I’m Kurt Gees, Social Media Manager for the Philadelphia 76ers, and This Is How I Parent
Kurt Gees is spending his fourth season at the Philadelphia 76ers, currently serving as Senior Social Media Manager. He is responsible for leading the digital team, which includes the generation of ideas, the creation and distribution of content across all social media and digital platforms. Kurt travels roughly 20 away games per season, as well as the playoffs, summer league, drafts and digital conferences throughout the year, resulting in more than 40 days away from home each year.
Name: Kurt Gies
Location: Outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Job: Senior Social Media Manager at the Philadelphia 76ers
Family: My wife Amanda; one-year-old daughter Hazel; and the eight-year-old dog Ru
Has becoming a parent changed the way you work?
Being a parent changed the way I do everything. When it comes to work, it makes me work harder and better to give her a better life and make her proud, but it also puts me in perspective. It is easy to get bogged down in a job, especially a job as difficult as my job, but in the end it’s just a job and my daughter, my wife, my family… that’s the most important thing.
Do you have any special family rituals?
We have very tall, almost floor-to-ceiling windows in the front of our house, and every morning when I leave for work, our daughter stands by the window and waves … and I wave back … then she smiles. .. then I smile in response to her … then she laughs … and I laugh … then I walk to the car, turn around and wave back decisively … and she does the same. I probably need another 15 minutes to leave, but my day off always starts right.
How do you share home / childcare responsibilities with your partner?
I feel like we do a pretty good job of dividing and winning. I work irregular hours and travel quite often, so my goal is to take on so many responsibilities to give my wife, who works as a housewife, a break when I’m at home. Fortunately, the 76s are very family friendly and appreciate our work and travel hours, so I can work from home and then stop by to wander around the house and spend as much time with our daughter as possible. Even before Hazel was born, GSD has always been our motto … Get Stuff Done. It doesn’t matter how, just go for it and do it and we stayed true to it.
What tips or tricks do you have for staying connected while you are away?
Sometimes technology is really great. FaceTime is very important to us. We’ve been doing this since I started traveling again when Hazel was three months old. It started off by just satisfying my need to talk to my wife and see Hazel, and now she grabbed the phone, looked at me, mumbled something, and waved goodbye to me when we finished.
What gadgets, apps, charts, or tools do you rely on?
It’s funny that the digital / social media professional and his family don’t use any gadgets, apps, charts or tools, but we’re pretty old-fashioned. My wife uses a small chalkboard in our kitchen to write down the dinner schedule for the week. We’ve got a 76ers magnet on our fridge to keep track of all games, and a free Humane Society calendar on our fridge to keep track of appointments, travel dates, dog medications, and anything else you can write with Sharpie.
What do you want your daughter to learn from your example?
This may be strange, but promising. I’m not perfect, but I always try to even stay beautiful; not too high, not too low, and I think it is very important to put everything in perspective. Whether it’s what happens at school, at work, in the world or on social media … nothing is the end of the world.
What’s your favorite part of the day?
Come home. This is probably the obvious answer, but when I come home every day our daughter is so excited and turns into a little ball of energy screaming “Dada!” and running around the house, smiling, laughing, bringing me books to read and climbing all over my body. This is the best.
What would you say to other parents who are pursuing a career?
This is similar to my answer about perspective: when you remove all layers of life, remember what is most important … and it does not work.