007: Blessed Unlucky: Kirsten Greer on When Control Meets the Uncontrollable

In this episode, Parul Saini speaks with Kirsten Greer, a Managing Director at Accenture whose career has spanned more than two decades inside one of the most demanding consulting environments in the world.Kirsten reflects on receiving a life-altering diagnosis while pregnant with her first child, and what it took to move through chemotherapy, childbirth, surgery, and a return to work that felt nothing like the person she had been before.She shares what it cost her to stop performing at full capacity inside a culture that never paused.Why stepping back was not retreat.And how nearly eight years in the same role, years the world may have read as stalling, quietly became her foundation for partnership.Explore the Conversation00:00 When Ambition, Motherhood, and Survival Collide03:06 Raised to Believe Effort Shapes Outcome05:36 What Consulting Actually Teaches You at 2108:48 Planning Motherhood Like a Project Manager13:01 The Appointment That Changed Everything18:04 Chemotherapy While Pregnant21:12 Faith, Family, and Starting Chemo Within a Week23:30 The Jarring Contrast of Pregnancy and Cancer28:41 Childbirth and Returning to Chemo Six Days Later32:33 Recalibrating Ambition and the "Blessed Unlucky" Mindset36:13 The Invisible Weight of Anxiety After Remission39:43 Redefining Career Success as Longevity, Not Speed41:47 Stopping Bracing for Impact: The Emotional Turning Point43:42 Closing the Chaos Chapter: From Diagnosis to Managing Director48:13 The Illusion of Control and Careers as Long ArcsExplore more:Connect with Kirsten Greer on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-greer/]