In this podcast episode, I’m discussing defining, or re-defining, our vision of what it means to be a working mom by better integrating career and motherhood in 2025. Through a 7 step process, I invite listeners to engage in assessing their season of motherhood and career, master their time, embrace self-care, among other steps…
Are you ready to integrate motherhood and career this year? Listen in!
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for tuning in and listening to this week’s episode! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please share it by using the social media at the bottom of this post!
Also, leave me a review for the TCS podcast on Apple Podcasts !
I was recently on a trip back home to Senegal to visit my aging parents. Sandwiched in between taking care of my parents, mothering my teens from a distance, and intermittently checking my work email, I realized how much motherhood had evolved for me. I was literally mothering my aging parents, while remotely ensuring my kids were ok, and still trying to wear all the hats even while away. As I was watching my mother, I also could notice how much motherhood had changed for her as well. If you’re reading this and nodding, you may have noted how your own experiences of motherhood have changed over time as well. You may also be struggling with integrating motherhood and career as you evolve as a working mom….
Motherhood is an ever-changing journey…
One thing I’ve learned as a working mom, is that motherhood is an ever-changing journey. Never quite the same from one year to the other, one season to the other. One season, you’re changing diapers back-to-back while preparing your return to work after maternity leave. Another season, you’re worrying about your teen’s mental health, while learning to mother your own parents. Yet another, you’re dropping young adults off to college, and coming back to an empty nest. Through it all, your vision of motherhood must keep evolving, as your heart and mind adjust to the changes…
The Challenges of Integrating Motherhood and Career…
Add to this the ever-present challenges of integrating motherhood and career in today’s fast-paced world. Now more than ever it seems, the demands on parents, and on mothers in particular, are astronomical to say the least. Modern stressors such as social media, the youth mental health crisis, and unique economic challenges have put heavy pressure on parents, leading to the recent U.S. Surgeon General advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents. This is even more prevalent with evolving professional expectations in 2025, including leadership roles, as well as hybrid and remote work. Women are increasingly entering leadership roles, at a rate of 37% in 2024, up from 32% in 2015, according to Mc Kinsey & Company’s Women in the Workplace 2024 report. Women are also more likely to select remote or flexible work options, citing work-life integration, increased focus and productivity, and reduced exposure to micro-aggressions.
All of these challenges make it all the more important to re-evaluate our own kind of motherhood every so often; and reflecting on how to better integrate motherhood and career. What kind of mother am I in this season? Where am I in my life and career as related to the mom I am today? What needs to stay? What needs to go? Such are the heart-wrenching, but necessary questions, so many of us often fail to ask ourselves as we journey through motherhood as working moms.
When was the last time you re-evaluated your own vision and definition of motherhood? Have you asked yourself lately what kind of mom you see yourself as? When did you last etch in your mind, or on paper, the picture of your own brand of motherhood?
If these questions resonate with you, here are some steps to define your own vision of motherhood this year:
1. Do Your “Mommy Audit”
Just like you perform your career audit periodically, take some time to pause and perform your “mommy audit” as well. Assessing who you are as a working mom in this season of your life and career is the first step to defining (and redefining) your own vision of motherhood.
Are you in a season where your kids are smaller and your career is taking a backseat? Or are you faced with the delicate teenage years while caring for aging parents and moving into leadership roles at work? Or are you an empty nester with more time on your hands?
2. Define what matters most in motherhood and career
Based on your “mommy audit”, identify your family and work priorities in this season of your life and career. What matters most this year, quarter, month, or even week? This also requires creating boundaries around your non-negotiables, including family events, family time, and work hours.
If like me, you are raising teenagers requiring you to be more present as they gain their independence, then blocking your time off to be more present becomes crucial. This may also prompt you to work in a more focused and efficient manner so you can honor your family time.
3. Master Your Time
Time is working moms’ most precious, and most abused, commodity. Hence why guarding your time is a priority as a working mom. There are a few things you can do to protect your time:
Leverage technology: From calendar apps such as Calendly, to project management tools such as Asana, and family scheduling platforms like good ol’ Google shared calendars, are my go-to’s.
Block your time: I often say “if it’s not on my calendar, it’s not happening’. Allocating specific blocks of time for parenting, self-care, and work allows to waste less time.
