Emmanuel Business Collaborative Explores Redefining Success with Self-Care Expert Leslie Forde

Author. Business owner. Wellness expert who promotes empowerment for working parents; Leslie Forde is all of these things—and she recently brought those perspectives to the Emmanuel Business Collaborative Speaker Series.

Forde was on campus Nov. 18th for a panel discussion: The Business of Balance: Redefining Success Through Self Care. Speaking to students and faculty at the Janet M. Daley Library Lecture Hall, Forde recalled early career experiences with organizations that did not recognize the importance of self-care. Helping organizations provide that support is central to her work now, both as an entrepreneur and author.     

“Back when I entered corporate America, people thought it was self-care or success,” said Forde. “But there’s more awareness now, certainly with tons of research to back it up, that breaks, rest, movement and especially sleep—all of those things are essential to be innovative and thoughtful, and for your career to endure.”

The Emmanuel Business Collaborative Speaker Series was established by the School of Business & Management in 2020 with the goals of helping students foster connections with business leaders and benefit from their experiences and insights.

For this event, Forde was part of a panel that included Associate Professor of Nursing Practice Dr. Carol Femia, Associate Professor of Management Dr. Kelly Basile, and Associate Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice Dr. Janese Free. Over the course of an hour, the panelists discussed their experiences managing stress in the worlds of business, nursing and criminal justice, and offered recommendations from their own experiences. 

As the CEO and founder of the company Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs, Forde provides organizations with information, training and tools to support busy caregivers, who are at greater risk of burnout. She’s advised organizations such as HubSpot, Merck and Scholastic with her insights appearing in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. 

Forde has also enjoyed collaborating with the Emmanuel School of Business & Management over the past two years. She first worked with students in the marketing program, seeking their perspectives and offering them opportunity for some real-world experience. More recently, she took on an intern from Emmanuel, and she hopes to have another this spring.  

“Young people have so much energy and innovative ways of looking at things,” said Forde. “As a business owner, sometimes I get in a frame of mind where I’m trying things that I’ve done before, and sometimes you need that outside perspective.” 

The panel discussion grew out of those collaborations, explained School of Business & Management Dean Anne Marie Pasquale. 

“The inspiration came from Leslie Forde,” said Pasquale. “We’ve worked with her for a couple of years and when we heard about her new book, we thought it would be a good opportunity for the students to learn more from her.”

The book is “Repair with Self-Care: Your Guide to Mom’s Hierarchy of Needs,” which provides a framework for working mothers to prioritize their physical, emotional and intellectual self-care. 

The panel also provided some advice for busy students. Forde acknowledged that young people are typically busy, with a lot of moving pieces and sometimes conflicting deadlines. She said it’s important to develop comfort with having critical conversations and setting boundaries. In her own life, she prioritizes finding time to run and scheduling a couple of deep-work blocks daily, where she tackles the more complicated tasks.

“Be sure to let people know what you need,” said Forde. 

Speaking after the event, Forde said she very much appreciates the ongoing collaboration with Emmanuel’s School of Business & Management. She enjoys mentoring the students that work with her, and noted Emmanuel shares that focus on promoting growth in a supportive environment.

“I think the professors at Emmanuel are really invested in the students being successful,” said Forde. “They set things up in a way where there’s a lot of communication and transparency and shared expectation setting. There’s good structure.”