The news of Emily Weiss moving to the role of chairwoman of Glossier from her former position as CEO was riddled with gender biases in how it was covered by the media.
Even the more balanced coverage still highlighted that she is currently pregnant, as if it inevitably played a factor in her decision, even though Weiss’ official statement on the matter made no mention of family, pregnancy or children.
There certainly has been progress in recent years, but we cannot deny that we still harbor biases and assumptions about pregnant women in business. “How much time off will they take?” “Are they going to come back?” “Will they work as hard as they did before?” “Who’s going to watch their baby?”
I learned I was pregnant a few weeks after my health tech company raised a $14 million Series A in January 2021. And as someone who had previously experienced the trauma of a miscarriage, I had utterly thrown myself into my other baby — my company. The news of another pregnancy meant I needed to take care of myself and my company in a new way.
While the experience wildly varies and there is no ‘correct’ path to take, I want to share what worked for me while I was a pregnant founder and CEO. Kelsey Mellard
While the experience wildly varies from woman to woman, and there is no “correct” path to take, I want to share what worked for me while I was a pregnant founder and CEO. Women come up to me at conferences or catch me at events seeking specific and actionable advice, so I’m here to share what worked for me.
First and foremost, I decided to be honest with my investors and not delay the news or withhold any information. I hadn’t even told some of my family before I chose to tell my investors — I needed to share the news. Going into the call, I was incredibly nervous, so I decided to not begin with any small talk. My first words were: “I’m excited to share that George and I are having a baby.”
I am lucky enough to have chosen partners like Bryan Roberts and Dr. Bob Kocher from Venrock, Stephen Renfro at Optum Ventures, Hunter Walk at Homebrew and the team at First Round Capital, and they all were incredibly supportive. In the middle of the pandemic, when things looked so bleak, their faces lit up when they heard the news.
Investors are your business partners; they are people with whom you’ll have a relationship that’ll last several years, so it’s important to understand their stance on topics outside of work before you take a check. My investors had chosen to bet on me. So now, me having a baby was going to become part of our new game plan, and they understood that.
I began thinking of everything that needed to happen on an accelerated timeline. For instance, I decided that I wanted to get our new company photos taken before I started to “show.” This was a personal decision, and I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer, but in my case, I didn’t want anything to distract from the mission of the company and what we’re building.
I was morning sick the day of the photoshoot but made it work. I think this was the right call, because now these are photos we can still use today that reflect more than just a few months of my life.
I am a planner by nature and always have been, so having a baby was no exception. We have a standard checklist that we use for all time off, and this was my starting point:
Image Credits: Sitka
I knew I’d need to go a bit deeper to ensure I was set up for a smooth transition. There’s nothing like having a baby to put pressure on developing a specific timeline for execution and knowledge-sharing across an organization. I co-created a plan that covered how to contact me in the first four-to-six weeks after giving birth, then had a plan for six weeks and beyond.
I told my leadership team the news not too long after speaking with my investors, and as expected, they also reacted with enthusiasm and encouragement. We opted to tell the whole company a little later on in our All Hands.
Because our work was fully being done through Zoom, I was afforded extra flexibility and control in how I told people. I remember the days of working in offices where we’d instantly know when a teammate was pregnant. In today’s world, things are different and women have more say in when they share the news.
Image Credits: Sitka
My son was delivered in September, with some complications. As I recovered, I would do a couple weekly calls with Edwin Miller, our chief product officer, who was on point in my absence. He was great about filling me in on the things that I “needed to know” and reserving the rest for the team to handle.
Having someone you trust as your primary point of contact was crucial for me. It gave me confidence in our businesses’ continued success while I was away so that I could dedicate myself to spending time with my son. Again, there is no “right” amount of time to stay home. I relied heavily on the advice and guidance offered in the book, “The First 40 Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother” and recommend it to everyone I can.
After six weeks, I started working a couple hours every day. The holidays quickly followed, which also gave me extra time off for family. While this was not at all intentional, the timing worked in our favor. I started working full time at the beginning of the year and have experienced an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities that come with being a working mom.