The MomShift: Women Share their Stories of Career Success After Having Children

by Reva Seth

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 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.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 11, 2014

Reviews

[Rissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book. Plenty of food for thought on a variety of topics: Work/life balance, marriage, education, building your own business as a woman. I was genuinely surprised by how much I learned, and it was absolutely worth it to buy a hardcopy of this book, I know I'll be re-reading it and referencing it for the rest of my life.

I was also surprised that I personally knew a few of the women who offered their stories, which made it all the more inspiring!

[Sonali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe reading at the wrong point in my career and/or motherhood journey. Also, most of the women interviewed were in high powered positions; therefore could not relate and the book did not resonate. Likely would have been more beneficial earlier in my career and before kids.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

really liked the focus on the positive stories of career success.

[Crystal Gao · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a few insights offered in the book, but largely it feels like a collection of stories without much analysis nor patterns identified. It is unsatisfying because it merely scratches the surface of the needs of working mothers.

A few insights/benefits of reading the book:

1. "I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed being a full time working mom with small children." After my first son was born, I was doing fine as a working mother, easy peasy; after my daughter was born, I was feeling the heat from having to take care of both work and family; after my youngest was born, I feel like walking on a tight rope 1,800 feet above ground, the balance is so delicate that I may lose it any second from now. Reading the other mothers' stories gives me comfort - I am not weak, nor crazy, it is ok to feel overwhelmed.

2. Don't beat yourself up because you are not one of those "superwomen". Cheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer are not appropriate role models. They have much more resource than 99.99% of working mothers.

3. There truly is no "one size fits all". It is a hard journey and every woman goes through it differently. One has to remain open-minded and resourceful and it will pass.

4. A few good pointers. Can not agree more that it is instrumental to have a supportive spouse, who values your work as much as his. Then it is possible to use hired help or relatives. Dont' sweat on the cost of having a live-in nanny, the peace and comfort of knowing someone is taking care of your child is priceless.

Overall, it is a good read, perhaps even better for those who haven't had children, so they don't have a rosy but dillusional picture of "balancing it all".

[Tye Jiles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a great read! I think I will refer back to it at some point. It is a compilation of women's stories about life after giving birth. The women truly tell what it is like to have a life and career after giving birth. The information that I found interesting was the comparison on maternity leave in different countries. I wouldn't say that this book is a guide to career but more so encouragement for women trying to balance all elements of womanhood. Transitioning back into the workforce is hard for women and this book highlights those areas where women choose their path. There are resources and recommendations in the book that I think women will find useful as well.

I would recommend this book for women who need a little encouragement with getting back into the workforce and balancing career and motherhood.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing and worthwhile read. I'm far from having kids, but it was inspiring to read about all of the moms that are successfully navigating motherhood while working.

I loved that lots of the women profiled are from Canada, because the majority of "women and careers" books are American and have irrelevant sections because of subtle but important culture differences (Reva actually notes differences in standards such as maternity leave, so Brits and Americans need not be concerned!)

This book is relevant to women in their early 20s such as myself who are looking ahead to motherhood, but also to those who are currently mothers, as she gives attainable, well delineated recommendations on managing different situations.

The MomShift was relevant and inspiring. I can't wait to buy copies as gifts for the lady friends of all ages in my life.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read Lean In so I can't make the natural comparison here.

MomShift is exactly what it says in the subtitle: Women Share their Stories of Career Success After Having Children. There's very little analysis or prescription. Instead, it feels like you're listening into a coffee group or conversation. Which is fine, and a different approach to describing women's decisions about family and career, but not what I'd really expected. Thus the two stars. But for other readers, this could really work and help them to feel that their worries and joys are shared by many.

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[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent. The author took the care to interview women from a variety of backgrounds and income levels, and shows that there a lot of different ways to successfully balance a job or career and parenthood.
She also uses examples from Canada & the UK primarly, with others coming from the USA. Several of the example cases also worked all over the world (teaching ESL in Abu Dhabi) or were adult immigrants from elsewhere in the world (largely SE Asia).
This was a refreshing read after reading The XX Factor, which mostly talked about the wealthy.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a First-Reads giveaway. I really enjoyed the book and reading all of the success stories of women returning to the work place. It's not yet applicable to me at this point in my life, but I know that when I have kids I will be returning to this book and re-reading a lot of the stories and advice. Great read!

[Stéphanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very interesting to read about all the different stories but speaks a lot more to people in the corporate world with careers rather than professions and therefore,I could not relate to a most of them. It sure offers a lot to think about and gives good insight to women's and mothers' situation in the workforce.

[Neha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few interesting stories, but nothing overly compelling about this book. A lot of stories glazed over how working parents figured out their childcare. Many seemed to 'get a nanny', which leads me to believe the majority of women interviewed are in a very high income bracket. That said, it was helpful to know that being career driven is not a crime, and does not make you a bad mother!

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

review to come

[Heather]

I received my copy from the First Reads giveaway today. This book is very relevant to my life right now, and I'm hoping that it inspires me!

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading these inspirational tales about successful moms who embraced their careers or recreated themselves after having children. I appreciated the many people to whom Reva Smith gave voice.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really like it. Seems like all the successful women get nannies and just go back to their regular lives or just do part-time. Nothing in the middle. Seems unrealistic and not very helpful.