When people talk about leadership, they often describe traits: vision, resilience, decisiveness, empathy. But for me, leadership has always been about something simpler: creating an environment where everyone can thrive the same way you want to thrive.
Over the course of building five companies, all while raising five children, I’ve learned that leadership isn’t about doing it all yourself. It’s about designing a system where people can do their best work without sacrificing who they are.
The Turning Point: Building a Big Company on My Terms
When I started my current company, Eved, I wanted to do something different. It wasn’t my first business, but it was the first one I set out to build as a large-scale, a venture-backed technology company. I knew it would require outside investment, which meant opening the door to a new kind of leadership, not just entrepreneurial grit, but the discipline and structure of a true CEO.
Back in 2010, when I began pitching investors in Silicon Valley, the prevailing culture was unmistakable: to build a successful tech company, you had to live, eat, and sleep at the office. That “always-on” playbook left little room for leaders, especially mothers, who also wanted to live full lives outside of work.
While investors were impressed by the company and by me, there was an unspoken skepticism: could a founder with five children really meet the relentless demands of startup life?
Ultimately, I raised my initial round of capital from Midwest investors who believed in both the company and my leadership. But that early phase exposed a cultural fault line, one that would take me years to fully understand and redefine.
The Culture Clash
As Eved grew, I tried to balance two worlds. On one hand, I believed deeply in hard work and accountability. On the other, I valued family, balance, and time away from work, both for myself and for others.
But the culture around me didn’t yet match that belief. For a while, we had a structure that mirrored the “Silicon Valley standard”: long hours, total immersion, and even a co-leader whose role was to be ever-present when I couldn’t be.
It didn’t work. The culture felt disjointed. I was measuring success by output, the results we created, while the system around me was still measuring by input, hours at the office, visible hustle, perceived commitment.
Eventually, I realized the problem wasn’t the people. It was the model. I didn’t want a company that expected everyone to sacrifice their lives to prove their loyalty. I wanted a company that measured impact, not presence.
Never Apologize for Living a Life
That realization led to one of the most defining leadership shifts of my career. We changed everything, leadership, structure, and most importantly, mindset. Our new mantra became:
“Never apologize for living a life. But don’t make excuses for not delivering results.”
It was simple, but transformative. It created accountability without guilt, freedom without chaos, and performance without burnout.
Then came the ultimate test, COVID-19. Like many companies, we had to make hard decisions and downsize. But that moment also forced us to rethink everything about how we worked. With everyone suddenly remote, the old assumption that proximity equals productivity disappeared overnight.
What we discovered was powerful: our people didn’t just adapt; they excelled. Free from rigid office expectations, they focused, delivered, and even thrived. That experience validated everything I believed about leadership and culture: success doesn’t come from overwork; it comes from alignment, trust, and clarity.
Building a Culture That Works and Lives
Today, Eved is a fully remote company in the U.S., with global teams that operate on the same principle: measure results, respect people’s lives, and celebrate their whole selves.
We don’t count vacation days. We close the company for two weeks at the end of the year. We celebrate personal milestones as much as professional ones.
Why? Because leadership is about modeling the life you want your team to have. If I tell my team to prioritize family, but I never do, that’s not leadership, that’s hypocrisy. But when I take time for my kids or for myself, it gives them permission to do the same. And when people are happy, fulfilled, and trusted, their work reflects it.
From Control to Creation
Real leadership isn’t about control. It’s about creation. It’s about designing an environment where people are empowered to produce extraordinary results while living meaningful lives.
It took me years, five companies, and five children to learn that lesson fully. But today, I can say with confidence: my proudest accomplishment isn’t just building successful businesses. It’s building them in a way that proves success and life can coexist, and that leadership, at its best, is about making that possible for everyone else.