How it started
Be the change you want to see – I used to find that phrase both empowering and empty, so I am guessing you are wondering what this has to do with my children’s book. I needed to see a change in the workplace. I wanted to see competent and capable women being promoted, and have it be based on their merit rather than to fulfill a quota. I wanted women to be paid properly for the job they were doing. I wanted to empower women to stay in the workforce, knowing that they can have a rewarding career and raise a family. I wanted equality for people of all genders, races, religions, and sexual preferences. Unfortunately, I had no clue how to bring about change.
I have worked very hard to make it to the top 10% of our North American entity – and one would think change comes easy when you are that close to the top, but I can assure you it is not. There is always a mental hurdle you have to overcome, especially as a female working in a male-dominated environment. I have helped manage multi-million dollar projects and have led a team of anywhere from two to twenty people – That was before I went on maternity leave. When I returned, I was promoted twice within six months. Despite those accomplishments, I still struggle to write the words, “I am a boss and I am here to make change”. But the words hold true: My name is Brittany Cycholl and I am a wife, a mother, and a boss – and I am going to bring about change. Today, is my first step in trying to overcome that mental hurdle.
Turning frustration into passion
It took years of me telling myself that I want to help women in the workplace for me to find something that I believed in and was passionate enough to pursue. It took an unbelievably supportive husband and my first born baby for me to generate an idea. It took numerous late night discussions for us to determine what was best for our family, and that was for my husband to stay at home to raise our child. It took creativity. It took many scrunched noses, baffled looks, and inappropriate responses from people regarding our lifestyle choices for me to realize that we need to do a better job of educating. I am a working mom, a boss, and I have a stay-at-home husband who fully supports me.
I turned my frustration into passion and found a fun way to educate the world about the difficulties of being a stay-at-home parent and that a stay-at-home dad is a real job. I believe the best way to curb this judgement is to educate, so I decided to write a children’s book. A Stay-at-Home Dad? is the first-ever children’s book about a stay-at-home dad. This is a fun way to show kids that it shouldn’t matter who stays at home with them – whether they go to daycare or a family member watches them during the day, all that matters is they are safe and loved. I hope to teach people that being a working mom and pursuing a career doesn’t make you a bad mom, and being a stay-at-home dad isn’t an emasculating role.
More than just a book
My Instagram page @pregnanttopromoted and blog will supplement my overall mission of keeping women in the workforce by talking about my struggles and successes within the business world. I hope to show women that their careers aren’t over just because they had a baby. I will talk about the struggles that I, a working mom boss, have endured. My goal is to prove that they can expect, fight, hope, and dream for more. I hope to convey the message that, if they work hard and are passionate, they can move up the corporate ladder even after returning from maternity leave. I want women to recognize that we are in this together, that there is room for more than one female at the top.
I will use part of the profits from my book to give back to working moms – No matter if you choose to go back to work or have to because that’s what makes most financial sense for your family, it is always tough to leave your littles with someone else. Please, please, please keep a lookout for giveaways on our book’s Instagram business page @frecklefacedgus.
I am going to encourage women to stay in the workforce.
I will strive to empower the women I work with.
Most importantly, I will give back.