Pointer to a funny video

Sometimes our jobs provide benefits beyond those we anticipate before we start them. In this short video clip (5 min) taken from her appearance on The Ellen Show earlier this week, Michelle Obama describes an unexpected benefit that President Obama appreciated during his second term in office. It's a story that most parents will appreciate now ... or eventually.

Related stories:

• Sisters First (book review)
• Cultural Experience

Pointer to a thought-provoking video

UPDATE Nov 9, 2018: According to National Geographic, video highlighted below, may not be as cute and natural as originally suggested.

You will probably appreciate this video (2:20 min) if ...

• You've ever felt like you were taking one step forward and two steps back and wondered if you should continue
• You've ever watched your child struggle and wondered if you should step in and take over
• You want to show a child, friend, or yourself how perseverance can pay off

Enjoy!

Pointer to a video news conference with Dr. Donna Strickland

On October 2, 2018 Dr. Donna Strickland was announced as a 2018 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. Dr. Strickland is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo who describes herself as a "laser jock". 

During an entertaining and inspiring news conference, Dr. Strickland described what it's like being the first Canadian woman to win the honour, and she also talks about being a working parent. She and her husband raised two children while pursuing their careers.

When asked (at the 10:50 min mark in the video) if she thinks that scientists have a responsibililty to the world, Dr. Strickland replied (in part), "We all should do what we find fun and what we can do." She went on to say that when her daughter was quite young her daughter was being asked by her friends about the fact that her mom went out to work instead of staying at home. Dr. Strickland told her daughter, "The world works best if we all do what we're good at."

Pointer to HP video and some statistics

How many parents work outside the home in the US? We asked ourselves this question after watching a new and enlightening video made by HP; they asked a group of people, "What does the 'All-American Family' look like?" Then they shared some information that we found surprising. It got us thinking, so we went digging for more data.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, within families that have children living at home (< 18 years old), these are the parents who worked outside the home in 2017:

• At least one parent: 90.2%
• Both parents (within families led by married couples): 61.9% 
• Fathers with children <18 years old: 92.8*
• Mothers with children <18 years old : 75.7%* 
• Married fathers with children <6 years old: not reported
• Married mothers with children <6 years old working full-time: 65.1%*
• Employed fathers who work full time: 95.7%
• Employed mothers who work full time: 77.2%

* Includes those working and looking for work 
​View the BLS report

Now you know even more about All-American Families; they are working hard. 

Pointer to an inspirational video about biomedical engineer Amanda Miranda

Working parents are often pleasantly surprised to learn that many things they learn on the job help them become better parents. And sometimes their experiences as parents help them become better employees, business owners, and caregivers.

Only some have experienced the deep pain associated with losing a child and even fewer hare able to channel some of the associated learnings from that experience in ways that benefit their companies and other parents. But Amanda Miranda has done just that as a biomedical engineer with Medtroics.
​
Read her story and watch the video about how she took advantage of a Medtronic program called Career 2.0 when she returned to work as a biomedical engineer after she and her husband lost their four-year-old son, Johnathan. 

Pointer to funny Jimmy Kimmel video

When our kids were little and our lives were especially frantic, we used to joke that our daughter managed many of the details required to keep the house humming. Of course that was a bit of a stretch, but she did seem to keep track of a surprising number of them.

Apparently Jimmy Kimmel had a similar experience recently while driving his 4-year-old, Jane, to pre-school. You can hear his story in this video.

Current events observation

Not long ago I engaged in an online conversation about the value of diversity in the workplace. Until then I thought that "everyone" believed that diversity was a good thing for businesses and organizations, even when it feels challenging, unsettling, and/or downright difficult. It turns out that I was wrong. The others involved in the conversation didn't see it that way, and they argued vehemently that all jobs should be filled by the "most qualified candidate" and that a desire to create a diverse team was misplaced. They didn't believe that diverse teams often produce stronger results than teams comprised of people with similar perspectives. 

Diversity is a loaded term, and truly diverse teams are impossible to create, but there is a lot of research claiming that more diverse teams, when they can figure out how to overcome differences and work together, usually produce stronger results than less diverse teams. 

This is one of the reasons we strongly encourage working parents to make contributions via careers. We think parents offer unique perspectives that provide strong, and sometimes unique, perspectives.

When thinking about the value of diversity, I can't help but examine the series of events that brought disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar to justice recently. Maybe you saw the powerful video featuring 141 of the 330+ young women who survived his abuse when they accepted the 2018 ESPYS Arthur Ashe Award for Courage recently. One is left wondering why it took so long to bring this man to justice; especially given that the first concern about him was raised way back in the 1990s.

Those who've followed the story closely know that the many concerns raised over the course of nearly 20 years were dismissed for various (and very troubling) reasons. But finally, in 2016 and 2017 justice was served, and his abuse was stopped thanks to a number of people who believed the young women who shared their stories. A long list of survivors and professionals produced a chain of events that revealed what had been hidden, dismissed, and ignored for so long. It's interesting to consider some of the critical people who believed the women and girls, ensured that justice was served, and then empowered the survivors to look beyond their own situations to help protect others by striving to drive meaningful reform:

• Indy Start reporters: TIm Evans, Mark Alesia and Marisa Kwiatkowski  
• Attorney and first survivor to go public: Rachael Denhollander
• MSU Police Detective: Lt. Andrea Munford
• State Assistant Attorney General (Prosecutor): Angela Povilaitis 
• Circuit Court Judge: Rosemarie Aquilina

This is an unlikely group given their professions. Did their relatively unique perspectives play important roles in this case? Would the abuse have continued had those on the list who are parents chosen to abandon their jobs after they had children? We'll never know for sure, but I'm very glad that so many of them found a way to balance parenthood with their careers. They've made the world a safer place.

Hoda Kotb and Kelly Clarkson create a song

Working Parents Hoda Kotb and Kelly Clarkson collaborate on a song and donate the proceeds to HelpUsAdopt.org. Watch the video overview.

Pointer to a video about MJ Hegar 

This story is about a political candidate in the US named MJ Hegar. We know almost nothing about her political positions, but think her campaign video is great because it highlights another contribution from another working parent. 

Prepare to be impressed. And surprised.

Pointer to Poppy Harlow / RBG video clip

The RBG movie (and the review we wrote) got us thinking even more about spouses and the important roles they play in our careers. In fact, it caused me to head to YouTube to learn more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her husband, Marty, who are portrayed as Working Parent trail blazers. 

The search led to a February 2018 interview with Ruth by CNN's Poppy Harlow. Their exchange, during the interview introductions, revealed another story about a supportive spouse; Poppy's husband, Sinisa Babcic. Watch the first minute and a half min of the video to hear the story. 

"Behind every great man there stands a woman" is a phrase I often heard growing up. It was stated as a compliment and recognized the value of a supportive spouse; always a wife back then. Many years later I find myself recognizing that there is a lot of truth in that statement; a great person or great people are often supporting people who achieve anything of value. Maybe some succeed against all odds and without any support, but the vast majority of us need somebody in our court; someone or someones who want to see us succeed, encourage us to strive for more, and are willing to make at least small sacrifices to help us achieve "great things". It's the reason we encourage people to establish relationships with mentors, coaches, managers and peers.

When one's spouse can act in a supporting role, one has an advantage. When a spouse can act in multiple supporting roles, one has an even bigger advantage. It's hard to find a story that makes this point more clearly than the RBG story, but many of us have stories to tell. We've collected quite a few of them hoping that they will inspire you. Enjoy!

More stories about supportive spouses:

• Couples that Work
• ​Great Husbands!
• That's Entertainment
• Now Showing: RBG​