Motherhood Advantage

What does it take to build a business around what women actually need—and trust yourself along the way?

In this episode of MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with Tara Clark, founder of TaraShakti skiwear, to explore the connections between Motherhood, entrepreneurship, and the power of showing up.

A pragmatic, sports-loving Mother, Tara shares how she found her way into the apparel industry, creating outerwear that brings together fashion, function, and a commitment to helping women feel good. She discusses designing for different bodies, building credibility and partnerships, and navigating uncertainty—including a pandemic pivot that supported local farmers.

Throughout the conversation, Tara returns to human connection: listening to people, building relationships, and bringing vulnerability and authenticity to leadership. Together, Tara and Laura Marie explore how those practices show up in both caregiving and business, alongside the ongoing work of setting priorities and making room for yourself.

For anyone considering a new venture or wondering what their next chapter might hold, Tara offers an invitation: show up, embrace what you don’t yet know, and give your own “star power” room to shine. 

In this conversation:

• Tara Clark's entrepreneurial journey
• The role of human connection in business
• Designing inclusive and functional outerwear
• Balancing Motherhood and entrepreneurship
• The importance of authenticity and vulnerability in leadership
• The power of showing up, in life and in business
  

TaraShakti: https://tarashakti.com/ 

About Motherhood Advantage

At Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

What happens when women come together—not to compete, but to connect?

In this special tribute episode of MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera is joined by Brittani Cotton, Hannah Basil Bryant, and Ann Odom to reflect on an extraordinary gathering in feminist icon Gloria Steinem's living room—and the lessons she leaves us about Motherhood, leadership, equality, and collective power.

Inspired by Gloria's philosophy that women are “linked, not ranked,” the conversation explores what happens when women share their experiences across generations, backgrounds, and identities. From the invisible labor of caregiving to the policies that shape women's economic opportunities, the guests examine why Motherhood is not simply a personal experience, but a societal issue—and why recognizing caregiving as leadership is essential to advancing equality.

Together, they consider how we can honor Gloria Steinem's legacy not only by celebrating what she accomplished, but by continuing the unfinished work of feminism.

Key Takeaways

• Linked, not ranked. Gloria's philosophy reminds us that women's collective power grows through connection, not competition or hierarchy.
• Motherhood isn't the problem. The infrastructure is. Mothers shouldn't have to choose between caregiving and ambition because workplaces and public policies fail to support both.
• Caregiving is work—and leadership. Anticipating needs, navigating uncertainty, adapting, advocating, and creating opportunities for others are valuable leadership skills developed through caregiving.
• Motherhood extends beyond biology. Nurturing, mentoring, and caring for others can take many forms, and these contributions deserve recognition.
• Workplace flexibility must be real. Predictable schedules, genuine control over working hours, and affordable childcare are essential to women's economic security and long-term financial wellbeing.
• Women's circles create collective power. Listening, sharing stories, and building community can transform individual experiences into shared understanding—and ultimately, meaningful change.

Gloria Steinem helped generations of women recognize their own power. This conversation asks how we carry that legacy forward—and what it will take to make the next chapter of feminism one in which Motherhood and caregiving are fully recognized, valued, and supported.

Because women are linked, not ranked. And the work isn't finished.

Host a screening of No Country for Mothers

Gloria Steinem Foundation

Brittani Cotton

Hannah Bryant

Ann Odom - The Reprogrammed Parent  

About Motherhood Advantage

We explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE | Season Three Recap

Every Mother has a story. No two are exactly alike. And yet, in sharing them, we discover just how much connects us.

As MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE wraps up its third season, host Dr. Laura Marie Rivera revisits some of the most memorable moments from conversations with Mothers who are changing how we think about leadership, identity, ambition, and caregiving.

From the halls of government to hospital boardrooms, Broadway stages, and kitchen tables, these Mothers reveal the extraordinary range of experiences that shape who we are—and how we lead.

