The Mothers with Sara Brown

Patrice Meagher is the founder and CEO of MilkMate and a former Executive Vice President at CBRE, where she spent nearly 15 years shaping the commercial real estate landscape in Manhattan – while becoming a mother of four.She was, by almost any measure, succeeding. And she was also, by her own account, quietly losing the plot.Not because she wasn't capable. But because the system around her was never designed for what she was carrying.MilkMate has invented the category of BPaaS – breast pumping as a service – providing employers with a hospital-grade, fully managed pumping solution that saves working mothers an average of 60 minutes a day. Before she built it, Patrice pumped in IT closets, forgot parts, missed meetings, and arrived at a swim meet – parking ticket and all – just in time to watch her daughter touch the wall after the race was already over.In this conversation, we talk about what it actually costs to build a demanding career while breastfeeding, commuting, producing, and trying to hold it all together. We talk about the mentors – often men – who quietly shaped the direction of her career. We talk about what partnership really looks like inside a marriage when both people are building, and how one person's belief can be the thing that makes a risk feel possible. And we talk about what finally pushed Patrice to leave a world she loved to build something she believed in more.She didn't leave corporate America in defeat. She left because she could finally see the problem clearly enough to solve it.That's the thing about motherhood. Once it shows you what's broken, you can't unsee it.To learn more about MilkMate, follow them on Instagram (@milkmateinc) and LinkedIn. And if your workplace could benefit from MilkMate, speak up! You may be eligible for a $1,000 referral bonus if MilkMate gets installed through your recommendation. Patrice and her team have made it easy: you can find the employee referral toolkit at www.milkmate.com/for-employees/.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What happens when motherhood asks you to do work you never imagined?For Nasha Fitter, it meant stepping into a world of rare disease, medical research, caregiving, and advocacy – not because she chose it, but because her daughter needed her to.After her daughter Amara was diagnosed with FOXG1 syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that affects brain development, movement, speech, and cognition, Nasha found herself navigating a healthcare system full of gaps, impossible decisions, and information families are often left to uncover on their own.In this episode, Sara sits down with Nasha Fitter – Co-Founder & CEO of the FOXG1 Research Foundation and Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer of Citizen Health – for a conversation about caregiving, partnership, resentment, self-sacrifice, and what it means to build a life – and find purpose – inside circumstances you never would have chosen.Together, they explore the invisible labor of parenting a medically complex child, the emotional weight of becoming your child’s advocate, and how some of life’s hardest experiences can become the clearest roadmap toward the work we’re here to do.They discuss:• Why women are often conditioned to confuse self-sacrifice with love• The importance of building more help and support than you think you need• Resentment in partnerships – and what it may be trying to tell us• The hidden labor of caregiving and rare disease parenting• What happens when parents are forced to become medical experts• Turning personal crisis into advocacy, action, and infrastructure• How technology and AI can help close critical healthcare gaps• The power of purpose in holding a life togetherToday, through both the FOXG1 Research Foundation and Citizen Health, Nasha is helping build a better future for patients and families – accelerating treatments, improving access to care, and making rare disease less isolating, more informed, and more human.Episode links:Download Citizen Health and explore Ari, their AI assistant:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/citizen-health/id6740156339Follow the FOXG1 research journey:https://www.foxg1research.org/Support FOXG1 Research:https://secure.qgiv.com/for/foxg1researchfoundation/⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What happens when toxic productivity reaches childhood?As parents, many of us feel pressure to enrich, entertain, supervise, and optimize every moment of our children's lives – all while navigating the demands of work, family, and everything else competing for our attention.In this episode, Sara sits down with parenting coach, educator, founder of The Workspace for Children, and writer behind one of Substack's most popular parenting publications, Lizzie Assa, MS Ed. A former teacher with a master's degree in education from Bank Street College, former Head of Play and Development at Lalo, author of But I'm Bored!, and mother of three, Lizzie has spent years helping parents better understand how children learn, grow, and develop.Together, they explore what happens when our discomfort with boredom, uncertainty, and unstructured time spills into the way we parent—and why creating more space to explore, experiment, and become may be one of the most important gifts we can give both children and ourselves.They discuss how our ability to trust our children is often connected to our ability to trust ourselves, what both children and adults gain when every moment doesn't have a purpose, and why achievement culture may be shaping childhood in ways we rarely stop to question.In this episode:• Why boredom has become so uncomfortable for modern adults• The connection between trusting yourself and trusting your child• What parents get back when children learn to play independently• What we gain when every moment doesn't have a purpose• Why not every hobby needs to become an achievement track• How achievement culture shapes the way we work, live, and parent• How play, curiosity, and experimentation shape a meaningful life• Building a career around education, creativity, and familyWhether you're raising young children, navigating a demanding career, or simply questioning the pressure to always be productive, Lizzie's perspective is both practical and deeply refreshing.Episode links:Substack: theworkspaceforchildren.substack.comWebsite: www.workspaceforchildren.comBook: But I’m Bored! available on Amazon and wherever books are sold: https://www.amazon.com/But-Bored-Independent-Confident-Resilient/dp/B0F4QDZKHT******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to Sara's Substack for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

After leaving a 12-year career at Google, Sara Brown became fascinated by two questions:Who are mothers when nobody is asking about their children?And who are successful women when nobody is asking about their success?On her new podcast, Sara sits down with influential women shaping industries, institutions, communities, and culture (while raising kids!) to explore the person behind the titles, accomplishments, and expectations.In candid conversations, guests share the moments that shaped them, the tradeoffs they wrestle with, the identities they're still uncovering, and the lessons they've learned about work, ambition, purpose, power, relationships, caregiving, and building a meaningful life.Together, these conversations reveal something often missing from both career stories and parenting stories: the full humanity of women navigating both.Whether you're leading a company, raising children, questioning your next chapter, or simply trying to understand yourself more deeply, The Mothers invites you to get curious about who you are, what you want, and why you want it — and to build a life that honors those answers.Raw, smart, and deeply human, The Mothers blends the emotional honesty of We Can Do Hard Things, the business insight of How I Built This, and the intellectual depth of Brené Brown.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers wherever you listen💬 Share the show with someone who would love it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Dana Haimoff is a Managing Director in the Private Equity Group at JPMorgan Asset Management in London, where she has spent more than two decades investing on behalf of institutional clients. She is also the co-founder of Level 20, an organization dedicated to increasing the representation of women in private equity across Europe.In this episode, Dana shares what it was like to build a career in one of the most competitive and male-dominated industries in the world while raising three children – and why one of her greatest advantages may have been spending less time wondering whether she belonged and more time focusing on the work in front of her.We discuss the mindset that helped her rise through the ranks of private equity, the power of seeing women succeed at the highest levels, and what happens when ambition, motherhood, and leadership collide.We also talk about the unequal load many women continue to carry at home, why childcare is one of the most overlooked drivers of women's career advancement, and what organizations can do if they genuinely want more women in senior leadership roles.In this episode, we discuss:• Building a career in private equity and asset management• Being one of the only women in the room• Confidence, belonging, and career advancement• The importance of female role models and mentorship• Motherhood and leadership at the highest levels• The invisible load women carry at home• Why childcare is essential infrastructure – not a workplace perk• Creating more pathways for women into senior leadershipWhether you're navigating a demanding career, questioning your next professional move, or trying to build a meaningful life alongside parenthood, Dana's perspective is both practical and refreshingly honest.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Dr. Robyn Riseberg didn't set out to become an entrepreneur. She set out to become a pediatrician.But after years caring for children and families across Boston, she found herself increasingly frustrated by the limitations of the healthcare system around her. So frustrated, in fact, that her daughters eventually told her to stop complaining and build something better.That challenge led Dr. Riseberg to start Boston Community Pediatrics – the first nonprofit pediatric private practice in Massachusetts – with a mission to expand equity in pediatric healthcare by removing barriers and building a more integrated support system for families often failed by traditional models of medicine.Her work has earned recognition from organizations including The Women’s Edge, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Boston Community Pediatrics was recently named one of the Boston Business Journal’s Best Places to Work.In this conversation, we talk about the decisions that feel permanent until they aren't: leaving opportunities that no longer fit, stepping into leadership before you feel ready, taking risks without certainty, and learning that many of life's biggest choices are more reversible than they seem.We get into:– Why she left a prestigious fellowship after becoming a mother– The leadership role she initially didn't want – and how it changed the trajectory of her career– What her daughters taught her about complaining versus building– Why so many career decisions feel more permanent than they actually are– The emotional weight of asking people to believe in your vision financially– The moment she realized, "I love the work. I just shouldn't have to hate the rest of it."A conversation about leadership, motherhood, conviction, and the surprising freedom that comes from realizing you're not as stuck as you think.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

