We are entering yet a new era of work across corporate America. Lissy Hu, CEO and Founder of CarePort, powered by WellSky, joins ChedHER to discuss what this new era means for working mothers, and how to avoid 'mom guilt' at work.

chedHER

How to Avoid 'Mom Guilt' in the Workplace

joining us now, Lissy hu Ceo and founder of Care Report Lissy welcome to the show. What can women expect in this new era of employment? What does this mean for all those working mothers out there? Well, good morning. It's great to be on the show with you this morning and that's such a great question because we are entering this new era and uh you know, I think there are many things that are positive for women. The pandemic certainly has made us all shift towards More hybrid work environments, the 9-5 40 hours a week. Uh one size fits all model of work I think is is less common than it used to be and you know, that's not in every industry. We and my company, we serve a lot of healthcare clients who frontline working moms don't have that same flexibility, but I think on balance across the board, their new models and they're more diverse models and more flexible models and I think what I'm hopeful for is is that with a lot more flexibility, women will be able to find a workplace that meets their needs and their families need. What has your personal experience been like Lissie raising a child while leading a company? What have been some of the highs and of course I want to ask you about some of your lows as well, you know, to be honest, um when, when I became pregnant right before the pandemic actually um and and and and had a baby, I I really didn't know what to expect. I think for me, I had always seen myself as a ceo, as an entrepreneur and what many ceos and entrepreneurs will tell you is that their, their company is their first baby and uh and I hadn't been one of, hadn't grown up, always thinking that I'd be a mom and so I think in many ways I wasn't sure what to expect mother who was a bit of a mystery to me. Uh now I have a two year old and I actually can't see on the camera, but I actually am 37 weeks pregnant and I have another baby coming shortly and I would say that motherhood has been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life and the extent to which I've taken to motherhood has surprised me and probably surprised um many of the folks that knew me sort of pre baby um that being said I'm still me, you know, I still love being at work, I still love being a Ceo, I still love being an entrepreneur, I'm still very passionate about what I do day to day on at work and so the high for me has been, you know, just taking a step back has been to be able to be both, to be able to be a mother and a Ceo and uh, and to live in a time in a country and work at a company that allows me to vote be both, that's been incredibly fulfilling, So many women out there, A lot of my friends certainly suffer from what they call mom guilt. How do you define that Lissie, how can women resist these guilty feelings? Oh gosh, that is such a great question. I don't know a single mom that has not experienced mom guilt to some extent. You know that pole that inevitable pole between your commitments at work and your commitment to your family. And I don't know if there's a way to completely resist mom Jill. I think there's always going to be a little bit there and this might be a bit controversial to say, but but but I think practically speaking, the the only way to really try to minimize and resist it is to recognize that you can't do it all that, that you can't have it all, that it really takes a village for for me that has meant having a nanny who I who I trust and who my kid loves, so that any time I have to take a business trip, I don't feel guilty because I know my kid is in good hands. It has meant finding a workplace that is truly supportive of women that goes a long way towards alleviating uh, mom guilt. I think that where it gets really hard is for a lot of the women who don't, who aren't in that situation, who don't have the resources and that's why I think it's really important that you and I are having this conversation today because it's all about how can we enable more women to make those choices and and and see progress that we need to see in the workplace? What kind of impact can child related stress have on relationships with teammates and clients? It's it's it's a real issue in the workplace, I think never before have we seen child related stress, you know, as much as during the last two years, even as we're talking right now, I have a two year old downstairs and any minute he could probably storm in and join our interview. So, um so I think, you know, one of the things that we've been encouraging our our company has been encouraging our teams and our our managers to do now more than ever as we enter into this new sort of endemic phase is to have open dialogue with your team members in terms of what child related stresses that they may have and really try to get ahead of it and be proactive before it. It gets, you know, to a point where it's impacting not just the employee but the teammates and and then the clients and like I said, it's it's always been important, but I think never is it hasn't been more important than now as we're transitioning from pandemic to endemic let's see as you know, we are celebrating women's history month, all month long here on cheddar. How do you define empowerment? I think about um empowerment as in terms of choice really enabling women to have um choice in terms of where they work, how they work um to be in a company that supports them as as as I as I've been supported at Well Sky, which is what the airports now a part of. And you know, I think about my two year old son and and and and the and another boy that I have on the way and I think about all the progress that has been made since, you know, I was a two year old since you were a two year old and I'm really excited for the future. I think that there's a lot more progress to come and um and you know, we hopefully in the future we'll see women across the board have the ability to choose how they work, where they work in a way that allows them to be moms and to be um executives and and and businesswoman. Do you have another on the way? I do. Yeah, 2.5. Oh my God, congratulations. Thank you so much for making time for us, Lissi who's Ceo and founder of Care Report. We really appreciate your time. Let's see