Recess

Recess was featured in Forbes! A fantastic feature by Alli K. about women lifting up other women to build big things in the world. https://lnkd.in/gux52Yek

PSA: your dependent care FSA covers camps! Here’s everything you need to know to save money on those summer camps coming up: 1. The savings are big — DCFSA dollars are pre-tax which means you’re saving 25-40% on program costs. 2. You can save more this year — The limit jumped from $5,000 to $7,500 for 2026. That’s the first increase in 40 years! Hallelujah someone heard the moms! 3. Max it out — Daycare costs avg $14k/yr (that’s low in most major markets). Summer camps cost $3-10k/summer per kid. Gap day camps another $1-2k per kid. If you have kids under 13, you’re probably hitting the cap, so you’ll want to max it out. 4. You can use it on camps?! — Yes! In-person camps that allow parents to work or look for work are covered. Even ballet camps. Even soccer camps. Definitely space camps. 5. The fine print — funds can only be used for kids under 13. They can’t be used for overnight camps. You must save your receipt to claim. Funds are use it or lose it, so take a beat to calc expected costs, and don’t put in more than you’ll use. This is one of the easiest ways for working parents to save thousands on the childcare they’re already paying for!

1.3 million people miss work every month because of childcare breakdowns. 90% of them are women 🫠 The data very clearly shows us who flexes when childcare breaks down. And it's moms. So when companies mandate return-to-office with zero childcare support, I don't believe them when they act shocked that moms are leaving. We all have access to the stats. They're very public. And they're real rough. Labor force participation for moms with young kids dropped 3 percentage points in 2025, the sharpest decline in 40 years! The thing that really smarts -- the public reports about all the things companies are doing to ease return-to-office: millions on retention, engagement surveys, culture committees, offsites, ping pong tables, pet insurance. Meanwhile, only 12% of workers have access to childcare benefits through their employer. The people don't want ping pong! The people want childcare benefits! "But it would be so expensive," they say! Here's what happens when companies actually invest in childcare -- ✨ Absenteeism drops 30% 💫 Turnover falls up to 60% 😮 All told, companies offering childcare benefits see a 425% ROI (BCG) 😱 57% of working parents say they'd actually take a PAY CUT to work somewhere that helped with childcare (Harris Poll). (companies: you could literally pay your people less if you gave them some childcare support. Don't do that though.) AND AND AND -- with the Section 45F credit in the 2026 OBBB, employers can claim up to $500K in tax credits for childcare expenses. The government is literally paying companies to offer these benefits. So show me you support moms in the workforce with your benefits. Let's see 'em!

The wildest part of being interviewed for this Forbes piece was realizing how much of how I operate traces back to my all-girls education. At Westridge School for Girls (where I went from grades 4–12), there was no question of whether girls could lead. We just did. We were never “the girl in the room.” We were the best debater. The best chemist. The best athlete. Period. And maybe more importantly, there was a culture of EXCELLENCE instead of competition. The culture was simple: be excellent at your thing, exceed your highest standard, AND help the people around you be excellent at theirs. Success wasn’t zero-sum, it was shared and earned abundantly! Growing up in an environment where that was the norm—and scarcity was the exception—shaped everything. In many ways, I think I’ve spent my career trying to build an adult, distributed version of Westridge. A network of exceptional women, each in pursuit of their own excellence, while actively pulling others forward alongside them. That’s what Alli K. captures in this Forbes piece. She calls it the “reach-back effect.” When one woman operates from abundance, backs another, opens a door, shares power...it doesn’t just change one outcome, it resets the norm. It says: this is allowed. And that’s how you expand what’s possible. Grateful to be on this journey with women like Laura Modi, Molly Morse, and Amy Kiska, who are all featured in the piece and who embody this every day. Tag a woman in your network who moves this way. We are stronger together! Full article in the comments.

