are now held over Microsoft Teams, email or text message. I spend a great deal of energy on making sure my messages reflect the same mood/tone as if my delivery were in person (kind, direct and not personal). If I don’t, I’ve been told my messages are rude, short or snippy. This situation hasn’t gotten better over time, I’ve just gotten used to it. Professionally, the situation has made me value in-person conversations and non-verbal communication. No one thought I was rude when I was sharing the same message, wearing a dress and heels.—Judy James, communications strategist, U.S. 55. "It's been an absolute nightmare" I think my ability to collaborate with others in marketing has been really hindered. As a social media manager, a lot of the time I feel like we are forgotten by others in marketing and inserting ourselves early in campaigns has been very hard. I think professional growth has been tough, and personally I am a pretty social person, and losing my ability to just walk up to someone in the office has been tough. Also, I work in a very white male dominated marketing floor and from a social media monitoring perspective, coupled with an IPO launch, it’s been an absolute nightmare.—Social media manager 56. "If I were to put up any sort of fight, I would stop being seen as a hard worker" I can't say no or advocate for my craft. As a young female contract employee working in social media, there are few opportunities for me to be able to either give my opinion or contradict those of the non-digital versed men handing down the orders, while still taking the heat for the outcomes of their choices. We're a small company, so our CEO is constantly handing down instructions through my manager and hers, even though he barely knows how to use social, not to mention that because of my gender and employment status, if I were to put up any sort of fight, I would stop being seen as a hard worker and positive presence on the team and be labeled difficult, unkind and needlessly combative and ruin any chance of my contract being renewed or future with this organization. Oh, and also the lower than average pay and precarious work.—Social media coordinator, Canada 57. "More work for us" I find that women, regardless of their role or rank, are often thrust into the position of "figuring out" the technical side of Zoom and how best to present events online. Our natural inclination towards being better communicators means more work for us, generally speaking.—Marketing professional 58. "Dinged on my annual review for not wanting to turn my video on because I was crying" I'm luckier than most. I worked from home for years prior to the pandemic, so I didn't have to adjust to that. What I did have to adjust to is suddenly having my entire family home during the day: my husband working from home, and my two 20-something children moving back home and then out again at various times due to changing situations. Combine the instability and fear of the virus, job security, etc. with pay cuts at work, stressed coworkers, and suddenly having to be on video calls all the time was very difficult. Early on, my supervisor was not very understanding. I even got dinged on my annual review for not wanting to turn my video on because I was crying after finding out my daughter had lost her job that day.—Digital marketer, Midwest U.S. 59. "Hiding the laptop and work phone out of sight" The biggest challenge over the past year has been setting a work/home balance. Working from home has meant no divide between work and rest, leading to working 10-plus hour days (I’m paid for seven) and constantly being within reach of my work phone or laptop. Over time I learned the need to establish a clear divide between work and home, by hiding the laptop and work phone out of sight outside of working hours. Seems small but it’s made a big difference. Just seeing my work station and laptop on weekends jolts my mind back to work mode and thoughts of all the outstanding tasks waiting for me on Monday, which affects my ability to rest and enjoy my time off. Pressure from managers to always be on call doesn’t help, and has worsened in the last year due to everyone being at home all the time and an expectation that you’re just there by the phone and can pick up a quick text, but again that jolts my mind back to work mode and anxiety. It’s as if work has infiltrated all the other parts of my life.—Digital marketing manager, Wales, U.K. 60. "A never-ending cycle of trying to prove my worth and knowledge" I was recently laid off from my previous position as it was within a public agency and a new administration took over. Since I was an "at-will" employee, they replaced me with someone they already knew, despite them having no clue what they were doing and despite how well my content was doing with the KPIs to prove it. Now I am applying to new positions and continuing to prove to those above me that I know what I am doing and I can be trusted with their digital media. I have five years of social media marketing experience and content creation. I should be able to land a management position at this point in my career, but even with five years of experience, I have to fight harder to prove I know what I am doing because of my non-marketing degree. It seems to be a never-ending cycle of trying to prove my worth and knowledge to managers who usually know less about marketing and content than I do. It's a frustrating cycle to say the least.