053: The Parenting Playbook with Anna Mackenzie

Parent Driven Development

Parent Driven Development

Episode 053: The Parenting Playbook with Anna Mackenzie

Sponsor: Nurture Life

Welcome, Anna Mackenzie

Anna Mackenzie is a Software Engineer who is dedicated to improving parental leave policies in tech. She is currently working at Voiceflow, a software startup that specializes in workflow tools for building voice experiences. She is the co-author of “The Expecting Playbook,” a toolkit that helps start-ups of all sizes to roll out supportive parental leave policies. Her follow-up book, titled “The Parental Playbook,” provides start-ups with the necessary tools to support parents upon their return to work. In 2018, Anna was named as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada, as well as one of the Top 30 Women In Tech Making a Difference by the DMZ.

02:40 How did you come up with the idea? Why write these books?

• Being a minority in the industry
• Starting to ask difficult questions to companies she was interviewing for
• No startup policy that lead to leadership roles for women
• Companies need a better hiring practices for women

05:50 Asking about parental leave during interviews

• Maternity AND paternity leave
• Are companies set up to have employees transition easily in and out of leave?

08:40 Changing perspective in the workplace

• The work place was designed for a world that no longer exists
• The necessary reason to be LOUD about things you believe in

13:35 Good policies get great people

• Employer thinking about childcare > parents thinking about childcare
• Diversity includes parents

17:10 How are companies adjusting to parents during COVID19

• Moms are typically affected more
• How can we restructure what work looks like - long overdue!

18:40 How to be inclusive of parents when they come back from leave

• Changing activities other than happy hour
• Adding a lock to the pumping room
• The importance of having diverse leadership and voices

20:45 Psychological safety

• What’s OK for parents to mention to their team?
• Will the team think less because a parent is sleep deprived
• Employees do better work

26:15 Genius / fail moments

• KWu gets her son to help with the dishes one utensil at a time to keep him from making a mess in the living room. #genius
• Allison creates an obstacle course to keep her kids occupied, which includes a captain’s hat! #genius
• Arit stays consistent potty training her daughter and finally gets onto the other side of potty training! #HUGEwin
• Anna’s dog gets sprayed by a skunk at a friend's house, cleans him off and then goes home, to only get skunked again in her backyard!! #fail

How can I support the podcast?

Please follow us @parentdrivendev on Twitter or email us at [e-mail].

Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com.

Support us via Patreon and get access to our our Slack Community!

Panel

Allison McMillan
Arit Amana
KWu

Special Guest: Anna Mackenzie.

Sponsored By:

• Nurture Life: Parents everywhere are going through so much stress and uncertainty right now. It’s hard to find sources of relief nowadays. This is why we are Parent Driven Development love Nurture Life. Nurture Life provides nutritious, ready-to-eat meals for babies starting at 10 months old, toddlers, kids, and teens, delivered fresh right to your door. Meals are designed to meet the nutrient and portion needs for each age group, and are developed by Nurture Life’s registered dietitians and chefs. Meals are focused on organic produce, antibiotic- and hormone-free proteins and whole grains, and offer a FULL serving of veggies in every meal. Nurture Life has recently launched new and exciting meals, such as the Chicken, sweet potato, & waffle finger food for babies and the Butter Chicken with Peas, Rice, & Mini Naan for toddlers, kids, & Teens. In addition to these new offerings, there will also be additional meals that will be available on the menu for a limited time period to continue to provide innovative, flavorful and unique meals options for families. Nurture Life easy subscription model allows you to sign up for weekly deliveries, skip weeks, or pause your subscription whenever you want. You can build your own box to select the right mix of meals for your family by age group, dietary restrictions, and allergies. Get the best meals for your kids and family delivered right to your door—available for every zip code across the contiguous United States. Get 30% off your first TWO Nurture Life orders with code PARENTDRIVEN30. Visit nurturelife.com to redeem and find a moment of relief when it comes to meal time. Promo Code: PARENTDRIVEN30