Startup Parent

If you enjoy deep conversations about entrepreneurship, business, leadership, and parenting and you want to stay connected outside of Twitter (bc who knows what will happen to this network), make sure you subscribe to our newsletter list → startupparent.substack.com

“Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women's opportunities, not to limit them.” —Elaine Heffner

Tell me something about parenting that brought you joy this week.

Parenting completely humbled me. There was so much I didn't know—so much I didn't have a clue about. If there's anything that asks you to be a complete beginner again, it's being a parent to another human being.

It’s so slow. Building a business while a parent in a pandemic feels like the slowest-ever jenga puzzle. It takes like three months just to remove one little log stack.

What is the Wise Women’s Council? We call it WWC for short. It's a leadership incubator unlike any other for moms in business. If you’re a new or seasoned mom and you want to be around other powerful women in business, it's a space to be around other working moms that get it.

I've done an MBA and I've built two humans with my body. Only one of these things is recognized, supported, and funded in the workplace as an advancement in your capabilities. It's time to rebrand #motherhood as a new accelerated leadership MBA.

Women in the workforce should not have to pay a penalty for having children. — @reshmasaujani

Hustle culture asks us to push harder, work more, and “use up” all available hours we have in front of us. It tells us that we’re lazy if we’re not working until we drop, and says that it’s our individual fault if we can’t get things done. #momboss #workingmom #grind

Society often boxes up grief and doesn't allows enough space & time to explore it enough. Grief is part of life. Grief is something we'll all deal with in some form or another. In Ep204, @MarisaReneeLee and @sarahkpeck discuss grief, loss, and love: startupparent.com/204

As I struggled to juggle kids, career, and marriage and maintain some semblance of my own identity, I wondered how it was that a culture that superficially holds motherhood in such high esteem could in fact have so little regard for women who have children. — @amywestervelt

“For women, it’s particularly taboo to talk about parental fear and anxiety and reluctance to become a parent in any way, because you don’t want to sound like an unfit mother.” - @LucyKnisley ed.gr/bmzla

30% of moms leave their jobs within a year of having a baby—not because they don't want to work, but because they are woefully unsupported. This attrition costs businesses a fortune. Replacing you is expensive. #newparent #maternityleave

Learning isn’t always pretty. In the moment, growth can feel a lot more more like chaos or failure. But the truth is, you are gaining skills so rapidly you don’t have time to catalog your own transformation.

You can learn how to change a diaper, feed a baby, or swaddle a newborn. If you’ve learned to write with a pen or type on a computer, you'll learn parenting. It’s a lot of trial and error. You'll get the hang of it. #yougotthis #keepgoing #wordsofencouragement

My heart rate monitor just asked what I was doing for the last 20 minutes. Were you weightlifting? No, that was just me getting the children into the car. #parenting

Last week I was talking to @jayacunzo about finding people who get both parenting and entrepreneurship. “I used to tinker on my side projects at night,” he said, “and the weekend? I could do SO MUCH with a weekend.” But as a parent? Life is so different.

“Be patient with yourself. You and your baby are both learning new things each day.” — Unknown

“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” – @marissamayer

Grateful for all the people who keep finding the Startup Parent podcast and telling us what it means to them. If you're a founder, leader, or entrepreneur with kids, or you want to be in the company of other folks like us, go find the Startup Parent podcast.

My kid is home from school and keeps coming over to my computer to ask what I’m doing. I showed him my writing document and the word counter tool I use. Now he keeps coming over to look at the word count. “That’s not very many, mom. You’re going very slowly.” Uh thanks, kid?