A founder and CEO talks about creating a “Base Camp,” the 3-legged race of parenting, and #MeToo’s impact on building safe workplaces.

“Inspire HR, the company I founded, was launched 11 years ago from a desk in our living room. Our one-year old twins were crawling around while I built the business, so I could manage a career while raising my children.

Recently Best 50 Women in Business by NJBIZ honored my work, which helped me think back to the unconventional career journey I’ve taken. Busy pursuing Inspire’s goals and milestones, it was unexpected that the awards committee saw something special in the way my ‘one-woman show’ grew to employ 28 part-time employees, allowing each to take care of their families’ needs.

As we waited for the program to begin, I was struck by the physical format of the room. Every honoree had an empty seat next to them, a seat for a critical support person, who had helped make these accomplishments possible.

For me it was my husband, Darren, who I asked to sit beside me. I loved the symbolism of a space for that person beside you.

Darren is a male ally because he helps create a ‘Base Camp’ feeling in our home where our 2 children feel a sense of family unity and routine, so Mama J (as I refer to myself) has a clear mind to pour energy into career.

Over our 15 years of marriage, and 13 years raising our kids, I realized parenting is one heck of a 3-legged race. That means I can dial up my work when Darren and I together co-manage the joyful chaos of raising our kids. Daily examples include: providing routine, being their sounding board, pulling together a nutritious gluten-free dinner, quizzing for math test, essentially being a suburban parent version of an Uber driver for Hebrew school and soccer practice.

A great example of Darren being my ally was in November 2017 with the era of #MeToo upon us, Inspire HR became incredibly busy. HR’s key role in creating safer workplaces became a clear priority for companies, and my email’s inbox was lighting up with requests from companies needing our expertise creating Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, and fast. Demand was through the roof.

*(See footnote for a metaphor on just how busy we were!)

I felt driven to not just help this onslaught of companies, but felt driven to take a stand and get involved in creating lasting change. I wanted to create a call to action for the HR community to lead the charge and change their cultures so women — and all marginalized groups — from boxstore to boardroom felt safer at work.

Meanwhile, back at Base Camp, things were the normal busy with 2 working parents and 2 seventh graders. But this was a special season of busy, as our twins were 5 months away from their B’nai Mitzvah. After 8 years of Hebrew school, their big day of April 14, 2018 was soon upon us. Darren and I had a long conversation about how to handle this unique moment for my career, and he encouraged me to go for it. He committed to help more to keep our Base Camp on track so I could dial up my career at this unique moment for my firm.

So Darren leaned in, and leaned in big time which allowed me to work longer days, and train leaders and HR teams to create more inclusive workplaces. Fast forward, Ben and Anna shined on April 14 leading a beautiful service and partying up a storm at their reception. The weekend was a love fest of multiple generations coming together to celebrate these 2 fine young adults. Darren and my 3-legged race got us to the finish line, once again.

The reality is that most female leaders I know are supported by a literal village: spouses, partners, babysitters, kind neighbors, supportive family, etc. — to help her create the space for playing multiple roles as partner, parent and professional. The more this village provides support, the more these female leaders can dial up their careers. Darren as my male ally has shown acceptance of my ambition and drive, and encouraged me to grow Inspire HR from the start. Not only does he lean in at Base Camp, but is willing to put his MBA to good use by reviewing financial statements.

(P.S. Darren earned his MBA at night while working full time during the day, while our kids were 0-3.5 years, but this was another course of this 3-legged race of ours!)”

– Jaime Klein, Founder, Inspire Human Resources
New York City, NY

Jaime Klein’s company, Inspire Human Resources, is a network of agile HR experts who help companies navigate the changing world of work.

* I joked that I felt like Birkenstocks, which was founded back in 1774. This is a shoe that has always been around, but their appeal was not as prevalent until fashionistas started wearing their Birks a few years back. Nowadays Zappos has a 2-week wait on certain styles of Berks, due to the high demand.  Well, in November Inspire felt like Birkenstocks!

View Jaime’s blog that inspired this post.