Locations: Durham, NC and Seattle, WA
Number of employees: 31
Heidi Baggerman and Devin Brooks understand what it’s like being new parents, from the joys of that first baby smile — you know the one — to the sleepless nights. But Heidi and Devin, who are colleagues at Pocket Prep, are lucky because they both work for a Family Forward NC Certified Employer.
Pocket Prep creates effective, convenient, and engaging test prep apps for more than 130 standardized exams — from nursing to finance to the automotive industry. The company is headquartered in Seattle, though most of its employees live in Durham, North Carolina.
But more importantly, Pocket Prep is an organization that values working parents and puts its employees first. Pocket Prep became a Family Forward NC Certified Employer in 2023.
Below, Heidi and Devin share more about their experiences as working parents, and how the right family supports are so important for families and a company’s overall success.
The Power of Paid Family Leave
Heidi, Pocket Prep’s director of design, joined the company in 2019. Then, she was the company’s solo designer and Pocket Prep had fewer than 10 employees. Now, Heidi leads a team of five, and the company has grown to 31 employees.
Heidi says the support she receives from Pocket Prep makes her role as a working mom possible. “Honestly, I think it’s why I’m still in the workforce and have a job. If I wasn’t supported, I don’t think I’d be in the workforce at the moment,” Heidi says.
At the start of the pandemic, Heidi and her husband temporarily moved to Colorado so her partner could complete a graduate degree. That’s when she really saw Pocket Prep’s family-friendly values firsthand. “One of the first things Pocket Prep did was support our move and allow me to work remotely,” Heidi says. Since COVID-19, the company has maintained a hybrid working model for its employees.
While in Colorado, Heidi found out she was having a little boy – her first child. She worked directly with co-founder Ken Gillette to establish Pocket Prep’s first paid parental leave policy.
Through the policy – which has since been updated – Pocket Prep employees receive 100 percent paid leave ranging from eight weeks for non-birthing parents to 14 weeks for parents who give birth.
As a dad, Senior Digital Marketing Analyst Devin had experience with the non-birthing parent policy.
He says Pocket Prep’s paid parental leave helped keep his family afloat financially while allowing him and his wife to spend time with their daughter after she was born. At the time, Devin’s wife worked for an employer who didn’t offer paid parental leave, so she had to take FMLA leave following the birth of their first daughter.
Since Devin could take paid time off, he could care for his family while worrying a little less about finances.
“It was a stressful time for us, which I think a lot of new parents understand. Pocket Prep was able to take the stress out of the work situation, at least, and let me fully focus on my family,” Devin says.
When his wife was pregnant with their second daughter, Nadia, Devin says his colleagues and managers at Pocket Prep continued being supportive and caring.
“The entire organization, including both owners and my team, were very compassionate,” he says, “especially with our second child, when I was juggling our toddler and helping my wife, who was having a pretty rough pregnancy.”
Supporting Parents as They Come Back to Work
Employees at Pocket Prep have some flexibility in how they choose to return to work after leave. Heidi chose to take four weeks to ramp back up and take the opportunity to settle into her role as a working mom – an option she really appreciated having.
“Your whole life is just so different and unpredictable after having a baby. That transition time was so huge. It felt like such a kind, approachable way to return to work,” she says.
Devin, whose children are a little older, says Pocket Prep’s family-first culture means he can continue spending time with his family when he needs to. That’s why Devin, who has been with Pocket Prep for nearly four years, has no plans to leave.
“Being able to put my family first has made it a much more stress-free time with my family. My relationship with my kids, with my wife, have benefited,” he says. “We all have better relationships because the company allows me to have flexibility and put my family first.”
Devin and Heidi share the same key takeaway: when you take care of your employees, you’re building a stronger team – one that cares about their organization and helps it succeed.
Learn more about becoming a Family Forward NC employer here.
Sample Benefits
- Paid parental leave (14 weeks for birthing parents; 8 weeks for non-birthing parents)
- Paid caregiver leave (8 weeks outside of parental leave to care for a spouse, child, parent, or sibling who needs care for a serious health condition)
- 100% coverage of healthcare premiums
- Remote and flexible work options