For decades, Trish Walker operated at the highest levels of corporate America – first rising to Senior Managing Director at Accenture, then as President of Home & Services at Best Buy.But beneath the executive titles was a more personal set of questions:What kind of life actually feels sustainable?How do you know when something is no longer working?And how do you separate what you truly want from what you’ve simply been taught to want?In this episode, Sara and Trish talk about the hidden architecture behind ambitious lives: infertility, miscarriages, marriage negotiations, work travel, grief, caregiving, identity shifts, boundaries, and the difficult conversations most people avoid for far too long.They also discuss:– Raising children while traveling four days a week– Having a stay-at-home dad before that arrangement became culturally common– Why women are often exhausted from defending their decisions– The pressure of “having it all”– Why personal growth often feels uncomfortable– Learning to let go of perfectionism and external expectationsToday, Trish is the founder of My Daily Dash, where she works as an executive coach and speaker helping leaders stress less, find clarity, and lead with purpose.A thoughtful conversation about ambition, honesty, reinvention, and the many ways a meaningful life can take shape.Learn more about Trish and her work at www.mydaily-dash.com*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Many high-achieving women believe that if they prepare well enough, work hard enough, and become competent enough, they can prevent things from falling apart.Then they become mothers.Emily Greenberg spent her career working across nearly every layer of the modern childhood ecosystem – from teaching sixth grade to building parenting products and family platforms at companies including Lovevery, AltSchool, Wonderschool, and Higher Ground Education. She also holds a masters in education from New York University.And yet even she found herself overwhelmed by the transition into parenthood – navigating postpartum depression and unsettled by how difficult it was to maintain a sense of confidence and control inside early motherhood. That experience ultimately led her to co-found Joy Parenting Club, an AI-enabled parenting support platform for families with young children, where she serves as president.Emily speaks candidly about postpartum depression, the transition into working motherhood, and the reality that modern parenting often functions as an invisible infrastructure problem carried privately by families – and disproportionately by women.We talk about:– why motherhood can fundamentally reshape identity for high-achieving women– the hidden operational labor required to run a modern family– why parenting support remains overwhelmingly reactive instead of preventative– how AI may function as cognitive support for overwhelmed parents– and how founders navigate ambition, uncertainty, and selfhood while raising young childrenThis is a conversation about what happens when highly capable women encounter systems that were never actually built to support them – and what we might build instead.******The Boston Alliance for LGBTQ Youth (BAGLY) is hosting its annual Heels for Hope fundraiser on May 29 in Boston. BAGLY provides free support and services – from health screenings to therapy to basic necessities – for LGBTQ youth across Greater Boston.👉 Visit BAGLY.org/heels to donate or get tickets to attend Heels for Hope*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Sara Holcomb spent 16 years inside Google before leaving for senior roles at Dentsu and Criteo, where she's now SVP of Strategy. But the more interesting story isn't the resume – it's what happens when the thing you've built your entire identity around is suddenly gone.And then, on top of that: her younger son August started losing his hearing.We talk about the months-long diagnostic journey that led to his diagnosis of congenital CMV – the leading non-genetic cause of childhood hearing loss – and how that experience cracked Sara open in ways that a 16-year career never did.In this episode, Sara takes us from Atlanta to Cambridge, from the phone-lines of AdWords to senior leadership at Criteo and into the much harder, more human story underneath all of it:– Why high-achieving women confuse institutional success with identity– The slow, uncomfortable process of detaching your sense of self from a company– How stability at work becomes a coping mechanism when life gets hard at home– What chronic vigilance looks like for parents of medically complex children– Why Sara is fighting for universal newborn cCMV screening in MassachusettsIf you live in Massachusetts, you can help support legislation requiring newborn cCMV screening. Click this link to VoterVoice for an email tailored to your local representative. The bill, with Sara’s help, is up for voting this summer. Every email counts: https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/NationalCMV/Campaigns/134843/Respond******The Boston Alliance for LGBTQ Youth (BAGLY) is hosting its annual Heels for Hope fundraiser on May 29 in Boston. BAGLY provides free support and services – from health screenings to therapy to basic necessities – for LGBTQ youth across Greater Boston.👉 Visit BAGLY.org/heels to donate or get tickets to attend Heels for Hope*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Miki Agrawal has built four companies. She has disrupted pizza, periods, bathrooms, and diapers. She has written two books, raised millions, and scaled brands that changed how people think about the most intimate parts of daily life.And she has no interest in building that way again.Miki is the founder of WILD, THINX, TUSHY and most recently HIRO Technologies. She is a serial entrepreneur who sees herself, first and foremost, as an artist. What's striking about this moment in her life is not what she's built. It's the questions she's asking now: What if building didn't have to come from pressure? What if a company could grow the way nature grows – not by force, but by flourishing?In this conversation, we get underneath the resume and into the shift beneath it – the difference between building from urgency and building from alignment, what it took to dismantle the version of herself that "worked," and why she's investing as much in her inner landscape as her outer one.We also talk about motherhood and the particular kind of cracking open that happened when her son Hiro was born. How unconditional love rearranged something in her. How creativity and parenthood feed each other. And what it looks like to hold both a live-wire creative identity and the quiet dailiness of raising a child.This is a conversation about ambition. But more than that, it's about what happens when someone who has already proven everything turns inward – and starts asking what it would mean to build a life, and a company, from that place instead.Mentioned in this episode:- https://mikiagrawal.com/- https://www.thinx.com/- https://hellotushy.com/- https://hirodiapers.com/- https://wildrestaurantnyc.com/- Miki’s recent TEDx talk “How Fungi Can Eat Plastic” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uud-93UQquI*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who would love it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What does it actually mean to “be yourself” at work – especially as a parent?And is “authenticity” even the right goal anymore?Because for many mothers, the question isn’t just who am I at work?It’s:Which version of me is allowed here?What do I keep in? What do I edit out?And what does it cost to keep performing?Claude Silver has built her career around these questions.As Chief Heart Officer of VaynerX, she leads culture and people for 2,000+ employees globally, partnering with Gary Vaynerchuk to build one of the most human-centered organizations in modern business. Her work has been recognized by Campaign US and Adweek, and she’s advised organizations from Google and Meta to government agencies on leadership and culture.But her path there was anything but linear.Claude grew up feeling like an outsider – navigating dyslexia, low self-confidence, and years of searching for identity and belonging. The work she does today is rooted in that experience: understanding the internal voice that shapes how we show up… and learning how to challenge it.In this conversation, we explore what it really takes to know yourself – and to build a life and career that reflect that truth, even as the demands of work and family collide.We talk about:– The difference between “performing” and actually being yourself at work– Why high-achieving women often lose access to their own identity after kids– How to challenge the negative inner voice – and find real evidence against it– The invisible, internal work that no one sees (but shapes everything)– What changes – structurally and psychologically – when you become a parent– And how leaders can create environments where people don’t have to split themselves in twoClaude is also the author of Be Yourself at Work, a guide to building self-awareness, confidence, and more human workplaces.This is a conversation about identity, self-worth, and the reality of trying to build a meaningful career while raising a family – without losing yourself in the process.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What does it mean to live through grief and uncertainty, and still choose joy? In this BEST OF episode, Sara sits down with Marisa Renee Lee (www.marisareneelee.com) – author, advocate, entrepreneur, grief expert, and the brilliant mind behind Grief Is Love and her new book Waiting for Dawn.From Wall Street to the Obama White House, from profound personal loss to becoming a Mother through persistence and heartbreak, Marisa has built a life and career rooted in truth, impact, and the courage to “hold both.”In this conversation, Marisa opens up about:Losing her Mother young – and how grief shaped her life’s workLong Covid, identity loss, and navigating the uncertainty of life’s “in-betweens”Becoming a Mother to her son Bennett after years battling infertilityThe pressure Black women (and Mothers, we think) face under the "Superwoman schema"Separating productivity from self-worthAsking for help after a lifetime of being conditioned to go it aloneMarisa’s wisdom is generous, disarming, and deeply grounding - and a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, there is still hope, meaning, and room for joy.Order WAITING FOR DAWN on Amazon and wherever books are sold! https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Dawn-Marisa-Renee-Lee/dp/1538770199*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What if the real risk isn’t leaving – but staying too long?Christine May, PhD, trained as a psychologist focused on behavior change and was on a tenure-track path in academia when, in early motherhood, she started to question whether the life she’d spent years building still worked.She shares how and why she left academia and moved into industry through Noom, where she led behavioral science and research, before going on to found Evolve Consulting.Today, she works with startups and digital health companies to apply the principles of behavioral science to product design, advising organizations including the American Cancer Society, WW, and UPMC Health Plan.We talk about:– How to recognize when a path that “works” no longer feels like yours– What it actually takes to leave academia and build a career in industry– How to structure a partnership where one person sprints while the other coasts. And then you switch!– Why non-negotiables only work if you’re willing to hold them– And a more honest definition of “having it all”A conversation about motherhood, identity, and the courage to start over on purpose.Remember: You can build the "right" life and still outgrow it.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

