Hot Take: Jenny Nguyen talks maternity leave advice for the entrepreneur
Jenny Nguyen is the vice president of the Asian District Cultural Association, an association with more than 40 businesses in one of Oklahoma City's most prominent districts. She also helps run her family's storefront Lee's Sandwiches and is preparing to open her restaurant Bún Box later this spring.
After hearing Jenny give an incredible talk on the TEDx stage this summer with her newborn daughter in the audience, I couldn't help but wonder if she had any advice for other women managing work as they introduce new babies into their lives.
With all the businesses she's got going, it's safe to say Jenny is ambitious and likely a master organizer. So I expected her advice for maternity leave to be a list of things you can get done ahead of time or delegate for success. Instead?
"Do the hard emotional work. Visualize what it looks like to not get work done," she said, "and visualize the new life you get to have."
Her biggest regret is that she said "yes" to too many commitments at the end of her pregnancy, not knowing how becoming a mother would change her priorities and schedule. She encourages other new moms to say "no" until they can make an informed decision based on how they feel postpartum.
For now, Jenny is leaning into the ways motherhood has made her better professionally.
"She (the baby) has taught me so much patience," Jenny said. "Where I might usually have the urge to do things right away, I realize being patient with myself and others is good. Everything will get done in its own time."