Transcript

00:06
Qin En
Hi, I am Qin En. And this is the Parents in Tech podcast. Welcome to Season One, where we interview mums who are technology company leaders based in Southeast Asia. We want to hear stories, hopes, challenges, and tips from moms who are raising kids while pursuing their career aspirations. In this episode, we speak to Lynette, Chief Executive and Board Member of Singapore Space and Technology. Lynette started a career in the Singapore government and pharmaceuticals before leaping into the fascinating world of space. She has been featured by Fortune and CNBC for powering some of the world's most innovative space start-ups. Recently, she was appointed Karman Fellow, a prestigious fellowship recognizing outstanding accomplishments in space. Lynette is a mom of two with a daughter, aged 10 and a son, aged 8. Hi, Lynette. Welcome to the Parents in Tech show. To begin with, can you tell us a bit more about your family?

01:09
Lynette
I have two kids and my husband. So it's quite a standard, typical Singapore family. I have a boy and a girl, which is really nice for social experiments.

 

01:19

Qin En

Nice. How old are they?

 

01:20

Lynette

Well, one is 10 and the other is 8.

01:22
Qin En
Okay. So, they’re at the primary school age.

 

01:24

Lynette

Yeah.

 

01:25

Qin En

Very nice. So Lynette, you have a really exciting and interesting job, one that certainly is non-conventional. How do you explain your job to your children?

01:36
Lynette
Interestingly at that age group, they have very vivid imagination and it's prerogative to imagine, to dream off the impossible. But nothing is really strange to them. So, I don't think they are very fascinated by my job, sadly.

01:52
Qin En
Not yet maybe. But I'm curious. How do you explain when they ask you, “What does mom do at work?”

01:58
Lynette
We talk to them about how we want to create dreams. We talk to them about creating exciting future for science experiments for children, for students. I think in that regard, maybe they think my job is very boring because it's about a lot of discovery, which is what they do every day, and a lot about stars and the sky and space. I think I talked to them in a way, which was about creating a future, creating something that is meaningful for humanity and mankind. Maybe I’ve forgotten my childhood, but it doesn't seem so odd to them that you want to change and make the world a better place.

02:42
Qin En
That's nice. I think it's obvious- a sense of possibility that is children. Somehow as we grew up, we start to lose that, but it's always good to have children to remind us on that. So Lynette, maybe walk us through, how did you get into this job? How do you go into this industry? Because that's pretty unconventional. I'm sure that our audience would love to hear your journey to where you are today.

03:03
Lynette
Yeah. I think I’m asked that a lot. Initially I tend to tell people, “Oh, it happened quite naturally.” Because I’m naturally enthusiastic about science and math. Then somehow, I got thinking deeper about my childhood. And I think it was probably largely because when I was very young in kindergarten, my father would always tell me stories about inventors, scientists. And they tend to be people who stood by what they believed even when the society didn't understand or didn't agree with what they were doing. He would always say, “Why can't someone do something? Why not go for what you believe in? And why not go ahead and just listen to what you think is right as how these people did?” Eventually they go on to make great discoveries that changed the way we see the world today, that changed the way we see things, sometimes literally. Like the invention of the telescope.

03:58
Lynette
I think maybe that kind of philosophy was very deeply ingrained in me. And why not? Despite what you mentioned about this thing and unconventional industry, it never bothered me because it was like, no, why not? I think it is interesting. I think it is fascinating. In fact, I think it brings great possibilities to so many people, so many enterprises and it brings great benefits to how we could monitor global skill development, such as climate change. So maybe with this, why not such a mentality? The flip side is the can-do mentality, right? I remember my father telling me, “Why not? Why can't we do this? We can do this.” Perhaps it was that that never allowed the unconventionality or the oddness of the industry to bother me, which really helped me to focus on getting the role done well, getting the mission done well and being deliberate in advocating the work that I do so that more of us can be inspired to have far reaching ambition and not be bothered and perturbed by what's conventional and what's not.

05:10
Qin En
That's wonderful. It sounds like a big part of where you are right now in your professional life was shaped by your father. And what stands out to me is, well, you are local. You grew up in a local environment, asian parents. That really breaks the mold to stereotype of ‘Tiger parenting, don't explore, figure out and do well in school’. But instead inspires this ‘Why not?’ and ‘Can-do’ spirit. Now that you are a parent over the past 8 to 10 years, how has that shaped your parenting style?

