In the last three years, I’ve been pregnant three times and had two babies, while managing my business.
At the first pregnancy, I was so excited. We’re going to have a baby!
I went to the first scan, where they told me: “It’s probably not going to grow more”. I had an investor meeting planned just after. It was my first ever pregnancy. I was so happy. And then, so, so, sad.
I was shivering. It was a huge emotional counter-shock. I was wearing sunglasses to hide my red eyes. And I felt like shit, lost my self-confidence. My body failed me. Failed my baby.
Investor meeting: Should I reschedule? No, let’s go.
A few weeks earlier, I felt like I had super powers. I started fundraising. I had so much confidence. The early days of pregnancy gave me so much energy. I was pitching like a highly performant machine.
Because let’s be clear: pitching is selling. Selling works when we exude confidence and shine. They’re like “I want what she’s having”.
It didn’t go well.
Three months later, I was pregnant again. Felt the same superpowers. Started fundraising. Machine. And then, I was hit by morning sickness.
Ever been hungover? Imagine that, but you didn’t even have a fun night before.
Still, I had started the fundraise. So I thought, ‘Ok, let’s do this.’
‘What will they think? Should I tell them? They can’t see it yet. Is it a lie, if I don’t volunteer to tell them? They already think I’m less smart than a man.’
I also wasn’t sure if I should tell my team. As a solo female founder, will they think I abandon them? That I “failed” them by getting pregnant?
The day I told my team, I cried. I had so many thoughts at the same time in my head. It feels weird; feels awkward and intimate. Feels not like “what a boss says”. I wanted to have a blueprint: where’s the formula for the pregnant founder?
So: let’s say it. Yes, it’s weird. Yes, there’s unconscious bias. Yes, they think we’re incapable. But also: wow.
Some investors love what we do. So much support from some. And the team: stepping up.
There’s an incredible void of information around “The Pregnant Founder”. Can she do it? Yes. (Not working while pregnant is only even a question more socially privileged women can ask.) Does she want to do it? Yes. I love my business. Becoming a parent made me even more eager to make it work. At all costs. Lioness mode.
I fundraised and closed by the birth of my first child. I repeated that when I was pregnant with my second child, as we had a new fundraising cycle.
What I did: I considered if and when I wanted to share the news. No one is “owed” that news. For my subsequent pregnancies, I told my team when I was two months pregnant, and told my investors when I was four months pregnant.
Who will steer the ship?
With no blueprint, I tried to think of it like a pitch: what are all the reasons they’d be afraid? And let’s address those points, one by one.
- Who will be in charge?
- What will happen if there’s an emergency?
- When will you go “away”?
- For how long will you be “away”?
Being a startup CEO is like being the captain of a boat in a big, wide ocean. Sometimes it’s smooth. But mostly it’s choppy, if not very stormy. And pregnancy is the same. Very, very uncertain.
I like to think of it as an ultra-running trail race: it’s hard. Very hard. But beautiful. The power I felt while going on stage, eight-months pregnant… I can tell you: it’s incredible.
My key to raising: feeling confident. And no, it didn’t come naturally. I had to pump myself up. Like before a rugby match. Have my coach hype me up.
‘Who will be in charge?’ Each time I had a senior person become interim CEO. We had an extensive document for all scenarios. We prepared a strong roadmap with big deliverables — and it was incredible to come back and see the big releases that happened without me.
‘What will happen if there’s an emergency?’ My partner was my “point of contact”.
And there were emergencies, each time:
- An investor signed but didn’t transfer funds. I had to call them four days postpartum.
- We had a stressful case of bad leaver, and I worked on it the whole weekend with lawyers, five days postpartum.
‘When will you go “away”?’ There’s a five-week window in which the baby is “full term”. And birth can be short. Or long. Very long: my first labour was four-days long.
‘For how long will you be “away”?’ I chose six weeks of parental leave. I followed the principles of The Golden Month, focusing on recovery and bonding with the baby. To do so, I had an army of support:
- Night nurse to train the baby to sleep
- Postpartum nutritional doula
- Therapist. (Oh wow, this is a new life stage. Who am I?)
- Nanny/cleaner/cook
At five weeks, I felt really curious about what was happening in the business. At six weeks I was so ready to be back. Working from home, I could breastfeed on demand (and yes, also on Zoom calls).
Did I wish I had longer? Yes. Why did I not take longer? I didn’t feel like I could. I also had no financial support from the governments: in the UK where I originally was based, nor Portugal where I moved.
Are pregnant founders a liability? To avoid at all costs? There would be no economy without us. As in: none at all. We create humans. We create the economy. Trust the pregnant founder. She needs that business to be a success.
We prepared, really well — and still, unexpected events happened.
Having a baby while running a business is not perfect. But yes, we can do it. Yes, you can absolutely do it.
#Running #business #pregnant