MOMS IN THE C-SUITE
with increased awareness comes increased
reporting, for whatever reasons the occurrence of ASD in the USA continues to rise
among both children and adults.
After the divorce, says Moran-Goodrich,
“I put aside the whole aspect of having a
relationship for many years. My priority
was my children and my work. If I’d had
a husband it would have been easier sharing the responsibilities, but that was not
the case.” Instead, she had to make do as
a single mother of two children, one with
special needs, which placed demands on
her far beyond what most parents face. “It’s
not just about being a mother or a parent with a child, it’s also about the fact of
having a child with a disability,” she says.
With the demands of her job, MoranGoodrich knew she couldn’t handle it all
on her own. She managed by learning as
much as she could about her son’s disability
and by creating a strong support system
that included her best friend, her brother
and his wife who lived nearby, along with
the usual cadre of babysitters, therapists,
doctors, and teachers.
Additional help came from her daughter,
who became a kind of “second mom or
mini-me” to her younger brother—which
is why, many years later, when it came time
for her daughter to apply for college, she
and her mom agreed it would be best for
her to attend college far enough away so
she would not feel compelled to come
home and help, and begin to embark on
building a life of her own.
“I wanted to give her the opportunity
to be her own child. Having a child with
disabilities, you inadvertently focus on
them,” says Moran-Goodrich. “I tried to
make it work, and I hope I was there to
the level my daughter needed me to be.
I believe I was. We have a strong, good
relationship,” she says. Today her daughter, 24, has graduated college and lives in
Southern California.
However, it wasn’t easy for the independent-minded mother and executive
to assemble the support team she needed.
But she had to. “Many women who have a
drive for succeeding have a difficult time
asking for help. I know I’m guilty of it. You
have to do what is uncomfortable and ask
for help,” she says. “Looking back, I just
couldn’t make all those appointments for
my son.” Those included doctors, therapists, and after-school activities, including
dance for her daughter and football for her
son. “You learn to make it work.”
On a recent flight, Moran-Goodrich
“Many women
who have a drive
for succeeding
have a difficult time
asking for help.
You have to
do what is
uncomfortable and
ask for help.”
sat next to a woman who worked in the
building and construction field. They were
about the same age, and she also had been
a single mother for years. “We talked about
what we called ‘having a wife.’ I know it’s not
PC, but for us having a wife meant having
a nanny or a child care provider who is able
to be there for your child when you can’t
or when you’re on the road, helping them
with their homework, doing the laundry,
taking care of the house, putting food on
the table, and running the errands. Because
those are things that you’re not going to
be able to do. And you can’t try to fit them
in, because if you do, then you’re taking
time away from your family.
“It was really good to hear from another
woman in a totally different industry about
the challenges she goes through, or has
gone through, that were very similar to
my own. It was really interesting because
her son has sensory problems that create
issues in learning, similar to my son. So
we talked about that too.”
And it’s not just about women, she says.
“Men are falling into this role too. Now
both parents are working and there are
many single parents who have to juggle
work and family.” For parents in these
situations, she says, it’s essential to build a
supportive community and learn to communicate regularly with all involved—much
easier today than before smartphones and
video chats.
First mentor
Her mother, says Moran-Goodrich, played
a huge role in her development as a person
and in business. “She was the matriarch,
she took care of everything. She was my
first and original mentor. She taught me
that you can have a family and you can
have a career. My mother was my father’s
partner. She was co-founder with him. I
always have to remind him of that!” she
says with a laugh.
“She taught me a great deal about being there for family, but also about having some time for yourself. When I was
growing up and as a young adult, she took
me under her wing and taught me how to
manage money. She’s the one who helped
me learn how to take advantage of every
opportunity available to me. She was the
one who said, ‘If you have the opportunity
to learn, then take it.’”
The lessons began early. “When I was
a kid, she would do the books for my dad.
My dad was always starting new businesses,
and she was always the back end. I think
I was 12 years old and she wanted me to
help her. She’d give me about 100 time
cards and wanted me to total them up
and figure out peoples’ pay. I had no idea
what I was doing. And she’d say, ‘C’mon,
you can do it.’”
Becoming a mother, says MoranGoodrich, has helped her grow as a CEO.
“It gave me skills that I don’t know I would
have gained if I hadn’t become a parent. It
taught me, first of all, patience,” she says.
“Once I had children, it became easier for
me to see that I couldn’t have everything
the way I wanted. I had to see things from
their perspective. I had to learn to look
at things from different viewpoints. That
may not have been something I would
have done if I hadn’t had kids.” Parenting, she says, means learning to recognize
that you can’t have everything your way,
and to pick your battles and negotiate
on the rest.
Moving forward
Her son, she says, always knew that his actions were off, but he could never control
and stop them. “Our kids really struggle
with this, knowing it’s creating difficulties.”
Today, at 19, he’s told her that he would
like to visit different schools and speak to
kids who fall in his spectrum about the
things he’s learned over time.
“He feels it’s important to know that
they, too, can overcome disabilities,” says
Moran-Goodrich. “We’re in a much better place, every year we improve, and he
wants