05:39
Lynette
I'm laughing because there's always a journey where you go, “I don't want to do what my parents did to me”, but you always end up doing what your parents did to you, to your kids. So, I was very grateful. My parents did things they had to do. They were certainly not dragon parents. And I like to think I'm not. Safety aside. Safety cannot be compromised. I do give them quite a wide latitude in certain things. Interestingly, I do try to limit digital time and screens. Maybe that's a new thing because in the old days, it was the TV. That was the screen time. Now the screen time takes place in many different, exciting shapes and sizes. Safety and screen time, strict no-nos. Controlled and limited, but otherwise I do give them a wide latitude to do many different things. But you see that's just me. Then there is the better half with his set of parenting. But I don't think he's as generous, which is really nice because then it ends up being a super good balance for my children.

06:41
Qin En
Okay. There's so much to unpack over there. But let's start with, you mentioned you give them a wide latitude to explore. Could you share maybe one or two things they have explored and they liked or didn’t like?

06:50
Lynette
My son was 8. Because I didn't like too much digital screen time, he asked to go for coding class. For six months, he lobbied for that. Eventually I gave in and I compromised. I said, “Okay, go for coding class and glue yourself to the screen all you want.” I think they always had a lot of time pre COVID and even during COVID, to a very generous extent, it was possible to go out with their friends and the neighbors. They have like an open house. They play a lot at the neighbor’s place. And neighbors play at our place. They play together wherever possible, given the COVID restrictions. And it was just, “Make sure you finish your homework and then go and play.” I think they don't really like assessment books. We experimented with that. We decided not to kill any trees and buy too many. I think they could decide how they want to learn after school. They could decide where they want to spend time in, thus giving them the student agency and giving them the control of what they want to learn after school. Do they want to pick up more social skills? Or do they want to learn about teamwork with their friends? Or do they just want to do their own things? One of them prefers to do their own things. So, we don't really force them to try to be this or that. They have to discover themselves.

07:59
Qin En
That's wonderful. It's providing a platform for discovery. But maybe now talk a bit about detention or rather the differences you have with your husband on this issue. What is his style? What is his view and where did the disagreements lie?

08:13
Lynette
I'm seeing it with bias lenses. That's pretty good from my point of view. I think tension can be positive or destructive depending on how it is managed. And it’s implausible. I know there were these crazy scientists as my father has shared with me who did what they did, but sometimes these kinds of tension and resistance helps to provide better clarity of your thoughts and ideas. So maybe something that was left wild, may not end up being something useful or constructive or productive. But in the presence of certain resistance or tension, it does help to make things better. And I've seen it happen so many times in meetings, discussions and projects, we all come with different views. But if something is well moderated, these different views come in to make the final concept just so much better.

09:02
Qin En
Completely agree with that. Maybe Lynette, could you tell us one issue, one topic which you and your husband worked through together where there was tension and how that was positively resolved?

09:12
Lynette
I think I don't give them too many tests. I think there's this exam sets you buy and then you can give it to your kids to practice for exams. The dad thinks, “Oh, that sounds correct.” Which is does. It sounds correct. I think I did that for all levels. Like this is the 10 years series that we do.

09:28
Qin En
Yes. I have that as well for all the major exams.

09:32
Lynette
That’s such an indelible memory in all of us. So, I would probably sit down with them. If I give them a worksheet, I'd like to sit down with them and look at how they're thinking, look at their workings and think to it, which is really time consuming. And we're both working parents. I think that daddy's style is more like, “Okay, I'm going to give it to you and you're just going to do it. I'll pick up the paper in one hour's time.” It's like a real mock exam, which I don't agree with. I can see the benefits of it because it's about finding your own way to solve a problem. Then I realize, oh, actually I do helicopter parenting because I sit down there when they do their work. And I see what they're writing, I see what you're thinking. When I think things are going amiss, I come in to change it. That might not be always useful because you need them to figure it out. Like take a blank sheet of paper and learn to figure it out and if you’re stuck, learn that you can go to the next question without having someone next to you all the time to guide you. Because I'm not going to be there for them all the time. That turned out to be a very deep realization for me that I also need to let go a lot more.