—Ashly Colicchio, digital media specialist, Orlando, Fla. 61. "The promise of change fell flat" Last year seemed to be a wake-up call to action, to actually hire more people of color, go beyond saying so and actually doing so. Seemed optimistic, promising. As a biracial woman, over 40, who took a pause or unexpected sabbatical—to be a caregiver to my mom with Stage 4 cancer—this gave me hope in getting my career on track, to start an upward trajectory. Excited that there may be opportunities if agencies were going to seek out those that were "invisible" or who don't have sponsors/advocates, the list of hardware trophies, or the big brand projects under their belt. But after the middle of the year, the promise of change fell flat, probably from the ongoing quarantine and everyone hurting financially. Diversity isn't hard (our country is full of ethnicities, creative Brown & Black people), but the ad industry MAKES it hard.—Amanda Acevedo, freelancer at the moment, senior creative, Chicago area 62. "I became a full-time mom, chef, maid" My work stopped as soon as lockdowns started. I’d also done a big job with an independent client in January and February for which they wouldn’t pay me after I’d delivered the project. Then my daughter went straight into remote learning. I became a full-time mom, chef, maid, everything all at once—with no money coming in. It’s only finally looking up a year later.—Creative resource director, Southern U.S. 63. "Mental health problems in my team are gaslighted" It's getting harder for me to prove my points. Mental health problems in my team are gaslighted. Junior people get to do senior jobs and it's not working out.—Senior copywriter, Eastern Europe 64. "Back on track to understanding what my superpowers actually are" [My biggest challenge was] resigning and being laid off last year due to poor leadership. For a while I was in a funk and experiencing severe imposter syndrome, so decided to put a pause on my career completely by taking a sabbatical. I’m not completely back to trusting the dynamics within companies so have treaded lightly with my application process. Really trying to look out for red flags. Through connecting with people on #MarketingTwitter I’ve really been able to get my mojo back. Now I’m back on track to understanding what my superpowers actually are. I feel more comfortable with celebrating shut doors—rather than dwelling on them.—Chauntelle Lewis, freelance DEI/content and community consultant, U.K. 65. "I am worthy of a raise or a title change" The biggest challenge I face is convincing employers that I am worthy of a raise or a title change. I am often given reasons like not enough different experience yet, not enough senior-type work with other teams, etc. I see the preferential treatment some male teams get and I see when we want someone who is BIPOC to "visibly" work on a campaign or if it's a female product so we need females. No one ever considers that we too can work on sport campaigns and might even be interested. We can be interesting in video games.—Copywriter, Toronto 66. "Distance suppressed my voice and influence" My biggest challenge has been reporting to a manager who is less capable and less experienced than I am. I am the only immigrant employee in my company and I feel that this combined with me being a woman puts undue pressure on me to prove myself. Through the pandemic, my interaction with the CEO of the company reduced and my manager became the mediator of messages. While this would have worked fine were my manager better equipped in the field, I feel that this distance suppressed my voice and influence in decisions that could benefit the company, the team, and me.—Digital strategist, Midwest U.S. 67. "A feeling of inadequacy and imposter syndrome" Over the past year, the biggest issue I have struggled with is a feeling of inadequacy and imposter syndrome. This feeling has alleviated by gaining experience but was definitely very challenging when I first started my new role.—Content creator for a startup, Midwest U.S. 68. "I find myself working from the minute I wake up" The longer we’ve worked from home, the blurrier the start and end times of the work day have become. I find myself working from the minute I wake up to when I go to sleep at least twice a week and that never occurred before my bedroom became my office/classroom.—Student 69. "I couldn’t tell anyone, as that would be another reason to fire me" I lost my job, so work has been difficult. Before I lost that job, I had burnout but felt I couldn’t tell anyone, as that would be another reason to fire me. I got health issues from stress such as a stomach ulcer and migraines. My savings went into supporting myself with no pay for four months. Lost 6 grand.