For years, we’ve been taught to see success as climbing higher. But what if your career doesn't have to follow a straight line?

Shruti Rustagi has built an international career across India, Dubai, and the United States while raising two children, working in corporate strategy, and growing her own leadership coaching business. As the Founder of Compounding Leadership, she helps others shift their mindset through coaching, workshops, and keynotes.

In this conversation, Shruti shares why asking for what you want can change your career, why rejection shouldn't hold you back, and how she learned to build a life around what matters most instead of trying to do everything perfectly.

We discuss:

• Why you should ask for what you need

• How to overcome the fear of rejection

• Techniques for handling limiting beliefs

• Why your career doesn't have to be a ladder

• Building a business without immediately leaving corporate

• Using small experiments to make big career decisions

• The power of intentional productivity

• How to identify what truly deserves your time

• Why quality time can matter more than quantity

• Building a village and learning to outsource

Shruti's journey is a reminder that there is no single formula for success. You can pivot, experiment, change direction, and design a career around the life you want to live.

What would change if you stopped following the traditional career path and started designing your own?

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WomenInLeadership #CareerGrowth #WorkingMoms #Mindset

What happens when you stop accepting the traditional rules of work and start designing a career around the life you actually want?

Celeste Warren spent nearly three decades in corporate America, rising to executive leadership and serving as a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company. Along the way, she learned to advocate for herself, challenge inequity, and create opportunities for herself and others.

As a working mother, Celeste negotiated flexible work arrangements, built a family structure where her husband became the stay-at-home parent, and learned to protect her time so she could succeed at work while being present for her children.

Eventually, she left the corporate world to launch her own consulting business—a decision driven by her desire for autonomy, continued growth, and the freedom to chart her own path.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Advocating for yourself when you're being overlooked

• Recognizing bias through data rather than assumptions

• Creating flexibility for working parents

• Navigating mom guilt and career ambition

• The power of employee resource groups

• Knowing when it's time to leave corporate and start your own business

• Building a career around the life you want

What would change in your career if you felt completely comfortable asking for what you need?

If you want to explore how to transform corporate culture by tapping into three decades of experience in human resources and organizational development, go to www.CRWDiversity.com.

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WorkingMoms #CareerGrowth #Leadership #WomenInBusiness

When your career keeps evolving, sometimes the biggest challenge is figuring out what kind of work is truly worth building your life around.

After years navigating male-dominated industries, leading large corporate teams, and adapting to completely different professional environments, Karen Ahrens eventually realized that being intellectually challenged wasn't enough. She wanted to create something she believed in—something that could become part of her legacy.

Now, as co-founder and CEO of Wait For Me, a personal assistant app, Karen is building a business while navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, and the realities of starting over.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Navigating male-dominated workplaces

• Building confidence and adapting to different environments

• Why Karen left a successful corporate career

• Becoming a founder and taking the leap into entrepreneurship

• Motherhood, work, and finding flexibility

• What she learned about delegation and buying back time

• Why mentorship can change someone's career

• Building work that feels meaningful

What would you do differently if you had more confidence in your abilities earlier in your career?

If you’re looking for help with errands, projects or even someone to stand in line for you, check out www.uwait4me.com.

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WomenInLeadership #Entrepreneurship #WorkingMoms #CareerGrowth

Mary Gunther spent years building her career before becoming a business owner—and motherhood changed what she wanted from work.

After having children, Mary realized she needed more control over her time. That led her to build The Social G, a marketing agency designed around the life she wanted rather than a traditional 9-to-5 structure. Today, her husband is a stay-at-home dad and primary caregiver while Mary works full-time growing their business.

But creating that arrangement required Mary to let go of something she didn't realize she was carrying: control.

Her therapist helped her recognize that her husband wasn't going to parent or manage the household exactly the way she would. Learning to let him find his own way helped reduce her mental load and made their new family dynamic work.

In this episode of Women and Work, Mary shares how she built a business around her family's needs, learned to delegate, navigated the transition to becoming the primary working parent, and discovered why letting go can sometimes be the key to doing more.

What part of the mental load do you think women have the hardest time letting go of?