10:36
Qin En
That's nice. Thanks for sharing that. I think it's about being open to stand in your partner's perspective and also consider where they're coming from. Glad to hear that was something that both you and your husband were able to work out. Now let's dial a bit back, Lynette. You also talked about two things that are non-negotiable. Safety, which I think we all as parents agree on. But the second thing is interesting, digital time. Of course, we grew up in a digital age. Our jobs are in technology. Tell me a bit more about your stance on screen time and how you went about parenting your children. Because I'm sure you've gone through the phases, maybe one, maybe multiple, where they really wanted screens and you had to say no.

11:20
Lynette
Yeah. That’s like every day. That was easier pre COVID because the relying on digital tools was lesser. Then of course during COVID, classes went online. There was SLS. I think these are familiar terms every primary school parent would know, even Padlet. So, that became quite hard. I think at some point, I just gave up. At some point I was just like, “ell, I just have to trust you guys, I’m working. Obviously, I've learned not to hover around too much. I’m working, you know you're at school, what you have, what is online and what's not online. So, go figure.” I find that learning journey for the kids also quite interesting because - cover your kids' ears. So, you know how we could always go to the history to check what you're looking at? Once I overheard my kids talking about how that can be erased. I was really amused. I got a bit concerned like, “Oh no, you said you're an SLS. Were you really on SLS?” Then I overheard them say, “You know, you could do this and that.” Oh my God. I was impressed with their ability to seek knowledge for their desire.

12:26
Qin En
Kids are smart these days, right?

12:26
Lynette
I was also very worried, but I think I just have to let go.

12:30
Qin En
Well Lynette, if you remember, when did you first expose your son and your daughter to screens and what kind of screen was it? Was it a TV, iPad, iPhone, computer? Maybe take us back if you can recall how that journey started.

12:44
Lynette
I don't really live under a rock, so they've been exposed to screen time very early on. It’s just how many hours they spend in front of it. When they were even toddlers, two years old, I think they have all these YouTube channels with ‘The wheels on the bus go round and round’. It’s spinning in my head the whole day. So, they've definitely been exposed to screen time very early on. I also did those things where they watch screen time when they’re eating because both of them were really young 8 years ago. Now certain compromises, I do allow myself to make. They didn't live on the rock. It's just that I don't give them free access to it. It's controlled. Two hours today, one hour or 45 minutes today.

13:23
Qin En
Yeah. So, setting that cadence. But I think COVID also definitely made it more challenging. Because now they have excuse to use their devices a lot more than before. Got it. Thanks Lynette. We also talked about coding classes. It was a six-month campaign by your son to go for coding classes. Tell us a bit more about what the campaign looked like. What were your initial reasons for not agreeing to it right away?

13:49
Lynette
I'll also make a confession here and hopefully some parents feel better. I didn't really want to bring him to coding because then it's also like another schedule. You have to bring him somewhere every week. We like to keep our weekends free and easy just so we could chill at home, visit relatives if possible. I don't like to schedule classes in particular that require me to send them and bring them back. So there were selfish reasons. I hope maybe I can find some soulmates out there who agree. So, he just kept repeating it, I think. He wasn't super assertive. He just kept repeating it like, “Oh, maybe I should go for a coding class.” Or he would say, “I want to learn to be a hacker. “Of course”, I said. “A good one, okay?” He’s like, “Yeah. A good hacker. I want to learn about hacking.”

14:31
Lynette
I think because cartoons these days have more digital tools and devices, they show how children heroes solve problems because they go into a computer and do something. That left a strong impression on him. To be fair, both children watch very similar cartoons. But one of them picked it up more than the other. He would talk about it a lot more. I then started researching into a coding class with compatible timing for me. Finally, I think, after six months, he still talked about, “I want to be able to learn how to use a computer. I want to be able to do all these things.” That were in-school lessons, where they talk about Scratch and Roblox. And he was really very interested in it. So, he did talk a lot about it after school. Therefore, I decided that I will let him try it out and discover. Because he seemed very consistent with this particular interest.

