Balancing career and family is a struggle for most working parents. As this Father’s Day approaches, we’re inspired by those dads who manage to create successful careers that not only allow time for families but actually strengthen them.

Edward Hechter

Edward Hechter was Executive VP and General Manager of a major web development firm, managing hundreds of employees and operations spread across the country. After 18 years as a corporate road warrior averaging 150 travel days per year, he decided that being an effective corporate officer required too great a sacrifice on his ability to be the husband and father he aspired to be.

A year after helping take the web development firm public, he decided to combine his skills in ecommerce and online marketing with his wife’s experience in business operations and technology. In January 2007, they acquired and re-launched PartyPail.com. Within 10 months, they expanded out of their house into a 1,800 square-foot warehouse less than a mile from their children’s school and started hiring employees. By 2008, they expanded to a 9,000 square-foot facility even closer to their children’s school. They are now in an 11,000 square-foot facility shipping 6,000 orders per month generating millions of dollars in sales each year.

The Hechters seek to provide their 24 employees with a family-friendly work environment, and so they’ve created a “Mom Squad” of parents and grandparents generating income while having the flexibility to be involved in their family lives.

“Of all the ‘jobs’ I’ve had, the best job I’ve ever had is being a dad and husband. The great joy in my life has revolved around my wife and kids. Working in the corporate world traveling 150+ days per year put a strain on our family, and it caused me to miss things I can never recapture. Since starting PartyPail, I’ve been able to attend EVERY play, school program, sporting event, Scout outing, and fun family event without any interruption in my professional career. I’ve been blessed to have the flexibility to be a soccer coach, a Scout leader, a school volunteer, and much more. I get to drive my son(s) to school, and often get to pick them up as well. My relationship with my children, and my wife, is very strong, and feeds my soul – something I’m sure would be more challenging if I were still a road warrior in the corporate world.”

Yahoo! applauds the Hechters for not only re-shaping their careers to allow them to prioritize family, but also for creating a work environment that allows their employees to do the same.

Nacho Hernandez

Having missed out on the opportunity to work in the family business his great grandfather started, his grandfather worked on, and his father eventually sold, Nacho Hernandez felt compelled to create his own family business, so he launched MexGrocer.com.  Over a decade and 150,000 customers later, he and his father are working side-by-side to create a new family legacy.

“My great-grandfather started a family legacy that lasted for three generations. The company was sold in my father's generation, and so I was unable to be a part of it. We started MexGrocer.com to re-create and reclaim a new family legacy. My hope is that in a decade or two, I’ll still be here working side-by-side with my own children, and for decades after that, they’ll be passing the heritage onto their children and their children’s children.

“Some people are only able to see their fathers once or twice a year. By having the opportunity to start a new business with my father and thanks to the great ecommerce platform we’ve received from Yahoo!, I’m able to work side-by-side with my own father every day. And we don’t just see each other – we’re building a business legacy together.”

Yahoo! celebrates Hernandez for melding work and family to create a legacy to last for generations.

Hear more about Edward Hechter’s story

Hear more about Nacho Hernandez’s story