Leaning In Together: Our Story
“Pretty funny Hunter, you looking for a girlfriend?” That was the common reaction from my Stanford classmates when I asked to join the Women In Management (WIM) club while studying for my MBA. Ha ha, no. WIM had the stated purpose of creating community among women and raising gender-based issues for discussion. My interest wasn’t inserting myself into places that needed to be safe for women to talk amongst themselves, but rather play a role in the programming that was intended to appeal to both male and female students. Like the “Dual Career Couples” roundtable which showcased partners at various phases of their life together, managing the stresses of two professional lives. That flyer had Superman and Wonder Woman debating whose turn it was to watch their kid. I was pretty proud of that flyer.
Fast forward 15 years and I’m happily married to a third-wave feminist who works at Twitter while I hustle to get Homebrew, my early stage venture fund, off the ground. Oh yeah, and we have a three year old. We’re that event flyer, just without capes, invisible jets and superpowers. We try for 50/50 parenting but it’s not always that easy when our daughter demands for Mommy to put her to bed instead of Daddy. Or Daddy indulges his tendency to sometimes disappear from the house early weekend mornings to read a little of the Sunday New York Times.
My wife continuing to work after we had our daughter wasn’t just important to us materially (although I am on her health care plan), but also in role modeling. When Mom works late, Daddy makes sure to be home. Not to ‘babysit’ but to be a father. Mom comes from a line of fierce strong women who made themselves known in whatever domain they worked. My daughter sees that her Mom walks the talk and that’s what Leaning In means to us.
Let’s #LeanInTogether for equality. Visit leanintogether.org to learn more.
More posts on this topic:
- Why I Failed to Advocate for Women: Confessions of an Ignorant Man by Adam Grant
- White men: Four things you can do to advance diversity by Robert E. Moritz
- We Are All Responsible for Countering Damaging Gender Biases by Mohamed El-Erian
- Valentine (Why There Would be No Quiet Revolution Without My Husband) by Susan Cain
- What I Wish I Could Tell My Old-Equity-Analyst-Self by Sallie Krawcheck
- Men For Equality In The Workplace by Richard Branson
- The Important Topic of Women in Business: What Men Can Do by Josh Bersin
- Why I Can't Lean In Without My Husband by Claire Diaz-Ortiz
- Business Lessons My Wife Has Taught Me by A.J. Jacobs
- 5 Lessons to Make a Partnership Work by John Donahoe
- I Love My Lean In Man, and You Should, Too by Rachel Schall Thomas
- A surprising solution to sexism? PINEAPPLES! by Nancy Lublin
- A Few Words of Gratitude for HuffPost's Co-founder, Kenny Lerer by Arianna Huffington
- #LeanInTogether: 6 Tips for Men at Work by Lean In
- #LeanInTogether: 8 Tips for Managers by Lean In
- #LeanInTogether: 6 Tips for Men at Home by Lean In
Product Marketing Leader | Go-to-Market Strategist | AdTech | SaaS | Revenue Growth | Strategic Positioning Expert | TikTok | ex-Meta | ex-PubMatic
9yThanks for sharing your story, as a father of a brilliant daughter who loves the sciences and a second "little" one which we intend to nurture her curiosity, it's great to see people speaking out about gender inequality in STEM.
Developing the Top 1% of World-Changing Leaders | Coaching Psychologist | Science-Backed Strategies
9yFinding the balance to ensure both can enjoy successful careers is very tough... it seems you are coping well with it Hunter, well done! Obviously there are more tough times ahead but I guess you could say the hard-work may be done in that you have both possibly instilled in your three year-olds mind that you both have other priorities
Greater Victoria, BC. Digital Contributor, Sales, Marketing
9yIn more ways than one we need more of the “Dual Career Couples” roundtable that showcases partners at various phases of their life together, managing the stresses of two professional lives. Raising a family shouldn't be on the back-burner and a cause for argument or conflict when it comes to either gender.
Statistician, Big Data, Little Data, No Data
9yMy wife knows she can do whatever she wants, and I will support her as best I can. Since she is the most important person in my life, I don't know how much more leaning I should do!.