—Pippa, copywriter and creative, U.K. 70. "Women are under crushing stress; men are not" One year into this pandemic, men are still walking around not understanding the level of privileges they enjoy and demand. Men are publishing their best work, waxing on about all the time they have to think and create, while women are quitting their jobs to take care of them and their children. Women are under crushing stress; men are not—it's that simple. I see talented creative women stuck in senior art director roles who are carrying an entire project while a creative director hasn't changed his hoodie in three days. I resent the clear difference in responsibilities and workload, even physical presentation that have become so stark. I don't know why we aren't in the streets.—Client-side professional, U.S. 71. "The days consist of 9-to-5 Zoom calls" [My biggest challenge has been] balancing homeschooling, feeding and taking care of my kids, whilst also trying to hold down my other day job. The constant interruptions (my kids are young) and needs from them are real, and they don’t understand that I have other priorities. Work say that they are there for parents, but the days consist of 9-to-5 Zoom calls. How do you fit kids into that?—Managing director, Canada 72. "A much needed reckoning with a toxic work environment" Covic created a much needed reckoning with a toxic work environment that meant a lot of unlearning—gaslighting, imposter syndrome and what I could only describe as abusive trauma response. While losing a job in a pandemic is scary and stressful, it also meant facing the reality of how we treat people and especially women in our industry. Losing a year of your career and life plan is a lot without having to reflect on time wasted due to not having the right development, guidance and self worth. While I'm in a better place because I was able (forced) to recognize the problems that were there and move forward (grateful for a new gig), but still dealing with the remnants of it. We need to do better at empowering women, acknowledging sexist bias and valuing people over everything.—Marketing manager, East Coast, U.S. 73. "I get up at 4 a.m. to do work before my daughter and husband get up" This year, my mother and sister have been unwell mentally and I’ve had to care for them as well as work and homeschool. I feel incredibly fortunate, as unlike many of my female friends, my husband is heavily involved in caring for our daughter, homeschooling and domestic duties. We also feel incredibly lucky as although I lost my job earlier in the year, I’m now freelancing, which means I can make up my hours flexibly. I get up at 4 a.m. to do work before my daughter and husband get up. If I was still in full-time employment at my last job in 9-to-5 hours, I’m certain my employer would have expected me to take unpaid leave. That boss only has to care about his work; everything else gets picked up and sorted out by the women around him.—Marketer, Surrey, U.K. 74. "Edging into a mental breakdown from working 14-hour days" Short answer: Work-life balance. Long answer: I actually left advertising last year. It was because I was at my physical and mental breaking point from working for one of the biggest, most profitable clients in the country during the pandemic. I was terrified of losing my job at the dawn of the pandemic. So I stuck it out, and even though I was really edging into a mental breakdown from working 14-hour days, week after week with some of the most harrowing deadlines I’ve ever faced. (Many of which I later found out were spec/unpaid work.) I felt completely heartbroken that the craft that I loved—writing and creating—had become something I felt like I was being exploited for, because the tradeoff for my passion and talent was that I could NEVER have a life outside of it. My team and leadership never did anything to change the chaos either. Zero pushback. Zero support. In fact, most of the time they were cracking jokes about “how hard we were hustling” during the small talk churn, and it just rotted my partner and I even more. It wasn’t until the George Floyd protests where the knife was really twisted. Asking us to create a fucking advertisement to commemorate one of the most painful and real cultural moments we were all living through. At one point we were asked to create something in response and I’ve never felt a more rancid feeling of disgust in my life. Whenever we objected, asked for more time, or help, we were “nicely” told to just deliver. I knew I needed to just find the door at that point.—Copywriter, U.S. 75. "Being an enabler of poor leadership" My biggest challenge over last year was figuring out the difference between being a team player during unprecedented times and being an enabler of poor leadership and processes. I eventually decided it was the latter and left my job. I was so damn tired. I was a marketing leader in Higher Ed, and Covid caused a huge shift in our operations during the spring of 2020. 99% of the extra “COVID work” was put on a small number of already overworked people. Everything became a priority and everything was needed NOW. We were trying to communicate decisions our university committees hadn’t even finalized. On my son’s birthday in June 2020 I missed cake, ice cream, and presents because I was launching our university’s website meant to inform our audiences how we were approaching Covid for the fall. His birthday was just one of many days and evenings I spent with colleagues managing ever-changing Covid communications and then attempting to catch up on my regular job responsibilities.