PowerToFly President Katharine Zaleski says she “committed a long list of infractions against mothers” in her prior roles at the Huffington Post and then the Washington Post. In a candid essay for Fortune, Zaleski issued a public apology to all the mothers whose work ethic she “silently slandered.” She even admitted to “dissing” one potential business partner — Cathy Sharick, a former Time.com managing editor — after seeing the “endless photos of her small children” on her desk. Sharick and Zaleski now work together at PowerToFly. The story went viral on social media, and some of you had pretty strong opinions about the piece. Here’s what the Twitter world had to say.
For one, Sharick accepted Zaleski’s apology:
I forgive @kzaleski for the "diss." Am officially now @powertofly. Babies change everyone. http://t.co/hYEyRvsA9j @FortuneMagazine @time
— Cathy Sharick (@cathysharick) March 3, 2015
Other readers did too, but not without reservation:
@FortuneMagazine @kzaleski Apology accepted. But being a leader is abt having empathy without always experiencing similar situations.
— Priyanka Ghosh (@priyankaghosh) March 3, 2015
On The Today Show this morning, Zaleski said she was expecting more negativity, but people’s reaction has been overwhelmingly positive:
@kzaleski Props 4 acknowledging your misgivings re motherhood b4 u were a mom. Many women w/o kids, "know"everything & cut moms down.👍
— 〽️©️ (@TheMCG) March 4, 2015
.@kzaleski read your @fortune piece. Glad you've had your epiphany. I'm mom 3.5 hours daily & an exec 16 hours. We work harder than EVERYONE
— Sarah Woodward (@AGirlNamedSEW) March 4, 2015
@kzaleski Just read your article in Fortune. WOW, I'm speechless. As a single working mother I thank you for being my voice. #inspired
— Ashley Capps (@AshleyWCapps) March 4, 2015
This woman is amazing. Gives me so much hope for balancing career and family in the future @FortuneMagazine @kzaleski http://t.co/guB9qt09Mf
— Kayla Voigt (@kllewkow) March 3, 2015
I identify with both pre baby and post baby perspectives from @kzaleski. Glad you're forging a 3rd way Katharine: http://t.co/RHCBBC8qlO
— Sarah Armour-Jones (@SnarkyJones) March 4, 2015
Of course, some readers weren’t so quick to accept Zaleski’s apology:
https://twitter.com/ciberch/status/573169115168292864
In slick move, startup cofounder disguises marketing effort as apology to all the mothers she once judged http://t.co/oVfon4GC4r
— Sarah G McBride (@mcbridesg) March 4, 2015
https://twitter.com/pborenstein/status/573184079769837570
What’s next?
I hope the convo @kzaleski starts expands beyond just working moms to working dads, folks taking care of sick parents, etc. Important issues
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) March 4, 2015
We might be hearing from Zaleski again soon:
https://twitter.com/kzaleski/status/573137072736899073
