Just a note that today’s newsletter discusses a newborn’s serious medical situation, including a hospital stay and surgery. Two years later he’s doing well, but we wanted to give you a heads-up before you dive in.
You might already be familiar with Claire Wasserman, the founder and figurehead of Ladies Get Paid, the popular career development organization. We love Claire for her honesty about everything from the size of her book advance to her experience being sued by men’s rights activists.
Ashley, her wife, is the cofounder of Ladies Get Paid and works on marketing for their company and others. The two have built a powerhouse brand, complete with a newsletter and eponymous podcast and book, and Claire counts NASA and Good Morning America among her clientele.
But Claire is just as open about her career highs as she is about her personal lows. In 2024, the couple welcomed twins Raphael and Antonia, but the joy quickly turned to worry when a nurse detected a heart murmur in Raph.
Their son was born with congenital heart defects and underwent open-heart surgery shortly after coming into the world. He was then placed on an artificial heart machine, ventilator, and received a pacemaker. As Claire said, it was a lot on his little body.
It has also been punishing financially. Raph’s medical needs have cost an untold amount of money, putting strain on the family and also turning Claire and Ashley into experts at dealing with insurance. (Like when they negotiated a $1.3 million hospital bill.) The two were forced to step away from their company to focus on family—caring for twins, one with a life-threatening medical condition, is more than a full-time job.
Raph is thankfully doing much better now, though two years later he is still recovering. And while every parent needs to adapt their schedules to the needs of their children, Claire and Ashley have extra considerations with Raphael, including ongoing doctor appointments, which they discuss in today’s Division of Labor.
It’s a lot to take on, but Claire and Ashley have done so with equal parts grace and candor. Below, they detail how they juggle their respective jobs while taking care of twins and managing all of their appointments. - Alicia
Name: Claire Wasserman
Age: 39
Spouse’s Name: Ashley
Spouse’s Age: 37
Relationship Status: Married
Number of children and their ages: Two-year-old twins
Your job and how many hours you work per week: I am a career coach, author, and speaker, part-time. I work 27 hours a week, solo parent for 30.5 hours a week, and then coparent for 16.5 hours.
Your spouse/partner’s job and how many hours they work per week: Ashley is a marketing consultant, full-time; she works 45 hours a week and coparents 16.5 hours a week.
Type of childcare you use: Daycare, five half days per week. One twin goes three days and the other goes two. Ideally, both would be in daycare full-time, but it’s too cost prohibitive right now.
How do you split up household responsibilities? I handle the kid stuff as “primary mommy,” plus do the laundry; Ashley handles the “running the household stuff,” i.e. bills, registrations, filings, taxes, groceries, etc.
What labor do you outsource? We outsource some daycare and Amazon for groceries.
How did you decide who does what? I handle stuff that has to do with taking care of the kids, Ashley handles stuff that has to do with life/home. Given how labor-intensive it is to watch the kids, plus Ashley’s superior executive functioning, that made for a natural division of labor.
Can you share one “parenting hack” that’s worked for your family? Scheduling the coffee maker the night before, and seeing a couple’s therapist.
How do you spend quality time together as a couple? We spend time together when we watch TV or read.
Do you feel like it’s a fair division of labor? Yes and no. Yes, in that we’ve been fairly flexible in who is doing the primary parenting (it changes depending on who is making more money), but because of my bipolar type II diagnosis, which has significant ADHD-like tendencies, I often struggle to follow through on household admin tasks. I recently added a new medication to my repertoire, so that, plus a book on ADHD, will hopefully help me carry more of my weight in that department.
Anything else you’d like to share? Couples counseling is the best!
Claire and Ashley shared a recent weekday.
4:50 a.m.
Claire: Alarm goes off. I hit snooze immediately.
Ashley: Zzzz.
4:55 a.m.
Claire: Open eyes, reach for Wellbutrin, and then sprint to the kitchen for a handful of graham crackers. (I can’t take it on an empty stomach!) The pot of coffee has mercifully been brewed.
Ashley: Asleep.
5:00 a.m.
