About this episode

Neha Ruch and Alexis Contos discuss redefining ambition and success through the lens of motherhood and personal values.

Twenty years ago, Neha Ruch and I were colleagues at an ad agency in Boston. Two twenty-somethings staying late, expensing cab rides home, measuring our worth by how hard we hustled. Today, between us, we have six kids, two platforms, and a completely different definition of what it means to be ambitious. Neha is the founder of The Power Pause and the author of the book by the same name. For a decade she's been building language for a question most high-achieving women won't say out loud: if I'm not working for pay, what is success? This isn't an interview. It's a reunion - two old friends comparing notes on what the journey actually cost, and what it gave back.In this episode, we talk about: Why the real turning point in Neha's life came in motherhood, not business school How to write your ideal day, and why it works like a contract with yourself The invisible emotional labor of parenthood, and how to start noticing it again Making decisions that no one else has to understand, and why that's the hardest muscle to build Growing up alongside your kids as they need less of you Redefining ambition as aligning your time with your values, not maximizing your output Why we punish women…

People in this episode

Host: Alexis Contos

Guest: Neha Ruch

Topics covered

• motherhood
• ambition
• emotional labor
• parenting
• success
• work-life balance

Keywords

• motherhood
• success
• ambition
• emotional labor
• parenting
• work-life balance
• The Power Pause

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Power Pause, Instagram, Substack

Books & works: The Four Agreements

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