—Marketing manager, Midwest U.S. 76. "I hate them, but maybe I hate myself more" [My biggest challenge has been] every day dealing with the internal conflict that I have been trained by the industry to assume that if I'm not putting out award-winning campaigns, if I'm not working somewhere, not "busy," I have no value or worth as a person—versus the reality of knowing this industry is a bin fire and the people who base their egos off their careers in it are the worst. My work dried up over Covid. In the months following, I would repeatedly fall into an anxiety spiral—not about money, but about how I would ever work again if I haven't been deemed busy enough by the industry. It's taken a lot of time to grieve over the fact that my career as I knew it is dead. I'm forging a new one that is on the outskirts of the industry, but I HATE the people in the industry (all ECDs and CCOs) who I thought were supporters or allies who have made me feel worthless and stopped speaking to me because I'm not on the awards/campaign/work-til-you-die roundabout. Fuck 'em. I'm mad. I had 11 months off in a global pandemic and economic recession. I have all the feelings wrapped in one tumbleweed and the outcome is that I would burn it all down if I could be bothered. But instead I'm now working directly with the entertainment industry to make some big, huge things. My value outside the ad industry is so much more, so why do I care about how they make me feel? I hate them, but maybe I hate myself more for feeling like this.—Creative director, Australia 77. "I've never seen more women pushed to the side of the room" [My biggest challenge was] watching women take the burden of Covid-19 in every possible way. At work, balancing family and care giving for children, adults in their lives, spouses and their parents/elderly. Assuming that the burden is for women when male counterparts have the same opportunity and challenges. I've never seen more women pushed to the side of the room than during remote life. For myself, this has been extremely true to watch and I, as a single woman, have found that I live at work. I've been asked to babysit a manager's kid via Zoom, I've been asked and have moved home to homeschool kids for four months (related to but not mine). And I went through layoffs in June where more than 65% of those let go were women.—Danielle Stein, senior global brand manager, social strategy, New York 78. "I’m essentially just extremely lonely" I had the fortune of getting hired during the pandemic, and it may seem like a small obstacle compared to others, but starting remotely at a company that is more male-heavy than others I’ve worked at has been really hard. I don’t feel like I’ve gained work friends or a sense of community at all, and to make it harder I’m essentially a one-woman team in a specialized role. I miss having a partner (I’m used to working with an AD) and I don’t really talk to anyone on the daily. I feel discouraged going to work every day and don’t really have the motivation or enthusiasm I had near the start. I’m essentially just extremely lonely and think about that aspect of the job almost constantly.—Copywriter/content creator, U.S. 79. "I can see them struggling, but I can't get in to help" Honestly, the biggest challenge I've faced is watching my children take the brunt of this pandemic and having to observe it from afar, but simultaneously up close. I am blessed to be able to work from home, while my kids are in remote learning, but I am also in meetings all day long. So, it feels like they are in a glass bubble and I can see them struggling, but I can't get in to help. The situation has gotten worse. As the schools are being forced to reopen, it is our children that are again having to figure out hybrid and re-entry strategies first. They are the guinea pigs and are figuring things out, while many companies, managers and employees are still waiting to lift WFH until the vaccine is fully available. Every day, a new wrench gets thrown at working parents. It feels like the field goal is constantly moving, a hurricane is barreling in on us, and the ground is turning into quicksand simultaneously.—Lara Compton, vp of growth and brand marketing, Chicago 80. "Hell on earth filled with passive aggressiveness" My female manager was the anti-empowering person when it came to going virtual. Hello, micromanagement! Hello, being written up for yawning excessively on video when I chose to work through a Covid diagnosis. Black Lives Matter? Let’s leave the analysis and recommendation about how our brands should proceed to our one Black employee and not have a discussion about it. Myself and the Black employee have since left the agency and you know what? We left for better pastures. I hate to say it but my experience being in an almost all-woman agency was hell on earth filled with passive aggressiveness and pecking orders. I am leaving incredibly grateful for the men at the agency who truly empowered me by recognizing me as an expert in my space, giving me space to build things, frequently shouting me out, knowledge-sharing, the list goes on.