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Honest conversations with working mothers about how they really "do it all"
Join us on Substack - https://substack.com/@leaningmyway
04.09.2025 Leaning My Way Introduction FINAL
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[00:00:00]
Mikenzie: Welcome to Leaning My Way, a show where I have honest conversations with working mothers about how they really do it all.
when we raised a second round, at that point, we're working, I don't know, around 80 hours or something per week. I've always been good at prioritizing, but I think as a parent, especially as a solo parent, you really need to be good at prioritizing.
Candice: I remember saying myself, like, it's actually a great career for a mom at these big law firms because, I could go in a little later and I could come home early. And then just stay online after the baby went to sleep, but it was just awful for, like, my own personal sanity and lifestyle and everything like that.
Mikenzie: Mothers are super human.
We all know that, but they're also human. And the transition from working woman to working mother is often glossed over by the lean in narrative that women can simply build a big career and a family at the same time. As a woman in my [00:01:00] thirties, living abroad in London, married to a Danish man, and coming off nearly a decades long career in VC and big tech,
I now find myself standing face to face with my biological clock and what feels like very large career and life questions in front of me. And the more I sit with it, the more I realize that while the lean in message is well intentioned, it's also incredibly oversimplified and at times really isolating.
And I've learned I'm not the only one who feels that way.
Silke: I felt very constrained by something because I was still trying to figure out who I was and what I was doing. And, it took me a long time to come to terms with that and come to terms like who I wanted to be now in this next chapter of life. And I, I wasn't at all prepped for that.
jaclyn: this attachment into detachment is actually really painful. there's so much emotion to the, okay, wait, we were one and now we're not one. And okay, so now you're your own thing, but I don't feel like I'm my own [00:02:00] thing. And so how does that work? And this whole experience is something that, that my husband, that men. They are not having this experience.
Mikenzie: Let's not do this alone. I'm on a quest to have an open dialogue with working mothers about how they're navigating their own unique path between career, family, and their lives in general. Whether that's starting a business with a newborn, climbing the corporate ladder with multiple kids, taking a step back from work to focus on family or postponing motherhood to focus on career.
Emily: Together, we'll peel back that polished, superhuman layer that women often have to present to the outside world. And we'll talk about the real stuff, cultural influences, fertility challenges, relationship dynamics, finances, the evolution of self-identity, and so much more. When it's been the hardest for Andrew and I is when one of us feels like the other person doesn't see them and doesn't see what [00:03:00] they're doing and doesn't appreciate the contribution and we still you know, we go through that all the time.
Silke: I chose to stop breastfeeding at six monthswhen I went back to work. because at that point I was like, I just cannot sit in the office pumping
it's not gonna be me. I'm gonna hate it. So I weaned him in that,
And I. I felt really guilty, even though I didn't enjoy it. He was thriving, on formula.
Mikenzie: Leaning my way is not a manual. It's not about one right way to do motherhood or career. It's a celebration of women carving their own paths, a celebration of all the beauty and the mess that comes with it. And I hope that by sharing these open and honest stories, we can create a resource and a support system for all of us women.
Whether you're a mother planning to become one, or just asking yourself some of these questions. Because having it all isn't about leaning in or leaning out. It's about [00:04:00] leaning your own way.
Emily: The best thing for your kids is the best version of you showing up when you're with them. And sacrifice of like, oh, I'm gonna do it all myself, but I'm gonna be exhausted and grumpy and frustrated, et cetera.
Candice: that doesn't help anybody. And so better for you to figure out a balance where you're getting support such that the best version of you can show up I've just learned so much about, parenting in general, I've just learned that it's so much about who I am and not what I do for them and just taking the pressure off of everything being perfect. I get to enjoy it because it's like chaos all the time.
jaclyn: I just kind of gave myself a lot of space to be in, in my own connection to the knowing. there's kind of this interesting dynamic where, being exposed to so many cultures showed me, gave me permission to recognize that there isn't a way, but there are many [00:05:00] ways..
I am Mackenzie Ginsburg. Join me every Thursday for new episodes of Leaning My Way. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Cecilie: I feel like we can have it all. Yes. I want to be able to have it all and I think that I'm pretty much doing that right now.