Mom Spotlight - Jill Earthy

 

1)      Provide an overview of your company and your job, how many hours you work.

I currently wear two hats in my professional life, one as the Executive Director of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) and the other as Co-Founder of momcafé.  FWE is a non-profit organization of over 400 members with a mission to mentor and educate female entrepreneurs through four primary programs; e-series program, Roundtable events, a Student Internship program and a Mentor Program.  I have currently committed to 25 hours/week with FWE, however, like any "part-time" role, the number of hours I spent each week is closer to 35-40.  My role as Executive Director is newly created and I hope to help guide the organization through a strategic growth phase.  I love my role supporting female entrepreneurs.  I am inspired everyday!  During my recent maternity leave with my second daughter, I found that many women, like myself, were struggling to figure out what the next steps along the career path were.  These women had invested 10-15 years into developing a successful career and then decided to have children.  They are now torn with finding a balance between maintaining a stimulating and fulfilling career with spending time with family. There are so many choices available these days.  Some women decide to stay at home, some decide to leave their jobs for entrepreneurial endeavours, some return to the corporate world on either a full or part-time basis.  I wanted to create an environment in which these women could all come together to discuss the choices and the challenges, and to share ideas and resources to help make whatever they choose work for them.  The result is momcafé, a series of events connecting inspired Moms.  We feature two Moms at each event and provide a supportive environment for a group discussion.  Our first event on September 21st sold-out with over 55 amazing women present.  The energy in the room was incredible.  Our next event on November 2nd will also sell out with 70 women present.  Women want to help each other through the sharing of ideas and talking about issues and challenges.  Working together is a powerful thing.  As a Director and Co-Founder of momcafé, I am currently spending 15-20 hours/week on this project.  However, as its success continues to grow, I anticipate having to spend more time.  The challenge for me is how to maintain two part-time jobs that I love but that make up a full job and a half in hours, while still spending as much time as I can with my two young daughters.  

2)      Provide an overview of your home life, how  many children you have, childcare arrangement, if married your husbands career and how you share the responsibilities at home.

I have two daughters, one and three years old.  I currently spend three days a week downtown working for FWE and have a nanny who comes to our home on those three days.  My older daughter also attends preschool three mornings a week.  We are fortunate in that my husband has a very flexible job.  He likes to go into the office early (he leaves the house by 5:00am!!) but is then home by 4:00pm to relieve our nanny.  This means that I am on my own in the morning, making getting ready for work a challenge, but it also allows me to work later and not have to rush home.  The days that I am downtown, my husband will prepare dinner.  I usually buy the food and plan the meals but he will assemble the meals which is a huge help!  The two other days of the week that I am at home, I juggle working on momcafé with spending time with my daughters.     

3)      Are there certain organizations or individuals who have been the greatest influence and support in terms of assisting with your career and business decisions.

I have been fortunate to have a strong group of supportive friends, family and business colleagues.  Certainly the women that I work with in both FWE & momcafé have a huge influence in providing me with the inspiration to do what I love.  My Mom is also a role model for me as she has always managed the balance between working and always being there for her 3 kids.  Her generation was the leading edge.  I just think that she did not ever sleep!  I think it is so great that there are now several organizations providing additional support, resources or even just a place for women to come together to talk about the issues of the day. 

4) Of your female friends with children how many of them continue to work now that they have children. Are they entrepreneurs, work full-time, part-time, job share?

I would estimate that of the women I know with children, 5% have decided to stay home f-t, 40% are entrepreneurs, 15% returned to the corporate world f-t and the other 40% are working p-t.

4)      Can you offer any advice for achieving a balance between your family life and your career.

I wish I had the answer.  Some words of advice that I have received include, knowing when to "turn off" from work.  This is incredibly important.   I find that with all the roles I juggle, I am never able to give 100% to anything.  I am working on some strategies that will enable me to do this better and I recommend to others to allocate certain times for certain tasks.  I have also heard many people say that "you need a wife" to achieve a successful balance.  My husband is great but the majority of the tasks involved with running a busy household, do default to me.  It seems to be a maternal thing.  I certainly take a lot of responsibility for this default role as it is in my personality to be in control of things.  The other words of advice are to prioritize and to assign tasks that you do not enjoy or are not good it, to others.  My husband likes to say that we have different expectations.  He is very supportive but feels that only about 75% of what I think need to be done, really needs to be done.  Think of all the additional time you would have if you prioritized and let the little things go!!

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