How Blumenstein thrived at the WSJ and in her career

Leah Fessler of Quartz interviewed New York Times deputy managing editor Rebecca Blumenstein about her career, particularly her 22 years at The Wall Street Journal.

Fessler writes, “Despite the cultural and economic forces that favor men, Blumenstein said the Journal was particularly good at promoting and mentoring women. Two of her promotions occurred when she was on maternity leave, she said, one of which led her to move from Detroit to New York City with a six-month old baby.

“When Blumenstein became pregnant with her third child — which she says was a rarity at the Journal, where most parents had no more than two children — she was nervous to tell her then-editor, Paul Steiger. ‘I was just panicked, and I went into his office and immediately started apologizing,’ she recalled. ‘I was like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m really serious about my career, I promise this won’t affect my work.”

“Steiger cut her off. ‘Rebecca, I’ve been watching you for a long time,’ she says he told her. ‘You have one kid, come back, and you’re fine. You have two kids, come back, you’re fine. You can have fifty kids, for all I care, and you’ll be fine.’

“‘With that, I picked myself up, and I was okay,’ said Blumenstein. Two years later, Steiger sent her to China, to become bureau chief, along with her three children.”

Read more here.