With a professional life focused on driving better connectivity and meeting customer needs, how do you approach connecting with and meeting the needs of your life outside of work?
What I’ve come to see is that work and the rest of my life aren’t as separate as they look. I really do love what I do, and seeing companies and the people inside them succeed is something I feel personally. Connectivity, at its heart, is about making connections possible. I think about my family the same way. The relationships that matter don’t hold together on their own, so I keep showing up for them.
In my personal life, the older my kids get, the more deliberate I’ve had to become about the time we spend together. They’re 15 and 18 now, so they don’t need me and my partner the way they used to, and that’s exactly why I put time with them on the calendar the same way I would anything else that matters. If I don’t protect it, it slips.
Travel is how we do it best. Twice a year, we—all of us, together—try to get somewhere none of us has been. And for the last four years, my daughter has played on a competitive travel volleyball team, which has become some of my favorite time with her. Watching her compete and give everything she’s got while traveling with her to tournaments in new places has brought me more joy than I expected.
It mirrors what I do at work. As a COO, my job is to connect teams so a company runs as one, and I’ve found the same holds at home. Get the connections right, and everything else works better.
