Employee Spotlight: Alex Codreanu

dv01 has some rockstar employees in its ranks. The Employee Spotlight series highlights talented individuals in the dv01 family. In celebration of Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, we spoke with software engineer Alex Codreanu.

You've been working remotely since joining dv01 in June 2019. Why do you elect to work from home?
When my daughter was born, my wife was the one taking her to and from daycare and to all the doctor visits. Since my job was in downtown Chicago and a 45-minute commute from where we lived, it was difficult to help. I felt like I was missing out on spending time with my daughter, but it was also a bit unfair for my wife to have all the responsibility. Now that I work from home, I can take part in those fun activities as well.

As a work-from-home parent, how do you balance family time and work?
Before becoming a dad, the hardest part was finding a good time to disconnect from the laptop. That became fairly easy once my daughter came into picture. I have a hard stop when my daughter comes from daycare. I can continue working a bit later, but I try to spend those 2-3 hours with her when there isn’t any emergency at work.

What advice do you have for parents that are now working from home with their children?
I think it’s hard to stay focused with a toddler pulling your leg to get away from the computer. My secret has been to hand my daughter to her grandma in the morning. It works way better than anything else I’ve tried. In the days when we are together, my wife and I try to interpolate our schedules so only one of us is with her while the other person works. A lot of physical activities make the noon naps longer, too.