Originally posted on Adweek on February 13, 2023.
Every day, working moms balance the needs of their families at home and their teams at work with compassion and grace, while also finding the time to honor their authentic selves. This is no easy feat. Each year, She Runs It honors mothers who skillfully navigate the complex responsibilities of business, leadership, advocacy and kids. Clearly, there is a lot to learn from this inspiring group of women. Read on and help celebrate them by attending the in-person awards ceremony on March 1 at 11:30 a.m. ET
Holly Wasson
Chief Community & Marketing Officer,
We Are Rosie
Wasson develops successful strategic, multi-platform marketing and communication campaigns for a wide breadth of consumer and b-to-b brands.
How motherhood helped her succeed at work: Motherhood gives you perspective. Work incidents that seemed like life or death before kids simply became bumps in the road. I also learned to be more productive in a shorter period. I wanted to stay extremely focused during my work hours so that I could leave the office to spend quality time with my family. Basically, I learned to work smarter, not harder.
Support network: My network of mom friends in the neighborhood has always been absolutely amazing. We’ve co-parented our kids, kept an eye on them as they roamed the neighborhood on bikes, shared study skill information and hugged each other as we sent our babies off to college.
How work helped her succeed as a parent: As a manager, I’ve always worked to empower my teammates to embrace their areas of expertise and passion, to have the confidence to make mistakes, to problem solve on their own before asking for help, and to establish and communicate their points of view. The goal is to teach them to spread their wings and grow their careers—even if that means leaving your team. Raising kids through their teen years and getting them off to college is very similar. You have to have the guts to allow them to make mistakes and learn from them while encouraging them to keep trying. And while it’s bittersweet when they leave the nest to head off on their own, you are so proud of them.