Hear from Liuba Grechen Shirley on Mothers as the ultimate multitaskers, Dr. Patricia Gabow and Dr. Lois Frankel on women's leadership strengths, Georgia Stitt on collaboration, and Senator Manka Dhingra on the skills Mothers bring to the workplace and the importance of representation in government.

We also revisit deeply personal conversations: Denise Lieu Kakimoto on IVF, raising triplets, and the determination to keep going; Nina Simon on knowing when to quit and the example set by her own Mother; Olivia Howell on divorce, starting over, and learning to be gentle with herself; and Dr. Amber Johnson on listening, learning, and letting go of the expectation that Mothers always know best.

Plus, insights on entrepreneurship and single Motherhood from Lauren James, a reminder to support Mother-authors from Elsa Sjunnesson, and a moving reflection from Dr. Nia Ruth on how Motherhood has profoundly changed her life. Also including author advice from Cassie Leonard, Dr Keeonna Harris, Ruschelle Khanna, Ann Priftis, Sharmin Banu, and Angela Bourassa.

Together, their stories raise a bigger question: Whose stories get told, whose experiences are valued, and whose leadership gets recognized?

Drawing on her doctoral research with nearly 1,000 Mothers, Dr. Rivera connects these conversations to a central idea behind MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE: Motherhood develops and strengthens many of the competencies we value in leaders, yet caregiving itself rarely receives professional recognition.

It's a celebration of the power of storytelling, the importance of representation, and the wisdom we discover when Mothers have the microphone.

Because every Mother's story is uniquely her own—and somehow, part of a much bigger story that we share.

Explore all three seasons and support the podcast at MotherhoodAdvantage.com.

Topics: Motherhood and leadership, women's leadership, caregiving skills, working Mothers, political representation, entrepreneurship, IVF and infertility, divorce, parenting, resilience, collaboration, Mother-authors, and the Motherhood Advantage.

What happens when the people making decisions about childcare, paid leave, and family policy have little firsthand experience navigating those systems as Mothers?

When Liuba Grechen Shirley ran for Congress while raising two toddlers, she discovered just how poorly American politics accommodates Motherhood. Rather than accepting those barriers, she set out to change the system.

In this episode of MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with Liuba, founder and CEO of Vote Mama, to explore why Mothers remain underrepresented in political leadership, what their absence means for public policy, and how caregiving can make stronger leaders.

From the financial realities of running for office to the economic importance of affordable childcare and paid family leave, Liuba challenges the idea that these are simply "women's issues." They're workforce issues, economic issues, and issues that affect everyone.

She also shares how Vote Mama is putting family-friendly leadership into practice within its own organization—and why electing more Mothers is only part of the goal. The real victory? Making it completely ordinary for a Mother to run for office, win, and lead.

In this conversation:

• Why political systems make it harder for Mothers to run for office
• How lived experience shapes legislation and public policy
• Why childcare and paid family leave are economic necessities
• The leadership skills and perspectives developed through Motherhood
• How Vote Mama is modeling family-friendly workplace policies
• Practical ways to support candidates and help change political representation

Motherhood doesn't disqualify us from leadership. It helps prepare us for it. So why are so many of our political institutions still structured as though caregiving and leadership don't belong together?

Learn more about Vote Mama: https://www.votemama.org

Learn more about MOTHERHOOD ADVANTAGE and Intuitionship: https://motherhoodadvantage.com

What happens when Mothers tell their own stories—not as a niche, but as authors, experts, artists, and culture-makers?

In this special Motherhood Advantage episode, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera welcomes seven Mother-authors whose work spans memoir, fiction, disability, career, leadership, STEM, and mythology.

Dr. Keeonna Harris writes from lived experience about Motherhood, incarceration, survival, stigma, and the systems families are forced to navigate. Elsa Sjunneson challenges assumptions about disability, identity, parenting, and whose experiences are represented in our stories. Angela Bourassa talks about women’s stories, creative ambition, and making space for women to “do all the things.”

