BUMPS AHEAD
FOR YOUNG CEOs, BALANCING A GROWING BUSINESS AND A GROWING FAMILY IS A NEW KIND OF CHALLENGE.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made headlines in 2015 when she announced s he was pregnant with twins and planned to take only two weeks of maternity leave, and would work during those weeks. She was criticized for not taking the 16 weeks leave the company offered to other mothers, but as she said in a Tumblr post announcing her pregnancy, in her mind it was a crucial time for the business and she needed to be present.
While not every woman has to deal with public scrutiny around their family planning, for entrepreneurs especially there are lots of tough decisions around how to balance business and baby: how much time to take off, who will manage things while you’re gone, how engaged to stay with the business while you’re away and, most importantly, how to ensure the company keeps growing in your absence.
Alyssa Furtado is facing these questions, as she prepares to have her first child a mere month after her financial comparison platform RateHub received an offer for $ 1 million in funding from Joe Mimran and Jim Treliving on Dragons’ Den, which she has since declined.
Furtado, who s t arted RateHub at the age of 25, said she always knew she wanted a family, but since the early days of a business consumed her time, energy, resources and emotions, she’s glad i t’s happening seven years later when her team is 55 people strong.
She will take time off in the first few months but plans to check in with the team, and to j ump in as needed. “I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to be very flexible with my plans so I can focus both on my family and my company,” she said.
“Many new parents tell me it’s impossible to know how you’re going to feel at first, so it’s been really important to me to have a plan that is fluid and ever- evolving, and communicate with my team so we’re all prepared.”
For RateHub, the process is easier because there’s an existing team in place who can take over the day-to-day operations. That includes Furtado’s co- founder and business partner James Laird, and senior staff such as chief marketing officer Kerri- Lynn McAllister, who has been with the company for six years.
Lauren Haw is starting a family at a much earlier stage in her company’s life cycle, which presents a diff erent set of challenges. Haw launched a successful College Pro painting franchise while studying at Queen’s University. Since then she’s built several businesses, and was an early investor at RateHub. Last year she bought real estate listings platform Zoocasa from Rogers, and it re- launched in October with a new website and more than $ 1 million in funding.
Haw also is expecting her first child in December, and she said that if her due date was one year earlier, it would have been extremely difficult to get Zoocasa to where it is today. “We just unveiled the new site and announced this funding, but that is really the result of the hard work that was completed over the last year and a half,” Haw said.
Her due date has been a strong motivator to get all the pieces in place to make Zoocasa run smoothly, including training new employees. However, because her business is so young she can’t take a full year off, and she also can’t disconnect completely, so she’s looking at a flexible model similar to Furtado’s at RateHub.
“Every parent has some hard decisions to make when he or she starts a family while balancing running their own business,” she said. “I am leading a growing company and have many people who depend on me, from our employees, users and clients to our investors. I can’t reasonably take a full year of parental leave, but it is important to me to have a plan in place that allows me to take time off to focus on my new family, and keep updated on the progress of the business and make decisions when needed.”
As for her support network, Haw said it’ s the first baby on both her and her husband’s sides of the family, so she’ll have grandparents and other family members available to help. Several of her friends are also expecting, so that peer network will also help with support, she said.
When i t comes to role models for Canadian entrepreneurs trying to build a business and a family, other entrepreneurs tend to be the best place to look. For example, Julie Cole, a mom of six who founded Mabel’s Labels with three fellow moms and sold it for $ 12 million in January, writes about t he challenges of building a business with six children on sites including YummyMummyClub, offering advice for both moms and “mompreneurs.”
Haw and Furtado both said they’ve turned to fellow entrepreneurs for advice on how to balance business and baby, and Haw said her investors are entrepreneurs who have families and they’ve been especially helpful.
“They’ve been so open with how they’ve structured their lives to do both. Early on, one of my advisers said ‘ this is going to make you a better CEO. You’ ll delegate and be far more efficient. This is going to be one of the best things for your business,’ ” Haw said. “It’s okay to think of a new baby as a positive change to your work life. I hope other young entrepreneurs out there feel as inspired by that sentiment as I am.”
MANY NEW PARENTS TELL ME IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW HOW YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL AT FIRST, SO IT’S BEEN REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME TO HAVE A PLAN THAT IS FLUID AND EVER-EVOLVING, AND COMMUNICATE WITH MY TEAM SO WE’RE ALL PREPARED. — ALYSSA FURTADO