After her grandmother passed away, Barrie Farivar found herself returning to something she couldn’t replace – recordings of her voice.Not photos. Not videos.Just her voice. Telling stories. Being herself. Still somehow present.That experience stayed with her.So much so that after a career at Google and YouTube and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Barrie left her “perfect on paper” job to build something very different – a company rooted in memory, family, and time.Barrie is the founder of Leaf, an app that helps families record conversations, stories, and everyday moments so the voices of the people we love don’t disappear over time.In this conversation, we talk about growing up as the daughter of immigrants, building a life through achievement, and the quiet shift that happens when you realize that what looks successful and what actually matters are not always the same thing.We talk about building a company while raising kids.The myth of overnight success.Defining “enough.”And about the strange, constant tension of living between past, present, and future – trying to build something meaningful while also not missing the life that is happening right in front of you.Because at some point, the question underneath all of it becomes very simple – and very hard:What will your kids remember about you?*******Hold onto the little voices and moments you never want to forget with Leaf. Barrie is offering listeners 20% off an annual subscription with code THEMOTHERS20 at sharewithleaf.com/gift – a beautiful Mother’s Day gift for someone you love, or for your future self.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

A lot of us are doing an extraordinary amount – at work, at home, emotionally, logistically – and still feel like it’s not enough.In this episode, I talk with clinical psychologist and executive coach Dr. Anne Welsh, who calls this the “ambition paradox” – the impossible standard modern mothers are trying to meet: to be exceptional at work, exceptional at home, and somehow never fall apart in the process. When that inevitably proves impossible, many women don’t question the system. They question themselves.Anne is a mother of four and the author of the forthcoming book Ambitious Mother. Her work focuses on high-achieving women navigating perfectionism, people-pleasing, identity, career pivots, and the pressure to hold everything together.We talk about leaving a dream job when it no longer fits your life, ramping a career up and down over time, why so many capable women still feel like they’re falling short, and what it actually looks like to move from burnout and impossible standards toward what she calls “healthy striving.”This episode is about understanding the pressure we’re living under – and what it looks like to start putting some of it down and building a life that actually sustains us.Preorder Ambitious Mother: https://a.co/d/0brsMW9uGet to know Dr. Anne Welsh: https://www.drannewelsh.com/ ******Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Sarah Kauss is the founder and former CEO of S’well, the category-defining brand she built from $30,000 of her own savings into a company generating over $100M in annual revenue and helping displace billions of single-use plastic bottles. Today, she is a Managing Partner at Avignon Partners and serves as an investor, advisor, and board member, working with leadership teams to build and scale companies across retail, tech, and wellness.But this conversation isn’t just about building S’well. It’s about searching for the idea, building something in the right season of your life, and recognizing when it’s time to begin the next chapter.Sarah describes herself as a “restless soul” – someone who always knew she wanted to build something meaningful but spent years on a nonlinear path before the right idea emerged. We talk about that search, the career “jungle gym” that prepared her to build S’well, scaling quickly, the decision to bring her husband into the business as the company grew, and how becoming a mother reshaped her relationship to work and success – and ultimately led to her decision to step away.This is a discussion about timing, identity, motherhood, and taking the long view of a life – where building something extraordinary is not the final chapter, but one of many.******Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Amy Reinert’s career in tech marketing was on a clear trajectory – until motherhood, layoffs, and the realities of raising a family reshaped the path entirely.After being laid off while pregnant and navigating the realities of childcare, commuting, and workplace culture, Amy stepped away from the fast track she had been on - a quiet trade-off many mothers make to keep life working for everyone else. For years, she redirected her ambition into building a life that worked for her family.But when her daughters grew older, a new question began to surface: who was she now?Today Amy is a writer, storyteller, and founder of MAR Advisory, where she helps leaders and organizations clarify their voice, shape powerful narratives, and bring meaningful ideas into the world. Her deeply honest reflections about career, motherhood, ambition, and identity have resonated with thousands of people online.In this conversation, we explore:– the hidden career trade-offs many mothers quietly make– why caregiving is often more than a “pause” from work– the financial and identity cost of stepping away– the pressure to be the one who holds everything together– and what it means to rediscover who you are later in lifeAmy’s story is deeply personal – but it’s also one that many women will recognize as their own.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

More and more women are leaving powerful institutions to build businesses and careers on their own terms. But many of those “choices” were shaped long before they ever made them.C. Nicole Mason, PhD is the founder and president of Future Forward Women, a policy network working to build women’s political and economic power in the United States and globally. She previously served as President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research – one of Washington D.C.’s most influential think tanks – becoming the youngest person and first woman of color to lead the organization. She is also the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America.Raised by a single mother in Los Angeles, Nicole went on to earn a PhD in political science and become one of the country’s leading voices on gender and economic inequality.But it wasn’t until she became a single mother by choice to twins that the structural issues she had spent years researching became deeply personal.In this conversation, Nicole and I talk about the moment many women encounter: when “choosing to leave” a demanding institution or corporate path isn’t really a choice at all – it’s the only way to try to build a life that works.We discuss:– the “false choice” many women face between staying inside powerful institutions or building something outside them– why childcare remains one of the biggest barriers to women’s economic power– the sacrifices required to reach the top – and whether they’re worth it– becoming a single mother by choice while leading major policy organizations– redefining power on your own termsIf you're contemplating a career move outside the system, this conversation may change how you think about that “choice.”Nicole and her team recently launched Shaping Power, Shaping the Future, the first national bipartisan study of women state legislators examining their leadership experience. If you or someone you know is serving in state government, you can participate or share the survey here:https://futureforwardwomen.org/shaping-power-shaping-the-future-national-survey/*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

