On becoming a CMO

Sorry, was that click bait? I don’t mean a Chief Marketing Officer. No, no, no. I mean a Chief Mama Officer (thanks J.Crew x Hatch). Just last week, I left my job at 3M and my time in the corporate world for a new adventure.

Almost 9 months ago, I became a mother. It’s still sometimes hard to believe that I am someone’s mom. And as soon I became a mom, my perspective started to change.

My work gave me an incredible six months of leave (note: paid and unpaid) and it was just enough time for me to realize that I wanted to spend time at home with my baby. There were a lot of things that contributed to that idea. The first was a conversation I had with my mom. My mom: a structural engineer with MnDOT for years who demonstrated and engrained in my sister and I the importance of education and career, yet always made sure she picked us up from school and had dinner on the table for our family almost every night. She told me that if she could go back and change one thing, she would have quit her job and stayed at home with us while we were growing up. That blew my mind and made me realize what kind of an opportunity I had to be able to stay home with my baby. The second was hearing from all my mom friends, whether stay-at-home or working, that kids grow up so fast and you never get that time back. And third, I mean, the kid is just so dang cute.

My company had an option for part-time work in its corporate policy, but I had never heard of anyone getting approved for it or getting approved for job share. Nonetheless I brought it up with my manager both before I went out on leave and as I prepared to come back. She worked with the right people but wasn’t able to figure out a solution to give me a part-time option. Instead, I was offered the opportunity to come back at 20 hours, then ramp up over time until I reached full-time. This, we all assumed, would give me enough time to reorient my life and schedule back to full-time work and figure out who would watch my baby during the week.

It sort of worked. While I was at 20 hours, my parents and a good friend of ours watched my baby. I loved being back with my team, feeling productive and getting things done. But after a month, I knew that getting back to full-time was not going to work for me. Twenty hours was the perfect amount of time I wanted to spend at work – I still wanted the other half of my week to be spent with my little boy. So. I quit.

The decision wasn’t easy. Even though I knew what I ultimately wanted, I waffled for weeks. Was it the right decision for our family? Was it worth giving up a steady paycheck at a somewhat stable job? Would I regret it? What if I completely forgot everything I learned over the past decade while working in corporate?

I talked with colleagues that I respect who are also mothers. They all had different experiences and journeys after having kids. Some left their jobs for good, some went back to work right away and some took some time off but then eventually made it back to working full-time. They all had incredible insight and advice and I found there were a few I kept hearing over and over again:

1. You need to do what’s best for you, your baby and your family.
2. You can always go back to corporate.
3. You will never regret it.

That encouragement, coupled with my husband’s support, was the push I needed to actually go through with my plan to quit.

I know not everyone is in the same place as me. Some new moms would love to stay home but can't because they are the providers for their family. Other moms love being at work and don't necessarily need to be at home. Every situation is valid - no decision is better than another. Ultimately, new moms should be able to make a decision based on what makes the most sense for their families. The flip side is that companies need to be better at supporting new moms, new parents, parents in general. This isn’t new, people have been saying this for years. I didn’t understand why until I became a parent myself.

New parents are amazing – somehow they learn to function on little sleep, master the ability to focus on only the urgent and important things and develop of level of creativity that only comes from reigning in a tiny human with a mind of its own. In so many ways, they can be and are assets to any organization they are in. And yet, there is such hesitation to give them longer parental leave, flexible work schedules and part-time opportunities. Even on-site amenities for new moms are often laughable, if they even exist. If companies took the time to look at what changes they could make to policies and structure so that new parents felt empowered and valued, they could retain many of their awesome employees instead of forcing them to decide whether they prioritize work or family more (and why can't it be both?) I could go on, but I’ll save my thoughts for another article :P

So, now I am a Chief Mama Officer. I left the company of some amazing, intelligent, caring and kick-ass women who work full-time and have joined the ranks of many other brilliant, creative, hard-working women who chose this same path. I don’t know exactly what the future will look like (though I have a lot of ideas), especially as I try to find a great part-time work option, but I do know that I am excited for it. Excited that I will get to watch my little guy start to walk and talk and learn about the world around him and excited to flex my creative muscles again. Maybe I’ll finally finish that novel I’ve been writing. Maybe I’ll finally find that sweet spot where law and social media collide.

Who knows! Maybe someday I’ll go back to the good ol’ 8-5 job with security, benefits, stock and a 401K. But for now, I am going to enjoy this time with my little one and regret nothing.

p.s. Huge shoutout to all the incredible people I've gotten to work with over the past few years who have been nothing but supportive during this process! My team at 3M - I'll miss you so much!