Break tasks into smaller steps: Learning to break down big projects into smaller tasks allows to be more intentional and effective with your use of time.
Delegate, delegate, delegate: You can’t do it all. And why would you want to? Setting a system to delegate tasks and responsibilities at home and at work can go a long way towards freeing your time. As a bonus, research shows kids are more successful when they do chores.
4. Build a Support System
An important part of defining or re-defining your vision as a working mom in the new year is to re-evaluate your support system. It takes a village to raise kids, have a career and wear all the hats working moms do. However, the unfortunate reality is, too many working moms do not have a village to rely on. This is where learning to build your own villages comes into play:
Build your work village: Asking for support at work is not a weakness. However, this depends on the type of work environment you’re in. What does building your work village look like? It can look like advocating for increased flexibility, such as flexible or remote work opportunities. Support at work can also come in the form of mentors or sponsors, who may well understand working mothers’ challenges and help advocate for you.
Build your home village: At home, support can look like enlisting the help of your spouse, children, family, and childcare services. It can also take the form of supportive working parents’ network, who can serve as resources as well.
5. Embrace self-care
Self-care is a non-negotiable as a working mom. Whether it’s prioritizing your health through exercise, sleep and healthy eating, or scheduling “me time”, carving some time out for you is a must.
Another important aspect of self-care has to do with letting go of the “mommy guilt” eating at you every time you do something for you. Instead, choosing to shift your mindset from guilt to “doing your best” can help in the process. Lastly, don’t forget to celebrate your wins, small or big.
6. Set Your Vision
Now is the time to put all the pieces together and create a vision of your own brand of working motherhood. What milestones fit into this vision? How can they be broken into smaller, more achievable pieces? How can you align your long-term family vision to your professional goals?
7. Get Inspired by Other Women
Last but not least, get inspiration from the women around you to fuel your vision as you refine and adjust it over time. Who are the women around you who are successfully integrating their family life and work? Are there even role models on social media that you can informally get inspired by?
All in all, integrating motherhood and career looks different from one person to the next. At the end of the day, it’s really about what works for each and everyone of us. Taking small, actionable steps can help. Thriving both as a parent and as a professional is possible, after all.
In this episode, I discuss ditching traditional career goals and instead embracing your own career vision by audting your career in the past 12 months. I discuss 10 steps to start with at the beginning of 2025 to audit your career.
Listen in!
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for tuning in and listening to this week’s episode! If you enjoyed this week’s episode, please share it by using the social media at the bottom of this post!
Also, leave me a review for the TCS podcast on Apple Podcasts !
‘Tis the season to set big, lofty career goals for the New Year. It rolls around every year, lasts about a couple of days/weeks/minutes to a month and generally ends in a puddle of unanswered emails and too long meetings. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m referring to. You also may realize like me that with time, we may get tired of the big, lofty goals, and want something different. You know the “it’s not you, it’s me” kind of thing, just with your career on a Monday morning instead of the usual Saturday night heart-to-heart. And like so many working women and moms, you may just have come to the point where you’re ready to move on from the collection of scattered, albeit great, goals, and embrace the vision of your career that fits in with your life.
I realized after years of setting pages-long lists of ambitious career goals that I wanted something else. Something more “me”, that lets me be all of me, the mom, wife, writer, nerd and everything in between. After a career change, kids, marriage, and in the throngs of perimenopause, I was over the career hype and fallacy that women should have it all at all times. Basically, I was tired of dating my work goals, and ready to marry my ideal career. There, I said it…
Why Ditch Your Work Goals and Marry Your Career Vision Instead
Your work goals are the guys you pick and go on a few dates with. Your career vision is the guy you marry and stick with (hopefully) for the rest of your life, through the ups and downs, the kids, mortgage, grey hairs and aching knees. Now your career vision may take different forms, quite a few iterations, lots of changes, flexibility and forgiveness, but at the end of the day, it’s still the vision.It still keeps you grounded while teaching you to bob and weave through the obstacle courses of life as a working woman and mom. And no one goes through longer and more arduous obstacle courses in life than women and moms…
So if you’re a working woman looking to be more grounded in your career while still maintaining your professional edge, I’d strongly suggest jumping out of the goal-dating poll into the vision-setting arena. And it starts with auditing your career first. Independently of being an ex-auditor and totally biased on the subject, I’m also a fervent believer of the maxim “In order to know where you’re going, you must know where you’re coming from.” Your career holds a wealth of data that can help you learn about yourself, your purpose and your vision; that is, if you take the time to re-evaluate it periodically, at least once a quarter. And this is exactly what a career audit can provide…
Why Auditing Your Career Matters
Just like a financial audit sheds light on the financial results of a business, a career audit provides clarity on you stand professionally. Not only is it a powerful indicator of your strengths and areas of growth, it’s also an opportunity to reflection on your purpose and alignment with your life path. A career audit can help you determine if the work you do indeed supports you values and priorities, and contributes to your well-being, or if it’s time to make some changes.
