Our CEO, Gemma Lloyd, shares her recent worrying experience of having to tell our investors she was pregnant. A feeling many can resonate with their employers.
A few weeks ago and less than one year after raising $2m in capital for WORK180, I found myself in the personally exciting, but professionally uncomfortable position of having to share with our investors that I was pregnant.
Despite the fact WORK180 helps women easily identify employers that are supportive around paid parental leave, flexible working and breastfeeding facilities, I was terrified, particularly as we recently went global and launched WORK180 UK.
A million thoughts ran through my head around how I would be perceived- would they still see me as capable to run the business? I knew I was, but I also knew how much unconscious bias there is around a woman’s ability to balance career and family.
The good news is my worries were completely unfounded and I was overwhelmed by the words of congratulations and support by our investors. It also should have occurred to me earlier that they have supported WORK180 not just because of our traction to date and market potential, but also because they believe in our cause.
This experience has made me realize even more how important the work is that we’re doing and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a woman who has missed out on a job opportunity or a promotion (or worse, let go) because she is pregnant.
