The MomShift

Book excerpt: The MomShift is the first book to exclusively research and showcase the stories of a diverse range of relatable women who share the multitude of ways in which they achieved greater career success after starting their families. Women are regularly told that having children will hurt their careers--until now. In The MomShift, Reva Seth talked to over 500 mothers from a broad range of professional and personal backgrounds who have defied cultural expectations and achieved greater professional success after starting their families. For these women and others like them, having children actually enhanced their work life: by helping them prioritize and set bigger goals, inspiring them to work harder and smarter or even spurring them to start their own businesses. As Rebecca Woolf--of Girl's Gone Child blog fame--puts it, "Motivation, thy name is parenthood." But as Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook has pointed out, when an already busy women starts thinking about having a child, she frequently steps back from her career goals, unable to picture how her already busy life will accommodate children. Enter The MomShift, which covers areas such as how much we really need to "lean in," whether there's a "best time" to have a baby, the benefits of re-framing maternity leave, ambition, financial concerns, the changing nature of careers, and whether work/life balance really exists for working mothers. Each chapter has discussion questions to keep the conversation going and the ideas percolating. The result is a reassuring, supportive and inspirational resource that emphasizes there is no one right way to balance careers and family, and that illustrates the many choices women have today. The MomShift is an invaluable career companion brimming with motivation, tips and ideas to help each woman to create her own version of career success during the often hectic but highly productive "mom" years.