Comments on: Pregnant and in PR? Planning advice from the pros

By: Kathy Sacks

Kathy Sacks — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:15:06 +0000

Cindy Kim, and all the ladies here–Great comments, thanks for sharing. Was glad to have shared the coolest experience ever with you Cindy. Happy we can be compadres on raising our exactly-the-same-age kids now.

Bring on the wine and martinis as we deal with the growing pains of adolesence sooner than either of us would ever like to imagine…

By: Quotes of the week ending 24 Oct, 2009 «

Quotes of the week ending 24 Oct, 2009 « — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:59:22 +0000

[...] Charlotte Shaff, CEO of The Media Push (who blogged about her pregnancy) interviewed by Linda Vandrevrede at VAlleyPRBlog.com, on ‘Pregancy and PR.’ [...]

By: Deb

Deb — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:15:48 +0000

Thanks so much to all of you for addressing this topic! I too am a work-at-home mom (which I still feel new at, even though my baby just turned a year), and it’s so easy to fall into the “nobody gets how hard this is” self-pity trap. Just knowing how many other great women are able to juggle it all is so encouraging. This was just the boost I needed as I look ahead to another late night of playing catch up… but I’m thankful for my reason for not getting all the way through today’s to-do list! It really is worth the trade off.

By: Suzan Pecyna

Suzan Pecyna — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:29:06 +0000

I worked until 2 days before I had my baby and then went back to work just a few weeks after he was born and it is the greatest regret of my life. He’s now almost 7 and I am only just regaining my sanity.
When we have baby number 2 I will take a leaf out of Kathy’s book and delegate, plan and be more realistic.
That mommy baby time is too precious to waste by looking at a Blackberry.
An excellent blog subject and great comments too – thanks guys!

By: Suzanne Tormollen

Suzanne Tormollen — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:38:15 +0000

I’m so happy to hear from other women trying to balance raising children and working. I work part-time from home as a PR consultant and it was very hard to say no after I had my son, and I probably could have done a better job at it! If we choose to have another child I will definitely take more time to enjoy those precious early moments and to transition more slowly back to the everyday schedule.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:06:45 +0000

I am in marketing, not PR, but much of this rings true for me. I would add this comment: Don’t expect to be the same person you were before you had a child. You *will* be different – in all sorts of wonderful ways that you can’t possibly imagine beforehand but there will also be some practical changes to manage professionally. For me, I found that the constant multi-tasking between work and home meant that I needed to be extra vigilant about double and triple-checking details. For those of us in the communications field, it is commonplace to rely on others to review, edit and proof our work. I found that I needed this “extra set of eyes” more than ever once I became a mom. It’s just really easy to miss details or write sloppily when you are trying to get something done before pausing to wipe up a spill or get down on the floor for playtime.

By: Cindy Kim

Cindy Kim — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:37:26 +0000

Linda,
Kudos to you for taking this topic on. You have covered a topic very near and dear to my heart and what a great way to highlight these women and provide unique perspectives on this topic. It’s quite an experience having gone through this myself. I’m still struggling with finding that balance but am getting better at it. No one hands you a guidebook on this – even books won’t give you the hard truth about how emotionally and physically challenging it can be for a woman who’s trying to maintain control over her career and family. I had the pleasure of sharing my pregnancy and post-pregnancy pains with Kathy Sacks (she delivered 10 days after I did). The kind of support you can find by surrounding yourself with women who are strong, career minded, smart, and go-getters is key. This way you can share your vulnerable moments as well as your future goals…because you begin to question everything you do and what you want to do in the future. I think Kathy put it best when she said embrace the fear, take your time (the office will run withouth you) but your baby’s journey has just begun, and plan. Get some time for yourself to regroup, think, and rejuvenate. Without your energy, passion, and zest, you can’t reach your full potential and can’t give your full potential to your newborn. I’m finding my center as we speak . Thanks again for writing this.

Cindy Kim
Twitter: http:twitter.com/CindyKimPR
Marketing Journalist Blog: http://cindykimblog.wordpress.com

By: Aly Saxe

Aly Saxe — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:59:59 +0000

Thanks for doing this Linda, it’s an important topic. I think I would just want to add a strong echo to Charlotte’s stance on learning to say no. It’s okay to walk away from the computer and put down the Blackberry in the evening. Really. I think that was the most terrifying change for me, but I’ve found that the roof stayed up and work still got done, well, without me responding to email at 10 pm.

By: Dana Arnold

Dana Arnold — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:53:58 +0000

Thanks so much for this great topic for working PR mommies who are trying to be effective at both aspects of their life. I love the comments from all those interviewed here. I agree on Kathy’s comment – supportive husbands rule (as does caffeine)!

By: Kathy Sacks

Kathy Sacks — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:39:52 +0000

Linda–I’d like to thank you for shining a light on this topic. It isn’t talked about as much as it should be. Forgot to mention a book I am reading right now called Getting to 50/50. http://www.gettingto5050.com/ For those professional women out there, having a supportive husband that enables you both to have fulfilling careers is key.