When my first was born, I couldn't breastfeed, and the formula shortage hit as I was leaving the hospital. Eventually, I found Bobbie. I didn't know anything about the woman behind it. I just knew that when the system failed, her product didn't. My oldest is almost 4 now, so it felt pretty full circle to interview Bobbie’s founder, Laura Modi, for my most recent article for Forbes.com. The article isn't really about VC or incredible founders, although it could be. It's about a specific model of leadership that doesn't just break through... It reaches back. The familiar story of women in leadership is she worked hard, she broke through, and she sat at the table. Awesome, but dare I say unsatisfying? I got to speak with four incredibly inspiring women building a new model in real time: Kate McAndrew of Baukunst, Laura Modi of Bobbie, and Amy Kiska and Molly Morse of Recess. The version these women are writing (and the one we should all be writing) is not just about getting to the table. It's about building new tables, funding them, filling them, and then reaching back to pull someone else up. The train is leaving the station. The question isn't whether women will be on it. It's who's reaching back. https://lnkd.in/eWu5pVtN

It’s almost like a little hug from the person you miss. That’s how Valaencia Thompson described it… and it could not have been more spot on. Last week, I had the honor of joining my incredible Recess team at the Houston PTO Expo. Working with schools is such a meaningful part of our mission, and a part of my work that I feel deeply connected to. I ended the Expo in tears… but in the very best way. On the drove in, I passed a billboard that read Maida’s Bistro. My mom’s name was Maida, and outside of my family, I’ve only seen it a couple of times in my life. I paused. Took it in. And just knew… I was exactly where I was meant to be. Little hug #1. Then at the event, I got to work alongside Lynne Dowell, someone I’ve known since Brownies and Girlscouts. We started reminiscing about Hailey Elementary, Girl Scouts, all the moments that shaped us. And then, a group walked up to our booth wearing Hailey Elementary shirts. I felt it instantly. My mom taught at Hailey for nearly 30 years. It wasn’t just her school. It was my childhood. It was cutting out letters for bulletin boards, practicing on the overhead projector, falling asleep on bean bags when I didn’t feel well, helping grade papers in the early mornings well before the sun came up. The teachers were my second family. The hallways were my playground. It was part of who I am. So when that PTO team stood in front of me, I got to tell them who my mom was. And then they told me something I’ll never forget. The school had recently been renovated and they created a time capsule wall. They thought my mom might be on it. After the Expo, I drove straight there. And sure enough… there she was. In yearbooks. In newspaper clippings. In the walls of the place that meant so much to both of us. I even got to hug her longtime teaching partner, who is still there. Another little hug. I left with so much joy in my heart and so much clarity. That this is exactly where I’m meant to be. Doing work I believe in deeply AND staying connected to where I came from. Building something new AND honoring the people who shaped me. Being stretched AND feeling held. Sometimes, if you’re paying attention, life has a way of reminding you… you’re right on time. PS... another little hug I got this morning from the photographer at the event... a picture of me, at the exact time when the group walked up.

Moms have been quietly dealing with this in the shadows for years. It's so encouraging to see major publications bringing this into the limelight, so we can bring some real investment to this space! Parents spend A TON OF MONEY on wraparound care and enrichment ($40B on kids classes & camps in the US alone) and consumer pain is HIGH. Building Recess is one piece of the puzzle, but also excited to see companies like Rosie, Sundays, Ava, Orgo® Logistics Calendar, and more building to support parents with wraparound care & all it's logistical complexity.

46% of weekdays, your elementary-aged child is not in school. That's nearly half the year you're coordinating care, cobbling together camps, and managing a mental load that's mostly invisible to everyone except moms. In our latest Talk Rich To Me episode, we sat down with Molly Morse, co-founder of Recess, to talk about the affordability and logistics of camps, after-school care, and why this entire industry has been left in the dust while we've innovated everything else. Facts: -Your Dependent Care FSA covers camps (not just daycare). The limit just increased to $7,500/year for the first time in 40 years -There's way more affordable inventory than you think—you just can't find it because most programs are terrible at SEO -Check your employer benefits. Many Fortune 500s offer Bright Horizons or similar (backup care, camps, sitters) The burden of coordinating wraparound care falls almost entirely on moms. It's administrative work that's unpaid, undervalued, and essential. And it's time we had better systems to support it. Listen to hear Molly's advice on combining affordable options with splurge camps, why rec leagues disappeared, and what "rich" means when you have kids. 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gvkFbZZ4 #TalkRichToMe #HuntressWealth #WorkingMoms #ChildcareCosts