Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Chief inte summit day one. I am thrilled to have you all join us uh in the discussion on this very important topic.Something that I personally get a great deal about which is a family first in the C suite and what it means to navigate the C suite as a working mother. And we have with us Rebecca Gasser. My name is Vasu NBA and I am a product manager. Uh I've been a product manager for a decade in big tech. I'm also a public speaker, a very passionate advocate for women in tech and a singer. Rebecca here serves as the Chief Information Officer at Omnicom Health Group where she brings over 20 years of experience, the health care industry, collaborating with business leaders to transform their information technology strategies and provide cost effective solutions that meet every objective and goal.

Prior to Omnicom Health Group, Rebecca was a VP of Information Technology at Ferrandino and so a facility services group. Wow, a graduate from Penn State University. Rebecca holds a dual master's degree in Business administration and Information Science. She also sits on the board of Directors of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Information Management where she chairs the marketing committee. Additionally, she volunteers as a career coach with scholar match, a nonprofit organization serving first generation college students as they navigate through their college career in her personal time. Um I don't know if you have any of those, but in her personal time, Rebecca focuses on health and enjoys traveling the world with her family and playing the role of dance mom for her two aspiring ballerinas. Her family is active in the juvenile diabetes research foundation community as they support their youngest daughter living with type one diabetes. Wow, welcome Rebecca. I am so thrilled to have this conversation with you. Um Let me just start off, you know, let me just kick off with, as you reflect on your journey, right? You've had a phenomenal journey of, you know, spanning multiple decades. Are there any principle you embraced to reach the C suite while raising a family?

Yes. And, and thank you for that introduction. I'm super excited to be here as well. This is an area that I'm so passionate about and um you know, as a woman in tech, we are some a lot of times the minority so had to navigate this on my own. Um you know, not having good mentors to, to grow my family while I was growing my career, the the two principles that I really leaned on the most with transparency and vulnerability. Um with those two principles. The right company was also incredibly important to me that, that they had the right cultural fit to support the needs that I had. As I was growing my career. I remember when I first um started to think about a family and um first, my, I have two Children and uh the first time I got pregnant, I could sense nervousness from my managers. I could tell that they, they wanted to know what my intentions were and, but they can't ask, you know, they uh they're very careful about what they say to you. And I really leaned on transparency and vulnerability to, to guide me on that.

Um I was, I was sensing their discomfort, um trying to figure out, am I coming back? Um Am I coming back full scale? What are, what am I looking for? And I was very open with them telling them that, you know, I'm excited to grow my family, but I'm also very passionate about my career and I have full intention of not letting off the brakes and, or putting on the brakes that is and, and really focusing on that balance that I had.

I was very upfront of, you know, my strategy of supporting my family of here's the daycare I'm doing and I will be back in 12 weeks and here's where I want to go next, but also balancing that with my partner, my husband, right? So it's not just the, the fit the the work part that you got to manage, but also your support system around you, whatever that may be. So I was also very transparent with my husband. As we were, we were growing our family, making sure he understood that I was still looking to progress my career and that he was a, a full partner in in the journey with me as a father. Um I hear people say, you know, my husband's watching the kids that that's never been said in my house, right? Uh The the kids are with my husband, right? But he was never a babysitter to them. He was always fully supported and, and it was always a negotiation. It still is between what our kids need, what our family needs and what our careers need and that constant communication with them.

That's wonderful. I think you bring up a very fair point of, you know, even, even though our families, you know, try to make sure that your equal parents, equal partners society sometimes seems to skew towards predominantly putting women as the caregivers and men as the breadwinners if you will. Right?

I think it's about time we change that narrative that women can be breadwinners and caregivers and can be breadwinners and caregivers or you know, any combination is OK, right? You just have to like embrace that. That is the new norm. So you have an interesting point about vulnerability, right? So with vulnerability comes trade offs. So as a juggling, a demanding career and a family. What kind of tradeoffs did you have to make, to do justice to both your

rules? Yeah. Um, I mean, I certainly made tradeoffs. There's times where I missed an event for my Children that I didn't want to because I needed to be at a meeting, you know, out of, out of the, out of town, out of the country and, and that was difficult. Um But I always, you always have to weigh out which one is more important in the moment. And, and hopefully, you, you have that balance that you're not always choosing your work over your family or your family over your work. You, you really gotta um again, be very, very collaborative with your family when you're going to miss things. I miss a lot of work events too. Um You know, when my kids have a dance recital and if there is a, a some kind of big meeting, I will miss the meeting. Um But with full transparency with my, with my team or with my leadership, I'm making sure they understand my schedule and they understand uh why again, it comes back to the company culture, I work for a company that is incredibly supportive um in, you know, family and work life balance and, and they get it right.