Cassie Leonard examines the experiences of Mothers building careers in fields that were rarely designed around caregiving. Sharmin Banu brings a systems-thinking lens to career growth, leadership, and the complex calculus Mothers make every day. Ruschelle Khanna and Ann Priftis look to mythology and the rise of the matriarch to ask what becomes possible when women reclaim their voices and power.

Together, their stories raise questions much bigger than publishing: Who gets to be considered an expert? Whose stories are treated as universal? What labor do we value? And what changes when Mothers are the ones holding the pen?

Because Mother-author is not a genre. Motherhood is a point of view—and one that belongs everywhere.

------------------

Cassie Leonard Beyond The Pipeline and STEM Moms 

https://www.elmmcoaching.com/press/#ourbooks 

Elsa Sjunneson Dear Blind Lady and Being Seen

https://www.snarkbat.com/

Dr. Keeonna Harris Mainline Mama

https://www.keeonnaharris.com/writings

Sharmin Banu Mid-Career Momentum

https://greenleafcoach.com/

Ruschelle Khanna and Ann Priftis From Echo to Athena

https://www.fromechotoathena.com/

Angela Bourassa's Never Lasting

https://angelabourassa.com/

Events in Seattle

Elsa Sjunneson celebrates Dear Blind Lady at The Rendezvous on October 6 at 7 p.m. Angela Bourassa will appear at Lovestruck in Seattle on October 21 to celebrate Never Lasting. On November 9, Stefanie O’Connell and I will be at Third Place Books in Seward Park. Cassie Leonard, Sharmin Banu, and Keeonna Harris will come together at Armoire for conversation and book signing on November 18. And Ann Priftis and I will be talking about her book and the great wealth transfer on December 8, location provided with RSVP.

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera - MotherhoodAdvantage.com

Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with Dr. Patricia Gabow, physician leader, former CEO of Denver Health, and author of The Women’s Guide to Healthcare Leadership: The Why and the How, for a candid conversation about women in leadership, workplace equity, and the powerful overlap between Motherhood and executive leadership.

Drawing on decades of leadership in medicine—and more than 50 years as a Mother—Patricia explains why women need to “buy the ticket” to leadership instead of waiting until they feel completely ready. She shares how Motherhood develops many of the same capabilities organizations say they want in leaders: resilience, mentoring, budgeting, decision-making, accountability, humility, and the ability to balance compassion with decisive action.

Patricia also makes an important distinction between equality and equity. If women are expected to compete on a level playing field, she argues, workplaces must address structural barriers through pay equity, paid maternity leave, and affordable, high-quality childcare.

In this episode:

• Why women need to “buy the ticket” to leadership
• How Motherhood develops transferable leadership capabilities
• Why equity must come before equality
• The importance of pay equity, paid leave, and affordable childcare
• How effective leaders balance compassion with decisiveness
• Why humility does not mean minimizing your accomplishments
• How honest feedback and role modeling make us better leaders

Patricia describes her own leadership style as a combination of “Mother Teresa and General Patton”: sometimes a leader must be the chief comforter, and sometimes a leader must take command.

And through it all runs an idea at the heart of Motherhood Advantage: the skills women develop around the kitchen table belong at the leadership table, too.

As Patricia puts it:

“Being a Mother helped me be a CEO and being a CEO helped me be a Mother.”

Her message to women considering leadership is simple: don’t wait for permission, and don’t wait until you feel perfectly prepared. Buy the ticket.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Want to win a copy of Dr. Patricia Gabow’s The Women’s Guide to Healthcare Leadership: The Why and the How? Comment on this episode or email us at [email protected] to be entered. The giveaway is open for the first two weeks after the episode is released.  