—Strategist, Southwest U.S. 81. "Not 'an area we want to explore'" The biggest challenge I have even with remote work is still not being treated equally to my male counterparts and not acknowledging the Asian hate crimes. My peers' opinions are celebrated, but mine are too bold or not “an area we want to explore” right now, according to my manager. Moreover, DEI that doesn’t pertain to Black people of color is an afterthought.—Director of product marketing 82. "The muscles we developed in 2020 have us better prepared" Last year was a trial of leadership in keeping team members engaged and focused amidst company changes, a global pandemic, a volatile economy, activating social equilibrium, and a challenging political environment. By sticking close together and focusing on near-term actions, we were able to achieve all our goals. Balancing team and company needs with personal adjustments of at-home learning added to the complexity and challenges of maintaining focus and leading a team. 2021 has presented new sets of challenges but the muscles we developed in 2020 have us better prepared to take on anything.—Su Li Rivera, vp of marketing, San Francisco 83. "This was a real kick in the teeth" I entered a new role at a corporation acting like a startup and as a result had to wear many hats in order to get from zero to one. I thought by taking this role the company would recognize my commitment, competence and passion to get the job done. At the end of the year I moved to a specialist role and was congratulated on my lateral move by HR. This was a real kick in the teeth from the company I'd given nine years too and had successfully launched three brands last year. Personally I was so hurt as I watched others be rewarded for similar efforts and now I am working with a life coach to look at starting to plan my next move. Professionally I feel undervalued and unable to process here and have outgrown my interest in repeating similar patterns.—Head of brand strategy, London 84. "I can barely afford food/heating now" I had a horrible life event and lost all my money. My colleagues and clients are very wealthy, all white Anglo females. I’m an immigrant, and I can barely afford food/heating now. It makes it more difficult to keep the professional standing I have as the expert I still am.—Consultant, London 85. "Struggling with anxiety in a way that I had never experienced before" The biggest challenge I’ve faced over the last year has been my mental health. It got progressively worse until about November, and I have been feeling much better recently. I was struggling with anxiety in a way that I had never experienced before. I was struggling at work, having difficulties in my relationship, and even had physical symptoms—acid reflux, vomiting, fainting.—Account manager, San Francisco 86. "I dread having to look for roles" I was made redundant in March. I think lots of people have been quietly dropped. I can't see things getting back to normal for quite a while, and, my confidence is of course shot to shit. I didn't miss not working at first as there was illness in my family, and then hospitals, which ended in December when my Dad died. Now I dread having to look for roles, when there isn't anything out there from what I can see. 87. "Drowning" All childcare and school duties are on me. I’m a single mom of two. Drowning.—Director of strategy, Midwest U.S. 88. "In a blink, she was gone" The biggest challenge I faced was unexpectedly losing my mother. I was literally on a call with Peloton and heard my father scream up to me for help. She was fine three hours prior, she wasn't sick. But in a blink, was gone. I own a small boutique agency, and professionally was in the midst of closing partnership deals and supporting a brand launch. I had never a personal tragedy before, and I had to essentially put my business on hold. Or at least I thought I did. What ended up happening is that my colleagues and friends who own other agencies stepped up and stepped in on my behalf to finish the strategy I was writing, look at the contracts, and provide client support and leadership for a month. Without asking, it was the women in my life—who happen to be professional peers—who held up my business and my reputation and ensured I didn't miss a beat. It was the most kind thing I had seen. That act of kindness helped me grow stronger, and I saw the holes in my team that I needed to fill because my agency has to be able to work without me.—Tiffany Hardin, agency founder, Nashville, Tenn. 89. "I know discrimination when I see it" I am now working twice as hard in the same role. The expectation now is, "You’re home, you don’t have a commute, so work should technically start when you wake up." You know what no one else is talking about? How women without children are discriminated against. “Oh she doesn’t have a kid, life must be easy for her. No the FUCK it is not. What about my aging mom that I have to take care of? What about the fact that I am the breadwinner of my family, and because I am a first generation immigrant, part of my paycheck helps my family? I’m a woman of color so believe me I know discrimination when I see it.