Why we need the support of progressive men
By: Virginie Briand
Tags: Support, Leadership, Good Men, Role Models, Inspiration

As a Co-Founder, Managing Director, working mother, stepmother, partner, and friend, I juggle many roles in my day-to-day life (as I am certain most of you reading this will surely understand). But what I can safely say, is that I couldn’t achieve what I have in my professional career (as well as balancing all of these other responsibilities) without the support of so many people — especially men — over the last 20 years.

For so many working women, and in my own personal experience, I believe it takes not only the support and encouragement of fellow women (thank goodness for the sisterhood!), but of progressive men who want to see their female counterparts succeed in life.

My husband is a perfect example of this. He is truly a partner in every sense of the word. We are co-parents to our 6-year old daughter, and share the school runs, the meetings, the activities and all the logistics that concern the life of a young child. My husband manages the majority of the household (which I am so thankful for!) and I cover most of the administrative duties of family life. I can say, that we certainly are flipping the traditional model, and have a very egalitarian system running. Without my husband’s loyalty, encouragement, and partnership, I am certain that I wouldn’t have taken the chances and risks in my professional life, and ultimately would not have reaped the rewards either.

Likewise, I want to credit the brilliant professional partnership that I have established with my business Co-Founder, Michael Meyer. We have both been through professional (and personal) highs and lows in the last twelve years of running our agency. But what has been so critical, is that we have always had each other’s backs. For example, when my daughter was born, I returned to work immediately at 80% capacity, but Michael was insistent that I continue to receive the exact same salary as I would have had at 100% full time. Being understanding and empathetic to the situation of a new baby is something we have both allowed the other. Similarly, when we have had outside endeavours (such as starting an additional business, or completing further education), we have been nothing but supportive of this. A true partner wants to see you fly, and Michael has certainly been that partner to me. I hope I have been that partner to him too.

In my prior professional experience, before having started our business with Michael, I worked for the BMW Group for many years. During my tenure, I had so many brilliant opportunities come my way, including working in Silicon Valley during the heart of the dot com boom, and progressing in a variety of positions throughout the company. I couldn’t have achieved and experienced these amazing things without my fantastic leaders and mentors such as Thomas Giuliani, Ulrich Selzer, Andreas-Christoph Hofmann or Eric Pierrejean. They all saw something in me that perhaps the others didn’t, and continued to give me both the advice and opportunities to grow and excel within the business. I thank every one of them for lifting me up to rise, particularly in a time when it perhaps wasn’t as common (sadly) for a female to do so.

We all need the support and encouragement of others to succeed. And in the #metoo era, I am so proud that I have had the most amazing men and women in my life who have helped make me what I am today. Thank you!

- Virginie Briand, Co-Founder and Managing Director of 19:13