Links:

Buy The Women’s Guide to Healthcare Leadership: The Why and the How? on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H4YZNTZ4?lv=shuf&channelId=510&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Research: Women Score Higher Than Men in Most Leadership Skills

https://hbr.org/2019/06/research-women-score-higher-than-men-in-most-leadership-skills

About Motherhood Advantage

At Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

What if we stopped asking Mothers to fit their lives around work—and started building our paid work around real life?

In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera speaks with Lauren James, Mother of two, entrepreneur, and founder of Little Way Coworking, an Atlanta coworking space with on-site childcare designed around the realities of working parents.

Becoming a single Mother fundamentally changed the way Lauren thought about entrepreneurship. She knew she could not build a company that required more from her than she had to give. Instead, she created a business that works for her life as a Mother—and helps other Mothers do the same.

Lauren shares how Little Way reduces the invisible labor of caregiving through flexible schedules, childcare, educational activities, and even the small things parents are usually expected to anticipate themselves: diapers, wipes, snacks, baby carriers, changing tables, coffee, Wi-Fi, and more.

The conversation also explores how Motherhood has shaped Lauren’s leadership. From recognizing that employees have different strengths and needs to creating a sick-day fund after experiencing firsthand what lost wages can mean for a parent, Lauren is building a workplace around a simple principle: people do their best work when their humanity is accounted for.

And for anyone waiting until they have everything figured out before starting something new, Lauren offers another lesson: you can learn as you go.

As she puts it: “I knew that I needed to build something that not just served other people, but it served me and served my life as a Mom.”

• Design the business around your life—not your life around the business. Motherhood helped Lauren define what sustainable entrepreneurship needed to look like.
• Reducing invisible labor is a form of leadership. Thoughtful systems can remove dozens of small burdens Mothers otherwise carry alone.
• Leadership can look a lot like parenting at its best. Different people have different strengths, needs, and paths for growth—and good leaders respond accordingly.
• You don’t have to know everything before you begin. Sustainable growth can come from learning, adapting, and figuring things out along the way.
• A business shouldn’t depend entirely on its founder. Lauren hopes to expand Little Way by equipping other women to build locations that work for their own communities and lives.

Invitation to Connect:

If you’re interested in bringing a coworking-and-childcare model like Little Way to your own community, Lauren welcomes conversations with women who want to explore the idea and learn from what she’s built.  

https://www.littlewayatl.com/

Or email Lauren directly at [email protected]

About Motherhood Advantage

At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

Washington State Senator Manka Dhingra joins Dr. Laura Marie Rivera for a conversation about Motherhood, public leadership, and what changes when lived experience has a seat at the policymaking table.

Drawing on her work in the Washington State Senate, Dhingra reflects on the leadership skills Mothers bring into public life—conflict resolution, relationship-building, humility, empathy, and the ability to recognize what families actually need.

The conversation also explores why representation matters. Dhingra shares examples of policies shaped by women’s lived experiences, from breast milk access for premature babies and workplace pumping accommodations to paid family leave, postpartum care, and healthy-relationship education.

Together, Rivera and Dhingra examine the politics of caregiving, gender equity, bodily autonomy, and the broader case for recognizing family-friendly policies not as perks, but as essential infrastructure.

• Motherhood develops leadership skills that translate directly into public and professional life.
• Lived experience can reveal policy gaps—and practical solutions—more quickly.
• Representation matters because people closest to a problem often see what others miss.
• Childcare, paid leave, postpartum care, and workplace accommodations are deeply connected to economic freedom.
• Women’s issues, family issues, and caregiving issues are not niche concerns; they affect everyone.
• Sharing power and broadening who gets to lead can produce better outcomes for families and communities.

--

Senator Manka Dhingra's bio: https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/dhingra/

Look up Washington State legislative district and elected officials: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder

Use this site to find your elected officials anywhere in the country: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

About Motherhood Advantage

At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

For more than two decades, Dr. Lois Frankel’s landmark bestseller Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office has challenged women to recognize the subtle ways they may have been socialized to diminish their own authority at work. But as our understanding of gender, leadership, caregiving, and workplace inequity evolves, an important question emerges: How much should women have to change—and how much should the workplace change to better recognize the ways women already lead?