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WorkingMoms #Entrepreneurship #MentalLoad #WomenInBusiness

She spent years climbing the corporate ladder—earning promotions, leading teams, and sacrificing precious time with her family. But one honest conversation with her boss changed everything. She was told that no matter how hard she worked, she'd never be welcomed into the company's inner circle simply because she was a woman.

That realization became the catalyst for building something of her own.

In this episode of Women and Work, Diane Moca sits down with Jennifer Sutton, Founder of Bright Marketing, Orange Whip, and the Hello Chaos podcast, to discuss breaking through the glass ceiling, leaving corporate America, building businesses from the ground up, and advocating for women entrepreneurs.

Topics discussed:

• Breaking through the glass ceiling

• The hidden cost of chasing the C-suite

• Leaving corporate to start a business

• Women in entrepreneurship and venture funding

• Balancing ambition with family

• Building businesses with purpose

Have you ever realized the career you were chasing wasn't going to give you what you truly wanted?

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WomenInBusiness #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #WorkingMoms

She spent years believing that becoming a mother could end the career she had worked so hard to build. In the music industry, she had already overcome sexual harassment, self-doubt, and the pressure to prove she belonged. But one honest conversation with another songwriter changed everything.

In this episode of Women and Work, Tiff Randol—composer, producer, vocal artist, and co-founder of Mamas in Music—shares how motherhood transformed not only her career, but also her creativity, priorities, and purpose. She opens up about discovering she was neurodivergent later in life, building a nonprofit while raising a child, and creating the support system she wished had existed for mothers in the music industry.

In this episode:

• Why she once believed motherhood would end her career

• Navigating sexual harassment in the music industry

• Discovering she was neurodivergent as an adult

• Starting a nonprofit for mothers in music

• Balancing creativity, parenting, and entrepreneurship

• Why community matters for working mothers

Has becoming a parent—or another major life change—ever made you better at your work?

Learn more about the Mamas in Music nonprofit at https://www.mamasinmusic.org and check out Tiff’s music at https://www.tiffrandol.com/ or www.iamevemusic.com.

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WorkingMoms #Motherhood #WomenInBusiness #MusicIndustry

Not every successful woman follows the path she imagined.

Danielle Frank spent more than two decades building an impressive career—from publicist at Miramax to Director at Moët Hennessy. Along the way, she envisioned marriage, children, and a traditional family life. But when life took unexpected turns, she discovered fulfillment by embracing a different future instead of resisting it.

In this episode of Women and Work, Danielle shares how career pivots, difficult relationships, personal choices, and redefining success helped shape the life she loves today. We discussed:

• Women in male-dominated industries

• Career pivots and reinvention

• Choosing fulfillment over expectations

• Motherhood, fertility, and frozen eggs

• Writing and publishing a first book

• Finding purpose beyond traditional milestones

Have you ever had to let go of a life you once imagined to embrace a different one?

Check out Danielle’s book A Wine Lover’s Guide To Parenting at https://daniellefrankauthor.com/

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #CareerGrowth #WomenInLeadership #CareerPivot #PersonalGrowth

Multiple kids. A full-time career. A growing ministry.

When Debbie Simmons suddenly became a mom to five children overnight through adoption, she knew that surviving wasn't enough. Instead of letting the chaos take over, she built a simple system that gave every child a voice, created structure, and allowed her family to thrive—all while continuing to work full time.

In this episode of Women and Work, Debbie shares how overcoming unimaginable personal tragedy shaped her leadership, motherhood, and mission to help thousands of families heal through trauma counseling. From engineering to ministry, nonprofit leadership, and raising nine adopted children, her journey proves that structure, resilience, and purpose can coexist.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Raising five children while working full time

• Why family schedules reduce stress

• Leading through tragedy and trauma

• Building a successful nonprofit from scratch

• The Architecture of Trust

• Balancing leadership and motherhood

What's one system or routine that has made your family life easier?

Learn about building your own legacy at The Architecture of Trust: https://thedebbiesimmons.com/

Struggling to find the right child care? Get a video interview of your ideal nanny at https://www.momsub.com/child-care-options

#WomenAndWork #WorkingMoms #Leadership #Parenting #WomenInBusiness