Why moms make the best CEOs

Women’s brains
are wired for leadership
By Karen Braveheart

Me hanging out with Adi, our flagship product

It was a summer morning several years ago that chaos broke out minutes before an important work meeting.

My kids, Sophia was 11, Ryan was 9, and Justin was 6.

I was rushing to get out of the door with my munchkins and drop them at the camp bus across the street from our apartment.

I had an early morning meeting with a potential investor, and I loved the pretty dress and cute heels I put on. My business pitch was locked down.

We had 10 minutes to go, and things were running smoothly. Or, so I thought.

In the blink of an eye, total chaos broke out with my kids. I was like- wtf just happened!?!?!

Justin was in the kitchen and just finished putting cream cheese on his bagel that he made for lunch, and it dropped on the floor.

He went into complete meltdown mode frustrated that the cream cheese side was touching the floor. Justin turned into the Hulk!

Apparently, he got distracted by the lego piece on the floor that he wanted to pick up on the way to get the bagel into his lunchbox and now neither one was where he wanted them.

Ryan, my 9 year old son, suddenly told me that he couldn't find his camp shirt. He was going on a field trip and for safety reasons, he needed to wear matching shirts because it’s easier to keep track of the group.

When I looked up, I realized that his sister Sophia was wearing her camp shirt and Ryan was now saying that it was his!

A full blown fight started between Sophia and Ryan in like 3 seconds. The winds shift quickly with kids and I was in the eye of a storm. Wow!

I thought to myself- wtf just happened!?!?! There’s no way I’m going to be late for this meeting.

The munchkins at summer camp pick up

With only 5 min left to get out the door, I didn’t have time to make Justin a new bagel. So, I said how about we take off the cream cheese part that touched the floor and put on new cream cheese.

Justin was OK with this plan- until he discovered a small speck of dirt on the cream cheese that he couldn’t get out.

I looked at the bagel and didn't see anything. Uhmmmm Justin- there’s no dirt here. My response sent him back into frustration mode.

He wanted his bagel to be just the way he wanted. Justin has a strong sense of self and determination and knew exactly what he wanted.

I felt my stress level rising.

I thought to myself- I have 2 choices

• I could simply throw the bagel into his lunchbox with him crying and upset and solve my own emotional upset quickly
• - OR -
• Honor his feelings of frustration that he didn’t want whatever black spec he was seeing on his bagel and still get out the door on time

I chose number 2- to honor Justin’s individuality with compassion.

I bent down, looked into his eyes and said- mom really needs your help Justin. I have a meeting that’s important to me and we have to leave for camp fast-like turbo speed.

He understood what turbo speed was from playing with his cars.

What do you want to do? I want to make your bagel the way you want it, but I need your help to tell me. It’s totally ok to feel upset, but I can hear your words.

He saw the honesty in my eyes and his body softened.

What can we do to solve this problem together? You have 15 seconds to decide. I put the choice in his hands and set a timer (making it fun!) on my iPhone.

Just as I finished setting the timer, I asked Ryan if he could get another T-shirt from his camp counselor, but he said no. Apparently, it was important to him to wear his camp T-shirt and be responsible and prepared.

I get it and wanted to honor that in him too. I had to think quickly on my feet.

I turned to my kids and told them to freeze. We had 2 minutes to get out the door now to catch the camp bus, and I needed their help to solve the problems at hand quickly.

I couldn’t do this alone.

My munchkins ❤️❤️❤️ All kids are Prodigi Kids!

They each needed to come up with a plan B.

As the team lead, I told them our goal was getting out the door fast AND meeting their needs.

If they couldn’t come up with their own solution in the next minute (timer again), then I was going to make a decision, and they had to stick to my plan.

I explained how important it was to mommy to get to her work meeting on time, and they needed to honor that.

There’s something about setting a timer for kids that makes them feel empowered to make their own choices.

Setting a timer is fun!

They looked at me and sprang into action- Sophia offered Ryan her T-shirt. She grabbed another shirt. Thank you Sophia for your generosity!

Ryan helped his younger bro get a new bagel ready with cream cheese, and I smeared it on.

Justin was happy because we honored what was important to him.

And, I was able to gather my stuff, get the kids rallied, checked to make sure everything was in order at home- like lights off, and we were out the door on time!

I turned a stressful situation into a loving moment with my kids by making it fun and empowering them to make choices to meet our 4 goals

• Justin’s lunch the way he wants it
• Ryan’s field trip t-shirt
• Sophia’s happy with her outfit choice
• Me getting out the door on time

Our goals were really about self love- what was important to each of us and honoring that in ourselves and others.

Being in alignment with love is experiencing unconditional love in action through giving and receiving.

5 ways choice #2 builds self worth in Justin’s brain

Self worth choice- Honor his feelings of frustration that he didn’t want whatever black spec he was seeing on his bagel and still get out the door on time.

