My first book, a survival guide for working and breastfeeding, is available almost anywhere books are sold.
Work. Pump. Repeat. (ABRAMS Books) was born out of an unusual experience: As the first Director of Giving for the now-iconic TOMS Shoes, I traveled to rural Nepal with the company's founder when my son was only five months old. I literally circumnavigated the globe with a breast pump, and couldn't believe there was no survival guide for women doing this most awkward of jobs. After five years and hundreds of interviews with working mothers and HR executives, this book was born.
It's been recommended by Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine, Publishers Weekly, BlogHer, Fox News Health, and TOMS' founder Blake Mycoskie. Check out www.workpumprepeat.com for more.
I have a regular column for Women@Forbes on Forbes.com, exploring "Un-Careerists" - people who never do the same thing twice, and who are insatiable problem-solvers. Check it out at forbes.com/sites/jessicashortall
I have written for The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Mashable, TIME, and more, on the economic and moral case for paid family leave, on new-parent-friendly workplace policies and cultures, and on popular culture and parenthood. Some highlights:
- Goop, Why We All Need Family Leave, 9/22/16
- ELLE Magazine, 8 Honest, Raw Photos of What Maternity Leave Really Looks Like, 5/4/16
- ELLE Magazine, 23 Women Show Us the Horrible and Depressing Spaces They Pump In, 4/20/16
- ELLE Magazine, How to Turn Any Room Into a Decent Pumping Space, 4/19/16
- The Atlantic, Work In the Only Industrialized Country Without Paid Maternity Leave (Part 2), 4/16
- The Atlantic, Life In the Only Industrialized Country Without Paid Maternity Leave (Part 1), 3/3/16
- Mashable, Where Breastfeeding Mothers Pumped at the Oscars, 3/2/16
- Motto (from the editors of TIME), What No One Tells New Moms About Going Back to Work, 2/22/16
- Refinery29, The Ugly Reality of a Too Short Maternity Leave, 2/5/16
- Moms Pump Here, Can I Pump Here? Understanding Your Breastfeeding Rights at Work, 1/2/16
- Feministing.com, We Are the 47%: Women, Work, and #PaidLeave, 12/7/15
- Huffington Post, Back to Work and Still Bleeding: The Shame and Peril of American Maternity Leave, 11/18/15
- The Bump, Why America's Lack of Paid Parental Leave Is Everyone's Problem, 11/17/15
- The Bump, We Can't Even Have Donuts? A Review of the Viral Breastfeeding Ad Campaign, 9/22/15
- The Bump, Where Breastfeeding Support Is Really Failing Working Moms (Hint: It’s Not At Desk Jobs), 9/8/15
- Working Mother Magazine, How Not to Be Donald Trump: Supporting Breastfeeding Employees Isn't That Hard, 7/30/15
- The Bump, Donald Trump Was Right: Removing a Liquid From Your Body at Work is Disgusting, 7/30/15
- The Huffington Post, Trump: The Voice of Business on Breastfeeding and Work, 7/30/15 (Highlighted on "featured blog posts")
- Giggle.com, 6 Tips for Heading Back to Work as a Working Mom, 7/30/15
- ABRAMS Books, The 5 things that are going to happen to you when you travel for work while you're breastfeeding, 7/27/15
- Thrive Momma, Pumping and flying for work, 7/5/15
- The Bump, Building a breastmilk stash before you go back to work, 6/22/15
- The Bump, Why I support working moms setting (and adjusting) their breastfeeding goals, 6/2/15
- The Huffington Post, Dear Lactivist: I am not a milk-delivery system, 10/10/14
- Well Rounded NY, Pumping 101: Work Fashion, 2/14/14
- The Huffington Post, In breastfeeding, "good" beats "perfect" every time, 2/8/14
- The Huffington Post, Top 10 hacks for the working, breastfeeding mother, 2/4/14
- The Shriver Report, Has "breast is best" jumped the shark?, 11/20/13
Type "working mother" into any stock photo site and you'll get a photo of a happy woman, sitting at her desk with a baby in her lap. That's not what it actually looks like, so I shot this parody stock photo series. It's been featured on APlus, Bustle, The Stir, and lifestyle websites in countries around the world. Get in touch if you'd like high-res versions to use.