Here are a 10 steps to audit your career and set a vision for your professional future:
Step 1: Make an Inventory of Your Achievements
This first step is probably the most underrated, yet among the most critical ones, especially for working women. While many of us tend to underestimate our accomplishments, they can be a powerful source of information for our careers. Whether these are successful projects, professional milestones, or individual objectives, do not discount them!
Ask yourself:
How did I best contribute to my team or organization?
What were my most significant wins at work?
What are the achievements I am the most proud of, and why?
Action Step:
To make this process easier, create your own “Bragging File” by using a spreadsheet or journal to keep track of your accomplishments. In addition to being an undeniable mood-booster, it will also facilitate the process of updating your resume/CV as well as your Linked In profile.
Step 2: Assess Your Growth
Your growth in skills and abilities is your career currency. Assessing how much you’ve grown in terms of the skills you’ve acquired or improved is crucial to auditing your career. So is the practice of flagging the areas in which you need more improvement.
Ask yourself:
What new skills did I gain this past year?
What existing skills did I improve upon?
Are my current skills in alignment with my career progression and industry trends?
Action Step:
To help with this step, create a learning plan for this year including the skills you plan on learning or improving in. Your learning plan may include workshops to attend, online courses or certifications to take, or mentorship in specific areas.
Step 3: Evaluate Your Job Satisfaction
You spend too much time at work not to assess your job satisfaction. It’s about more than just collecting a pay check. It’s also about your fulfillment, your joy, and ultimately your alignment with your purpose.
Ask yourself:
What was your level of job satisfaction this past year on a scale of 1-10?
Did you feel supported and valued at your place of work?
Was your personal life in sync with your career and vice-versa?
Action Step:
Depending on your job satisfaction score, asses what needs to change in your career. It may be considering a new role, seeking a promotion, or making a lateral move.
Step 4: Review Your Performance Feedback
Feedback is a powerful tool to help identify your strengths, areas of growth, as well as the fit of the team or organization you’re in. Reviewing the feedback you receive, whether in the form of formal performance reviews, internal feedback, or informal advice, can go a long way in assessing how you are perceived and making the necessary changes, if needed.
Ask yourself:
What were the main themes emerging from the feedback you received this past year?
What were the areas of improvement and growth noted?
Did you agree with the feedback?
What did you do to implement the advice given?
Action Step:
Create a feedback evaluation file, where you log in the main feedback themes, areas of growth, as well as steps taken to address these. Based on your evaluation, identify areas you will work on this year to address the feedback from last year.
Step 5: Evaluate Your Compensation
Newsflash: the gender pay gap is far from closing. Hence why it is so important to periodically review your compensation. This not only ensures that you’re aware of industry trends, as well as competitive salaries for your role, but that you also keep yourself marketable in your role and company.
Ask yourself:
Is my salary competitive with industry trends and standards?
Is my salary in line with peers at my current organization?
Are my benefits in line with my actual needs (parental leave, healthcare, retirement, etc)
Action step:
Create an “I’m Worth It” Folder that you periodically update with research on the current salary benchmarks for your industry and role. You can use platforms such as Payscale or Glassdoor to conduct your research.
Prepare yourself to negotiate your salary and/or benefits if need be.
Step 6: Conduct a Network Audit
One of the most underrated career assets for women is their network. Sallie Krawcheck, founder and CEO of women’s focused investment platform Ellevest, famously said: “Networking is the number one unwritten rule of success”. And she was right on the money…
The stronger and more diverse your network, the stronger your career…
Ask yourself:
What new professional connections did you make the past year?