15:21
Qin En
That's wonderful. I think that process of not just saying ‘yes’ right away, but making sure that's something he really wants, that certainly is wonderful. Lynette, there are so many coding schools out there. Talk us through the research journey and how you ultimately made your decision. I guess a part of it was the schedule, but what else?

15:37
Lynette
Yeah. Schedule, the location to make sure it's convenient for us. So that in case I can't do it or the dad can do it, it's easy for someone else to step in to make the delivery. Also coding along with arts classes and many of these enrichment classes, there are many of them. Because Singapore is such a small market, there's more impact on the word of mouth. I feel generally after many years, there's a certain basic level that all schools somehow adopt as best practices, which is the right thing to do. I don't get too worried about whether it's going to be really dodgy or not. I feel that generally, even if there’s a strong demand for something, not just coding classes, there’s a base standard that most centers adhere to. So, it really was a matter of how convenient it was and the timing for sure so that we could still have family time over the weekend.

16:28
Qin En
Certainly. The challenge with such classes, I haven't experienced it myself. But I’m already preparing myself. Sending there takes them 20-30 minutes if you count the changing and everything. Then it's only one hour and you got to figure out, do you go home or do you hang out and then you can pick them up?

16:44
Lynette
Yeah, exactly. And that whole journey is so stressful. You probably reprimand yelling at the kids like, “Hurry up! We're going to be late for class!” And 20 minutes is an optimistic frame of time. Sometimes it can be 30 to 35 minutes because they might be distracted with something else. And I don't really want to spend some mornings yelling over, rushing to a class.

17:08
Qin En
It's important to find something that works not just for your children, but for you too. I did go for a swim class with my then four-month-old daughter. It was like I had to wake up at 8:00 AM on a Saturday. After a few classes, my wife and I were like, “Yeah, we got to take care of ourselves. 8:00 AM on a Saturday is a little too brutal.”

17:25
Lynette
Yeah. Again, this is where what your parents did to you, you don't want to but you do it to your children. I think I always remember moments when my parents spent time with me. So when I was very young, my father also sent me to computer class. Those days, very fundamental computer technology. And we had to travel so far to a place. I don't even remember which day of the week it was, but I always only remember the journey there where he was with me and my brother, and the journey back where he would buy snacks for us. Sometimes we’d go for late McDonald's snacks. I don't really remember much of the class. For children, a lot of it is memories and moments with parents. And we are at a healthy age which is precious. Our health will diminish as they grow up.

18:08
Lynette
I mean, we all experience it. And the things I do with them will be so different when they’re adults and when I'm an old woman. I think that kind of mortality should put things into perspective on how we invest time with our children. Even driving him or her to a place, is it like, do we walk there? Which I really like if it’s possible and not too hot, then we do spend a lot of time talking. Or is it just shoving him into a car, belting him and then dropping him off and then saying, “Bye.” I think a lot about these moments with the children.

18:42
Qin En
Thanks for sharing that, Lynette. I think that's golden. Because yeah, truly while all these enrichments or these classes or these activities are certainly good and positive for the children, it's important to reflect on how that shapes the relationship between the parent and the child beyond just the benefit that they're getting from the classes. And that's really refreshing to hear. Thanks for doing that. Now when we met also, we spoke on how traditional parenting and family stereotypes still exist today. What are perhaps some of the stereotypes, whether at work, outside of work, in your interactions that you have seen or experienced?

19:15
Lynette
I only more conscious of it. In the last few years when I was advocating for women in STEM, young ladies in STEM, and instead of just advocating it from experience, I did quite a bit of reading on different literatures, on studies, on education levels of women, on why they don't stay in the workforce. And there is abundant literature out there for consumption. This was an important learning journey for me because I started to be able to unpack what I've been experiencing into very specific stereotypes or subconscious biases that I actually was very guilty of even myself. And I cannot take a step back to be fair, because now I've become more sensitive to it. I do notice the trends changing. So, some of these things might not be real in a few years’ time, which would be really great. I think that's generally an assumption that when the woman is pregnant, they would need more time off. They need more time to relax. People don't realize that the daddies also need time off to relax. It's like, oh, it's business as usual for the fathers. And that has an impact. The society not acknowledging the father's role in parenting and therefore not providing the implicit support for the father to support the mother, which then has a knock-on effect of putting everything on to the burden of the mother. And it’s just because we assume men's life would go on as usual, they'll come to work at 9:00 AM after the birth of the child. All these paternal leaves, they’re very recent developments. I think they are definitely good steps in the right direction. Because the family unit, the father, the mother, the child, they’re all together. The signals you send to the father affects the signals you send to the mother, and then therefore to the child going into the next generation.

