Female company president apology to working moms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full disclosure: I know the author.

While I'm sure there's a grain of truth here, I wondered why Fortune was basically running an advertorial.

So what's she like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anatomy of a lib chick. Insult as many mothers as you can by putting them down for being mothers, start a company with women then insult them for being working mothers, then become a mother, apologize for insulting mothers and do it publicly so you can get attention for your company and pretend you mean it when in reality you don't but since you own the company, who gives two shits about working mothers. I DO WHAT I WANT !

She's a real DCUMom.

What evidence do you have that the company she founded doesn't care about working mothers?

[Anonymous]

Let's get real there are certain jobs you take depending on your childcare responsibilities. It isn't all black and white. If I have young kids and need to cut out of work early each day for daycare I wouldn't expect to take a job that end at 6 and ask to leave at 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I judge parents all the time. We have two nannies to make sure that childcare is always covered. If you aren't ready to juggle work and kids hen don't have them! The other folks in the office shouldn't have to pick up your slack. This goes for men and women.

I kind of agree with some of what you posted, but I think that a lot of the judgments this woman expresses in her article aren't things that involve others picking up the slack of working moms. She judged people for not being willing to go to happy hour and questioned their commitment, even when they came to work 2 hours earlier than her without a hangover the next day. She admitted to judging women with children before she even knew what their childcare arrangements were, and expected people to follow HER schedule rather than their own for meetings. If my schedule starts at 7:30 so that I can leave at 4pm (for any reason - daycare pick up, second job, long commute, grad school, whatever), it's not "asking others to pick up my slack. It's not hard to schedule meetings that you need me to be at during my actual working hours. Emergencies happen, but this woman talks about routinely doing this with no attention to anyone's priorities but hers.

None of that equates to expecting others to pick up the slack of working moms. It just adds up to this particular woman being a self-centered jerk.

[Anonymous]

I am a guy and I specifically took jobs that paid less with more flexible times so that I could assist with the daycare / preschool pickup. After that stage was over both my spouse and I moved to more rigorous and higher paying jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I judge parents all the time. We have two nannies to make sure that childcare is always covered. If you aren't ready to juggle work and kids hen don't have them! The other folks in the office shouldn't have to pick up your slack. This goes for men and women.

Having two nannies isn't juggling work and kids.

Most awesome comment of the day!

So sick of the one-percenters who come on here and tell the rest of us we're slacking if we don't throw money at every problem.

They're as judgmental--and clueless--as the worst stay-at-home sanctimommy.

[Anonymous]

Great. So much better than Marissa Mayer, who after become a mother insists that nothing has changed.

[Anonymous]

Quite honestly, she sounds kind of dumb. No one is that clueless unless dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure what to make of this. This female exec tells that she rolled her eyes at working moms, scheduled last minute meetings at end of day without considering moms have to pick up kids from daycare....until she had her own kid.

now she started her own company for working moms and apologizes to moms for her past behavior.

http://www.today.com/parents/female-company-president-katharine-zaleski-apologizes-working-moms-powerful-fortune-2D80527330

Here are my thoughts:

So, you can't see past your own experiences and now want to be rewarded for it?

Good marketing for your new company - you mention it often enough.

In this day and age, shouldn't it be working moms AND DADs?

Not sure I buy into this whole thing.

I don't see the problem with her recognizing her past mistakes and trying to atone for them. Maybe it is a publicity stunt but I appreciated reading it because it made me think of similar things I might have done. I definitely wasn't thoughtful about my discrimination when I was younger but I can recall silently judging parents (moms and dads) for leaving work early for events, the time they took off for maternity/paternity leave, etc. I just didn't get it until I had kids. And this goes for a lot more than just judging people in the workplace. So shouldn't she be able to apologize and try to make good on her mistakes?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I judge parents all the time. We have two nannies to make sure that childcare is always covered. If you aren't ready to juggle work and kids hen don't have them! The other folks in the office shouldn't have to pick up your slack. This goes for men and women.