You built the career. You earned the title. You became, fully and completely, the thing you worked so hard to be.Then you got pregnant — and felt something no one warned you about. Grief.Dr. Pria Anand is a Yale and Stanford-trained neurologist practicing at Boston Medical Center, Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Medicine, and author of the award-winning The Mind Electric — a PEN America Literary Science Writing Award finalist and Best Book of 2025.  And she is a mother of two under four.She spent a decade pouring everything into medicine. "I was a neurologist and nothing else," she writes. It was her whole identity. It was more than enough.Until it wasn't.In this conversation, she gets honest about the identity shift no achievement prepares you for, the residency system built around a cocaine-addicted surgeon who didn't sleep, writing her book somehow during maternity leave, and what she never saw coming: that motherhood wouldn't shrink her world. It would finally let her see it in color.This one is for the woman who has spent years becoming someone — and is now quietly asking: who am I now?Purchase The Mind Electric here and wherever books are sold: https://a.co/d/01K1StMN*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Amber Coleman-Mortley is a Culture, Community & Equity Leader, former Senior Director at The Female Quotient, longtime civic engagement strategist, and mother of three. A three-sport NCAA athlete turned educator and workplace equity leader, Amber has built her career at the intersection of justice, community and institutional change.But this conversation isn’t about titles. It’s about steadiness.When Amber was caught in a round of layoffs, she invited her teenage daughters to listen in on the call. No shame. No spiraling. Only learning. What followed was a masterclass in holding two truths at once: personal responsibility and systemic injustice.We talk about single motherhood, structural barriers, and the very real scarcity shaping our culture right now and how to resist letting that scarcity harden us.In a moment when everything can feel tight, fearful and uncertain, Amber models something different: integrity without bitterness, generosity without naivety, and the quiet discipline of staying steady.Her north star is simple: you always have something to give.And that may be the kind of abundance we need most.*****⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What happens when the psychologist becomes the patient?Dr. Emily Guarnotta is a licensed psychologist, perinatal mental health specialist, co-founder of Phoenix Health, and mother of two. Early in her career, she focused on anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Maternal mental health wasn’t on her radar until she experienced postpartum depression herself and encountered just how hard it was to get help. In launching Phoenix Health, she built the solution she wishes she’d had.A trained clinician who believed she “should have known better,” Emily found herself pushing through the fourth trimester pretending she was fine. Going back to work made one thing clear: this wasn’t sustainable.What followed wasn’t just healing, it was the discovery of what may be her life’s work.In this conversation, we talk about the gap between screening and support, why prevention deserves as much attention as crisis response, how telehealth has become a lifeline for postpartum care, and what a modern-day village actually looks like.If you’ve ever thought, “Why does this feel so hard?” this conversation is for you.*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What if the problem isn’t our ambition, resilience, or mindset, but a system rigged in ways mothers are taught to internalize as personal failure?Corinne Low, PhD – Wharton economics professor, author of Having It All, and mother of two – joins Sara to unpack how becoming a mother blew up the script she was following and exposed the gap between the lives women are promised and the ones they are actually supported to live. Drawing on rigorous economic research and deeply personal experience, Corinne names the forces that make motherhood feel so destabilizing at work and at home, even for highly accomplished women.Instead of telling women to lean in or try harder, Corinne brings data to the quiet crisis so many mothers experience. She explains how workplaces are structured around an outdated model of family life, how gendered expectations inside marriages continue to shape women’s careers, and why exhaustion and guilt are often rational responses, not personal failures.In this conversation, we explore:why “utility” matters more than happinesshow mom guilt is often misnamed desirewhy the so-called ambition gap is a mythhow workplaces lose mothers during “the squeeze” yearswhy choosing the right partner and where you live may shape your life more than anythingThis episode offers a clearer, more honest way to think about work, motherhood, and what “having it all” can realistically mean.📚 Purchase Having It All here and wherever books are sold:https://a.co/d/0fHBOX8T******Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*******⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedInThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Cindy Brown, CEO of the iconic Boston Duck Tours and Mother, joined the company more than 30 years ago after leaving a fast-track career in finance to take a chance on what she calls “the duck thing.” She never looked back.In this conversation, Cindy reflects on building a deeply rooted, wildly successful business without chasing scale. And how designing her life around proximity, partnership, and values made both leadership and motherhood more sustainable.We talk about:🚀 leaving the finance fast-track for an unconventional career leap🌊 why “bigger” isn’t always better and when depth wins🗓️ what a 4-day workweek has looked like since 1994🏙️ how city living and a 5-minute commute have been essential to making it all work🧠 the moment every mother knows: when a partner realizes “wait, that this doesn’t just happen?”A thoughtful, grounded conversation about success, ambition, and building a life that actually works.*******Support Minnesota:Stand With Minnesota (www.standwithminnesota.com): selection of top local organizations needing your supportImmigrant Rapid Response Fund (www.wfmn.org/funds/immigrant-rapid-response): deploys donations to support immigrant communities in Minnesota wherever there is the greatest need, including providing living essentials and legal assistance[NEW!] Groundwork Legal (https://groundworklegal.org): Minnesota-based public interest law firm advancing justice and democracy through impact litigation and innovative legal work*******⭐️ Follow the The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod✍️ Subscribe to ⁠Sara’s Substack⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood💼 Find Sara on LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Jennifer Breheny Wallace – NYT bestselling author of Never Enough and her new book Mattering (out today!), journalist, and Mother of three – joins The Mothers for a conversation about achievement, worth, identity, and what it really means to feel like you matter.Jennifer’s work explores a question many Mothers carry: how can we be doing essential, important, and meaningful work – at home, at the office, and beyond – and still feel like it’s not enough? Like we’re not enough? And sometimes… like we don’t even matter? In this conversation, we look at how motherhood exposes the limits of achievement culture – and why relying on success to supply a sense of mattering can leave us feeling empty instead.Other highlights:Building an “accordion” career – expanding and contracting across seasons of motherhoodThe difference between shiny success and sustaining successWhy achievement is a poor stand-in for self-worthHow friendships function as essential infrastructure, not a luxuryWhat it looks like to live in alignment with intrinsic values in an extrinsic worldThis is a grounded, generous conversation about choosing values over validation and designing a life that can flex, evolve, and endure.Pick up Mattering today at https://a.co/d/axcH4mn******Learn more about Sage Haus, helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+👉 Are you ready to hire a house manager? at https://sagehaus.com/quiz-readiness👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*******⭐️ Follow the The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod💼 Find Sara on LinkedIn for more perspectives on work, life, and meaning✍️ Subscribe to Sara’s Substack (coming soon!)The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Kelly Hubbell – founder & CEO of Sage Haus and Mother of three – joins The Mothers to talk about the moment “doing it all” stopped working and how she turned her breaking point into a business.After baby #2, the math no longer worked. More than 22 hours a week of invisible labor sat alongside a demanding career – and the cost was showing up in her marriage, her energy, and her sense of self. Shaped by growing up with a single mother who carried everything herself, she refused to accept burnout as the price of motherhood.In this conversation, Kelly shares how hiring a house manager changed everything – and how applying an operator’s mindset to the home led to the creation of Sage Haus, a fast-growing startup built around one simple idea: families need systems, not martyrdom.Highlights:⚖️ the real cost of the invisible load – even in households that look “equal” on paper🧩 why two capable partners are still not enough without systems and support🛠️ building Sage Haus on the side with two young kids and a full-time job💡 reframing help as an investment, not a failure🕊️ the freedom on the other side of building (and often hiring) your villageThis episode challenges the quiet assumptions holding mothers back – and what becomes possible when we decide it doesn’t have to be this hard.******Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+👉 Are you ready to hire a house manager? at https://sagehaus.com/quiz-readiness👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*******⭐️ Follow the The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod💼 Find Sara on LinkedIn for more perspectives on work, life, and meaning✍️ Subscribe to Sara’s Substack (coming soon!)The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

