Des Femmes End of Year Newsletter 2024
A reflection on motherhood in founder mode, our Mentorship Program for New Moms, and what's next for Des Femmes
Sterling here with our final newsletter of the year!
Over the past four years, Des Femmes has accomplished a laundry list of goals:
5000+ of print magazines distributed (with 70+ magazine contributors)
Nearly 1000 community members
463+ mentorship applicants
10+ conference and event scholarships
8 in-person events with 300+ attendees
These accomplishments, in addition to the numerous achievements of our members, are a testament to our community. Thank you so much for your support!
In 2021, Des Femmes co-founders Camila Russo and Leigh Cuen set out on a mission to publish a magazine and build a community that took a holistic approach to womanhood, one that addressed financial literacy, parenthood, tech, and sovereignty in the same breath.
Yet, as Katie Ananina pointed out in our Bitcoin Inheritance Planning workshop:
“We hear that women can have it all, but really, you can’t have it all at once.”
Most women don’t have the financial means to contribute to retirement plans right after completing their education. Many new mothers can’t easily pick up their careers where they left off. Even the organizers of Des Femmes—including myself—are in child-rearing mode, which means this newsletter is taking a pause so that we can focus on this new journey.
Before we reflect on our Mentorship Program for New Moms, we have a piece from Founder and CEO of YAP Global, Samantha Yap, who first published an article about family planning in our 2021 Des Femmes Magazine print edition. Since penning her original article about scaling her business in anticipation of starting a family, Yap has successfully become a mother who continues growing her career, now back to traveling with her family. Here’s her perspective and advice for others considering the journey into parenthood.
Diary of a Mom in Founder Mode by Samantha Yap
This year, I got promoted from being a founder and CEO to a new role: mum to a joyful baby girl. While the newborn cuddles have been pure bliss, the shift has also brought on an identity crisis. I went from a fast-paced life filled with travel, back-to-back calls, and productive team building meetings to a routine dominated by breastfeeding, diaper changes, and nap times. It was a stark reminder that my life was no longer my own. But an interesting thing happened, one that most mums and founders can likely relate to—Founder and ‘mum’ mode kicked in.
In the lead-up to maternity leave, I was trying to figure out how long other mums really took-off to care for their babies. Based on what I’ve seen around me, maternity leave varies widely. In the UK, it’s common for mothers to take up to a year, with the first three months paid. In Singapore, I’ve seen mums return after three months with full pay. As a founder, I’m in the unique position of setting my own maternity leave policy. I decided to ease back in after three months with just 2 days a week of work.
Here’s where the idea of Founder Mode, coined by Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, really resonated with me. Founders often struggle to balance managing their business with maintaining the high-quality work they aim for. Similarly, as a mum and founder, I had to adapt. My priorities shifted, and I couldn’t just rely on “Founder Mode” alone. I had to operate in Founder ‘mum’ mode—balancing the needs of my baby and being a parent, with the demands of running a global PR company.
In practice, this meant meticulous planning of the diaries because every second counts. I have to factor in feed times, diaper changes, playtimes, and naps first and then think about responsibilities as CEO. Since being a mum, I have become far more efficient with my time. There’s no room for side tracking, whether it’s doom-scrolling on social media or unnecessary procrastination. Every moment is accounted for, including wind down time and rest.
Running a business in crypto requires a lot of travel as the industry gathers at flagship conferences throughout the year. We have factored that we should make the most of travel with an infant under two years old until we need to pay for an extra flight ticket. Since becoming a mother in February 2024, we’ve been able to take our baby along to our company offsites in Rome, ETHCC in Belgium, and Token2049 in Singapore. My husband and I shared childcare duties in Rome and Belgium, but for Singapore and other trips, we hired a nanny and even flew my mother in to help. I write this as I’m waiting for my flight to Bangkok for Devcon week after doing a ‘baby handover’ to my mum, who’s flown in from Melbourne, along with a new nanny. After the event, I’ll fly back to pick up my baby and head home to London for Christmas.
Founder ‘mum’ mode may not be a new concept—entrepreneurial mums have been doing this for years—but it’s worth acknowledging the incredible balancing act they perform. To all the entrepreneurial mums out there, you’re not alone in navigating this tightrope walk. You’re raising a family and you’re growing a business - both are world changing missions.
