Countywide : Magazine Honors Fillmore Couple

The Fillmore parents of two have been honored by a national magazine as 1993 Working Parents of the Year for their innovative method of arranging parental leave after the birth of their second child.

Marc and Lisa Pronovost, who both work at Patagonia Inc. in Ventura, got the news earlier this year from Working Mother magazine.

But it didn’t really sink in, they said, until they received the May issue earlier this week. Their faces adorn the cover of 925,000 issues.

“We went up to mailbox and there’s our photos,” said Marc, 40, an offshore production manager with the outdoor clothing firm.

“It was a long time in the making,” he said. “They wrote the article three or four months ago, but you finally realize it’s happened when you see your photo on the cover of a national magazine.”

The Pronovosts were recognized for juggling the parental leave benefits offered by Patagonia, which allows new mothers and fathers up to two months of paid leave.

Both parents took a week off after the birth of Nathalie, now 18 months old, but for the next 15 weeks, Lisa stayed home. Marc divided his leave by the hour instead of by the day, however, and was able to help Lisa during mornings and late afternoons for the first several months. When Lisa returned to work full time, Marc took the last of his leave to care for his daughter.

“We thought they were very creative in their solution,” said Judsen Culbreth, editor-in-chief of Working Mother. “This is a solution that our readers might be able to use in their own life.

“I wish I’d thought of it in my own situation,” she added.

The Pronovosts, married seven years, also are the proud parents of Kelsey, 4 1/2.

“With most families being two-income families, it takes a lot of coordination to start and raise a family,” said Lisa, a sportswear and children’s clothes buyer. “It takes some of the stress off when a company supports that.”

Marc said other firms could take a lesson from his employer.

“Patagonia is one of the very few and rare companies that offers a two-month paid paternity leave for its employees,” he said. “The bottom line is it makes for a more dedicated employee.”