Claire: My morning accountability group kicks off our daily Google Hangout. We share what we’re working on and then focus for two 55-minute sprints.
Ashley: Asleep.
5:30 a.m.
Claire: Send out a newsletter to the Ladies Get Paid listserve that I’m available for speaking gigs. (Hello, Women’s History and Financial Literacy Months!)
Ashley: Asleep.
6:00 a.m.
Claire: Go through what Claude did overnight analyzing my coaching transcripts; finalize my 90-day program and its sales page.
Ashley: Asleep.
6:30 a.m.
Claire: Put Ladies Get Paid work aside for the moment and put the bottles in the warmer and unload the dishwasher.
Ashley: Wake up and read 831 Stories’ newest romance novel Rooting Interest. It’s their first sapphic novel! And it hits one of my favorite tropes, sports, AKA the WNBA.
7:00 a.m.
Claire: Post on social: @clairegetspaid and @ladiesgetpaid.
Ashley: Still reading.
7:20 a.m.
Claire and Ashley: Play music through the baby monitor, our daily ritual. Today’s song is Mama Cass’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music.” Shoutout to LOST fans.
7:30 a.m.
Claire: Give the kids their bottles, change diapers, and get dressed.
Ashley: Make breakfast: eggs for Raphael and greek yogurt with peanut butter and bananas for Antonia.
7:45 a.m.
Claire and Ashley: Breakfast and playtime.
8:20 a.m.
Claire: I take Toni to daycare, which is thankfully only eight minutes away.
Ashley: Playtime with Raph.
8:45 a.m.
Claire: I get back and scarf down black beans, rice, shredded cheese, salsa, and guacamole. Then I take care of some outstanding emails.
Ashley: Playtime with Raph.
9:00 a.m.
Claire: Normally, I am the primary parent, but with a big keynote presentation happening next week, Ashley is stepping in.
Ashley: Take Raphael for back-to-back occupational therapy and speech appointments; I work in the waiting room.
9:15 a.m.
Claire: Put in a load of laundry. It’s in the basement of our apartment building, which is annoying since I’m lazy AF. Plus, one machine is always broken so my two-load situation goes super slowly.
Ashley: Chat with Raphael’s speech therapist.
9:30 a.m.
Claire: In the midst of overhauling my website, doing copy edits with a fine-tooth comb.
Ashley: I downloaded one million words of Claire’s career coaching transcripts. I’m using Claude Code to process the data and surface patterns and insights. This will help with product offerings, marketing, and content.
10:00 a.m.
Claire: Laundry break.
Ashley: Catch up with Raphael’s OT.
10:10 a.m.
Claire: Finish up website edits.
Ashley: Work on building my autonomous AI operating system/chief of staff; drive home with Raph around 10:30.
11:00 a.m.
Claire: Laundry break (again).
Ashley: Catch up with Claire about Raphael’s sessions.
11:12 a.m.
Claire: Grab a handful of cashews and a bit of chocolate before heading into the nursery. I’m on childcare duty for the next two hours.
11:30 a.m.
Claire: Child care.
Ashley: Claire and I volunteer with Camp del Corazon, an amazing nonprofit that provides free summer camp for kids with heart disease. We’re helping to get sponsors and donations for their upcoming fundraising gala, so I do some research and send requests. (If you want to get involved, DM me or something!)
12:00 p.m.
Claire: Raphael has leftovers for lunch, and I have a salad with tofu, pretzel thins, and Toscano cheese from Trader Joe’s.
12:30 p.m.
Claire: Pick up Antonia.
Ashley: Build Magna-Tiles with Raphael.
1 p.m.
Claire: Put the kids down for a nap, their second sans pacifiers (eek!). Then I lie down. I try to take a nap every day, perks from working from home.
Ashley: Put the kids down for a nap.
1:30 p.m.
Claire: Wake up from my nap, grab half a cupcake, and leave for my therapy appointment.
Ashley: I have leftover pad Thai for lunch.
2:00 p.m.
Claire: Therapy.
Ashley: I have a sales discovery call and chat with someone about needing a go-to-market plan and execution for an upcoming launch.
2:30 p.m.