20:55
Lynette
So I'm really happy to see these days, it's very much acknowledged that, “Oh, the father needs to take time off to look after the child”, or “The father needs to take time off to be there.” And I think one thing I spoke to you about was also that don't get too upset, but looking at the child as an evolving product, the life cycle. And I have to admit in my point of view, it's then corrected and I'm happy to be, I think when the child is in the infant, early stage, they do need more maternal support. So maybe at 1 to 5 years of age, there's more maternal intervention. The mother is around a lot more. But from K2 onwards, because a kid is more active, there's more role actually for the father to come in and be a role model to influence, to talk to the children. There's a lot more room for that. I analyzed it from a way where women could come back to the workforce. All about optimizing the society's needs, the economic needs, certainly the family’s needs, the child's needs, the mothers and the father’s needs. It’s all about optimizing it. For example, when they are in the 0 to 1, very intuitively, a lot of mothers know what to do with the kids. It doesn't apply to everybody. But more often than not, it's more intuitive for the mother. Then of course, if you luck it out and you get like a super dad, congratulations to you, mom. But many dads are more awkward at that stage. Maybe also, no point flogging a dead horse and forcing them to do certain things. When the kid is in the K2 and older, I think this is when daddies should really super step up and take over a lot more and to be able to ease the burden on the mother who could then very comfortably go back, focus a lot on career if she wants to, or if she wishes to and let the career take off. So, these are some self-learning journey and reflections that I've had. I hope it's useful. It doesn't work for everybody. Also, talking about the mommy guilt that so many of us feel when we go back to the workforce. I think we need to learn to share the responsibilities and I feel I'm never going to win it all. I just want to make sure the father gets an important role in the upbringing of the children and my children get exposure to both parents. And that I also have time for myself to do the things I enjoy.

23:09
Qin En
That is really powerful, Lynette. I completely agree. In that sense, there are seasons where a mom steps up and equally there should be seasons where dads step up. I completely agree with you, even though it's hard to admit and some dads are a bit embarrassed, but it's true. Especially when a kid first comes around dad, at least for me, I really did not know what to do. I was even afraid to hold my new born. I was afraid I would drop her or break a bone in the process. But I think for my wife, it was a lot more natural. But like you said, when they start to grow up, they start to run around, they start to have a lot more energy, I think that's an opportunity for dads to really come in. Now Lynette, you said you looked into quite a fair bit of research as to why don't women stay in the workforce. Maybe could you just summarize a bit of the learnings and takeaways that you have found?

23:57
Lynette
I think one main reason is women being perceived as a default caregiver for children and for elderly parents. And we do that. Even in the adult age, when we’re grown-up sisters, we have to bring the parents for check-ups. More often than not, we assume that the sisters, the daughters would do it. Which means the daughters, if they're working, take a leave off to do it. Then by implication, you can take me from your career, but not the sons or the brothers. So maybe that, that the women being the default caregiver can change to make things more equitable. Then of course, if you just have a son, then there's just it. When there tend to be boys and girls, daughters and sons, there is an expectation the daughter would do it, which I mean, I do it, but I don't agree that it should only be the daughter's responsibilities.

24:43
Lynette
So maybe being conscious about who brings the parents for the check-up, or when a child is sick, we assume the mother would take leave. I think that doesn't have to be the case. That being the default caregiver role is there. Of course, there are men who are very willing to do it as there are women who are very willing to do it. I think we are all reasonable adults. What I'm trying to do is just call out certain biasness in our actions that we might not even be aware of. I think the second part is the guilt trip that tends to hit mothers more. Actually, when my second kid was born, I did take time off. I'm like, oh, I know I can't be away from them for more than like 10 hours. I don't think it's fair to them. I did take a year out.

