After the pandemic struck nearly two years ago, 3.5 million mothers either lost their jobs, had to take a leave of absence, or left the workforce indefinitely — will they be able to return?
For three CEO moms, this question is vital when considering the future of workplace culture and progress for women in the professional world.
“We need to bring women back into the workforce to make a full economic recovery,” says Lisa Curtis, founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli, a leading provider of superfood products. “I think that starts with having a human-centered approach, where there’s a general understanding that life happens.”
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Through the entrepreneurial fellowship company Unreasonable, Curtis got to know two fellow mom CEOs — Virginia Klausmeier, founder and CEO of Sylvatex, which works to provide lower-carbon, higher-performing tech solutions, and Emily Stone, co-founder and CEO of Uncommon Cacao, which works to build transparent cacao supply chains — and together, they’re working to bring more visibility to working mothers.
The trio created the Pandemic SuperMom Award, backed by Unreasonable and the multinational bank Barclays, and asked mothers to share their stories via video of how they have navigated their professional lives alongside motherhood. The award, whose deadline passed at the end of November, plans to grant 50 moms $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in prizes.
The award is inspired by Curtis’, Klausmeier’s and Stone’s recent experiences as moms and employers who are faced with an exodus of women leaving the workforce; an exodus that could prove costly since fewer women in the workforce costs the U.S. economy over $650 billion each year, according to The National Partnership for Women & Families.
Employee Benefit News spoke to Curtis, Klausmeier and Stone as they discuss their Pandemic SuperMom Award, their biggest takeaways from 2021 and what parents need from their employers in the new year.
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What inspired all of you to come together and create the Pandemic SuperMom Award?
Curtis: I had a conversation with other CEOs who also became mothers during the pandemic. Many of us had help from our moms — my mom retired early from her job as a dentist to watch our daughter. Yet, we still felt like we couldn’t do it. And if we feel like we’re on the verge of a mental breakdown, what about other women out there?
Klausmeier: I can’t work out how you do your job during a pandemic with a kid. Right after I had my second kid, we moved up to my hometown to be close to my mom. For me, it’s just heartbreaking to realize that the progress women have made in the workplace over these years are taking a massive step back. The reality is that women are amazing leaders and get stuff done. We need to retain them in the workforce.
Curtis: Fortunately, as employers, we have a lot of power over the people that work for us as well as other CEOs. So why not collect stories from other working moms and show employers what it’s like to be a working mom.
Stone: A lot of these women have not been recognized for their exceptional hard work, bravery, persistence in the face of so many challenges. We are excited to give them visibility and create a broader groundswell for changes in policy and culture. We want the conversation for our kids, when they’re parents themselves, to look different.
As working mothers, what challenges have you each faced during the pandemic?
Stone: I just became a mom in January, and my pregnancy was possible because of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, I was traveling 70% of the time. I had four years where I didn't spend more than two weeks in one place. Now I am working and a parent at the same time, in the same place, which became true for so many people in a way that it just never had before.
After my baby was born, I was taken aback over and over again by the enormous, silent weight women carry. It's the weight of the persistence of our species. Not to mention the invisible labor in everything that we do. I realized that I couldn’t keep going in this adrenaline-driven, always on the road, push until you can’t anymore approach. I am setting an example for women on our team and for women on my supply chain. I had to challenge myself to live authentically as a working mom.
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Klausmeier: For me, it felt really unfair to the world to leave the workforce just to support my family’s immediate needs. For better or for worse, I believe my work is incredibly important. But I have still spent a long time pretending I didn’t have kids because I didn’t want people to look down on my performance. Now, I’m recognizing that I am a woman, I am a CEO and I am a mom. I can be high-performing, but I have to do it on my own terms and be true to what makes me who I am.
Curtis: But as a female founder, you definitely hear a lot of horror stories. People tell you not to say anything to your investors when you’re pregnant because they will assume you will not come back to work. I actually didn't tell anyone for a long time that I was pregnant. I didn’t tell my team until I was eight months in, and that was probably one of the quietest zooms calls in history. I still made sure to reassure my team and investors that our business will continue to thrive.
But after having my daughter, I quickly realized that trying to do work and child care at the same time is basically impossible. It made me have a deep understanding of why so many working moms have been forced to leave the workforce. I think if it had not been my mom leaving [the workforce], it probably would have been me.
Given the new challenges each of you faced just last year, what have been your biggest lessons learned from 2021?
Klausmeier: Flexibility at work is so important, especially when systems of child care stop moving like we have seen during the pandemic. As employers, we have to honor how people manage their time. People should be comfortable with recognizing that they’re humans first and employees second. We have life obligations, whether it’s taking care of your kids, taking care of your parents or taking care of yourself.
Stone: Flexibility wins 100% of the time and remote wins 100% of the time. But what stands out to me is that technology makes it possible for us to always be on and connected, while also making it possible for us to not always be on and connected. That’s why you have to be explicit about the importance of boundaries — encourage your team to turn off Slack notifications and email notifications at the end of the workday and during the weekends. People should feel they have the permission to take the time and space to be their whole selves.
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Curtis: You also have to really trust your team. I used to like seeing people at work and collaborating until six at night, but that’s just not sustainable. People work best when they take breaks, and they have the time to do whatever they need to feel productive at home. Personally, I'm just not productive in a traditional nine to five environment and I know what schedule works for me. I also trust and know that my employees do the same.
What needs to happen in an ideal workplace for women?
Stone: We ended up adding a new company value when I came back from maternity leave: balance. We need to prioritize boundaries, which drives sustainable team successes.
Klausmeier: It comes back to a flexible workplace, where we understand what is critical for our employees to do and we plan accordingly. People should be able to pace their energy level and start to manage themselves better by incorporating exercise, mental stops and taking care of their home. When you’re motivated to work, you can do a lot of work in a day. But you need the flexibility to stack your work how you see fit.
Curtis: At the end of the day, it starts with taking a human-centered approach and understanding what your employees need. For working moms, that comes down to flexibility, but that flexibility will look different for every mom. Maybe someone needs to block these specific hours or maybe someone can only work 30 hours a week for a slight pay cut. Employers should enable different types of work, so it is actually possible to juggle work and life.
