APUNSC head coach] Erik Flora is up personalized coaching from Pete there too, imagine that you also get personalized coaching from Pete Carroll. It’s just an amazing opportunity.”
Yet for all of the skiing and brief-writing, Gavin will be quick to tell you that the most important thing he does is to play with his kids. “My wife Julie and I have two daughters,” he says. “Bridget is 3 ½, and Audrey turns one next month. [Gavin took off at least two months for the birth of each daughter.] Bridget calls me ‘Fun Papa,’ so I like to think I know where I stand with her.”
Gavin would also like to credit Bridget for bolstering his sense of balance. “Anyone can say it’s important to leave work behind,” he notes. “And the fact that I have a work landline, and no cell phone, doesn’t hurt – literally the only place I can be reached for work is at work.
phone, doesn’t hurt – literally the only place I can be reached for work is at work. But I think Bridget crystallizes this better than anyone else… if we’re at the dinner table and I’m explaining something legal and involved, because Julie asked about my day, Bridget won’t hesitate to suggest that we redirect the conversation. Specifically, she’ll say, ‘This boring. Don’t talk ’bout work. Talk ’bout ponies!’ It’s not exactly polite, but I’m proud of her for knowing what she wants, and sticking up for her interests. And it’s a great reminder to leave work at work.
“Seriously, though,” Gavin concludes, “work–life balance is always going to be tough, but I think I manage this as well as any young parent I know – and, full disclosure, having Julie available as a full-time parent is a huge part of the equation as well. There’s nothing special about my own priorities; I know that many other parents – or, more pointedly, even in 2016, often many other fathers – would also be glad to earn about half as much in exchange for working about half time, and spend the rest of that time with their family (okay, or skiing). Many people would make that choice if they could. If I get credit for anything, it’s for creating a job that lets me make that choice. And I really have to shift a lot of that credit back to The Boardroom, for enabling an environment in which I can make those choices. This is a great place to be a parenting, skiing, appellate attorney.”
"And the fact that I have a work landline, and no cell phone, doesn't hurt - literally the only place I can be reached for work, is at work"
Kentch girls, Bridget, 3 1/2 and Audrey, 11 months