25:30
Lynette
And obviously, it’s true too that many fellow seasoned mommies were like, “You're not going to stay at home for more than a year, Lynette.” I was like, “No, I'm going to.” And sure enough, I crawled back to the workforce and I'm really happy with that decision. But everyone is different. I've also had very close friends who took a time out and they're really happy with this, be it men or women. I think the point here is not to have too much subconscious biasness, societal expectations on us, but to listen to what we want and be brave and be confident that this is the right thing to do. Be it a mother returning to the workforce, be it a mother not returning to the workforce, be it a father staying at home to look after the kid, the father being the default one to bring the kids to the hospital or the clinic and being confident that this is the right thing to do if that's how your family units function. I think a lot of times the women feel bad having to ask the daddies to take leave, to bring the son to the clinic or the kids to the clinic. They feel bad. I think we don't have to feel bad. Maybe they’re very happy to take time off from that meeting with a horrible boss with a very legitimate, compassionate excuse. I think when I stopped feeling bad, I was able to make that adjustment in my actions and consequently, it did make the work-share more equitable and gave more sense of responsibility to the other part, which is important.

26:57
Qin En
Yeah. Lynette, what was perhaps one area or one topic that you had this conversation with your husband over? And in what roles or capacities has he helped with that transition and then stepped up?

27:10
Lynette
My husband likes to stay healthy and fit. Anything that's outdoors, goes straight into his territory and domain. I like to do more indoor sports, swimming. And if you’re swimming, you can’t really look at the kids too much. And he's very proud of his SAF, heritage. I think when there's army open days, those open houses, he gets really excited and he wants to bring our daughter and he goes there. My son definitely goes there and they all have a good time. And I don't feel guilty I'm not there, because that wasn't really my thing. I think it's nice that he does something he enjoys. He's keeping fits with the kids. They are looking at what daddy did when he was in NS. And I get time to go out, do my own stuff, catch up with my work or go for my own solitary sports.

27:55
Lynette
I think that worked out well. Again, it really depends on individuals. I also know certain daddies are more hands on with academic. They’re the tutor, they'll teach them Chinese or Math or English. That's how they spend quality time with their children. The mothers might not have that patience for that kind of academic tutoring. So, mommy takes them out to go hiking. It depends on the structure of the salary. I don't want to sound like a workaholic but it's really about people management and leveraging everyone's skillset. So, this works out well. I don't like a lot of outdoor stuff and my husband is perfectly okay and in his elements with it. So, that gets carved out. It's all in a work area where it’s about what are your strengths, what do you enjoy doing, and then do it. I think the complication comes when there’s something that both parties do not enjoy. I think we don't enjoy tutoring our kids too much. So, we have to find a solution for that or suck it up.

28:54
Qin En
Yeah. But I think, Lynette, that's a great point. It's so comparable. Just as how we've picked so much thought around the kind of jobs, the kind of companies we do. Sometimes we don't apply the same rigor, the same depth of thinking on parenting and family responsibilities. Finding out what works for us and daring to own it, to do it and split the work accordingly or other responsibilities accordingly with the partners. I think that sharing it is truly helpful. Of course, this is what works for you and your husband. Everyone will have to find what works for them. Let's dial a bit back to the time where you say you took a year off. What led you to that decision? And the next question is, what led you to come back to the workforce? Tell us a bit more about that.

29:35
Lynette
I don’t know if all pregnant mommies remember, but once the kid is born, many of us do feel very strong attachment to the children. You don't have to feel bad if you didn’t. I think mine was extreme. Also, because the second child was born with a lot of difficulties, the whole pregnancy was very complicated and there was a threatened miscarriage. I think maybe that made me very emotional when he was born and alive. So when he was born, you know how when the kids are born, they cry? He didn't cry in the first 10 or 8 seconds. Even now I remember that. That was very scary to say the least. Anyway, after he was born, I was so relieved. I wanted to make sure I spend enough time with the children. I think all the hormones led me to the decision to resign from the corporate life and spend time with the children. But after a year, you can see they're growing well. Then I also thought my mom worked. And I was always very proud of her, very impressed with her, she could do this and she could do that. I wonder if I was extending my skillsets and potential. During that one year, because I did the kids’ stuff and thankfully, I do have a helper, I did a lot of reading on parenting. And I noticed the importance of role modeling where mimicry is the best form of flattery. And many times, children look up to their parents without knowing it. They just innately look up to them. And I wondered how my children will look at me if they knew I wanted to do something, but I didn't because of them. It’s different from a mother who was in her element, at home with the children, being the caring after for the family, which is a huge responsibility. But I knew I wanted to do something else. Then I thought maybe the ambitious way is to be greedy and find a way to satisfy my needs, my desire to have a career. So, the hormones depleted after a while. I realized I wanted to be back in the workforce, but I also really loved the family, the children, they are so cute. So, I wanted to be ambitious and find a way to juggle both and hopefully not kill myself in the process. I thought it was important to my children in that role modeling that they know what they want in spite of what society might dictate. Because I think a woman staying at home to look after kids is perfectly legitimate and in many instances, expected especially when you have two and with such a difficult pregnancy. And going back to the workforce almost feels like being an irresponsible mother.

