When Stephanie Carter started her business 14 years ago, she was the mother of two boys — a 3-year-old and a newborn. Her business partner, Lenya Shore, was also a new mom.
She was happy to hear that Marissa Mayer, the new chief executive of Yahoo, is six months pregnant and expecting her first child in October.
“I think it is fantastic for companies to be open-minded that someone can be competent and be a CEO because being pregnant is not a disease or a disability,” Carter said.
Not everyone has been so supportive. After Mayer told a reporter that she planned to take a few weeks off and work during that time, social networks lit up. The debate over work and family balance, and whether high-level professional women can “have it all,” intensified.
Several accomplished Colorado women interviewed by The Denver Post said they were emboldened by the news, but that they also see challenges ahead for Mayer.
Donna Evans, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, said Mayer’s new position is important because the company chose the most qualified candidate regardless of her gender and condition.
“I think any time a woman is appointed to a high-level position it is good for all women because that woman becomes a role model,” Evans said.
Mayer comes from Google, where she was the first female engineer and rose to the executive level. Her new position makes her the 20th woman at the helm of a Fortune 500 company.
Despite an increase in women in the workforce, opinions about working moms are mixed.
According to the Pew Research Center, nearly three quarters of Americans say the growing number of working women is a change for the better. However, only 21 percent believe it’s positive for society that more mothers of young children are entering the workforce .
Kelly Brough, president and chief executive of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, said working moms are nothing new.
“My grandmother had nine kids and ran a farm, but nobody saw her as a working woman,” she said.
Having raised a child while working, Brough said it is still a challenge.
“It’s a matter of how you juggle the things you want to juggle in your life,” she said. “That’s not to say it’s not hard or exhausting or that there aren’t surprises along the way.”
Carter, 46, whose company — Wallaroo Hat Co. — brings $4 million in sales per year, remembers taking her own mother to trade shows to help out with her son.
“Every time we needed to nurse, we would come outside, we would nurse and then go back in,” she said.
Having supportive husbands and family helped balance their time, Carter said.
Joanna Murray, president of Women’sVision Foundation and a single mom of a 6 year old, said companies will have to recognize the value of a diverse leadership.
“If you’re going to make this shift and this change possible, you’re going to need companies to be thoughtfully engaged.”
Michelle Zayed: 303-954-1720, mzayed@denverpost.com or
Denver Post staff writer John Mossman contributed to this story.
