Phaedon's CEO, Kris Tremaine, delineates how she uses her experience as a working mom to create a supportive environment that helps employees feel successful both at work and at home.
Tell us a bit about your role. How does your experience as a parent inform your work?
My experience as a working mom has greatly influenced how I choose to lead our agency. Having navigated parenthood before widespread remote work was made possible by advances in technology, I understand the struggle to find balance. The exhaustion and lack of personal time can impact our colleagues who are navigating parenthood while also trying to grow their careers. This shared experience has made me more empathetic and understanding particularly towards women who often shoulder more of the caretaking.
I am passionate about supporting parents, particularly other moms, to help them feel successful both at work and at home. I’ve been where they are – a mom trying to juggle work and home, a single parent, and a stepmom as well, so I can truly relate to the struggles they face. I find great joy in mentoring young moms, just listening or sharing some of the tips and tricks I have learned along the way that might help make things a little easier for them.
My goal is to create an environment at Phaedon where everyone feels valued and supported in both their professional and personal lives.
In what ways does your agency support flexible work arrangements to accommodate the diverse needs of working parents?
As a working mom, I know the guilt that can be associated with missing kids’ events or not being home with them when they are sick. At Phaedon, we embrace flexibility to better support working parents and minimize feelings of being torn between work and home. For those close to an office, we offer a hybrid work environment, allowing employees to work remotely three days a week and come into the office two. This helps colleagues attend to parenting needs or events with their children while staying plugged in at the office.
As an agency, we prioritize open dialogue to understand the needs of parents and plan for events that may require time away from work, or more flexibility at times. Open lines of communication ensure needs are met on both sides.
Additionally, we have a very generous maternity and paternity policy to further support our employees as they navigate parenthood. We believe that these measures contribute to a positive and inclusive work environment where our employees can thrive, both personally and professionally.
Advertising plays a vital role in influencing public perception. How are agencies and brands adapting ad comms to inclusivity around parenting?
I see brands and agencies both recognizing that traditional depictions of parents and families in advertising are outdated and don't resonate with today’s audiences. As an industry, we are making a lot of progress in efforts to portray more realistic and inclusive views of parenting that better reflect diverse family structures, roles, and experiences—though there remains work to be done.
There is a growing desire to connect with consumers by reflecting their lived experiences. This comes to life with brands and agencies moving away from idealized and stereotypical representations of the past and embracing a greater focus on more underrepresented parent groups like single parents, LGBTQ+ parents, adoptive and foster parents, and parents of diverse cultural backgrounds. Portraying parenting in more authentic and relatable ways in advertising helps brands and consumers connect on a deeper, more emotional level.