Bravo, Yahoo! Seriously, I applaud your company!
*standing ovations all around*
When I heard about Yahoo’s new CEO (Marissa Mayer) being six months pregnant, and only being 37-years-old, I just knew – this woman must be simply amazing.
Not only is she a girl, but she gets picked to be CEO with a maternity leave scheduled in her near future. Women everywhere can rejoice!
Maybe these vaginas don’t make us look so stupid after all, right?
Here are just some of her qualifications:
- 20th employee ever hired by Google
- Vice President of Local, Maps, and Location Services
- First female Engineer at Google
- Worked for Google for 13+ years
- Oversaw Zagat acquisition
- Sits on Walmart’s board
Yahoo and Mayer are being super cool about the soon-to-be maternity leave. Yahoo is moving the September board meeting to her, and Mayer is taking a shorter leave while working from home.
So you can imagine my shock, as I laid in bed sick yesterday, with a pile of used Kleenex surrounding me, watching Barbara Walters and Sherri Shepherd set working moms back about 20 years.
Know going into this, my mother doesn’t like that I’m about to rip into Barbara Walters since, in her opinion, “she’s a legend, and she’s kind of getting old so she probably doesn’t know what she’s saying anymore.” Okay, Mom, I’ll keep that in mind. Although, I doubt that’s the issue.
So here’s what happened on yesterday’s The View:
- The ladies discussed Suri Cruise’s choice in high heels (I cannot make this up, people).
- They then move on to Marissa Mayer, and Joy congratulates her on the new gig.
- Barbara expresses concerns about Marissa not properly bonding with her new baby without a proper maternity leave saying, “…THE FIRST FEW MONTHS… THAT’S WHEN YOU BOND… IT’S GOING TO BE VERY HARD FOR HER TO BOND.”
- Sherri Shepherd chimes in saying the short maternity leave just shows us, “… HOW MUCH TROUBLE YAHOO MAY BE IN BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THEY DON’T HAVE TIME FOR HER TO HAVE THIS BABY, YOU KNOW… COMPANIES NOWADAYS ARE IMPAIRED.”
My brain went something like this: ????$%&^#!!??????^&%$$@&&*))&%$!?????
And then, surprisingly, Elisabeth Hasselbeck chimes in and saved all of their hind ends. Elisabeth cheered Yahoo and said it was a step in the right direction for women everywhere. Elisabeth, I actually 100% agree with you on this one.
Watch it for yourself (video courtesy of abc.go.com and my iPhone – email subscribers click through to view):
I think most of us working moms can agree, we’ve all worked from home on those maternity leaves.
And I don’t really know a lot of women who have a “seat at the table” that stay out for a full twelve weeks. I sure didn’t.
As a matter of fact, we found out our Chevrolet franchise was one of the 800 General Motors franchises to be slated, all as I was pushing out my daughter.
Would you like to know how long my maternity lasted? 4 days. She was born on Thursday. I was working by Monday. Not full time by any means, but I was in meetings for a couple of hours here and there, logging in at home, and deciding which 84 people were about to lose their jobs.
Do I regret the super short leave? Nope. Not a bit.
I have the best nanny in the world for a reason. Is she raising my children? Sure, from 8:30am to 6pm, Monday – Friday. She’s become an honorary member of our family, and she’s a damn good mother. I already had complete trust in her before Lilah was born. Just like my company already had complete trust in me. By no means did they require my presence during my maternity leave. I insisted upon it. Jobs were at stake, and I knew these people better than anyone else in that room.
Little Lilah Paige Soleau had her very own “seat at the table”, a fancy Fisher Price swing, one you can plug an iPod into, was placed just for her… in the company conference room.
That’s the reality of powerful working mothers, Sherri and Barbara. We don’t have to be there. We want to be there. There’s no such things as work-life balance. It’s life-life balance. We make all aspects of our lives work together.
The market crisis didn’t stop for my maternity leave.
The Big Three didn’t stop for my maternity leave.
My company didn’t stop for my maternity leave.
And it doesn’t make me a bad mother for wanting to be there, wanting to keep doing a great job, for a great company. A company that I love.
With my second son, I went BACK to work one week later. Physically back to the office. When I was still in the hospital, the director came to visit and begged and bartered to get me back asap. She allowed me to pick my schedule so that I would have time for my sons ( my oldest was 23 months at the time his brother was born) .I never felt that I was MADE to come back. It was actually the best course for my family. It allowed for my ( now ex) husband to go to college fulltime ( as he was a pt student up to that point) so he could finish his degree. It made me feel empowered to be needed as a new mom and also as an intergal part of the Company.
My sons are now ( soon to be) 18 & 16 & 12 ( my youngest whom I was pregnant with while working for the same company, but did take the 6 wreks mat. Leave) and I still stand by my decision to return to work so quicjly. He and I bonded, dare I say, even more than with his brothers. He confides everything in me. They all think I am a strong and confident woman.
Great post. You hit the nail on the head with your statement that “we don’t have to be there, we want to be there” As women we’re supposed to want to be home with our kids and anything less than that is wrong. I’ve always said I’m a better mom because I work. Thanks for this post!
I’ve always enjoyed your writing but this post rocks. The womens rights movement is about women being able to CHOOSE. So some choose to stay home for 12 weeks, others 2 weeks, others 2 days, some decide to quit work…it’s our choice, Awesome Post!
My mother sacrificed her career as a nurse when she had my older brother. Decades later, she regrets abandoning that part of herself.
We need more companies that offer mothers alternatives. I wish more businesses would realize that there are benefits that they can provide their employees that do not involve more money. Companies profit when they find a way to provide an atmosphere that respects family and develop creative ways to optimize their employees’ talents.
In my first pregnancy, I unexpectedly became a single mother when I was 7 months along. My employer worked with me when my situation changed. I came into work a week after having my daughter and they allowed me a flexible schedule, as well as let me bring my daughter into the office during the first few months. I worked diligently and had a great loyalty to them. 3 years later when my second daughter was born, I was in a position where I could consider a longer maternity leave. I found after the first six weeks I was ready to go back. My career is a part of my identity. And yes, it does help me to be a better mother.
Thanks Meredith–Great post.
Aside from the “out of context” comments you made about The View I’m glad, as women we continue to talk about this subject. I took my daughter 21years ago this winter, to the office with me to work on a huge proposal when she was 6 weeks old. That was considered a REALLY short maternity leave at that time – and when technology didn’t allow me to participate remotely like we can today. I get M.M.’s desire to get back to work. The only unfortunate thing about this scenario is that these two incredible experiences (each in their own way) are happening for her at the exact same time in her life. The great thing for all women is that she can choose to do both of them. Neither will likely be to the intense focus she’d probably like them to be; and at her level there had better be a Sr. VP nearby who has to move their office because that space will now be a nursery! As long as M.M. is confident in her choice both her son and Yahoo will be served well. That’s where, as women we can be supportive, of HER CHOICE. That’s what equality is about in the end.
It was initially hard for us what with childcare cost etc, but I fully supported my wife’s decision to go back to work after her mat leave ended – I love to see how passionate she is about her work and, though it may surprise some, that passion can coexist with a passion for our child.
As usual, I love what you’ve written. Thanks for sharing “the View”! I am still trying to process that conversation. I agree with you about the seat at the table. Once you get it, you pretty much can’t let it go and expect it to be there when you get back.