Lack of support for hard-working career or
business mom
Growing up in the suburbs of Southern California in the 80s, I didn’t meet a lot of business womxn, let alone full-time business/career moms. There were moms who worked part-time (my mom worked in the medical field) and mamas who were full-time teachers or nurses, but I don’t recall seeing business owner mothers or executive moms. My mom often told me that if I wanted something done right, then I needed to do it myself. For a brief period, I considered being President of the United States. I figured I could solve a lot of problems that way. As I got older, however, I realized that might not be the best path for me. The career paths I ultimately chose, greatly shaped my adult life, including my experiences becoming a career mom. The support I wanted and needed during that time, I couldn’t find. So following my mom’s advice, it’s time to do it myself.
My Backstory
For the longest time, I identified myself as my job. I was my work and my work was me. I was determined to overcome any obstacles in my way and to become great at things, but not just great “for a woman”- great period. I was driven to prove others wrong.
When I first became a mom, I had a woman boss, many female colleagues, and as at a large company. People were supportive and excited for the baby’s arrival overall. No one seemed to associate pregnancy with a lack of intelligence or ability. That came when I had my second child. I was hired to be the Director of Production at a small company and when it came time to announce my pregnancy, the first thing out of everyone’s mouth was not congratulations but, “Oh my god, can you still do your job?” which was then followed up with a hasty “Congratulations.” Inquiring about my capabilities didn’t stop and culminated in a parting of ways during my maternity leave, because I wasn’t “available enough” despite continuing to work part-time days after having a baby. It was a challenging and unpleasant experience, to say the least. It all led me to changing careers down the road.
Unlearning the old to bring in the new
There were so many things I had to unlearn, because they were costing me too much and I couldn’t keep doing them, like having “work/life balance”, not asking for help, being Pintrest-Perfect in all things, not trying to please others all the time, to view mistakes as learning moments and not failures, to stop defining myself as what I do, and so much more.
I dove into psychology, brain development, mindset, habits, and more to learn how to unlearn what wasn’t serving me and to put in it’s place things that would. I read about great leaders and other entrepreneurs to look for patterns I could mimic. I went to workshops and seminars and enrolled in courses to learn how to become a better leader, teacher, entrepreneur, business-woman, networker, you name it!
I found it all fascinating and so many things resonated with me and my own experiences. But something was still missing for me. My career as a financial advisor was growing and I loved coaching my clients, but I had a problem. The more I was doing things for work, the more I was interacting with other business moms, the more I was finding who also had negative work/motherhood experiences. It was a cycle that needed to be broken, I just didn’t know how.
The Solution
Coaching my finance clients is a joy and sometimes, I found the need to do workshops for women only. It was at one such workshop in L.A., where multiple attendees asked me if I was also a life-coach that I got the idea. I could coach business/ career women through that transition to career/ business mom and teach them all the tools, skills, and techniques I used to help me, including those about changing and growing your career and business.
However, I felt strongly that coaching is only a part of it. In business, there is a concept called a Mastermind. A mastermind group is a combination of a few things. It’s brainstorming, education/coaching, and peer-to-peer mentoring and accountability. All of this culminates to help its members hone their personal and business skills, solve problems quicker, and achieve success (as each member defines it).
Using all my experiences as a student, teacher, filmmaker, financial advisor, woman, mother, and so much more and utilizing a mastermind format, I’ve created a 12-month program, which I lovingly refer to as The Corporate Mommy Mindf*ck. Once a month, a small group of women will meet for 2-3 hours where we will learn, share, support, and grow – with topics varying each month. There will also be a private social media group, where all members can ask questions, share victories, support one another, and network. Between each monthly meeting, we will also do short “micro-trainings”. These micro-trainings are not pre-set topics, like the monthly meeting, but will address hot topic issues that are brought up in the groups or current affairs.
If this program sounds like something that you, or your company, would benefit from and you want to get in on the beta level, then send us a message with the subject line BETA and we’ll let you know about our upcoming January session, OR, if you feel this could benefit women in your company, reach out and we can discuss our company Beta program.
