Working Mother April/May 2019

I didn’t want to turn 30. It felt sooooo old (feel free to hate on me). Even though I was married and owned a home (albeit a one-bedroom apartment in a not-hip part of Queens, NY), I felt like I hadn’t accomplished all that I’d wanted to. Maybe that’s because I had almost literally my whole adult life still ahead of me. Now that 40 looms, I’m feeling more comfortable with that number than I felt with 30. I’ve got two little boys, a house, that same, great husband (hey, Paul), and a job that gives me the flexibility I need and the satisfaction of helping people, which I crave. Similarly, Working Mother is turning 40, and it feels good. In an era when magazines with longer histories are shuttering…

Nowadays, our jobs and our kids keep us from even getting to the doctor! See our get-real guide on page 52 for creating a checkup schedule you’ll actually keep. Some things never change—like summer fun. Check out page 56 for thrilling themepark vacation packages. “While it is more acceptable in 2019 to bring home a man, there is still a societal expectation that single moms should focus solely on their children. Perhaps in the future, single moms will be seen as the rock stars they are—doing the job of both mom and dad—as well as the humans they are.” —Honorée Corder, author, The Successful Single Mom book series Now: Chuck E. Cheese’s began franchising in 1979 as busy moms started outsourcing birthday-party hosting. Enter the mouse (and bye-bye disco). Forty…

“I can be covered in spit up on a conference call while I’m pumping, and that’s OK because this is my perfect. It might not be somebody else’s, but this is mine.”— Kerry Washington, actress and mom of three Why do I always have to be the brain? Sometimes I want to be the heart…. No one likes the brain because the brain makes you do your homework and empty the dishwasher, while the heart gets to go out for ice cream and take in stray children.—Melissa Joan Hart, as Liz Thompson, on No Good Nick, premiering in April on Netflix “No one seems to appreciate how good I am at everything I do.”—Jessica Huang, from Fresh Off the Boat, played by Constance Wu A champion is defined not by…

“Eliminate inconvenient late-day chats with co-workers by scheduling time to check in on them earlier in the day.” Lydia Wickcliffe Fenet, senior vice president, international director of strategic partnerships at Christie’s and author of The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You (Touchstone; April 2019) “Joining a carpool can force you to stay on a strict schedule both before and after work.” Kristin Bytes, kinja.com blogger “Set alarms during your final hour of the day at 15-minute intervals, and then a final one a few minutes before quitting time. Even if you get pulled into something unexpected, the alarm will remind you to extricate yourself.” “Ditch your work landline toward the end of the day and strictly use your personal cell. That way you can stay on a call…

“Do I push myself to get a director role and possibly lose precious moments with my 11-year-old?”—Denise DeCesare, Ocean Township, NJ HER DILEMMA: “I got divorced in 2011 and moved back to New Jersey to have my family’s support. I took a job that was a step down because I was concerned about work-life balance and supporting a young child on my own. Now, I love my boss, job and company, but I find myself needing more money and wanting that director title I used to have. Getting those things could mean longer hours, five days a week on-site (I currently commute 90 minutes each way but work from home twice a week) and less time with my son. Do I try to supplement my income with a side job?…

Do women with supportive husbands, especially those who take on significant childcare responsibilities, have more career success? There isn’t any data on this yet, but there is anecdotal evidence that having dads more involved benefits moms. Organizations that are committed to advancing women’s careers, embodied by the NAFE Top 70 Companies for Executive Women, increasingly recognize that having support at home is critical to career success—73 percent offer backup emergency childcare, 74 percent offer gradual return-to-work-after-baby programs, and 100 percent offer fully paid maternity leave. More successful women today cite supportive dads, who put their partners’ careers first, as helping them reach professional goals. Three top executives—from NAFE companies Merck & Co., Marriott International and Ernst & Young LLP—and their spouses share their stories. Moving for Mom’s Career When attorney…