The Startup Parent Podcast: Why & How the Show Started — Episode #001 with Mattan Griffel
In this first episode, I give you a bit of the behind-the-scenes about why we started the show. When I interviewed at a Y Combinator backed startup in 2014, I was transparent about my desire and plans to start a family. Eight months in I was promoted to VP. One month later, I realized I was pregnant. The CEO, a great friend of mine, supported the entire process. Yet it still wasn’t what I expected. And that launched the start of a deeper desire to tell new stories about what it really takes to grow businesses and babies—and what’s been missing from the conversation. This podcast is the start of a conversation about the overlap between entrepreneurship, pregnancy, and parenting. Listen in to why we got started.
What If I Am Not a Good Mother?
There were 10 of us. I came first and helped raise the rest. I did not want my mother’s life. I did not want to alternate between being pregnant and breastfeeding for twenty years, nor did I want the underlying lack of autonomy and choice that represented to me. Yet still, her legacy and example ran deep, and I was always sure that whatever edition of motherhood I might someday desire would come easily to me. I wasn’t prepared for what actually happened.
A Maternity Leave Expert on Creating Her Own Maternity Leave
Arianna Taboada is a maternity leave researcher and expert. She helps entrepreneurs build their own maternity leaves when neither work nor country provide support. In this interview, we talk about everything from grief to loneliness to overwhelm, and how to create your own framework to make it through the transition to motherhood.
The Benefits of Choosing to Work During Maternity Leave
What does it take to leave a career in venture capital to join a shipping startup—in between your first baby and second baby? Today we get to interview Renee DiResta, co-founder and Director of Marketing at Haven. Renee worked previously in Venture Capital, and before that, on Wall Street. To join a startup with two small kids required some specific negotiations.
Dealing With Morning Sickness and Dehydration
One of the hardest parts about pregnancy is dealing with all of the symptoms and side effects. One ways to deal is with hydration. But water isn’t enough. Here’s how I handled it and what worked for me.