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She's the CEO of YouTube and she's pregnant with her 5th child.

 

Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

 

 

 

You may not have ever heard the name Susan Wojcicki, but you’ve definitely benefited from her work.

Wojcicki started at Google in 1998 as their marketing manager. At the time, she was the 16th person the company had ever hired and at the time she was four months’ pregnant.

Since then she’s worked on AdWords and AdSense – and now, Wojcicki is the CEO of YouTube. The world’s continuing enjoyment of cat videos is thanks, in part, to her business savvy.

The 46-year-old s been called “the most important Googler you’ve never heard of”, and “the most important person in advertising” by AdWeek. She placed 12th on Forbes Magazine’s List of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women in 2014, and was named in Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business list in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. On top of that, Wojcicki is one of six female CEOs who lead the top 100 tech companies in the US.

On top of all of this, Wojciki has just announced she is pregnant with her fifth child. FIFTH. CHILD. (Which is a feat in itself, really).

We were so impressed when we stumbled across a profile of Susan Wojcicki on Women’s Agenda, and not just because she’s somehow found the time to raise four (soon to be five) tiny human beings while running a company worth about $5.6 billion.

She’s got some kick arse career advice that we couldn’t wait to share:

1. She doesn’t do unnecessary guilt.

Susan loves her work, and she loves her family, and she does her best to balance the two. When talking about trying to find that balance with the media, she is refreshingly guilt free – and doesn’t beat herself up for doing her best.

In various interviews, Wojcicki has stated that she always tries to get home by 6pm every day to spend time with her family.

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“I’m going to do my best to try and balance it, and come up with something that I think works for both my family and office,” she told re/code when asked if she would take time off after having her fifth child. “I think it’s important to have a balance. It’s important for the family and the baby to have time. And on the other hand, I have a lot of things happening at YouTube, and I love working here.”

2. She supports other women.

Wojcicki supports other working mothers.

One of Susan’s former colleagues, Sheryl Sandberg (you might know her from such little-known projects as being the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In) has talked Wojcicki up in the past.

“Susan is not only a great executive,” Sandberg says, “but a great friend to me and many women. She offered valuable guidance.”

In a career advice section with Glamour, Wojcicki also encouraged other women to think about balancing babies and work.  “Don’t forget that it gets easier!” she said. “Having a child is a big life change, but the really hectic period is relatively short… You can get through it.”

3. She encourages women to take chances.

Her closing piece of advice to Glamour readers in May, was: “Don’t overplan your life. Joining Google when I was four months pregnant was a bit of a leap, but sometimes you have to do the right thing for you right now.”

4. She’s the “mum” at Google.

Wojcicki calls herself the “mom of Google”. Fast Company reports that not only was she the first employee of the tech company to have a baby (probably because she joined when she was already pregnant) but she also designed Google’s “progressive” in-house daycare centre for employees with kids.

Google topped Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For this year, thanks to a “family first” philosophy including daycare centres for “Googler kids”, five-month paid maternity leave, baby bonuses, and highchairs in all company cafes.

Have you ever heard of Susan Wojcicki? What women in the business world do you admire? 

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