On this episode of The Mothers, Sara talks with Dr. Allison Mell – pediatric physical therapist, founder of Tots on Target, and Mother of four (including twins).Allison set out to build a career that could coexist with a big family. She studied art history, chose a “practical” path in healthcare, and assumed pediatric physical therapy would offer flexibility – until four kids in 5.5 years made the traditional model untenable.As she scaled back, she began to see a pattern: parents who sensed something was off, but were being brushed off by rushed appointments and rigid systems. Instead of asking families to contort themselves, Allison built care around real life. Through Tots on Target, she now supports hundreds of thousands of families worldwide with virtual developmental care – offering education, observation, and practical guidance for babies and young children, especially when parents are told to “wait and see.”This is a conversation about instinct, authority, and remembering that when it comes to your child, you’re the team leader – everyone else works for you.➡️ Learn more about Dr. Mell and the Tots on Target "Tot Spot Membership" at totsontarget.com*******This episode is sponsored by Sage Haus, helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+.Learn more at:👉 https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/The Mothers earns a small commission from Sage Haus. ⭐️ Follow the The Mothers + leave a 5-star review if it resonated💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod💼 Find Sara on LinkedIn for more perspectives on work, life, and meaning✍️ Subscribe to Sara’s Substack (coming soon!)The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Amil Niazi is the writer (and Mother of three) behind The Cut’s parenting series “The Hard Part,” exploring the intersection of work and motherhood. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, and her new book LIFE AFTER AMBITION: A ‘GOOD ENOUGH’ MEMOIR is out now!In this episode, we talk about authenticity at work, the myth of meritocracy, motherhood as a fast track to self-trust, and what comes after ambition stops being the answer:Highlights:“So many mistakes, fumbles, failures”… and somehow they were the pointLeaking breast milk at the BBC, nursing in dark corners & realizing she was in the wrong lifeMotherhood as the thing that finally gave her the nerve to choose herselfWhy authenticity matters most when power doesn’t look like youThe moment meritocracy cracked – and why it never really appliedThe relief (and grief) of redefining “enough”Purchase Amil’s memoir LIFE AFTER AMBITION here & wherever books are sold! https://a.co/d/6VAWUCN****This episode is sponsored by Sage Haus, helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need just 10 hours a week or 40+. A one-time flat fee, white-glove process, and totally customized to your family’s needs. Visit Sage Haus at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/Yes, The Mothers earns a small commission on a purchase from Sage Haus. And, YES, we believe in their vision!Please subscribe & review The Mothers on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Laura Green, perhaps better known as @LauraMcGreen, joins Sara & Vee this week. And honestly thank goodness because it’s been a cold & dark few days in New England and we need some sunshine and levity!Laura is a comedic content creator in the run space, producing reels that make fun of herself as a lifelong runner and all the quirks that come with that. She loves writing and producing short skits, hosting events, and hanging out with her husband and 3 kids. Oh, and running. She runs a lot. In this conversation, we talk about:- going from a physical therapy career to content creation- how she was absolutely rocked mentally and physically by the arrival of her first kid- why she’ll never put her kids in her content (mostly)- the importance of finding opportunities to take RISKS as we get older- where she gets the “confidence of a white man” (Kelly, this one’s for you)*This episode is sponsored by Sage Haus, helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need just 10 hours a week, or 40+. A one-time flat fee, white-glove process, and totally customized to your family’s needs. Visit Sage Haus at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*Yes, The Mothers earns a small commission on a purchase from Sage Haus. And, YES, we believe in their vision!*Please review & subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Pour a drink. Hide the wrapping paper. Lower your expectations.It’s The Mothers After Dark – an appropriately loopy, end-of-year episode about holiday overwhelm, cultural nonsense, and why the media still can’t figure out how to write parents like actual humans.Sara & Vee are joined by a very special guest: Lauren Battaglia, the original Mother who helped get The Mothers’ marketing off the ground (and Sara’s outside back in soccer + life). Brains are fried. The elf may or may not have moved. And we have thoughts about ALL HER FAULT.We get into:📺 A deep dive into ALL HER FAULT and why its take on mothers, fathers, wealth, and parenting feels lazy, exaggerated, and deeply annoying (but also we had to watch to the end)👨‍🍼 The tired trope of the helpless dad 💸 How wealth, class, and access shape parenting🤝 Why choosing the right partner might be the most underrated career decision a woman makes😵‍💫 The way cultural narratives pit mothers against each other (PTO moms, one-child moms, working moms – pick your villain)🎄 The crushing pressure to create “holiday magic” and why it somehow still falls on moms✨ Finding joy anyway – in small wins, first days (not last days), snowstorms, sneakers, and being good enoughMessy. Honest. A little unhinged. Just like December.You’re doing great – whether the elf moves or not!Mentioned in this episodeSage Haus helps busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need just 10 hours a week, or 40+. A one-time flat fee, white-glove process, and totally customized to your family’s needs. Visit Sage Haus at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*Yes, The Mothers earns a small commission on a purchase from Sage Haus. And, YES, we believe in their vision!The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Michelle Heath didn’t just build a career – she pioneered a new model of leadership.As CEO and Founder of Growth Street, Michelle’s sought-after business advice is the culmination of three decades spent under the hood of hundreds of companies, from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 giants. Her track record includes senior brand, marketing, and customer experience leadership roles at household names like Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan, and E*TRADE Financial.But Michelle came up professionally in an era when working motherhood was invisible, flexibility didn’t exist, and professional ambition came with a cost no one talked about. She climbed corporate ladders built for men. She hid motherhood when she had to – even singing Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo to her toddler from the back of taxis. She endured divorce, burnout, and collapsing startups. And then, instead of opting out, she built again.In 2013, Michelle jumped off the corporate ladder to found Growth Street – pioneering the fractional growth leadership category and helping companies unlock go-to-market success using her proprietary Unrivaled Growth Framework™, driving more than $100 billion in revenue growth.In this episode of The Mothers, we talk about ambition without apology, rebuilding after everything falls apart, what it means to build outside a system that was never designed for you, and why that work matters – especially when the next generation is watching:When a high school boy told her daughter, “Women can’t have their own business,” her daughter didn’t hesitate: “My mom does.”Pick up Michelle’s new book UNRIVALED, available now in hardcover, e-book, and digital audio. Learn more at https://www.michelleheath.com/unrivaledAlso in this episode:Sage Haus helps busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need just 10 hours a week, or 40+. A one-time flat fee, white-glove process, and totally customized to your family’s needs. Visit Sage Haus at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/*Yes, The Mothers earns a small commission on a purchase from Sage Haus. And, YES, we believe in their vision!The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Allison Bates Wannop did everything “right.”Harvard athlete. Big Law. Prestige. Validation.And then it stopped making sense.In this episode of The Mothers, Allison shares how she walked away from a high-status legal career – not toward a perfectly mapped plan, but toward her inner knowing. What followed was a purpose-driven life and career built around alignment instead of achievement, and a redefinition of ambition that leaves space for five kids, deep work, and meaning.Now a leader in energy policy and VP at Sparkfund, Allison reflects on the seductive pull of shiny paths, the moment you realize old definitions of success no longer fit, and why so many high achievers confuse external validation with worth. She shares the wake-up call that came when she realized her kids had quietly become her “side hustle” – and why that wasn’t going to age well.This is a conversation about listening – even when the answer disrupts everything.We explore:Why validation feels like worth (until it doesn’t)The cost of optimizing your life for the wrong scoreboardTrusting your inner knowing when the world is loudTrue calling vs. shiny temptationBuilding a meaningful career within a meaningful lifeFor anyone questioning the path they’re on – or sensing that the life they built no longer fits – this episode offers permission, clarity, and a different way forward.🎧 Listen now and follow @themotherspod for behind-the-scenes clips and conversations that remind us we’re all still becoming.The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Fresh off Thanksgiving and sliding into the holiday sprint, Sara is joined by Lynn Harris — writer, comedian, activist, founder of GOLD Comedy AND Mother — for a conversation about motherhood, identity, and the cultural power of humor.If you’re a Mother, a creator, a person trying to reclaim your voice, or someone who’s ever wondered if comedy can change the world… this one’s for you.You’ll walk away with:*A new way to think about loving your kids for who they are — not what they produce*Insights on taking up space and “grabbing the mic,” literally and metaphorically*The magic of finding people who make you feel most like yourself*A behind-the-scenes look at women in comedy in 2025*Stories of mother-comics who did sets with babies napping in the car*Plus: Lexington pride, Rachel Dratch, Gina Davis wisdom, and how building a career often looks more like braiding than choosing one pathIt’s funny, it’s wise, it’s deeply human, and it’s one of our favorite conversations yet.Recommended in this episode: Get 10% off GOLD Comedy with code GOLD10POFF. http://myrootabl.com/r/c1FRxoTf?rootabl=themothersMore about GOLD Comedy: GOLD Comedy is the comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women, non-binary creators, and other "others" grow their comedy careers, join a powerful community, and make funny stuff that gets seen on all types of stage and screen. Through our classes, celebrity speaker series, sketch teams, shows, and more, our members build skills, rack up laurels, and nail their showbiz goals. Rachel Dratch is an advisor, and our guests and mentors have included Margaret Cho, Paula Pell, Judy Gold, Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Bloom, Ashley Nicole Black, Patti Harrison, Bridget Everett, and staffers from The Daily Show, SNL, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Broad City, Search Party, Inside Amy Schumer, and more. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, and follow ⁠@themotherspod⁠ for behind-the-scenes clips and conversations that remind us we’re all still becoming.The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Welcome to a guilty-pleasure episode about guilty pleasures, power, parenting, and giving yourself permission to not make progress on Thanksgiving. Sara & Vee are back on the mic to talk Motherhood in The Hunting Wives & Wayward (spoilers!), the male gaze, ambition, guilt, identity…and somehow also poop pictures.If you need a moment to reset and remember you’re not crazy, this one’s for you. 🫶Other highlights:🧩 why certain female archetypes trigger us👁️ whether our wants are actually ours — or shaped by who holds the power🛡️ how far you’d go to protect your kid🦃 what holidays actually feel like with small kids📉 managing expectations at Thanksgiving🧠 and why “being present” is…complicated🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on IG ⁠@themotherspod⁠ for behind-the-scenes clips and conversations that remind us we’re all still becoming.The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

