Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan opened up in a candid interview with Quartz about balancing their work and home life
They are among the smartest and richest in the world, and now Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan are opening up in a candid interview about how they balance their work and family lives.
Chan and Zuckerberg spoke to Quartz about their ambitious joint venture, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which focuses on advancing human potential and promoting equal opportunity.
Since the couple joined forces for CZI, they say it is important to stay organized and set aside time for conversations about business aspects versus family talk time.
‘We used to go out to dinner to talk about CZI one night a week,’ Zuckerberg says, ‘but that felt weird over time, because we also go out on dates. I just think psychologically, you want to have different places. So now we carve off time, like our one-on-ones.’
‘And then when we’re at the kitchen table with our kids, it’s not like we’re not talking about what’s going on in our lives—that’s weird too, you’re not going to turn things off that are important and emotional—but we try not to go through logistics and details and stuff like that.’
Chan says she often asks her children’s pediatrician for parenting advice despite being one herself as she works to navigate raising her young children and working on CZI
Chan and Zuckerberg have struck a balance between work and business life a home by scheduling meetings weekly
While Chan is a brilliant pediatrician and Zuckerberg is a tech dynamo, they’re like any young parents navigating raising children.
Zuckerberg thought is was a good idea to teach his daughter Max how to code. But he had to come to the realization that his two-year-old should probably start with some more basic tech skills.
Chan says she actually turns to her children’s pediatrician for parenting advice, despite being one herself.
‘I asked our pediatrician, can we talk about work in front of our children,’ Chan says.
‘We want them to be exposed to the types of issues [at CZI], but I don’t want them feeling like there’s a lot of disorder in the world. And the pediatrician’s advice was, it’s fine to have those conversations, just take it to its logical conclusion so they see that conflict gets resolved.’
With their two daughters, Facebook and growing CZI the brainy power couple have their hands full, but still seem to figure out things as a team from their child rearing to business
Chan comes from a lower-class, immigrant family. It was her hard work, dedication and perseverance that landed her at Harvard where she met Zuckerberg.
One high school teacher told Quartz that she was giving the spot of co-captain on the tennis team, and it wasn’t because of her mediocre athletic abilities, but because ‘She knew how to motivate.’
Her teacher said that Chan was able to convince her team to skip the prom because they had a big match the following morning.
Chan ended up graduating valedictorian.
CZI is one of the best funded start-ups to date, with $45billion pledged in that initial announcement.
Chan is the leader and oversees the annual budget which ranges around of $700-800million yearly.
One of CZI’s ambitious goals is to help prevent, cure or manage all disease over the next century.
The organization mixes philanthropic grant-making, venture investing and the creation of new tech products.