Did you nurture your professional network in the past year?
Do you need to strengthen your network, in terms of mentors, sponsors and peers in your field and beyond?
Action step:
Crete a “Networking File” where you log at least one networking event per quarter, and update it regularly as you strengthen your network.
Step 7: Re-evaluate Your Work-Life Alignment
I don’t believe in work-life balance. There, I said it again…At the end of the day, balance is elusive, but alignment is possible. Re-evaluating how well this alignment is working is a priority at the beginning of every year, and frankly, anywhere in between.
Ask yourself:
Did you feel your work was in alignment with your personal life this past year?
Did you experience overwhelm or burnout? When and for how long?
Did you set proper boundaries last year to take care of yourself? If not, why?
Action step:
Commit to setting boundaries in your work this year. It could be not addressing emails after a certain time, or not working on weekends.
Step 8: Fail Forward
Repeat with me: “Failure is not a dirty word.” Research by Borgnovi and Han (2021) shows women tend to report higher fear of failure than their male counterparts, which can negatively impact women in and out of the workplace. Yet, failures are one of the most invaluable sources of growth. Hence why reflecting on what didn’t go well can be so beneficial in a new season.
Ask yourself:
What were my biggest professional failures and challenges this past year?
What did I learn from these?
What can I do this year to not repeat the same failures?
Action step:
By now, you know I love creating reflection-based files. Well, this is no exception. Create a “Failure Journal” to log your failures throughout the year, lessons learned and steps taken to address these. Remember, the more you recover from failure, the better you get…
Step 9: Visualize your Ideal Career
Now the real fun starts…Call me a dreamer, but I believe in seeing the end result before it manifests, that is, seeing it in your mind’s eye. So pause and take a minute (or 100) to dream up your ideal career. Visualize in the eye of your mind what your career looks like at the end of this year.
Ask yourself:
How does your career feel at the end of this year? (peaceful, energizing, inspiring, etc)
What role or work environment is a good fit for you?
What accomplishments would make you feel purposeful and fulfilled this year?
How does your career best align with you personal life and values?
Action Step:
Create your “Career Vision Board” where you illustrate with pictures what your ideal career looks like. If you’re not a vision board type of gal, then consider writing yourself a letter describing your ideal career. Use these all throughout the year to refresh yourself on your vision.
Step 10: Commit to a first step toward your vision!
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your ideal career won’t either. So start this journey with a first step. Decide on ONE thing you can do TODAY to leverage your career audit and move toward your career vision.
Ask yourself:
What is ONE thing I can do TODAY to get closer to the vision of my ideal career?
Action Step:
This one is pretty short. Just do it!
Performing a career audit is not for the faint of hearts, I’ll give you that. Yet, it may be the single most rewarding investment you make of your time and energy as the year starts, especially as a working woman and mom. Reflecting on your path so far, and committing to a career vision that frees you to be all of you, is already a win! And you’re just starting the year…
Will be auditing your career this year? Are you ready to embrace the vision for your career this year?
You know that sumthin’ sumthin’ about Christmas and the year-end holidays that just makes you lose a bit (or a lot) of your financial mind and neglect your money a bit (or a lot)? That feeling that you don’t need to check your bank account or credit card statement until after the New year because… YOLO? And then the New year rolls around, you’re not exactly sure where you stand financially and you’re setting new money goals with no baseline to start from. I’ve been there…This is why a smart money move to make as a working woman and mom is to audit your past year’s finances before even considering setting new financial goals for the New Year.
Now more than ever, women’s finances are taking center stage. As revealed by a 2020 McKinsey and Company report, women are to be the primary wealth holders in the U.S. by 2030. According to this Lending Treeanalysis, single women surpass singe men in home ownership. Women now run more than 10% of all Fortune 500 companies. This potential wealth transfer will cause American women to control much of baby boomers’ $30 trillion in assets. Needless to say, now is not the time to neglect your finances or mishandle your money.
If you are considering smart money moves to make as the New Year rolls around, here are a few financial boxes to check:
1. Do Your Financial Year-End Audit:
Reviewing your finances is one of the first steps to building a healthy financial house. From revisiting your budget to checking your holiday spending, taking some time to strategically go over your financial situation:
Budget check: Check your budget for the past 12 months to better understand your spending patterns. This will allow you to adjust your budget for the new year as needed.
