What happens when life & work collide

Life has a way of hitting you when you least expect it.

17 years ago, Michael was a fresh grad working 70hr weeks in consulting during the 08’ financial crisis. Then his grandfather had a brain aneurysm.

His mom had to spend more time in Michigan to help care for him. His dad worked overtime at the family business. He has three younger siblings who were still kids at the time. And there he was - trying to stay “100% billable” while his family was struggling.

He gained weight. Fell into depression (though he didn’t realize it then). Tried keeping all the plates spinning - work, family, personal life.

Sound familiar?

Whether it’s:

• An aging parent needing care
• A spouse dealing with chronic illness
• A new baby on the way
• Or that dreaded “emergency” phone call

We’re all caregivers or future caregivers. Period.

This experience changed his life’s trajectory. Made him realize how broken our support systems are for working families juggling care responsibilities.

Key learning: You can’t plan for these moments. But you can build the infrastructure, policies and culture to help your people when (not if) they happen.

Silence & stigma are the biggest barriers to caregiver support

The silent struggle of caregivers in our workforce needs more attention.

After a decade working with companies on caregiver programs, here’s what keeps surprising Michael.

Many leaders share powerful personal stories of caregiving challenges… then turn around and take a completely reactive approach to supporting their own employees facing the same battles.

The generational mindset shift is fascinating too. Millennials and Gen Z are actually MORE likely to use employer-provided support for caregiving and mental health vs older generations.

Yet most companies still:

1. Wait for issues to become fires
2. Treat caregiving support as a “nice to have”
3. Miss the connection to retention and performance

The progress over 10 years has been encouraging but slow. We’ve gone from “not our problem” to “we should probably do something”…

Now we need to get to “this is a core business imperative.”

Caregivers are drowning in costs, confusion, and exhaustion

Caregiving is breaking our workforce - and nobody’s talking about it.

After spending years studying this space, here are the 3 critical breaking points that Michael and his team are seeing hitting caregivers right now:

1) Financial strain

• Rising healthcare deductibles
• Skyrocketing long-term care costs
• Lost wages from reduced hours or leaving work
• Depleted retirement savings

2) System navigation hell

• Urban areas: Analysis paralysis from too many options
• Rural areas: Severe provider shortages
• Everyone: Insurance network limitations

3) Emotional burnout from trying to maintain peak performance at work while:

• Researching care options
• Coordinating appointments
• Managing medications
• Handling emergencies
• Fighting with insurance
• Actually providing care

The Surgeon General just released a report on the mental health crisis among parents. This isn’t just a “personal issue” anymore - it’s a business problem.

Companies that get ahead of this will retain their best talent. Those that don’t will watch their experienced people walk out the door.

Normalizing caregiving conversations

Leadership tip that costs $0: Make caregiving part of your company DNA.

It’s not all about expensive benefits. As Michael says, it’s about how you show up as a leader.

Most of us have caregiving stories (kids, parents, partners). But imagine being a 24yr old starting their career, first kid on the way, zero flexibility…that’s 10X the stress we faced.

Two things any leader can implement today:

1. Normalize caregiving convos. Your employees aren’t just employees - they’re sons, daughters, parents, partners. Create space for these conversations.
2. Get creative with time. At his company, they do quarterly mental health days. Simple but powerful - that day can mean driving to see a sick relative or handling family obligations.

Your employees’ caregiving responsibilities are a key factor in their wellbeing & productivity. Period.

Advice for someone starting their career today

"Do what you say you're going to do."

One thing they'd steal from another company

"The one I’d steal is actually something we’ve already stolen. Hopefully that’s an acceptable answer! It’s the ‘pay it forward’ strategy, like what TOMS Shoes and Bombas do. Cariloop is a B Corp, so we wanted to build that same spirit into our business—the more we grow, the more we give. It’s such an effective strategy, and I couldn’t wait to implement it.”

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