Hi! I’m Rachael Brown. I live in Washington, DC with my husband and our two kids, ages 9 and 4. When we moved to DC almost 20 years ago, I was teaching high school and my husband (then boyfriend) worked in public radio. A couple of career changes for both of us later, we’re still here because we love this city and all its diversity. In our experience, people who live in DC care deeply about both big ideas and their local neighborhoods, and that’s the kind of place we want to raise our family.
I’ve worked as a writer and media editor, in public education policy, and leading communications and strategy for nonprofit organizations. Right now I am an independent consultant with clients across all of those sectors, which has been a great way to stay connected to the people and work that interests me while having more flexibility.
Setting timers for myself. As we all learn during the toddler years, transitions can be tough for little kids, so setting a timer can help ease those shifts. When I need an extra nudge to get started on a task I’ve been putting off, I’ll set a timer and say, I’m going to only work on this for X amount of time, and then I can take a break or do something else. Usually I find that once I get started, I keep going. I am also very good at bribing myself with ‘lil treats.
“Constant Improvement.” I used to be a magazine editor and I feel like I’m always editing, in a sense. I reflect on how I could have handled something better, or what I might try differently next time, or what went well. My kids have such different needs and communication styles that it’s hard to always strike the right balance.
Ooooh I really struggle with questions like this. Probably Juggler in Chief because I keep all of the balls in the air or Senior Oracle because my daughter is in SERIOUS QUESTION MODE.
Tell my kids to stop reading with a flashlight after bedtime.
Prior to becoming a parent I wouldn’t have described myself as a patient person, either at work or my personal life. I was eager for action and next steps and wanted to solve problems right away. All of that changed in the first years of my son’s life, when we were forced to live with constant uncertainty.
The smallest wins became significant, and the “normal” parenting hassles—a diaper blowout, a tantrum—didn’t really register next to things like brain surgery. Even though our son is now healthy, and has been for many years, that patience has endured. At work, that translated into becoming much more comfortable with ambiguity and an ability to not sweat the small stuff. That was actually incredibly useful when my work involved trying to create systemic change in public schools or manage large, geographically scattered teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on what was in our power to control, and saving our urgency and attention for the things that mattered made me a better leader and our teams more effective
I am a more empathetic person who is better at considering multiple perspectives than I was before becoming a parent. Some of this comes from just being older and having more life experience, but the physical and emotional impacts of pregnancy and parenthood, especially as the mother of a medically complex child with disabilities, completely altered the way I look at the world. Roles I’ve held since in education or healthcare, and work I’ve done on policies or communications, have all benefited because I can be more thoughtful about audiences and impacts for different populations.
One of the reasons I have embraced consulting at this phase of my career is to continue to grow my network and skillset, while having the flexibility to choose my projects and hours. When my children are older and have fewer physical needs and demands on my time, I’ll have a better sense of where I want to pursue a new full-time role, and who is doing exciting work that interests me.
This is less a workplace policy than an education policy, but I dearly wish that the hours of the school day better matched the work day. And if I could wave a magic wand and create a thoughtful year-round school calendar, including public daycare and high-quality PreK for everyone, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Even better, align workplace holidays with a year-round school calendar! Imagine a world in which most offices closed for a week around the winter holidays, and took another break in the summer. I strongly believe that the government, through public schools, can and should do more to support more working parents, and vice-versa for workplaces.
One thing I feel like expecting parents to hear a lot is, “as long as it’s healthy!” I would gently remind parents (or anyone saying that dumb phrase) that not all babies are born healthy, but all children are born needing someone to love and advocate for them.
When you become a parent, negotiating what your child needs, what you need, and what your career is asking from you, takes the same prioritization skills you always used – what’s most urgent, what’s non-negotiable, what’s a nice-to-have? The choices might not be what you expected, especially in the beginning. But you almost definitely already have the skills to make them.