You know, it's, you don't wanna, you know, attend every baseball game that your kid may have and miss big meetings, you gotta make those, you know, but the big events, you, you do need to choose your family first sometimes. So um networking events, uh work trips, you know, I've had to take a pass on, but you also have to be really good at collaborating after the fact, right? So when I miss a, a business meeting that may have been important for me to, to go, but my family was more important at that moment. I will make a, make a point to catch up with the people who are in the room and understand what I missed in the context of it. I'll review the material. Um You can't be a victim to what you're missing. You really have to put the effort forward to stay in the know. Um So you can have that balance in your life.

That that's very well said, Rebecca, I think I can, I can definitely resonate a lot with what you said around cautiously weighing your trade offs and then trying to catch up on what you may have missed in the context, right? So, you know, it's often said, especially in the tech industry that yeah, it's so lonely at the top, it gets lonely at the top, right? I mean, it's 2022. We still say that. And as somebody who is at the top, as a, as a woman in the C suite, what role did your family and the larger women in tech community play in your growth when you reflect.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely talked a little bit about my husband already that um we were very collaborative. I was very pointed about my career and I, I'll say I've been lucky enough that he is, he has a very successful career, but he is not as driven as me. He's not looking to sit in a, a chief um seat. Uh So we've been able to balance our careers with each other. But, um, I touched on, you know, he, he was never a babysitter of our Children. He always had to be equally in the game as I was for our kids. I have two daughters. They very much want their mother over their father at times. But I made sure my husband always knew how to, to manage them, right, how to put a ponytail in, how to dress them, how to teach them to dress themselves and make their lunches. Uh We are incredibly interchangeable in our roles. Um You mentioned, uh in my bio, we talked a little bit about my daughter lives with type one diabetes and uh that's a new diagnosis when, um when she initially got diagnosed, it was very overwhelming for my father and as with my father, sorry, her father, as women, we tend to jump right to the rescue and take over and I did that right.

So I, I learned everything I could about diabetes and I learned how to give her shots and manage her levels. Um And I saw that he wasn't taken as an active role. Um And at that point, I started to question is, do I need to pull back now? Because I have this, you know, I, I literally just started my new role uh while this diagnosis was happening. But I pulled him along with me, I made him give shots to my daughter, even though he was uncomfortable, I made him understand how to support her. And so I think that's a key thing that women have to do is make sure they're not just taking over and uh running with it. They're taking their partner along to make sure that they can help support and, and be that interchanging person um in and then I can kind of swing over to the technical community. Um I sit, we have I Omnicom Health Group is part of a holding company and I sit on the leadership team um for Omnicom, the, the holding company, their it leadership team. I'm the only woman. Uh I tend to be in a room with 22 men. Uh Yes, and I have very different viewpoints and uh I look at things very differently than, than the men tend to do and I'll, I'll make different points and I think we can all appreciate if you've been in that role, it's exhausting, it's exhausting to think so differently and not have that diversity around you to support what you're saying.

Um And so I lean heavily on my women network to collaborate, to just vent at times um to share experiences and, and kind of keep, keep it, keep going, you know, as you face these challenges that honestly we shouldn't be facing in today's day and age. Yeah.

Well, that was I, I love, I love the transparency that you just shared. Rebecca. I think it shows the amount of grit that you have as a strong leader. A woman need a strong leader, right? I sometimes, you know, chuckle when media portraits, women ceo does, I'm like she's it's a CEO. Come on, we never say a CEO does this, right? So, so along the same lines, we have a question from, from our attendee. Uh The question is, you know, I wonder how was the reaction of your own parents and maybe parents in law on this journey? I think for many, it really starts from the core of hearing their own parents say we should put our family first as a woman and then your career.