What does it mean to live through grief and uncertainty, and still choose joy? This week, Sara sits down with Marisa Renee Lee – author, advocate, entrepreneur, grief expert, and the brilliant mind behind Grief Is Love and her upcoming book Waiting for Dawn.From Wall Street to the Obama White House, from profound personal loss to becoming a Mother through persistence and heartbreak, Marisa has built a life and career rooted in truth, impact, and the courage to “hold both.”In this conversation, Marisa opens up about:Losing her Mother young – and how grief shaped her life’s workLong Covid, identity loss, and navigating the uncertainty of life’s “in-betweens”Becoming a Mother to her son Bennett after years battling infertilityThe pressure Black women (and Mothers, we think) face under the "Superwoman schema"Separating productivity from self-worthAsking for help after a lifetime of being conditioned to go it aloneMarisa’s wisdom is generous, disarming, and deeply grounding — a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, there is still hope, meaning, and room for joy.Also in this episode:Preorder WAITING FOR DAWN on Amazon and wherever books are sold! https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Dawn-Marisa-Renee-Lee/dp/1538770199Learn more about Marisa’s work at www.marisareneelee.comGrab a Naomi Girma track suit from Mayfair: https://themayfairgroupllc.com/collections/naomi-x-mayfair/products/mayfair-x-noami-girma-crewneck-----------------------Thank you for listening! Follow us here and on IG ⁠@themotherspod⁠ to help us keep “becoming,” just like you ♥️The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Ruthie Ackerman always knew she wanted to be a writer, but wasn't so sure about becoming a Mother. Her breakout memoir The Mother Code captures the ambivalence so many women feel but rarely say out loud. In this conversation, Ruthie shares how she unpretzeled herself from others’ expectations, navigated fertility and heartbreak, used a donor egg to have her daughter, and ultimately discovered herself through caregiving as a Mother. A smart, honest look at identity, desire, and becoming a Mother on your own terms.Highlights:🤷‍♀️ Normalizing the honest ambivalence so many feel toward motherhood✨ Giving herself permission to be a self-actualized human AND a Mother🥨 Unpretzeling from everyone else’s expectations to hear our own wants⏳ Navigating the competing timelines of fertility + dating💼 The wild standards we hold our work to in order to justify time away from kids💛 The surprising joy + self-understanding she found in becoming a MotherPurchase The Mother Code! Follow The Mothers for more interviews with the extraordinary leaders, creators, and thinkers shaping our world about how their identity, purpose and ambition have evolved alongside career and motherhood. Raw, smart, and deeply human, these conversations help us all get closer to who we really are and what we really want.IG & YT // @themotherspodThe Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Yvonne Wassenaar has led billion-dollar companies, sat on world-class boards, and raised three kids — all while navigating immense personal loss. After losing her partner to cancer, she chose to have their children anyway and built a career that would redefine leadership in Silicon Valley.In this episode, Yvonne opens up about the traumas that shaped her, how she learned to turn fear into fuel, and why she stopped trying to be perfect — choosing instead to be emotionally present.In this conversation:💼 From Accenture to VMware, CIO at New Relic, CEO at Airware & Puppet — now on boards at Rubrik, Arista, JFrog + more💔 Losing her partner and becoming a single mom of three🧠 The feedback that changed her life: “You’re fear-driven — and that’s okay.”🫶 Learning to trade perfection for presence😏 What high-powered women’s lives really look like on the inside🎧 Follow The Mothers for more interviews with the extraordinary leaders, creators, and thinkers shaping our world about how their identity, purpose and ambition have evolved alongside career and motherhood. Raw, smart, and deeply human, these conversations help us all get closer to who we really are and what we really want.Join us on Instagram & YouTube @themotherspod The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.Theme song “Out of My Head” by Letra is licensed by Artlist. License number FG1oIe.

