DisruptHR Las Vegas 2025 - The Audacity to Interview Pregnant

Everyone Will Tell You to Wait, Don't Listen

Friends, family, even LinkedIn strangers told me to wait. You know what I learned? Waiting for the "perfect time" to advance your career is how women stay stuck in middle management forever while men climb the ladder without anyone questioning their reproductive timeline. I was 4 months pregnant with my second set of twins, interviewing for SVP roles. Excellence doesn't skip a beat just because I was building two little humans.

"Cultural Fit" Is Corporate Code for "We Don't Want to Deal With Your Maternity Leave"

Let's decode this bullshit. "Cultural fit" became corporate speak for "we don't want your pregnancy messing up our Q4 numbers." Companies plaster "family first" on their websites until it's time to actually hire families. Then suddenly it's "business first" and families can wait their turn until it's convenient for quarterly projections.

What Hiring Managers Really Think (But Are Too Smart to Say Out Loud)

"She'll ghost us after maternity leave." "She'll be distracted with babies." "She'll cost us in benefits." Here's your reminder: This thinking isn't just biased, it's illegal as hell. But interviewers don't need to say the words. We feel the shift in energy the second the bump enters the room. My portfolio didn't care about my uterus, it delivered results, not excuses.

Society Expects You to Be Grateful for Scraps, Negotiate Harder Than Ever

Pregnant candidates aren't supposed to negotiate, right? Smile sweetly, take whatever salary is offered, don't rock the boat. Fuck that. I negotiated harder than ever because I knew exactly what I was worth. Don't apologize for being pregnant or "explain" your condition like you have the flu. Show up with receipts and a résumé that slaps harder than their assumptions.

If 12 Weeks of Leave Breaks Your Organization, You Need an Operational Overhaul

FMLA protects your job, not your paycheck and if 3 months of unpaid leave would destroy your entire company, you don't need a new employee, you need complete operational restructuring. FMLA isn't family support, it's the government's way of saying "good luck surviving capitalism while your body recovers from creating life." Pregnant employees shouldn't have to fix your succession planning problems.

Don't Ghost Pregnant Candidates Then Post About Supporting Women

Don't you dare ghost pregnant candidates after promising follow-ups, then turn around and post about how much you support women in the workplace. That's performative bullshit that everyone can see through. Actions speak louder than LinkedIn virtue signaling. If hiring managers are about to miss out on top talent because they can't see past a temporary physical state, that's their loss.

TL;DR: I Got the Damn Job and You Can Too

I got the job. Not because anyone felt sorry for me, but because I was the best candidate who walked into that room, bump and all. I now have 4 kids under 2 and I'm thriving. The real issue isn't our pregnancies, it's fragile systems that can't handle basic human biology.

So ask yourself: Do you have the audacity to hire someone that's pregnant? Because managing pregnancy and executive responsibilities simultaneously is exactly the kind of multitasking leadership any team needs.

Share this if you're tired of companies treating pregnancy like a professional liability instead of what it actually is, proof that we can create life AND crush quarterly goals!