Yeah. So I mean that's an interesting question. So my um uh it was also in my bio that I I volunteered for Scholar Match, which is a first generation college student um program for mentoring. I am a first generation college student. So one of my parents graduated from high school, the other, didn't, they really weren't my support system along this journey. They were incredibly supportive um, but I didn't really get my guidance from my family on, um, as, as role models if you will. My, um, my in-laws are more, I'll call it like a traditional American family where they had corporate jobs and they retired and, and, um, I know it took a little bit for them to get used to, uh, their daughter-in-law being kind of like the, I'll say head of household because I, my husband's not on this call.

Um uh but you know, they, they understood it and again, very, very transparent with them. So they understood what my goals were and, and I think they're really proud of their son for being the parent that he is and being the spouse that he is with me.

That's wonderful. That's really good. So we have a lot of questions coming in actually. So the next, there are two questions that are kind of relevant. So I'll just bundle them up. What advice do you have for women who are planning for pregnancy and career change at the same time? Because, you know, uh Jane says when the attendees says it may create some gap period on to go on maternity leave not long after starting a new job, which might not be really good for professional advancement at a company, right? So what are your thoughts about planning for pregnancy and a career change at the same time?

Yeah, I mean, this is where I'm gonna say transparency is not necessarily your friend. It shouldn't even be part of the conversation if you're, um, qualified for a new position and everything's right. And, and they want to hire you and it's great. You should go for it. You should absolutely go for it. You also have to recognize that having a new child is tough. Right. So, you have to reflect on yourself of that. The lawyer shouldn't have a say in that, but you have to reflect on your own. Can I balance the intensity of a new job while also balancing the intensity of a new child? And, and believe me, I walked into having a child, like completely confident. This is gonna be a kick in the walk, take a walk in the park, right? Like no problem and, and I was terrified week one. Like what, what is this thing that keeps throwing up and, and won't go to sleep? And it's a lot of work to have Children. Those who have Children probably know that balance that. But if you have the energy and you have the right support system, I don't think that should be part of the conversation and I don't think you should feel guilty about it. Men don't feel guilty about having a child and going out on parental leave and, and starting a new position. We shouldn't either.

And you bring up a very fair point. I'm yet to see any men posting a question on, you know, I'm I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be a new dad. Should I discuss this with my employer or not? I see women posting it every single day, every single women in tech group. I'm a part of at least two people be coming and asking the same question on. I think I might, you know, I'm planing for a family or I might be pregnant. Should I be talking about this to my employer? You know,

the law is on your side on that one, even though I was well employed. And um you know, I wasn't worried about my career or my position when I was getting pregnant. I did not tell my company, I think for the first child until I was like five or six months pregnant. Um You don't need to give six months of notice to them. You don't need to give much notice at all. Yeah,

that's, that's a good point. Rebecca related to that. We have a question. What advice can you give women around managing work stress while being pregnant?

Yeah, find that balance. I mean, work stress is hard and you gotta really focus on your own health. Um I, I personally I worked out through my entire pregnancy. That was like my outlet. You need to find the outlet that is gonna give you uh minimize some of that stress. Um You really wanna focus on making sure you're healthy so your child's healthy and you, you're enjoying that experience that you know, when you reflect back on being pregnant, it's an amazing time in your life and you don't wanna remember that as a, a stressful period.

Yeah. So couple more questions that you have, Steph asks. Um I'm interested in hearing a bit more about how you first plan for your kids in terms of timing. Step says her career at present is in a growth phase and she's about to complete her MB A in December. She's curious if there are certain times you aimed for in your career for pregnancy planning, right? So how did you tie and you said you have two kids? So how did you, both your kids and your

kids? I'm not, I'm not much of a planner. I mean, as soon as I decided, you know, I met my husband, we got married, uh probably about a year and a half after we met and, um, knew we wanted, we were in our thirties, we needed to get going. Um, so just to overshare there, um, I, you know, I couldn't wait to get pregnant. I didn't consider my work around that. Um, because I always wanted to, I was very vocal about, I'm moving my career forward. The idea that I was building my family was the thing that I was doing with my family and that I would need to take some time off from work for it. And I did take the 12 weeks, you know, the full FML a um that was advice that was given to me from one of my um male leaders. Actually, when I said, you know, I'm worried, I only wanna take, I think I only wanna take nine weeks because that's all I'll get paid for. I don't wanna take unti unplanned time off and unpaid time off. And he's like, this is, this is a very special moment.