Cait Scudder, Founder & CEO of The Millionaire Mother, joins Sara on the pod this week — and she’s a FORCE.A champion for the AND of it all, Cait’s mission (dare we say, destiny) is to help mothers tap into their true power — finding fulfillment, joy, strength, and yes, wealth — in building both a family and a career.If you’ve ever found yourself in the in-between — knowing you’re meant for more but doubting your capacity or bandwidth — this conversation will light a fire in you. 🔥Highlights from our interview: 💪 Getting radically comfortable with the discomfort of failure 👶 Seeing motherhood as the ultimate proof that you can do anything 🚀 How becoming a mother unlocked Cait’s biggest business wins 👑 The help Cait employs — without apology — to thrive as both leader and mother 💋 What the sexy photos and money talk really reveal about us allMentioned in this episode: 🎓 Sign up for the Inheritance Masterclass with Cait HERE or at myrootabl.com/r/pz4XoOnL?rootabl=themothers 🎧 The Millionaire Mother Podcast: “How the Matriarch Leader Heals Her Lineage & Shapes Her Legacy” — featuring Cait with her mother and grandmother: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-millionaire-mother/id1404250691?i=1000625240631The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.Music licensed via Artlist.io. Track: 'Out of My Head' by Letra. License FG1ole.Updated 10.29.25

In this episode, Sara Brown speaks with Gish Jen — award-winning author of The Resisters and the bestselling story collection Thank You, Mr. Nixon — about family, forgiveness, and the art of finding meaning in even our most complicated relationships. All of which come to a head in her new autobiographical novel ⁠Bad Bad Girl⁠ tracing a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship inspired by the relationship she had with her own mother.Born in New York to parents who emigrated from China, Gish has spent her career exploring identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience. In this conversation, she opens up about her relationship with her own mother, what it means to break generational patterns, and how humor and honesty can help us find compassion for the people who shaped us.You’ll hear:🌸 From Shanghai roots to shaping modern American literature🩵 Mothers, daughters & the truthiest truths we live by💥 Breaking generational patterns — and finding compassion for the people who shaped us😏 Why great literature needs humor (and a little mischief)🧠 A genius still asking: “Does my work make a difference?”Gish reminds us that understanding our parents’ stories might be the key to writing our own — and that even the most “serious” art can be infused with joy.📕 Purchase Bad Bad Girl ⁠here⁠ or wherever books are sold!The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.Music licensed via Artlist.io. Track: 'Out of My Head' by Letra. License FG1oIe.V2

Doula HeHe Stewart, M.S., (@tranquilitybyhehe) is one of those people who makes you believe you can do anything.As the Founder of Tranquility by HeHe Maternity Concierge, creator of The Birth Lounge, and host of The Birth Lounge Podcast, HeHe has helped hundreds of women move from their “pre-baby” selves into the Mothers they were meant to become. And now, as she prepares to welcome her own first child, she’s learning those lessons all over again — this time from the inside.In this episode, we explore the spiritual and emotional transformation of pregnancy and motherhood — the identity shifts, the power, the surrender, and the deep knowing that who we become is as important as who we were.HeHe shares:🌙 Is getting pregnant its own kind of death?⚡ How to stand in your power as a Mother💞 The transformation she sees when men become Fathers🪶 The 10-person dream team she built to support her own birth🤫 The secret story behind the name “HeHe”It’s an honest, joyful, and deeply soulful conversation about trusting yourself, embracing change, and remembering that rebirth isn’t something to fear — it’s something to honor.✨ Bonus: Use code THEMOTHERS20 to enjoy 20% off Little Saints, a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul.🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, and follow @themotherspod for behind-the-scenes clips and conversations that remind us we’re all still becoming.The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

Sara is joined by Sophia Popova, a Partner at Summit Partners, mother of two, and proof that ambition and gratitude can coexist beautifully.Born in Bulgaria as the Berlin Wall was falling, Sophia’s childhood unfolded in a family shaped by socialism (her father literally studied economics at the Karl Marx Institute where supply & demand were never mentioned). When they moved to Waco, Texas, she got a front-row seat to capitalism and a spark that would shape her life.From Yale to Harvard to Morgan Stanley to a four-person startup, Sophia built a career defined by curiosity, conviction, and courage. Now a Partner investing in high-growth tech companies, she brings a lens sharpened by motherhood, resilience, and a near-death experience that taught her to replace “hard” with “grateful.”In this conversation:🇧🇬 From Bulgaria to Boston and from socialism to Summit Partners💼 The “free lunch” of motherhood🧠 What paint-by-numbers taught her about creativity & confidence🌅 The near-death experience that helped her replace “hard” with “grateful”💪 Why “doing hard things” might be the pointSophia’s story is a masterclass in perspective and a reminder that fulfillment isn’t found in balance, but in how we choose to build our lives.Also in this episode:>HopSkipDrive is a leader in supplemental student transportation, offering access to safe, reliable rides as well as RouteWise AI™,  the world’s first student transportation intelligence platform, all powered by transformative technology.> Use code THEMOTHERS20 to enjoy 20% off Little Saints, a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul.—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

Former First Lady of Massachusetts Lauren Baker joins The Mothers this week. Today, she’s also the Founder & CEO of The Wonderfund, a nonprofit enriching the lives of 30,000 kids engaged with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).Lauren’s journey has taken her from an MBA at Northwestern and a career in advertising at Hill Holliday, to becoming First Lady alongside her husband Charlie Baker’s governorship, and ultimately to blazing her own professional path with The Wonderfund. Along the way, she’s navigated questions of identity, ego, partnership, and purpose, and what it means to reclaim yourself while supporting those around you.It’s a candid, warm, and deeply thoughtful conversation about career pivots, family, and redefining what ambition looks like over time.Highlights:✨ From an MBA & Hill Holliday → First Lady of MA → Startup CEO⏸️ Taking a “power pause” before it was a thing (and why she kinda regrets it)💍 Becoming “the wife of” as First Lady — and reclaiming her identity💡 How passion + experience + grit came together in founding The Wonderfund🪞 Why Mothers need to nurture their egos, too🏠 The reminder that at the end of the day, family is everythingAlso in this episode:> Visit www.wonderfundMA.org and choose a way to support kids in DCF and/or join The Wonderfund's kick-off holiday fundraising event at The Lenox Hotel in Boston on Nov 13 at 6:30pm!> For the Newton, MA contingent, check out Service Stars (www.servicestarskids.org) for afterschool community service activities (key for those weekly short days and even those gnarly extra professional development days where the kids get out way early!)> Use code THEMOTHERS20 to enjoy 20% off Little Saints, a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul.—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

This week, Sara & Vee talk with Jarret Zafran, attorney, father through surrogacy and egg donation, and Founder & Executive Director of Brownstone Surrogacy. After navigating his own journey to parenthood, Jarret left WilmerHale and “Big Law” to launch what he wished he'd had: a surrogacy agency rooted in compassion and personal connection for everyone involved.It’s a conversation about parenting roles, rewriting expectations, and why intentionality matters in every part of building a family.In this interview:🏛️ From politics to law to pandemic parenting & launching a surrogacy agency🍝 “Food Daddy,” “Laundry Daddy,” & parenting when there’s no default👨‍👨‍👧 Fatherhood in a Mother-dominated ecosystem💼 How men may simply expect to “have it all”🗓️ Why there’s no such thing as an “oopsie” surrogacy babyAlso in this episode:Check out Brownstone Surrogacy (www.brownstonesurrogacy.com) and take a short quiz to see if you might qualify to be a surrogate.Use code THEMOTHERS20 to enjoy 20% off Little Saints, a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul.—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

