MELINDA GATES could have settled for a life of luxury. Instead, as one half of one of the world’s wealthiest couples, she’s decided to do what she’s best at: CHANGING THE WORLD, ONE WOMAN AT A TIME
When Melinda Gates had three small children (her youngest is now 16), she noticed she was always the last one standing – and cleaning – in the kitchen after dinner. How did it happen? Her spouse (that’d be Microsoft founder Bill Gates) was a fair-minded partner; he’d even recently caused a kerfuffle at their daughter Jennifer’s preschool when he started dropping her off two days a week, obliterating every other father’s excuse for not being there.
Gates, an early pioneer in the male-dominated tech industry (she was a Microsoft product manager when she met Bill and initially turned him down), needed a hack for this domestic conundrum. “Finally I came up with this rule: nobody leaves the kitchen until Mum leaves the kitchen,” says Gates. “Well, guess what? Everybody asks, ‘What can I do?’ so they can get out of the kitchen. So I got out 15 minutes sooner and I was a lot happier.”
Which begs the question: if a hyper-wealthy American woman has to negotiate for 15 minutes a day, what’s at stake for women in Africa, where the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has worked to enable equality since 2000?
Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av ELLE Australia.
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Denne historien er fra December 2018-utgaven av ELLE Australia.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Books: Shelf-Care
Find a little respite in this season’s most exciting new reads
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Kick Start
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Music: Everything Is Illuminated
Phoebe Bridgers is a musician who revels in the darkness, albeit having earned her place in the spotlight
SUPER NATURE ESCAPISM WILDERNESS BREATHING INFRESH AIR BATHING IN SUNSHINE
IN THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY AND NEW HORIZONS, MODEL GEORGIA FOWLER HEADS FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS
THE big CLEANSE
WE’VE PURGED OUR KITCHEN CABINETS OF SUGAR AND CULLED THE CLOTHES THAT DON’T SPARK JOY, BUT WE MAY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE MOST BENEFICIAL (AND EASIEST) CLEANSE OF ALL
TALKING to strangers
SINCE THE EARLY 1900S, AN AGONY AUNT HAS BEEN A WILLING EAR. BUT AT A TIME OF DMS AND ASKME-ANYTHINGS, SEEKING ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW HAS BECOME RISKY BUSINESS
singled OUT
WE’VE ENTERED AN ERA OF MYRIAD RELATIONSHIP STATUSES – COUPLED, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, OPEN, POLYGAMOUS, THREE-DIGITALDATES-IN-BUT UNSURE-WHERE-THIS-IS-GOING. But is flying solo the last taboo?
GYPSY CREEK
INTERIOR DESIGNER LOUELLA BOÌTELGILL TAKES US INSIDE HER QUIRKY BYRON BAY HINTERLAND CREATION, WHICH OVERFLOWS WITH A BEACHY, HAPPY VIBE
DRIVE: DESIGN in motion
HOW THE HOTTEST INTERIOR TRENDS COULD DEFINE WHAT YOUR NEXT CAR LOOKS LIKE