—Marketing professional 90. "My availability wasn’t to her liking" [My biggest challenge has been] working from home with one child in virtual kindergarten and a 2- (now almost 3) year-old who both need attention and support. Workload didn’t change (actually increased) but everything else in life did. While my boss encourages taking time off, it feels impossible to take any time because it’s the same amount of work just with less time to do it in. In April of 2020 I actually had a client tell me I owed her more professional courtesy because my availability wasn’t to her liking. It floored me that even a woman±—a mother too—could have such little compassion for another working mom trying to work with two kids at home a few weeks into a global pandemic.—Janine, vp and director of PPC 91. "They don’t care who’s on your Zoom meeting" This past year brought on many new challenges for all of us and further intensified the daily responsibilities of every working mother. For me, though, the biggest obstacle has been keeping my professional responsibilities from appearing to be a priority over my family. Work has always been a thing my kids know I do and is a place I go while they are at school. Yes, there have been many late nights and early mornings where they see me in front of my computer or have overheard me talking with clients or colleagues by phone while chauffeuring them to/from baseball, soccer, swim, etc. But nothing that compares to all they've seen this past year while we're all working (and schooling) from the same home. When a 4-year-old wants your attention, they don’t care who’s on your Zoom meeting or understand the importance of getting (yet another) email sent out first. Nor should they have to.—Jessica Vincent, vp/director of brand strategy, Lexington, Ky. 92. "Life throws all kinds of curve balls at you" On the back of three miscarriages, losing a baby to Patau syndrome and discovering my partner had cancer, as a CEO of a creative communications agency, I found myself thrown another challenge: Covid. As Covid was taking hold in China, I found myself pregnant again (managing the anxiety of whether the pregnancy would go full term), looking after my partner who was receiving chemo, looking after my stepson (who I made a promise would not see any changes in his life as a result of his dad being ill), while running an agency with clients who needed more support than ever. It was definitely a challenge! But being an entrepreneur, I am used to challenges and we created new strategies for our clients, pivoting them from PR to telling their stories on social and other owned brand platforms, ensuring they could weather the Covid storm. While I am glad to see the back of those challenges, I am reminded what happens when you dig in. While there have been challenges, as a company, BrandContent ended the year in 2020 winning best international small content agency (CMA awards), had our most successful financial year yet, made no redundancies and even grew the team and the cherry on the top, I have the most precious and amazing baby boy! Life throws all kinds of curve balls at you, but all tough times do come to an end and you will be more resilient as a result.—Sharon Flaherty, CEO, Cardiff, U.K. 93. "Things can definitely get lonely" The hardest part is definitely not being able to see my friends and to not be able to hug anyone. I live by myself so things can definitely get lonely, but it has also been an amazing opportunity to work through many internal matters and transform myself.—Rebeca Ricoy, marketing director, Latin America 94. "I've become a very different person" [My biggest challenge was] the difficulty of not being "immersed" into the industry or seeing the people within it. Having to relocate to a rural area from New York and thus feeling marooned. It's become worse over time because I kept trying to hope for the opportunity to move back, but safety and finances wouldn't allow for it. I've become a very different person, I feel, and I feel so unchallenged professionally because I can't seek out new opportunities or show employers my worth from all the way here in my hometown.—Student, Washington 95. "Working harder in 2020 was simply impossible for many" The biggest challenge I faced as a leader was realizing that any gender equality efforts we have implemented in the workplace were not addressing the big gender inequality gap many women face at home. I saw women having to juggle the role of mother/home-school-teacher/wife/caregiver to an aging parent with little to no help from their partners. Many of the partners prioritized their work commitments over their wife's work responsibilities. Why is that? As women, we work harder to prove the value we bring to the table, but working harder in 2020 was simply impossible for many. Once we realized there was another gender inequality gap we had never addressed before, we responded in support of our team's needs quickly. For instance, we reduced the utilization goals for many employees with