Claire: Therapy.
Ashley: Use Claude Code to analyze the call transcript. Comb over the company’s website, take notes.
3:00 p.m.
Claire: Drive home.
Ashley: Put together an overview proposal and send it to the potential client.
3:10 p.m.
Claire: Quick pee, eat the second half of the cupcake, and jump on Google Hangout. I am leading a prep call for a panel I’m moderating at an upcoming conference.
3:30 p.m.
Claire: Leading prep call.
Ashley: I wrote my business website almost two months ago when I first kicked off my marketing consulting. Now that I’ve got a bunch of calls under my belt, I had Claude Code analyze the transcripts to identify what people actually are looking for—it’s always different from what they say they are looking for—and refine my ideal customer profile.
3:45 p.m.
Claire: Put the bottles in the warmer and make a dinner of angel hair pasta with shrimp. Yum!
Ashley: Write new copy, use Claude Code to write site updates, and then push a new version to Cloudflare.
4:00 p.m.
Claire: Organize mailings for The Practice, a deck of cards I created that transforms your inner critic in 30 days.
4:15 p.m.
Claire and Ashley: Wake the kids up from their naps, and we give ‘em their bottles.
4:30 p.m.
Claire: Child care.
Ashley: I’m still working thorough warm outreach for client lead gen. I downloaded my LinkedIn contacts, and I had Claude analyze who my “big connectors” are. I’m working down the list and sending 10 to 20 emails per day.
5:00 p.m.
Claire: Dinner.
Ashley: Help with dinner.
5:30 p.m.
Claire: Watch TV. The kids are currently obsessed with The Magic School Bus.
6:00 p.m.
Claire and Ashley: Bath time.
6:30 p.m.
Claire: Get the kids into pajamas, read a few books (they’re loving Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard), and put them down early since we need to get to our movie.
Ashley: I spend some time with the kids and Claire for wind-down time and then spend some time cleaning up the kitchen, running the dishwasher, setting the coffee for the next morning, and giving Raphael his meds for his heart disease.
7:00 p.m.
Claire: The kids are down and we dash out. We’re lucky that our cousins live next door, and the baby monitor extends across the hallway. Not paying for a babysitter is a godsend.
Ashley: Claire and I depart for AMC, confirming we packed the snacks. I’m an AMC Stubs member; for $20 per year, you pay no transaction fees ever, and you earn rewards points. Tickets are 50% off on Tuesday, and I had a $10 redemption, so the total cost for two tickets is $11.60.
7:30 p.m.
Claire: We’re seeing Wuthering Heights.
Ashley: Clap at Nicole Kidman’s AMC intro. “Heartbreak feels good in a place like this!”
8:00 p.m.
Ashley: Marvel at Margot Robbie’s blush, and Jacob Elordi’s defined biceps.
8:30 p.m.
Ashley: Gasp out loud and yell “WHOO” when rich, hot Heathcliffe emerges from the fog; the crowd cheers.
9:00 p.m.
Ashley: Wow Nicole wasn’t kidding. I cry like a baby.
9:30 p.m.
Claire: Depart for home.
Ashley: Validate parking voucher, pay $5. Drive home. Talk about Jacob Elordi lifting up Margot Robbie by her corset; debate if hating on Emerald Fennell is sexist.
10:00 p.m.
Claire: Home and nighttime routine including Latuda and Lexapro (which I’m in the midst of phasing out).
Ashley: Home and nighttime routine including rosewater spray, rosehip oil, Lexapro, and brushing teeth.
10:30 p.m.
Claire: In bed. Currently reading books on shame—just your typical light reading. :)
Ashley: Gua sha routine and read (I’m back to Rooting Interest).
11:00 p.m.
Claire: Pass out.
Ashley: Read a bit more before passing out.
Thank you, Claire and Ashley! Please comment with kindness!
What else we published this week
- We asked and you answered: 15 women share their households' grocery and dining out budgets.
Alicia Adamczyk
- Lindsey needs to cancel an account on an allowance app she set up for Freddy that they never use and Alicia needs to roll over her old 401(k). What about you?
Lindsey Stanberry
