Interview with Louisa: Why are we rebranding?

Company News

clock Released On 12 May 2022

Interview with Louisa: Why are we rebranding?

Read on to hear from Founder and CEO Louisa Symington-Mills about why Cityparents has changed its name, why we chose WorkLife Central, and what's coming up next!

CP: Why has Cityparents changed its name?

LSM: The name ‘Cityparents’ contains two very specific words which reflected our origins 10 years ago in the Square Mile of London and our core focus on working parents. In fact, longstanding members may recall our original name of Citymothers – we became Cityparents in 2015 - so we have changed our name once before to reflect our evolving audience and offering.

We’ve been through a huge transition since our foundation in 2012, and what was an already-fast pace of development was catalysed further by the onset of the pandemic. Since then our programme has found a new home online, and at the same time our content has broadened considerably to include content on a wider range of work and home life-related topics, which are relevant for many professionals and not just parents. As a result we have found ourselves saying, ‘We’re not just for parents’, and ‘We’re not just for City workers’, a lot! The name Cityparents no longer felt like an accurate reflection of who we are, and what we do.

CP: What prompted the change now?

LSM: We have received a large amount of member and client feedback in recent months about the limitations of the Cityparents name, which I believe reflects a few things; firstly a much greater awareness amongst employers that many different types of employees have challenges and responsibilities outside of work; secondly a broader understanding of alternative family structures and how people can have family responsibilities even though they may not be ‘parents’, and third, the increase in our own programme with new content areas that have a broader appeal.

In addition, over the past few months I've been able to reflect on our journey and take stock of the change that Cityparents has gone through in the past two years. A lot of our development over this time period resulted from decisions made extremely quickly and under pressure when the pandemic first hit. As we started to emerge from those circumstances it felt like we reached a real fork in the road with a clear choice - do we return to our old way of delivering our programme and go back to running in-person events, or keep on our new, digital path?  I felt confident in my decision to choose digital - I'm extremely proud of how we've adapted to our online home, and the new opportunities it's created for us to both grow our reach and improve the way we support and inspire our members.

So, with all of this in mind and with a clear path forwards, I felt it was time for our name to play ‘catch up’ with our growth as an organisation.  The fact that this is our 10th year felt like an appropriate milestone moment to make such a significant change, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing where the next 10 years takes us.

CP: Why did you choose WorkLife Central?

LSM: I love WorkLife Central because it perfectly encapsulates what we do as an organisation, and cements our position as a leading provider of expert-led resources supporting professionals in their home and work lives. As this is our second name change to reflect our expanding audience, we were very keen to avoid needing to make a third! So from the outset of the naming debate we were set on finding a name that focused on what we actually do, not who our audience is. It was also really important that the new name felt fully inclusive – so that any professional, whether they work in ‘the City’ or ‘a city’ or not, and whether they are parents or not, feels welcome to join our community.

I will say that deciding on a new name was really hard - I've often described Cityparents as my third baby and it really did feel a bit like having to rename a child! We discussed many, many, many options before WorkLife Central hit the mark.

CP: Is your programme changing?

LSM: Our programme isn’t going to change – our name is simply catching up with developments that have already happened. For example, finding our new home online, expanding our topic areas and growing our offering through new formats such as On Demand Videos/Shorts, Workshops and Support Groups.  We will continue to concentrate our efforts on ensuring we’re delivering the best possible range of support and resources to our members. 

Aside from some small design tweaks to the website to accommodate the new name and logo, and our new domain name www.worklifecentral.com, everything else will remain very much the same. Although, I can’t promise we will stand still entirely - and I hope noone would expect that of us. We’re always looking for ways to grow and improve what we do.

CP: Does this affect my membership/login?

LSM: No, your login details will continue to remain exactly as they are.

CP: What’s next in store for WorkLife Central?

LSM: It’s certainly a busy year - our next project is to launch an App! We’re really excited about this and look forward to sharing more details when it’s ready to launch. Then, in the Autumn we’ll be celebrating our 10th anniversary with a special series of content celebrating the best of our programme. Aside from that, it’s very much business as usual.

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