Emergency fund check: Do you have 3 to 6 months of savings that could be applied to emergencies such as job losses or medical crisis? If not, reconsider your savings patterns and adjust your goals for the new year.
Debt check: Where is your debt standing at the moment? Have you been making a dent in it, or has it been increasing? Itemize your debt, see how much progress you’ve been making in the past year, and what you have left to tackle in the next few years.
Benefits check: What is the current status of your retirement, health or insurance benefits? Have you been contributing enough to grow these sustainably? Are you taking advantage of matches offered by your employer if any? If not, can you pivot next year? Can you use any remaining funds in your Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) prior to them expiring? Are there other unused work benefits such as reimbursement programs or stipends you can still take care of?
Holiday spending: This one may hurt a bit. It’s easy to get off track with holiday spending, hence the need to review it at year-end. Where did you get off budget? Did you even have a budget to begin with? What could you have done differently? Are there any discounts or cash back opportunities you can still use for last-minute purchases or returns?
2. Evaluate your investments and retirement accounts:
Evaluating your investments and retirement accounts allows you to ensure your money is not only growing well, but is being used optimally over time. This is where reviewing your retirement, investments and kids’ college savings plans can make a world of difference.
Retirement Contributions: Have you contributed enough to your IRA or 401(k) to optimize your tax benefits and maximize employer matches?
Investments: Where does your investment portfolio stand? Does it align with your financial goals and the amount of risk you’re willing to tolerate? If not, how can you modify your approach going forward? Is your money invested in high-yield savings accounts or just sitting in a zero yield account?
College savings plan: As a working mom, have you set you set up and contributed to a 529 plan for your children’s education? If so, have you been able to take advantage of state tax benefits?
3. Plan for the upcoming tax season:
Taxes are not going anywhere, so you might as well plan early for them. Much of the burden of leveraging tax season is spending the necessary time planning for it before it is time to file. If anything, it may just be one of the smartest one money moves you can do as a year closes and another one opens. Here are some steps to do so:
Tax deductions and credits: What are potential tax deductions and credits you can take advantage of in the upcoming tax season? These could be childcare expenses, medical costs, or student loan interest. As a working parent, can you identify tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit that you can also leverage in your taxes.
Charitable donations: Now is the time to make last-minute charitable giving your go-to in order to increase your tax deductions. This will also help you declutter and streamline your belongings or finances before the year closes.
Tax documentation: Rather than waiting until the last minute, year-end is one of the best times to gather your tax documentation. This may include purchase receipts, W-2s, and other tax documents to prepare for tax season and even file early.
4. Set your financial goals for the upcoming decade, not just year:
Reviewing your finances is one thing, moving forward is another. Setting measurable, specific goals for the future is a non-negotiable as you close one year and stepping into another. When it comes to your money, planning for the future is not just limited to the next year. Instead, painting a wider, more long-term financial picture can help you progress more effectively towards establishing a long-term legacy and not just meeting short-term objectives. So how about planning for the next decade and not just the next year? Here are some tips to do so:
Financial goals: What are your financial goals going forward (e.g., paying off debt, increasing retirement contributions, ? Have you done your estate planning? If so, is it in need of reviewing? What is your wealth plan for the next year, five years, decade?
Insurance Policies: Do you have adequate health, disability and life insurance coverage? Is it time to re-evaluate these for your current and future financial standing?
Estate Planning: Are your wills and beneficiaries already set, especially as a working mom? If not, can it be part of your financial goals for the coming year? If they’re already set up, do they need updating?
Financial Check-in: Plan to meet with a financial specialist or advisor to review your financial goals and strategy in the next year.
Plan to involve your family and kids in the process: Teach financial habits to your family and kids. Set up or review their existing savings accounts. Encourage your children to donate or contribute to charitable giving.
Yes, the transition from one year to another is not the easiest time to set your finances in forward motion. However, there is never a good time to do what is best and most challenging for our current and future financial well-being. Using this transition time to take control of your finances is not only one of the smartest money moves you can make. It may just be the most important thing you do to change your financial picture for decades to come.