Reflecting on our Mentorship Program for New Moms
The choice to pursue both motherhood and career is pervasive. Women in VC: Europe’s recent report on motherhood found that the top three concerns of women fund managers were career progression, long-term sustainability of balancing work and motherhood, and establishing boundaries. According to Motherly’s 2024 State of Motherhood report, 82% of women under 30 were considering leaving the workforce due to the cost of childcare and stress.
“Women’s careers are often neglected as they feel the pressure to dedicate themselves fully to parenting with no distractions,” said program mentor and senior lecturer at RMIT University Dr. Melissa Wheeler. “The opposite seems to be true for men, who often are pushed into the breadwinner role, and have the pressures to be always on and always available at work – fulfilling the ideal worker norm and missing out on family.”
Even Cuen mentioned her own conflict of balancing income and motherhood in her newsletter: “Literally within the first 48 hours of going back to work I had to change strategies! Now, with my work schedule normalizing, I find that my family’s needs vary depending on our health, and other factors outside of my control. I’m constantly pivoting, finding accomplishment in the unique challenge of dynamic optimization based on changing circumstances.”
Motherhood is a choice that weighs on many women in different ways. Personally, I have been preoccupied with family finances. What’s the best way to make my money work while I’m on leave? What do we do if I decide not to go back to work? What if I have to go back to work earlier than anticipated?
And on top of all that, how do I manage the regular stress of life on top of being a present mom?
I had a lot of questions about how to prepare my business, my family, and my finances in anticipation of an unpredictable 2025, which is what prompted us to organize the Mentorship Program for New Moms. We invited working moms who had overcome the early stage hurdles to mentor, and paired them with working women who either just became moms or were starting a family plan.
Each mentor-mentee pair set their own schedule and agenda, but the overarching theme to most everyone’s journey was: how can we best prepare for balancing parenting and career goals?
One common change that most participants experienced was greater time efficiency. “I’ve learned how to be a better leader – to aim for consistency and articulating the ‘why’,” shares Wheeler. “I am now incredibly efficient – there is no time to procrastinate, so I can now do in an hour what might have previously taken me a half day.”
It also became clear that, while career and motherhood are often framed at odds, they can co-exist. “Motherhood hasn’t changed my drive,” says Bitcoin Today Coalition board member and program mentor Lisa Hough. “I want my daughter to know women can crush it—whether it’s on a laptop at home or in the field. It’s about having the freedom to choose your path, not bending to someone else’s mold.”
While both of these pieces of advice inspire me, what resonated with me most was a piece of advice from my own mentor, Founder of Day 1 Ready Jennifer Fondrevay: “Embrace the chaos.”
The unknowns that lay ahead of me—ahead of every new mom—are endless. Sometimes weeks go by when pregnancy feels like a breeze. Then there are days when I’ve been buried not just by waves of emotions, but by the overwhelming to-do list that builds in my head.
However, facing the chaos head-on and accepting it as part of life makes me feel more in control. I need to remind myself that, while I will always want to do more, I can’t get to tomorrow until I get through today.
That being said, ambition cannot be turned off so easily, especially in driven women. I am both excited and scared for the person I will become on the other side of birth. As much as I want to be a mom, I also don’t want to lose sight of the goals I’ve set for myself, like creating a multisig wallet and running a fund of funds.
Hough puts it in perspective: “My career has been fueled by opportunity and challenge—not parenting plans. But let’s be real: at the end of the day, family is what matters most. They’re the only ones who’ll be there when everything else fades. You can excel professionally while keeping your focus on what truly counts. Purpose and fulfillment drive happiness—but family is the foundation.”
What to Expect from Des Femmes in 2025
As mentioned previously, we’re winding down for the year after four years of freely accessible financial wellness programs for women, but the community resources are still available! Be sure to check our newsletter archive for guides and advice on:
Setting up a Solo 401(k)
The benefits of setting up a LLC
Installing GrapheneOS on your phone
Organizing a relaxing yet educational retreat
Looking for work opportunities? Members have shared a number of marketing and engineering roles in our Slack channel!
Add yourself to our Des Femmes database: Crypto, fintech, law, coaching, marketing, publishing, construction, design…whatever your industry or job title, we’d love to add you as a community resource in our member database!
Until next time, stay curious…