The story behind Mother Cover.
For most of my career I struggled with when the right time would be to start a family.
We were hit with infertility. The physical and emotional toll was heavy. Still, I told no one. I kept my foot on the gas, afraid of what might happen if people at work knew I was trying to have a baby.
I didn’t want to be seen as distracted, or less committed, or fragile. So I carried it all quietly.
I worked extra hard to show up at work and not let anyone notice the weight I was carrying at home.
After years of this and going through IVF, we finally got the news we were hoping for — I was pregnant!
Two days later, I was laid off.
Searching for a job while pregnant is terrifying. I knew the reality—discrimination is still alive and well. So again, I stayed quiet.
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I was always aware that starting a family could impact my career. I worked hard to build something I was proud of. I held executive roles, led high-performing teams, and kept climbing. But in the back of my mind was always the same question: If I step away to have a child, will everything I’ve built fall apart?
So I waited. I told myself I’d start a family after the next role, the next promotion, the next milestone. But the “right time” never came.
Eventually, my husband and I decided to go for it anyway. And that’s when the real struggle began.
I landed a new role, but when I shared my pregnancy, the support I needed wasn’t there. Ultimately, I was let go at eight months pregnant.
I shared my story on LinkedIn. And the floodgates opened.
Hundreds of people—mostly women—reached out to say I wasn’t alone. Some had been pushed out during leave. Others never took it at all. Whether they worked in supportive environments or not, they all carried the same fear: If I step away, what will it mean for my career?
We all have important life events that are going to call us away from work at one time or another. What if we had a network ready to step in that has our backs until we return?
As I rocked my newborn daughter at night, I kept thinking about those stories.
I couldn’t stop wondering: What if I could help take even one obstacle out of the way?
The truth is, even the best companies feel the pressure when someone goes on leave. Work needs to get done. Goals still matter. But that doesn’t mean we can’t support people through life’s biggest transitions.
That’s where Mother Cover started.
What if someone could step in while a parent is on leave—not as a replacement that adds to a parent’s fear, but to act on their behalf to actually lead the work, hit the targets, and give everyone peace of mind?
I started by offering leave coverage for senior marketing leaders. But it’s already becoming something much bigger — crossing multiple functions and disciplines and spanning support across the U.S. and Canada
Mother Cover exists to protect careers, support companies, and create flexible, meaningful work for experienced professionals.
We all deserve support when life pulls us away from work. And now, we can have it.
Beth Wanner
Founder & CEO of Mother Cover
The “professional” about me bit:
Beth is the founder and CEO of Mother Cover, an agency offering interim and fractional coverage for parental and other forms of leave. After a very long and rocky road to parenthood while building a high-demand, high-stress career as a marketing executive in the tech space, Beth founded Mother Cover to give individuals the ability to comfortably pause work when they need to, while providing companies with experienced support until their team member returns.
In addition to her role at Mother Cover, Beth also serves as a fractional CMO, leveraging her experience across demand gen, product marketing, and brand strategy to help companies achieve their growth targets while coaching the next generation of leaders to hit their goals without burning themselves out or compromising their values.
In her most exciting and demanding role yet, Beth is a proud mother to her daughter, Ruby. She is also a fur mom to Ella and together with her husband, a fellow entrepreneur, they call the Canadian prairies home.
