40: CEO Moms

Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin are back after taking a break to take an 8,153-mile car trip across the country! In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori and Jason interview Christian Nunes and Radhika Patil, two inspiring CEO moms.  

Christian Nunes, MBA, MS, LCSW, is the National President of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She has been the National President since August 2020. Before that, she was appointed Vice President by the board in May 2019. Christian is the second African American president in the organization’s history, the youngest person of color, and the youngest president of the organization in more than 40 years. Christian leads the organization through an intersectional lens and brings together a diverse affiliation of grassroots activists to work against structural sexism and racism. In addition, Christian is the founder of a behavioral health and consulting practice. Her mental health expertise assists her in understanding the constituents’ experience. It also helps her understand where policy and legislation are disconnected from the real experience of the people. Christian lives with her 2-year-old son, CJ, near Washington, D.C. Christian and CJ love taking short day trips to parks, outdoor festivals, zoos, and farms in the DMV area in their spare time.

Radhika Patil is the co-founder and CEO of Cradlewise and mom to a 7-year old and a 4-year-old. Cradlewise is a baby tech company based in Silicon Valley. Their first product is a smart crib for babies with an integrated contactless baby monitor that automatically starts rocking along with music to soothe the baby back to sleep, just like a parent, at the first signs of wakeup. Since building the crib for her babies, Radhika has been on a sleep fitness mission to help other parents. Radhika’s husband is the other co-founder of Cradlewise. In her spare time, Radhika loves to hike, garden, and read books with her kids. 

In today’s conversation, Christian and Radhika give open and candid accounts of their experiences as working parents who also happen to be CEOs of organizations. They talk about the workplace supports they enjoyed after becoming parents and those they would like to have had. They also discuss the career-related skills their parenthood experience helped them develop, recount parenthood-related micro-aggressions they have experienced, share their best advice for navigating life as a working parent, and much, much more! Stay tuned to hear the motivating and encouraging conversation with these two amazing working moms!

Show highlights:

• Having her child later in life has made Christian’s journey interesting, fun, and challenging. (4:33)
• There is more acceptance now than ever before for taking time off for kids. (7:10)
• It is sometimes hard for Radhika to separate her work from her personal life. (10:05)
• It can be challenging to find a healthy work-life balance while taking ownership of your life in the process. (14:02)
• Sometimes, you need to take some time to do things for yourself. (14:55)
• Christian’s infant son went with her when she had to travel for work. (16:24)
• Since becoming the president of her organization, Christian has added extra support for working parents. (17:19)
• Having daycare on site where she worked would have been a game-changer for Radhika after her baby was born. (23:31)
• Having a toddler has helped Christian understand people’s mood changes a lot better. (28:15)
• Coping with micro-aggressions and shaping the conversation around working parents. (32:01)
• Figuring out your goals as a CEO and as a parent. (36:44)
• Having a schedule is vital for working parents. (42:48)

Links and resources:

Carer.Com