This week we have a life-long creative, tech executive and Mother who is doing it all while navigating life with OCD & anxiety — Corrie Pappas! This was, as Brené Brown would say, a wholehearted discussion. So many parents will see and hear their truest selves in Corrie’s experience that she was bravely willing to share with us.  In this episode:🎭 Walking the non-linear path from acting to hospitality to writing and tech🧠 How to “deserve” to “have it all” when OCD & anxiety tell you otherwise💼 Grappling with guilt as a working mother🌟 What it feels like to hold career aspirations that haven’t (yet) come true🎨 Whether “making art for art’s sake” really exists—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

It’s here! Season 2! And school! And heightened work expectations. 😬 To help us feel grounded and more purposefully motivated this time of year, we have executive coach, author AND Mother of three Arivee Vargas. Arivee, like so many of us, has grappled with ambition & success alongside just wanting to be fulfilled & happy (too much to ask!?). Thankfully she is here to tell us how she’s found her way to alignment and, in her words, “aliveness.”In this episode:⚖️ Leaving Big Law and Big Corporate to stop “playing small”😰 The sense of dread she felt when she was up for partner🌱 Turning her side hustle into full-time hustle (and rethinking “hustle”)🔥 The burnout and identity crisis that led to satisfaction💩 Giving fewer and fewer sh*ts📚Purchase Arivee’s new book Your Time To Rise wherever books are sold.Also - we’re exploring more sponsors! Know a brand we should share with our audience (and maybe help them get a discount on!?), shoot us a note at [email protected].—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

Sara & Vee reflect on what they’re loosely calling “Season 1” – all 28 episodes and 25 incredible Mothers they’ve interviewed – as they gear up for Season 2. Thank you for being a part of this journey and growing community of badass Mothers making dents in the universe AND raising the next generation!In this episode:✨ Lessons from season 1 (and all 25 Mothers!)🙅‍♀️ Sara’s crusade to end mom guilt for all of us🤝 Where we can actually expect community to come from💊 Prioritizing postpartum mental health🤪 Creative ways to pronounce “hurrah”During this episode Sara also recommends The Week Junior! We get no kick-backs from this. But you can learn more & subscribe at theweekjunior.com—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

Milestone episode out today with Elin Hilderbrand (NYT Bestselling Author & Producer), Bess Clarke (CEO of Nantucket Looms) and Wendy Rouillard (Author & Owner of Barnaby’s). On July 22 we hosted our sold out and very first live recording at Sister Ship Nantucket and we are thrilled to share the conversation with the world, featuring the incredible Mothers behind some of Nantucket’s most iconic brands. We laughed, we cried, we found truth and wisdom, and now you get to have it too. In this episode:🛠️The grit required to build a career while raising kids✍️Why Elin writes her novels longhand🧠How mental health is the foundation of “having it all”✈️Why work travel is the worst part of being a working parent⌛The endless yet finite experience of motherhood🍷Beer bottles, bongs, wine glasses & sunflower seedsThank you to our event production team at Faraway/Sister Ship plus Rob Ackroyd/Almanack Sound (Audio), Tucker Finerty (Video), Rebecca Love (Photography) & our generous sponsors: Little Saints, The Vault Nantucket, REMY, Marigold, Roller Rabbit & DOEN.—This episode is supported by Little Saints. More than a non-alcoholic beverage, it’s a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul. Get 20% off when you use code THEMOTHERS20 at littlesaints.com. *Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

We have another tech star on the pod this week! Tamara Hinckley is a former Director of Product at Pinterest, where she spent nearly a decade leading teams at the intersection of tech and business. She’s the author of Half Moon Hustle, a newsletter about motherhood, ambition, and living with intention, which has grown into her new venture Momentum Rising, designed to help ambitious women navigate the transition into motherhood through coaching, community & experiences.An immigrant from Ukraine, Tamara began her career on Wall Street and earned her MBA at Harvard before pivoting to tech. Along the way, she became a mother to two young daughters and experienced firsthand the challenges of growing a career while raising a family.In this episode:🌍 From Ukraine to Wall Street to Pinterest and the pivot that changed everything🧠 What Hashimoto’s, postpartum, and a velcro baby taught her about ambition🚪 Finding the conviction to leave Pinterest (and a certain idea of success)🧘‍♀️ Why alignment (not balance) is the goal and how yoga showed her the difference🗓️ How to stay aligned: quarterly retreats & weekly nights off🎧 Toddler-approved affirmations, courtesy of Snoop Dogg 🐶✨—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

This week Sara & Vee are joined by Dr. Lindsay Gittens, an anesthesiologist at Tufts Medical Center and the Director of Anesthesia for Orthopedic Surgery. A Boston native and former competitive soccer player, Lindsay now balances medicine, investing, and single motherhood with intention and on her own terms.After separating from the father of her children, Lindsay wanted to find more freedom in her schedule and do more than “just be a doctor” (nothing “just” about it in our opinion!). Through smart investing, she reduced her clinical hours, built her dream home, and carved out more time with her two young kids – all with the support of her own mother, who lives with her and is central to their family life.With a full heart and a full plate, Lindsay is proof that women can build lives that once felt out of reach – and define success their own way.In this episode:🩺 Navigating medical school, residency, and having kids⏳ Finding freedom after separation💵 The investing strategy that changed her life🏡 Building a dream home for her village: her mother & kids😎 Owning her power as a naturally unbothered badass—*Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

Jenny Rossman, a distinguished attorney for victims of sexual abuse, joins the podcast this week to explain to all of us how she does this work while raising two young kids. Jenny is currently the lead trial attorney at Herman Law, but was previously the Bureau Chief of the Sex Crimes & Child Abuse Unit of the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit (Orlando) and served as an Assistant State Attorney in the Sexual Battery Unit of the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. In her tenure as a sex crimes prosecutor, she received a guilty verdict in every one of her trials, and all of those convictions were upheld on appeal. Incredible!In this episode is hard-hitting life advice from Jenny’s perfectly sarcastic father, as well as:⚽ Jenny’s journey from soccer to painting houses to finding her calling as an attorney🧠 How she compartmentalizes her work on child abuse cases from life at home👶 What protecting kids in court has taught her about raising her own🙅‍♀️ Ending “mom guilt”🤰 The benefits of litigating while pregnant—This episode is supported by Little Saints. More than a non-alcoholic beverage, it’s a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul. Get 20% off when you use code THEMOTHERS20 at littlesaints.com. *Subscribe & review THE MOTHERS on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts*Follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*Learn more at themothersmedia.co*THE MOTHERS is a production of Backline Media.

Katherine Jetter is a gemologist, jewelry designer, and the founder of The Vault Nantucket — a curated boutique spotlighting designers from around the globe. She’s known for reintroducing opals to the luxury market, blending bold design with deep expertise, and building a brand that’s as innovative as it is elegant.She’s also the mother of one daughter and three stepdaughters — and the kind of woman who brings her newborn to a gem show, mentors her nanny into a Chief Strategy Officer, and isn’t afraid to ask for help when it matters most.In this episode, Katherine joins Sara & Vee to talk about:💎 Starting her business at 26 to design a life with room for motherhood🍼 Bringing her newborn to a gem show (and being turned away)👯‍♀️ Mentoring her nanny into her Chief Strategy Officer🔁 Why pivoting and asking for help are key to entrepreneurship & parenting🛡️ And that one time her dad was her bodyguard in the Australian opal mines*Also mentioned in this episode: The Vault Nantucket is welcoming Melissa Kaye and Sorellina for a trunk show featuring their new couture collections, with personal appearances from both designers. Join them July 31-Aug 2 at The Vault Nantucket! *This episode is supported by Little Saints. More than a non-alcoholic beverage, it’s a mushroom-infused cocktail that elevates the soul. Get 20% off when you use code THEMOTHERS20 at littlesaints.com. *Please subscribe & review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on Instagram ⁠@themotherspod⁠*The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.