Shining a Light for Jesus and Working Moms

Burned out. Scared. Energized. Those descriptions sum up the last few years of Paula Faris's life. After feeling overworked at ABC News because of her schedule anchoring Good Morning America Weekend and co-hosting The View, she chose to take on the less time-consuming position of being a correspondent in order to spend more time with her husband and three children. But in March 2020, Paula learned that ABC News wouldn't be renewing her contract.

With God's help, Paula navigated fear and uncertainty, realizing that her own struggles as a working mother reflected the lives of millions of women around the country. She is now using her communication and journalism skills not only as a popular podcaster and author, but as the founder of Carry Media, a company which aims to celebrate and advocate for working mothers. We discussed all the changes in her life recently on Christopher Closeup.

Paula and her husband John moved their family to South Carolina, where they both work from home much of the time. Though she has a positive attitude about it now, Paula admits that losing her job led her through the stages of grief, such as anger, depression, and acceptance. She said, "What I've learned the last couple of years is . . . God calls us to do different things in different seasons. And I'm in a new season. . . . I feel this heart for the mom in the workforce who is burned out, exhausted, and trying to bring home the bacon, and fry it too. There's not a lot of support for her. . . . Fast forward, I'm launching a media company, which is all about championing, advocating, and celebrating the mom in the workforce."

Paula named her new company Carry Media because she wants to help carry working mothers by giving them practical and emotional support. "Some women work because they have to put food on the table," noted Paula. "Some women work because they want to. I was the primary breadwinner of our family for a long time. I had moved up the corporate ladder. I got to the pinnacle of my career. And then, I was like, 'What good is it to gain the world, but to lose my soul in the process?' . . . Often, moms have to make a choice. We're punished for just furthering society by even having children. There are these misconceptions that we don't want to work, or we can't get the job done. . . . Motherhood makes us a better leader. Motherhood makes us an empathizer. Motherhood makes us a visionary. Motherhood makes us incredibly efficient. The workplace just needs to do better by moms. . . . So my goal through [Carry Media] is to shine a light on companies that are doing good by working moms, to change the narrative of what it means to be a mom in the workforce. Our slogan is, 'Because being a working mom should work.' . . . We're advocates. We're cheerleaders. We're not burning bridges and bras. We're not beating the dead horse, but we are beating the drum."

In reflecting on both her present and her future, Paula concluded, "God's calling me to this new chapter, and I hold it loosely. He might call me to something else in two years, and that could change. But the point is, I don't determine my value and my worth from what I do anymore. And I know that wherever I'm called, whatever it is vocationally, I'm there to effectively shine a light. That's the ultimate calling: to shine a light for Jesus, wherever you are."

This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column written by Tony Rossi, Director of Communications, The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.

Background information:

The Christophers