I kind of agree with some of what you posted, but I think that a lot of the judgments this woman expresses in her article aren't things that involve others picking up the slack of working moms. She judged people for not being willing to go to happy hour and questioned their commitment, even when they came to work 2 hours earlier than her without a hangover the next day. She admitted to judging women with children before she even knew what their childcare arrangements were, and expected people to follow HER schedule rather than their own for meetings. If my schedule starts at 7:30 so that I can leave at 4pm (for any reason - daycare pick up, second job, long commute, grad school, whatever), it's not "asking others to pick up my slack. It's not hard to schedule meetings that you need me to be at during my actual working hours. Emergencies happen, but this woman talks about routinely doing this with no attention to anyone's priorities but hers.

None of that equates to expecting others to pick up the slack of working moms. It just adds up to this particular woman being a self-centered jerk.

+1 We actually had someone recently interview for a Sr. Director position who told the hiring team that she questioned the commitment of anyone who didn't stay at work after 5pm, regardless of start time, and that they should never be promoted. Not the smartest thing to say when most of the hiring team are moms and our company has a strong commitment to flexibility (I work 7:30-4:30 with one WAH day as does my director). At least she made it easy for us to knock her out of consideration!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great. So much better than Marissa Mayer, who after become a mother insists that nothing has changed.

No sh*t. If someone had rigged up a nursery next to my office and installed a nanny, my worklife wouldn't have changed much either.

I hate Marissa Meyer more as a WOHM than I did as a SAHM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I judge parents all the time. We have two nannies to make sure that childcare is always covered. If you aren't ready to juggle work and kids hen don't have them! The other folks in the office shouldn't have to pick up your slack. This goes for men and women.

I kind of agree with some of what you posted, but I think that a lot of the judgments this woman expresses in her article aren't things that involve others picking up the slack of working moms. She judged people for not being willing to go to happy hour and questioned their commitment, even when they came to work 2 hours earlier than her without a hangover the next day. She admitted to judging women with children before she even knew what their childcare arrangements were, and expected people to follow HER schedule rather than their own for meetings. If my schedule starts at 7:30 so that I can leave at 4pm (for any reason - daycare pick up, second job, long commute, grad school, whatever), it's not "asking others to pick up my slack. It's not hard to schedule meetings that you need me to be at during my actual working hours. Emergencies happen, but this woman talks about routinely doing this with no attention to anyone's priorities but hers.

None of that equates to expecting others to pick up the slack of working moms. It just adds up to this particular woman being a self-centered jerk.

+1 We actually had someone recently interview for a Sr. Director position who told the hiring team that she questioned the commitment of anyone who didn't stay at work after 5pm, regardless of start time, and that they should never be promoted. Not the smartest thing to say when most of the hiring team are moms and our company has a strong commitment to flexibility (I work 7:30-4:30 with one WAH day as does my director). At least she made it easy for us to knock her out of consideration!

Wow. I don't understand this kind of thinking now that we have the technology in place that we don't have to sit at our desks to communicate with people. My company is so flexible and I'm so appreciative. The thinking is that it's important for us to be around other team members a few days a week for brainstorming, impromptu conversations etc., but that working from home a few days a week helps people manage their schedule. With IM, video conference/chat etc., technology that allows you to share computer screens, etc., it's just not necessary to be in the office every day. there is nothing magical that happens at 5:15 in most companies that would prevent you from leaving at 5 most days, as long as you are getting your work done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In this day and age, shouldn't it be working moms AND DADs?

YES! DH needs to leave by 5:30 pick up DD from daycare and his (female) boss gave him shit about it and basically asked him why I wasn't doing it.

[Anonymous]

I kind of question the "wisdom" of a mom with a 14-month-old. When she has three kids in two schools and a full plate of activities for all, she will know just how jerky she was in her former life.

[Anonymous]

She was in my year at college. Didn't like her then, still don't like her after this article.

Unlike her, before I had children, I was very sympathetic to people in my office who did have children, often offering to cover the office over holidays and such, thinking that someday it would likely be me who wanted to go home a little early on Halloween to take my kid trick or treating or to go to a holiday program at school. Why it is so difficult for anyone to step outside of their small universe for even a minute is beyond my comprehension.