children to half of the typical utilization goal. We also kept the office open as an alternative for those moms (and employees) who needed to get away from home; we made it safe by limiting the number of employees allowed in the office to the number of conference rooms. We scheduled video Pet&Kids happy hours to embrace and help our team become more comfortable with our new reality. Without a doubt, Covid brought a new level of understanding and visibility into many women's challenges when balancing home and work commitments. The thing is, I have an incredible partner in life, and we have been able to balance and prioritize our careers equally. —Marcela Lay, vp/head of client strategy, Atlanta 96. "Passed over" [My biggest challenge was] working full time without childcare, and then being passed over promotion for the job I’ve been doing for the past two years because I decided to reduce my schedule to 80% to manage the lack of childcare situation.—Mid-level manager at a communications agency, Washington, D.C. 97. "Unfair and low salary" It was extremely difficult to find a job. And when I did get a job offer, I really felt that I was being offered an unfair and low salary.—Morgan, digital marketing, U.S. 98. "The rawness of this past year has exposed us to one another" I've been trying to answer this question for hours. I keep deleting what I've written, because, frankly, every time I try to write about my personal challenges as working mother, or the change my family has gone through this year (career changes, school changes, moving across the country), I keep coming back to the same thing: I am so, so lucky. I have not been sick this past year. None of my family members or close friends have become sick. No one in my life has died from the pandemic that is ravaging the world. I have nothing to complain about. No, this past year has not been easy. It has been 12 months of constant, unyielding, low- to mid-level worry. I have lain awake at night; worried about how I would manage my full-time job and school closures; worried that the entire ad industry would collapse overnight and I would lose my ability to support my family; worried that I wouldn't be able to bond over Zoom with my new coworkers at the agency I joined in the middle of the pandemic; worried that our country is headed into armed conflict, with itself; worried that maybe I got too close to my dad at our last outdoor meetup; worried that my child will forever be scared to enter an indoor public space without a mask. But it's been easier for me than for many, and for that I am grateful. The rawness of this past year has exposed us to one another in both good and bad ways. And that's certainly true for working women. Our struggles to balance our multiple roles and responsibilities have become clearer. We have been exposed, in all our imperfections. But so has the workplace. And I think that's good for women and men.—Jennifer Colman, director of strategy, Boulder, Colo. 99. "You are there physically, but not 100% there emotionally" The biggest challenge is balance and separation. While I worked a ton during what were normal times, without separation from family and the expectation from the industry that you are home and doing nothing so you should be available at all times has been brutal. The kids see you at home and so they feel like you should be there and present with them whenever they want you, and it's difficult to explain that you are there physically, but not 100% there emotionally because you are working. They can't process that and sometimes clients can't either. So, you are constantly being torn between your work and home life. I went through difficult phases where I felt like I was failing on all counts and not being grateful enough for the opportunities I had. I realized I was falling into a depression about it all for a little bit, and that is not really something I struggle with so it was an additional challenge. Things have definitely gotten better. We made a point to take holidays this year, which we never do. Even little ones like Presidents Day. We all needed a break. We had to learn to find the balance between making ourselves available while also making space. —Kelly Bayett, creative director/co-founder, Los Angeles 100. "We've found ways to separate these pieces of our lives" The past year has been a learning experience in separation. Without the physical barrier of a commute or an office space or a school for my kids to go to, we have had to all learn how to close the computer, let the laundry pile up, or do homework alongside a client video call. A year ago, the lines blurred and it was hard to feel like anything was getting done with the attention it deserved. Now, a year into the pandemic and what feels like a lifetime into living, working, schooling, etc. all in the same place we've found ways to separate these pieces of our lives. I've had to become more purposeful about blocking my calendar, knowing my kids will benefit from building the Lego car on their own and accepting that I'm a better member of my family if I take 5 minutes to breathe—alone—before I sit down to dinner.—Lindsey Seyman, agency president, Brooklyn