• It shows him that his feelings and thoughts about his bagel matter
• His desire to not settle is important
• His feelings matter and will not be dismissed
• His determination will be rewarded
• He can feel confident in knowing that his choices are his and that when he goes after what he wants, he’ll achieve it (ie, how to achieve your dreams!)

Problem solving and teamwork at its best!

Justin’s preschool graduation

I’m a single parent and rely on my kids to work with me as a team. I can’t do it all by myself. Nor do I want to.

I raise my munchkins to be independent.

It’s important to me to honor my child’s individuality and what’s important to them.

It sends a message to their brain that what they care about is valued.

This core belief is then stored in Justin’s permanent belief bank- his subconscious mind.

It’s very important to me that my kids honor what matters to me.

I’m modeling for them my own self worth and teaching them about empathy.

Time management

Goal setting

Quick, decisive decision making

Managing people effectively

Managing difficult situations

Communicating in a respectful, compassionate manner

Engaging your kids with your mission aka goal setting

Motivate others with common goal

Problem solving all day long

Pivoting quickly when needed

There’s always a plan B

Optimistic attitude- everything is fixable

Reliability and consistency-I always parent with self worth in mind

Creating an emotionally safe environment for all to thrive

Strong social skills- ability listen empathically

Great communication skills

High EQ

Networking- for work and my kids- friends, family, school, activities, sports, etc…

Resilience and perseverance-

Patience

Always moving the needles forward in all goals nonstop

Team building

Friendship and camaraderie

Meeting deadlines

Empowering your team

Delegating and delegating some more

Empowering team to be massive problem solvers and not rely on you

Hiring (raising) “can do” employees

Devoted to our household mission of a loving peaceful home where we support ourselves and each other

Be a great listener. Then listen some more.

Trust them to get the job done (age appropriate)

No one plays victim

No one plays the blame game

Then, the team building skills come into play. My kids helped out each other for the common team goal of being on time for the bus and for my appointment.

They used their own unique problem solving skills to do this. This shows them I trust their decision making which tells them to trust themselves.

I use these same skills at work here at Prodigi Kids.

I’ve experienced those magical moments with my munchkins where you just wanna pinch their cute cheeks and never stop.

Then, there are THOSE moments where you just want to run out the front door as you ask yourself is this what I signed up for?

Just like being a mom, a startup is incredibly challenging.

It has tested me to my limits, brought me to my knees sobbing uncontrollably multiple times over, and I’ve grown beyond what I ever thought I was capable of. Like the time an investor offered me $350,000 in exchange for 51% of my business and I turned him down.

It later took me over a year to raise this amount and bring the Adi plate to market. The wait was worth it to find mission-aligned investors. I’m grateful to all of them.

It’s those challenging situations where you’re tested to your max both as a parent and entrepreneur.

Being a mom and being a CEO have taught me so much about myself and allowed me to expand into more of my potential in ways I never thought imaginable.

This is why I know moms make the best CEOS in the world!

Me and my pose of infinite possibilities

Backed by neuroscience- 64,000 brain scans agree.

Dr. Daniel Amen published a study, Women Have More Active Brains Than Men | Journal of Alzheimer's Disease looking at 46,000 brains scans of male brains vs. female brains. The female brain was so much busier than male brains and generally healthier because they have more estrogen.

In his Instagram reel, he said that women’s prefrontal cortex was way more active and explains why females make good leaders because their executive brain, their frontal lobes are often better and more developed with forethought, decision making, collaboration, and empathy- all key traits of great leaders.

The brain scans were conducted by Dr. Daniel Amen, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association who has written more than 30 books, twelve have been New York Times bestsellers. He is board certified by the American Board Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with a subspecialty in child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Amen is also the CEO and medical director of Amen Clinics where they do SPECT Imaging. SPECT imaging is a clinically valuable tool for looking at brain function to help target treatment.

He uses SPECT or single-photo emission computed tomography scans of brain activity in an attempt to compare the activity of a person’s brain to a known healthy model. They have the world’s largest database of functional brain scans for neuropsychiatry and has many celebrity clients.

Note: There are some who think that SPECT is of no value for diagnosing psychological disorders.

I came across something interesting on IG about women’s brains from Gary Brecka, a biologist and co-founder of 10X Health System based in Miami, FL.

In his reel, he said women have more brain cells than men, especially in the cerebral cortex or gray matter of their brain which gives us an increased capacity to process information.

The cerebral cortex is the root of all mental functioning including higher level processes such as consciousness, thought, emotion, reasoning, language, and memory.

The gray part of our brain directs all the cells in our body, and it’s where our authenticity and frequency come from.

Brecka mentions that women have more power to affect the universe around them than men do. This shows up in how we can multitask well because we’re given the physiological ability to multitask.

Women have the ability to harness the power of their brain which controls 32 trillion cells and direct them to change the frequency in our body!

That’s incredible.

There’s no greater honor or more challenging task or more important than raising the next generation for a more peaceful and happier planet.

Moms are a force of nature raising their kids 24/7.

If we have the power to harness over 32 trillion brain cells, then we can certainly run businesses and make a positive impact on our planet.