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Mom and Business Leader - Not Mutually Exclusive

CEOMOM interview with Abby Curnow-Chavez

The latest issue of CEOMOM Magazine features one of our rockstar partners and we are so proud of her!! Here's an excerpt from their interview with Abby Curnow-Chavez.

Abby Curnow-Chavez believes that women will and should take the lead in creating work environments that embrace the full human experience. That shift starts with acknowledging the role of family, specifically parents, in the workplace.

You have compared motherhood to entrepreneurship and business stating that some of the job requirements and leadership traits are interchangeable. How does being a mother help to cultivate the leadership traits needed for entrepreneurship and corporate management?
The two big thoughts I have here are about intention and authenticity. In business we put a great deal of effort into defining success – what’s our plan, where we spend our time, and where we spend our money. I think the same principles apply in motherhood - it's important to get clear about what matters and then be intentional about how we want to spend our time so we can be the mothers we want to be. Often, we let work take over our lives and we lose our "intention" in the areas of self-care and who we want to be in our key life roles such as mother, partner, wife, daughter, sister and friend.

I believe strongly in embracing authenticity and human-ness at work, in the same way we do in motherhood. In the workplace today, we have so many dynamics that are integrated into what is going on in our home lives. We are mothers and fathers who want to be engaged and involved parents. We are caring for elderly parents like never before. We can’t and shouldn’t have to pretend these things aren’t important in our lives. In many organizations, it’s the women who are leading the way and modeling what the “human” work place looks like. We all know that many of today’s lingering workplace policies were historically built by powerful men during a different era, but what people want from work is different today – both men and women want change. They want fulfillment and success in every area of their life. Some organizations have figured it out. We see it in their exceptional business performance and in their ability to retain women at all levels. As female leaders, we have the unique opportunity to lead and model the human workplace. We can be great parents AND make a huge impact at work. We can achieve both. They are not mutually exclusive.

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