You would spend that same amount of unpaid time on a vacation. Why wouldn't you spend it on your family? And that was like incredible advice for me to hear from him to really think about that cost benefit. Um As well as like pause and really enjoy that experience. Yeah.

Related to that. How did you manage childcare? Melanie? Asks, was it primarily your husband and you that took care of your kids or did you leverage a daycare or nanny or au pair or something else? Because they say it takes a village. So

yeah, um we did rely on daycare. Uh You know, my parents live a little bit further. My in law live about a couple of miles from us, but they, you know, they made it clear they were not interested in raising our Children. And I also, I'm, I'm one who really believes in daycare. I think that socialization is really great. The immunity uh via and I keep talking about the immunity build up because they're always sick when they first start daycare. Um uh you know, to me, that was a really good fit for us. We were able to drop the kids off in the morning. It was a set schedule. They learned a lot. They socialized if friends, you know, one of my oldest is 14, she has two friends that she still keeps in touch with from her daycare. Um So that's what we relied on and we plan that ahead. So if you are thinking about planning it, if you want the right daycare, you have to shop that very early. There are waiting lists.

Yes. Yes. Amen to the p nearly getting sick when your kids go to daycare. I was just telling Rebecca that two weeks ago, my son was sick. Now I'm sick and then you just keep looping a recursive loop whatever ends. So we're almost at time, but we still have a couple more questions. I just want to hit that very quickly. Um How do you manage? This is a good one, Vina Lakshmi ask, how do you manage to explain to your kids about your busy schedule when you miss some of their moments?

Yeah, I I'm very transparent with my kids. And what the biggest thing I can leave you with is if you miss the moment, make sure you follow up with them on that moment. Same thing is like when you miss work things and you follow up with your coworkers, uh If I miss something that my kids were doing that I, I had to miss a Halloween parade once. I made sure that night I came home and we talked about it and we looked at pictures and we shared that moment even though I wasn't able to be there. Um I still, I, you know, I'm very collaborative with them. So when I miss something, I make a point to talk about it with them after not just miss the moment,

the last question is Taylor asks, do you feel like taking the full time off on maternity leave? Set you back in your career in

not at all? 12 weeks goes very fast in the business world. It was like, I only missed a week. Oh, wow! Ok. Like do you think about, you know, in, in your career is like how much gets accomplished in 12 weeks? Sometimes, not a lot. Sometimes you come back to the same exact stuff happening, talking about. Yup.

That's, that's, you know, one of my mentors always says, you know, look, look, look at it from a grand scheme of things. But yeah, because I, I tend to focus a lot on, you know, in the time. OK, because when you start out be like, oh, I'm gone for three months. You know, the world might change so much. But when you step back zoom out and look, look at it from the grand scheme of things, right? It's not a big deal at all. So the last question did you or your husband ever consider working part time? Was it hard for you to, you know, consider part time or go back full time after maternity leave?

Um, no. Uh, I have never considered part time because I really love, I love to work and I love to be a parent. Um, my husband would love to go part time but he would love to do that so he can go to the gym and, and be a trophy dad or, or husband. Uh So it was a no for that. It wasn't all the right reasons. Um If down the road, if we find that we need to, especially with our, our daughter who has a little bit extra needs, he, he would probably go part time to, to support her and, and we'll make that work.

Hm. Ok. Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for such a, you know, transparent, vulnerable conversation. I think you really stood up to the entire conversation and even during our, the first time we met, I just found you to be so, you know, transparent, open, vulnerable. So thank you so much because for many of the women in our attendees and even for me personally, as somebody who's, you know, kind of in the mid career, I would say and want to get to the C suit someday. Think hearing from leaders such as yourself, you know, gives us a lot of hope and a much needed like Boos saying, of course, you can do both. It is not mutually exclusive. Being a mom and being a leader is not mutually exclusive. So thank you so much for spending your time with us in the chief and Tech summit to all the attendees. Thank you so much for an engaging conversation. I did put both Rebecca and my linkedin in the chat, so feel free to connect with us to continue the conversation once again, Rebecca. Thank you so much.

Thank you everyone. Bye bye bye.