32:04
Lynette
Because going back to the workforce was important to me, I wanted my kids to learn the process of making decisions, despite what people might say and to be able to stretch the goal and be ambitious to find a way that works. So, I guess I was very disciplined. In fact, in initial years, they all knew that between 5 to 8, I'm not going to reply to emails. I'm not going to reply to calls, I'm not going to look at my phone. Because that was the time I come back home and I have to feed the kids and do all the mushy stuff with them. I was careful in planning out work share and then family time so that everything was functional. Not everything was maximized, but I think it was optimal enough for me. I think that lesson was the one I wanted to bring to my kid. Like if my son chooses not to work and be a homemaker, I want him to be confident with his decision and to be able to find ways to make it work for him, even if society things otherwise.

32:59
Qin En
Fully agreed. Wow. I think that parenting intentionality, it's something that really should be encouraged. Truly, it shouldn't just be the moms or ladies who are allowed and accepted by society to take a break. But it's also about making it normal for dads to do as and when they want to do it. Ultimately, there's no right or wrong. Hopefully though education that you are in calculating with the next generation, let's hope that the next generation will feel even more normal and okay to do it regardless of gender. Lynette, this has been a really fascinating conversation. To kind of wrap up our time today, what is one lesson you have learned as a parent in tech?

33:37
Lynette
I think our children are going to grow up in the world with more reliance on technology and with even more sophisticated technology that is probably unimaginable to me today. Ironically, my philosophy is we shouldn't be teaching children about technology. We should be teaching children about philosophy and values so that they know what is core to be a human and what is the core of humanity. And with that very strong core, to be able to therefore use technology to serve humanity’s needs and not the reverse where you compromise humanity's needs to serve technology. Interestingly during this year, that's when we set up SSTL, we set up Space Faculty, which is really to groom technology leaders of tomorrow bringing forth space technologies. But at the core of it, it's understanding the impact to humanity, the impact to the planet. That is where technologies should serve.

34:36
Lynette
That is the philosophy and ethos of space faculty. It is about training technology. It is about space technologies-based entrepreneurship. We have all kinds of classes, but within every lesson and every class and every module, we go into the fundamentals of what it means for humanity and what it means for the planet. I know it's not one last word, but this idea of technology should serve humanity, technology should serve for the betterment of humanity and for the planet, needs to be ingrained in the lessons we teach our children.

35:06
Qin En
I love that so much. Technology will always be changing and what we know now, what we teach our children today probably will get outdated very quickly. But the philosophy, the values, those things don't change. Doing good, learning what it takes to do good and being rooted in the right principles. Wow, I resonated so strongly with that. Thank you, Lynette. If our audience would love to connect with you, how can they best do so?

35:31
Lynette
I have a LinkedIn and Facebook page. Should I send that to you?

35:36
Qin En
Yes, please send it to me and our audience can connect with you from there.

 

35:39

Lynette

Okay, great.

 

35:40

Qin En

Thanks so much for joining us on the show, Lynette.

 

35:42

Lynette

Thank you so much for having me.

35:48
Qin En
Thanks for listening to the Parents in Tech podcast with me, your host, Qin En. We hope you were inspired on how to raise kids and build companies. To catch up on earlier episodes or stay updated with upcoming ones, head over to https://www.parents.fm to join our community of parents in tech. There, you can also drop me a question, idea, feedback or suggestion. Once again, the website is https://www.parents.fm. That's all for this episode, folks. See you next time.