How Do You Balance Work and Motherhood?

There's no secret to successfully balancing your career and motherhood. It's hard work! Five working moms share their thoughts on how to they manage parenthood with their professional lives.

Just keep it moving.

An avid baker, Lisa Price, the founder of beauty product company, Carol's Daughter, remembers the first time she bought baked goods for like a bake sale at her son's school. "I don't buy things. I bake from scratch," she explained. "I had to get comfortable with, 'You know what, I'm buying the cupcakes. I'm not making the cupcakes.' You can't always be super woman and ... do everything perfectly. You have to do the best that you can do and just keep it moving."

Focus on quality over quantity.

When you run a successful business and are a mom to young children, you may feel "mom guilt" regardless of how hard you try to strike a balance. "I kind of joke around that I'm kind of plagued with guilt no matter where I am," said Alli Webb, a mom and founder of The Dry Bar. "If I'm at work, I feel guilty that I'm not home with my kids and if I'm home, home with my kids, I feel guilty that I'm, you know, not at work...and then of course, there's finding time to have, with my just my husband." Noting the challenge she's faced to juggle work and family, she said you have to know you're doing the best you can and when it comes to time, focus on the quality of the moments you spend with your kids and spouse.

Prioritize what important in your life and on your schedule.

For Jessica Herrin, who runs jewelery company Stella & Dot, her priorities are focused and clear: to be a great wife, mom, and business leader. How does she make it happen? For Herrin, the solution is in a well-managed calendar so she has quality time in all areas. " I know that there's always going to be more on my to-do list than I can possibly get done, so it's about prioritization and it's about understanding of all the balls that I'm juggling, which ones are rubber and which ones are glass?"

Don't strive for perfection.

Amy Cuddy is a professor at Harvard Business School, is a single mom and readily admits she's no where near perfect when it comes to balancing parenthood with her professional life. She focuses on managing her life day-to-day. "I do think that striving for perfection is deadly," she said. "I think that you just can't be a good parent if you're focused on perfection."

Remember what you love.

"I know I'm, I'm a working mom like a lot of people," said Marie Tillman, widow, author, and president of the Pat Tillman Foundation. Her husband, Pat, was killed in 2004 by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan with the Army. She juggles being a mom to her kids and her full-time job with the foundation, but she tries to find solace in the fulfillment her family and her job provide. "My biggest problem every day is how, how do I balance it all, which is, is a great problem to have."

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