Released On 23 June 2025
Meet the WLC Team: Christy Chown
In our latest written interview with the WLC team, we meet Senior Client Relationship Manager Christy Chown who tells us all about what led her to the UK from New Zealand, why she loves her role at WLC and about her son's most unusual of birthday presents!
WLC: Christy please start by telling us about your background, and how you found your way to the WorkLife Central team?
CC: My background is in Business Management and I was in an account management role for a global sourcing and supply company in New Zealand. The company was expanding into various countries and I jumped at the opportunity to move to the UK and be part of the London team in 2010. Fast forward a few years and a job change working for an international charity, I met my husband and we welcomed our three sons in quick succession. It was a big adjustment switching from a fast paced, exciting career with lots of travel, to being a stay-at-home mum with three babies under the age of 3. During these early years I ran a small importing business to try and keep the brain engaged with some level of flexible work whilst being a new stay at home mum – two very demanding jobs! I stumbled across a job advertisement for WorkLife Central (Cityparents at this time) purely by chance and was excited to discover a company that was championing parents alongside career. Working with Louisa and the team has been brilliant, and it’s been an exciting journey of growth and development along the way. There has always been a culture of championing family life just as much as work and career and I feel very fortunate to have this support at WorkLife Central.
WLC: Tell us about your role: what do you do for WorkLife Central and what do you like most about your job?
CC: In 2019 I started as the Team Coordinator and in 2021 I switched to the role of Client Relationship Manager which I am currently in now. I love cultivating and nurturing productive long-term relationships with our clients and stakeholders and finding ways that our company can best offer support to individuals. I work with our key client contacts managing the client journey throughout onboarding to operationalisation and ongoing service management. We are a small team successfully delivering a large programme that is always evolving and responding to our clients’ feedback. I believe that no matter what our professional role is or our walk in life, we are all people with our own challenges and I love working for a company that focuses on supporting people in all aspects of career, parenting, wellbeing and everything else in between!
WLC: Tell us something that people might not know about you?
CC: We moved from London to Devon a few years ago and now have a very small smallholding with a growing number of animals – sheep, chickens, bees, dogs, cats, neighbouring cows that sometimes find themselves in the garden, and ever-populating stick insects (a bday present to my eldest – a gift that keeps on giving). The contrast between city life and rural life can feel very different but I enjoy the benefits that both bring.
WLC: How do you look after your own wellbeing?
CC: As a busy working mum, finding time for my own wellbeing can sometimes go to the wayside. I’ve found I must intentionally prioritise time for myself as it’s not something that comes naturally to me. We are very fortunate to live on Dartmoor and so I get out regularly for walks across the moor or down to the coastal path in South Devon. The vista of high open moorland or vast ocean does wonders for the soul and wellbeing.
Quality time is my language so spending time with my husband and friends (with a quality glass of red!) also brings refreshment and rejuvenation.
WLC: What’s your favourite part of the WorkLife Central programme?
CC: I love a podcast (especially a true crime series) so my favourite part of the programme is our WorkLife Stories podcast series. I spend a lot of time in the car ferrying the kids around so I use this time to tune into the programme. The series brings a sense of solidarity and the personal stories reminds me that we’re all on a journey of navigating the ups and downs of life. Two of my favourite podcasts on the programme are Jayne Ruff’s podcast on ‘Working Parents – Finding the (Im)perfect Balance’ and ‘Moving House’ with Laura Wheeler and Caroline Murphy.