In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with psychologist, executive coach, and bestselling author Dr. Lois Frankel for a thoughtful conversation about the enduring lessons of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and the realities women and Mothers are navigating today.

They explore the pressure women still face to be agreeable, accommodating, and “nice”; the double standards surrounding assertiveness and ambition; and why skills like empathy, influence, coordination, relationship-building, and care are too often dismissed as “soft” rather than recognized as essential leadership capacities.

The conversation also pushes beyond the question of how women can better navigate existing systems. What if some of the problem lies in the system itself? What if workplaces have been too slow to recognize the sophisticated leadership Mothers develop through caregiving—from advocacy and negotiation to crisis management, adaptability, and managing complex human systems?

Frankel reflects on what has—and hasn’t—changed for women since her groundbreaking book first appeared, why women still need mentors and advocates, how organizations can create clearer pathways to advancement and better support parents and caregivers, and what this updated third edition can teach us. She also shares practical wisdom about raising confident girls, asking for opportunities, and building the next generation of women leaders.

It’s a conversation that honors Frankel’s decades of work helping women claim their power while asking what the next chapter must be: not simply teaching women how to succeed within systems built without them in mind, but rethinking those systems—and expanding our understanding of what leadership looks like in the first place.

In this episode:

• The lasting relevance of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office
• How “nice girl” socialization follows women into the workplace
• The double bind around women, ambition, and assertiveness
• Why leadership skills are still too often labeled “soft”
• Motherhood as a source of leadership development
• Better workplace support for parents and caregivers

---

About Dr. Lois Frankel: drloisfrankel.com

Books mentioned:

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, Dr. Lois Frankel

See Jane Lead, Dr. Lois Frankel

Nuture by Nature, Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger

Women Don't Ask, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever

Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think), Reshma Saujani

The Ambition Penalty, Stefanie O'Connell

Beyond the Pipeline, edited by Cassie Leonard

Backlash, Susan Faludi

Women's Reality, Anne Wilson Schaef

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera - motherhoodadvantage.com

What does it take to build a life big enough for Motherhood, artistic ambition, and advocacy?

In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera talks with composer, music director, and Maestra founder Georgia Stitt about creating space—for women in theater, for caregiving in professional life, and for the constant recalibration Motherhood requires.

Georgia shares how noticing the absence of women in theater music departments led her to build Maestra, an organization now helping women and gender-expansive musicians become more visible, connected, and hired. She also speaks candidly about the less visible work of Motherhood: the executive function, emotional labor, logistics, and mental load required to keep a family moving while sustaining a creative career.

Together, Laura Marie and Georgia explore why leadership is often less about controlling the outcome than finding deeper ways to trust and collaborate, through listening, respecting, and recalibrating when others share information. They discuss breastfeeding and caregiving in creative workplaces, sharing responsibility at home, the persistent tendency to define women’s accomplishments through the men around them, and what happens when we stop pretending that caregiving exists separately from professional life.

Georgia also reflects on raising two daughters finding their own artistic paths and shares her latest creative work, including her album Bell Tower and its newly published sheet music. 

A conversation about visibility, collaboration, creativity—and building a life where Motherhood doesn’t have to exist in the margins.

Learn more about Georgia Stitt at georgiastitt.com

Listen to the full songs mentioned in this episode at 

https://georgiastitt.com/music-library/get-show-ocean/

https://georgiastitt.com/music-library/kites-children/

Connect with women, gender expansive and under-represented musical theater artists at maestramusic.org

Credits:

“I Get To Show You The Ocean” from THIS ORDINARY THURSDAY

featuring Faith Prince

for MCB on her first birthday

Music and Lyrics by Georgia Stitt

© 2006 Geocate Music (ASCAP)

All Rights Administered by Concord Music Publishing

About Motherhood Advantage

At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers.

If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com

@MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera