Stop Surviving (Part 2): Ena’s Journey from Burnout to Boundaries

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It’s part 2 of the Stop Surviving series, and today, I am talking with my former client, Ena, who once lived in a constant state of busyness and burnout and didn’t even realize how much she was missing. She shares how her life has transformed since joining Ambitious and Balanced: from running on autopilot to feeling joy in the little things, from defining her worth by productivity to finding peace and presence. If you’ve ever felt like your only options are “keep hustling” or “give it all up,” this episode will show you that there's another way. 

Topics in this episode:

  • How Ena shifted from burnout to balance—and what clicked first 

  • The myth that productivity equals value (and how she broke free) 

  • Tools to separate your thoughts, feelings, and actions for more control 

  • What it really feels like to be present with your family again 

  • Why it’s possible to thrive in your career and motherhood without guilt

Show Notes & References:

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Transcript

Intro

You know that feeling when you wake up in the morning and you're already behind, where you're literally busy from the moment you get up feeling like there's never enough that you can do to actually catch up and feel satisfied and accomplish with your day. That's how my client, Ena, described her life before she joined Ambitious and Balanced. 

And in today's episode, I interviewed Ena about what's changed since she joined this program. She talks about the freedom that she's been experiencing and the mental space that she's gained back because she doesn't always have that negative chatter in her head. She talks about the certainty that she now has that she doesn't have to give up her career in order to be a great mom. 

If you've been feeling stuck feeling like there's no other way but to just grit and bear it as a working mom, then this episode is for you. Are you ready? Let's get to it. 

Welcome to the Ambitious and Balanced Working Moms podcast, your go to resource for integrating your career ambitions with life as a mom, I'm distilling down thousands of coaching conversations I've had with working moms just like you, along with my own personal experience as a mom of two and sharing the most effective tools and strategies to help you quickly feel calm, confident, and in control of your ambitious working mom life. You ready? Let's get to it.

Rebecca: I am so excited. Today, I have with me a past client. She was in my very first cohort of Ambitious and Balanced that started almost a year ago at this point. We were just talking about that. So we've been working together for almost nine months, and she has so much to say about her experience in Ambitious and Balanced—what she really took away from it, what she learned—and she's going to share all of that with us today. And so, I'm so excited to have her here today. Thank you for being here, Ena.

Ena: Thank you for having me, Rebecca. 

Rebecca: So excited to have this conversation today and let people in on kind of like a little inside scoop. What's it like in this program? What do you really get from it? Why was it impactful? What have you learned about being a working mom and showing up for yourself in really confident and clear ways?

So, I know you have so much to say about that. Can you start us out though? Just tell us a little bit about yourself. What should we know about you?

Ena: I'm Ena. I have a five-year-old, very active boy, a demanding job, and I am a person that actually likes to complete many tasks a day. And that defined who I was actually nine months ago. I thought that's how I measure success as well.

And after I had a baby, I realized that's not sustainable at all. It broke me down. I was constantly in an autopilot mode. Didn't feel anything.

The Joy of Being Present

But since I joined your cohort—how do I say this? You know, last Thursday, I went to this family camp that happens at a Park near me. And I sat down, and I felt everything. I felt the sunshine. I felt the birds chirping, the music, kids laughing, parents chatting away.

And I just couldn't help thinking, I could not believe I missed this for five years. 

Rebecca: Oh my God. 

Ena: Like—fresh air, sunny day, green trees, just everything. Breezy air. 

Rebecca: So good. What a great way to start out this interview, this conversation. I love it. Yeah, you—I mean, I would describe you as being like quintessential ambitious, right? Like super goal-focused, super task-oriented, cares a lot about doing impactful work and continuing to move up in your career. Like big goals. That is who you are.

And none of that has changed, obviously. We've just learned how to manage. We've learned how to manage some of that energy in a bit of a different way or balance it out with the rest of you.

And so, I love—just hearing how, even in this example—learning how to listen to the birds chirp and let the sunshine in and literally experience the moment, the joy of the moment, of the big life that you've created.

You've had so much success, right? And there's so much joy, and I know how much you love your son and your family. And just being able to actually slow down all of the stuff going on in your head enough to really be present for that—so beautiful.

Ena: Yeah, that was also one of the breakthrough moments. Not the first one, but this was new. This was new—to sit down calmly with no work chatter, demanding “yeah, and I” in the back. Just immersed into the moment. The feeling—being present in the moment—was the most beautiful experience for the last five years.

Rebecca: Oh, so good. I love hearing that. Well, tell us about the first breakthrough. What was that? I want to hear.

Ena’s Biggest Breakthrough

Ena: One of the biggest breakthroughs for me was realizing that my productivity and value are not the same thing. It was painful to realize it, but it was it. And I—I built my whole identity around being the one who gets things done.

But through this program, I started questioning the belief that I had to constantly hustle to be valuable. The shift allowed me to set boundaries without guilt and prioritize what matters—and not just what's urgent.

And then when I said urgent, I was the one—if somebody sends me an email, I would say, “Yes, I'll get it done,” and it's 8 p.m., I get it done. I'll just pass the dinner. Nobody would miss me. My kid would be fed by my husband. All good. Yeah. Again, not sustainable.

But once I realized that—again, it's this very small thing that actually changed—I was constantly upset with my husband. Like how I was doing a lot, and he didn’t do anything in the household. And I just—you know, it was all about me, me, me, me, me.

And one morning, I was vacuuming. That’s just—that’s my routine in the morning. I like to vacuum. And then I noticed he moved the chairs out of the way. And it was such a nice gesture. And I looked and said, “Thank you.” He said, “I always do this for you.”

Rebecca: Oh my gosh. So funny. 

Ena: That was like the first time I noticed. Yeah. It was a lot about me—my productivity, everything. But I didn’t sit and realize—everyone else was doing their own shit.

Shifting Identity: "My Productivity Is Not My Value"

Rebecca: Yeah. And so, so what you're talking about is like a—almost this sort of identity shift that happened within you as you sort of questioned. You started to question—or I like to say like, poke holes in, right?—this theory that you had, that your productivity and your value, or your how much you get done every day and how well you do it, is like who you are, right? As a person.

And so what were some of the—what were some of the like exercises or questions or things that you remember kind of wrestling with that started to untangle this identity for you?

From Tasks to Meaning: Discovering What Really Matters

Ena: It started with writing down the values. It was one hour work with you. You'd asked a lot, and I was annoyed.

But writing down that value was helpful because what I was seeing before—looking at the values of, okay, Ena values different things, for instance—but what I was paying attention to before that was just the outcome, not the input of like, what's gone in there.

So I think that helped. Just constantly focusing on the outcome was not helpful because I didn't realize it—and appreciate—how much input I was in. It was more like, I work, I'm tired, well, I completed these tasks right here.

But I didn't realize—why I work, for what, for who, and why I enjoyed it. Once I jotted down what I value, it became less of like a productive task that I’d been doing. It was more like, well, maybe I was on this call because I really enjoy working with that particular person. And that person's values aligned with me. Our interests aligned.

So it was an enjoyable task. Yeah. That’s—yeah. The other task was not needed.

Rebecca: So you started to really see that it wasn't just about having to get the thing done or hit the goal or meet a certain expectation. Like, those things are still important to you—and they were important to you when we were having that conversation—but it wasn't like everything depended on it as much anymore.

Ena: Exactly.

Rebecca: Because you could find joy in the progress made. And you could find—you could find impact in other ways within your job, and then the other types of conversations that you were having.

And when you started to notice—I assume—that there were other ways to see your value and to kind of experience joy and impact every single day, that it like, lightened. Life got a lot lighter, right?

You weren’t so rigid about having to get the thing done at the time it had to get done. It like—it really loosened up your ability to experience life in a different way and maybe prioritize some different things because of it.

Ena: That's exactly— that's exactly one of the values I think I had was like, relationship. There are so many things I have, but this relationship one—I never paid attention. It's newer. I like to build relationships, apparently.

And when I was going through those tasks—having a meeting with a coworker whose interests align with me—that's when I realized, oh, this task is enjoyable because I like working with this person. And it immediately makes the whole shift of thought, feeling, action.

Redefining Productivity: Feeling Good About What You Did Do

The feeling just got so much better, and the action just—the action is easier. Happy to be done. And even if I push it— you know what, I have five more other tasks that need to be done for that day, but I am happy with the last task I’ve done. That was value-added. I can do the rest of the five tomorrow. Nobody’s died.

Rebecca: Oh, so good. So good. So you just—you were mentioning the thought, the feeling, the action, right? So I talk about that a lot on the podcast. It’s one of the things that we learn in this program is to make that connection.

Tell me about what that was like for you—to kind of make the connection between thought, feeling, and action, or what that even means to you.

When Everything Feels Like a Frenzied Spiral

Ena: It's one of the two probably I hold tight to myself because before I learned what that was, everything was just spiral. One big spiral. Frenetic.

Yeah. It's just like a little dark black, black cloud constantly. I don't know why, what it is, right? But when I break it down—and it starts with actually taking a breath—like we take it for granted, but it goes a long way.

Just sit down, take a deep breath. And then the first thing is constantly like, okay, I know I’m going to get really upset because I do that when this kind of trigger event happens.

And then I try to collect—well, what’s really going down in my head right now? Let me just write it down. What are the main thoughts? And then I try to capture, okay, there—this task, this thought—is going to make me feel this way. Once I feel the volcano—like you say, volcano rises—

Rebecca: Yeah. I like that.

Ena: Once the volcano rises, the action’s not going to be pretty. Yeah. So, I love that tool.

Your Thoughts Aren’t Facts—And That Changes Everything

Rebecca: Yeah. I remember when we started together, to your point, everything just felt like this dark cloud. Everything just felt very one-note, which was like… not good, right?

You weren’t very happy. There was this kind of lack of feeling of success, generally speaking—or happiness and so forth. But you used to just talk about the things that sort of set you off as being factual.

I mean, we had to keep talking about it, right? Over and over again. It’s like:
“No, this person just makes me angry.”
“No, my boss is just X, Y, or Z.”
“No, my kid—when he does this—it just is this.”

Right? It was all factual. And it took some time for us to keep talking about it and go, “No, no, hold on. These things aren’t happening to you.”

Like, you actually have a lot more control with how you want to respond in these moments—even if they’re challenging or difficult moments.

But it’s going to require us, to your point, to pause, break it down a little bit and say:
Hold on. What are you really thinking in this moment? How are you really feeling in this moment? What’s the responsibility you have to take in this moment?

Because when you have responsibility over—when you take ownership over—how your response is, then you actually have the ability to change it.

We stopped blaming everything and everybody else around us for the way we’re feeling or the way we’re responding.

“I Thought I Was Right Because I’m the Parent”

Ena: Yeah. Yeah. tTat’s pretty correct. Especially around my kid. I thought I am right because I’m the parent. Yeah. I know exactly what’s going on. My gosh. But once that—this is, yeah, to be honest—it’s hard to implement it. Like constantly thinking through that three steps, four steps, calming myself down and thinking through it. But, over time—

Rebecca: But it’s sounding like it’s getting easier and easier over time.

When Commitments Spiral Out of Balance

Ena: It's easier than a daily task, but when it gets like really complex—sure. Like, as I mentioned about this, I joined Swim Team without realizing how much commitment I needed to provide. It got big. Like, I quickly just grew out of balance. My husband was upset. My kid was just like, why am I doing this swimming every single day? Yeah. And I associated his results with my failure or my success. Yeah. 

So yesterday, we had to do—well, I guess it's me, me, and me—had to do a lot of talking to figure out, you know, this thinking-feeling-action loop to be jarred out. Yeah. So much in a happier place.

Rebecca: Yeah. But what you're saying is like this whole Swim Team thing got you riled up and you had to dial it back a little bit and go, hold on. Now what am I thinking? What am I feeling about this? How do I want to respond to this? What’s important here? Right. Kind of bringing it back to a much more proactive, intentional, grounded space instead of just spiraling in the decision or what's been going on.

Rebalancing Time and Reclaiming Energy

Ena: So I think that also helps with—brings out my priorities. I have now to write down, like, hold on, I have other priorities. Why am I fully invested into this Swim Team? It’s my work, me time, my focus time, and kid time. Like, I think I was 100% on the kid time for like two weeks. That exhausted me. Like, oh, that’s too much. Let’s go back and set the rule and go back and visit the basics.

Rebecca: So what you're—one of the things you’re saying here—is that a big takeaway that you had, a big result of this program for you, was taking back a lot more control over the way you feel and the way you respond to life, right? Life as a busy working mom in a demanding job. Super ambitious.

“I was living on autopilot”

Ena: Yes. I think before this program, I didn’t realize I could control that. Again, I was in the autopilot. So get in the car, go to work, come back, have dinner, put him to sleep, you know, husband, and then just—life moves on. 

I just never stopped. Hold on. I could change the route today. I could do it this way because I need to do X, Y, and Z. Then some of the times, like, prioritizing is automatic, but being able to enjoy and control it is just—I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Rebecca: Yeah. What’s different about life now that you have so much more control over your reactions and how you think and how you feel and respond to life?

More Peace, More Presence, More Connection

Ena: I think it’s less energy demanding because—I know—it’s less energy demanding, less overwhelming, not thinking I’m constantly not enough. Yeah. When I have the control, I could dial in each task. I like this task today. It’s value added. I feel successful. I’m in control. Then when I’m in control, I show up—and it just changes the way I show up in front of my family, in front of my work, friends—calm, intentional, and being present. 

I’m pretty sure my friends are happy that I’m present when I’m talking to them. Yeah. I do. I would have called—one of them said two years ago, three years ago—they felt like my body was there, but my eyes just looked empty.

Rebecca: Yeah. Oh, wow.

Ena: Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca: And all that’s changed because of the work that we’ve done together in this program. So yes. Oh my gosh, I love that. This just brings like goosebumps thinking about that. So let’s go back to why you decided to join this program in the first place. Tell us a little bit about that decision-making process for you.

“I Joined Out of Desperation” — When Burnout Pushes You Toward Change

Ena: Honestly, I think I joined out of desperation. And like, to give two credits—so first credit goes to my manager, who was a big fan of your program. Her and I discussed, and she recommended it. And then it was—the price was too steep. So she learned that you were going to have an Ambitious and Balanced cohort, and she dialed me immediately and said, “She's having a program. Join. It'll change everything.” So we did. We both did. When I did—and she encouraged—so credit goes to her.

Rebecca: Yeah, I love that. So you had the outside pressure and support, which is good.

Ena: Yeah. We recognized what I was going through. We were both first-time moms, so we were struggling. But yeah—go back, go back and then it’s up. And then another one was up. I think it was our first session too. It was one of the three sessions, and I think I immediately cried because you asked about something very painful, and then probably called on it. And I was just—a mind shift immediately there. All of us—whatever I believed my whole life—was like: is it really true?

That First Breakthrough Call Changed Everything

Rebecca: Yeah. You’re talking about our breakthrough call that we had long before the program actually started. And that’s one of the reasons why I call it a breakthrough call. Like, my point is to try to help you really start poking holes in some of the things that you’ve been believing that just aren’t true.

Ena: Yeah, so that was a very big flag. So honestly, yes—I joined out of desperation. I tried therapy, productivity hacks, tons of them, books, and whatever I learned from social media—until I overwhelmed myself. Self-help books. Yeah. I still felt like I was stuck in the same cycle—constantly busy but not fulfilled, spiraling between burnout and guilt. And you know, when I had your first call—and then my manager constantly talking about you—something about the way you talk changed my mindset. It just redefined success and felt different.

Rebecca: Yeah. Maybe for the first time you said, “Wait, it can be different.” Like, I don’t literally have to wake up in a spiral and experience all-day spiral, dark cloud, and go to bed with that.

Ena: Yeah, exactly.

Rebecca: Oh no, you don’t, Ena.

Ena: Yeah, I think just that first call made me feel like—deep down, I couldn’t keep, I couldn’t keep living in the way—the state—I was in. And yeah, it took me a long time until she called me about your cohort. Yeah. And I’m so glad I did it.

From Hesitant to Seen: Joining the Group Wasn’t Easy—But It Was Worth It

Rebecca: So what was it like in a cohort? What was—were you excited about doing this with a bunch of other working moms, or what was your experience? I know there’s some that love that and some that are like, “I don’t know…”

Ena: Yeah. I was hesitant when I joined. I think the first thought was like, you're going to record this and then I'm going to share all of my feelings and vulnerability in front of like four other women? Do I trust them? Like, what's going on here? Yeah. This—this feels, this feels like quite a questionable setup.

But then, you know, when they started sharing their pain, their experience, when they got overwhelmed as a mom, as a working woman—yeah. We were in different locations, actually different parts of the country, completely different backgrounds, careers—different, different. One of them is very impressive.

But we all—like, if I just filtered out all of those variables—it really comes down to the same thing: we are guilty moms, struggling to keep our careers as we planned when we were in our 20s, before mom. When all of us became moms, we didn’t realize how much energy we’d need to provide to our kids.

That was the same. Like, yeah—it’s different examples, but it boils down to the same issues. And it was nice. And then actually the one good thing is: different personalities, right? Everyone's reacting to it differently. But it was very nice to be part of that experience.

Rebecca: Yeah.

“I Realized My Experience Wasn’t the Only Truth”

Ena: As if it's—you’re seeing the same problem from five different perspectives. Yeah. And that—that’s good. That goes back to your comment, like—yeah, I thought whatever I experienced was factual. Because that’s the truth. That’s what I experienced. That’s what I’m seeing.

But then I think—someone else, they’re in the same, same situation. And that person from the cohort experienced a different fact, a different belief. So it was nice to see, you know, some of my facts are not that exciting. So let’s just start questioning myself.

You’re Not Alone—And That Changes Everything

Rebecca: It's like—one, I'm not alone. Wait a second. I'm not, I'm not the only person struggling with this. Two, I'm like, their response to this is actually really similar to mine, which is strangely comforting, right? To know other people are having the same challenges.

But yeah—three, to your point, it's like, oh, I could go about this ten different ways. Like, what's been going on for me—even though we're really dealing with a lot of the same mindsets and a lot of the same challenges—they're having a completely different experience.

So maybe my experience could be totally different. If I had some tools or if I had the right intentionality or if I—whatever it might be.

Ena: Yeah, that's how I felt.

Rebecca: Yeah. I've had a lot of the same experience myself. I do like being in cohorts with other women that are in very similar scenarios to me because it really reinforces—like, I like to live in this bubble of, “For sure my challenges are the hardest of them all.” Yeah. Unsolvable.

You know, that's just kind of where our brain likes to go. We like to kind of have a shiny unicorn syndrome of some kind, thinking that, you know, our problems aren't fixable. And it's very human nature for us to do that.

But when we put ourselves intentionally in groups like this, it brings so much—it calms us down in a way. It calms my brain down. It's like, oh, no, no. I'm not alone.

Yeah—even though these women might be highly successful, I think, oh, they must not be struggling because they're so successful. Oh wait—no, they are, just like me.

And it just brings so much comfort and kind of settles down our brain a little bit, which allows us to get to work, right? We kind of have to get past some of that comparison so we can take back that ownership and really take back the life that we want to have.

“It’s Not Just Me”—The Power of Perspective

Ena: Yeah, it's a human—like, it's almost like, that's a basic human problem. But it was like, there's nothing special about my situation.

I'm not understating—I’m sure there's a lot of other women who are in that tough position, of course—but it's just, yeah, we're not, we're not trying to—

Rebecca: Problems are solvable.

Ena: Problems are solvable. Yes. That's how—that's what I would like to say too, for sure.

So now I look at other moms. I actually—again, back to swim meets—and I like to observe people. It's almost like people-watching. Yeah.

There’s nothing to do while you're waiting for like one 30-second swim, and now you have to wait for like hours, hours. But people-watching—and you know, when I watched most of the moms, I could tell, like, they’ve got it together. Like, nobody’s getting panicked like me there. But then I remember, you know, it’s just—people show up differently.

Rebecca: Actually, internally they might be panicky.

Ena: I can learn from them.

Quieting the Inner Critic and Finding Mental Freedom

Rebecca: They're going through a lot inside. Yeah. Absolutely. Exactly. So good. So it's even lessened some of that comparison thinking you've had—or at least brought some perspective to it.

Ena: Yeah. I think that compare—like, you know, you told me that there are so many, like there's a boardroom in my brain with everybody else different. And I think there's like the workaholic, and there's one Ena who used to compare myself to everyone else. But I think she calmed down a lot since our work over these nine months.

Rebecca: Yeah. So yeah.

Ena: I think it’s just so nice. Like, I feel I'm so free. I could move on with my career the way I want to—what I want to learn. That mental—like, having free mental space—is so valuable.

Rebecca: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Those are two—I mean, two big takeaways that you're talking about right there: free mental space, like literally less chatter in your head.

And when there’s less negative chatter going on in your head, you're free to think about so many amazing things—just like how wonderful your life is, or the sunshine hitting your face, and the birds chirping and going, Oh my gosh, I have such a great life, and feeling that.

Which allows you to feel successful. Allows you to feel grounded. Allows you to feel confident. And allows you to feel joy.

All of those things happen when you don’t have that talk track going on in your head and you actually learn how to control it by connecting thoughts, feelings, and actions—and using some of the tools that you learned.

You Can Have Both: A Fulfilling Career and a Grounded Life

Rebecca: So that gives you a totally different feeling about your life, but also—the first one you actually mentioned was moving on in your career, and I don’t want to gloss over that. Because I do think so many women that join this program and work with me—they have it kind of in the back of their mind on some level, or maybe it’s at the very forefront of their mind—like, I don’t think I can keep going.

Like, I think the thing that’s got to give in my life is my job or my career. And of course you don’t want that. You work so hard to get where you’re at. You don’t want to sacrifice.

And so for you to say—because I remember specific conversations around this—of like, I don’t think... you know, there isn’t a scenario where this is possible, and I’m going, No, no, no—it’s possible.

You get to have the career at the pace that you want to have your career, and you can still have that freeing, connected, wonderful experience in your life—your personal life, your mom life as well.

Like, you get to have both.

So you’re saying that that’s—nine months later, since we started working together—that ability for you to believe that’s possible is so, is so true right now.

“I Thought I Had to Choose Between My Kid and My Career”

Ena: If you asked me a year and a half ago—maybe a little over—"Do you want to move on with your career or do you need to pay more attention to your kid?" I think I probably would have said, "Well, yeah, I need to pay attention to my kid because he's my responsibility."

I guess I thought if I’m not giving 100% of my time and not being logged in until 1 a.m., how could I possibly get promoted? No—that mental seat has shifted a lot.

Rebecca: Oh, so good. Do you still work till 1 a.m. every night?

Ena: No. No, I have learned to be a lot more intentional and ask or communicate those questions without being hesitant. And then also be—setting just—boundaries. No.

Rebecca: Yeah. Because it might not—whatever you're doing till 1 a.m.—is probably not as important.

Ena: That—that’s exactly what it was. Yes.

Logging Off With Intention Instead of Guilt

Rebecca: You're not going to get the impact of whatever you're doing at 1 a.m. It’s not enough. There’s not enough joy. There's not enough value in it. It’s not moving the needle forward far enough that it's worth the sacrifice of your sleep at that time.

Ena: Yeah. The email thought at 1 a.m. is like very bitter. Yeah. “I hope you're happy with this…” But you know...

Rebecca: Like I don't—I mean, I want to assume that you would put in the time or the energy till 1 a.m. or something like that if the project was really necessary. I mean, you are very hardworking. You're willing to do what it takes.

But it's not—it’s such a—you don't do it as often. And it's way more intentional when you do it. Like you're choosing, "Yes, I’ve got to put this time in right now," and you know why, and you know the value of it.

And it feels really connected to a timeline, a goal, a deadline, or something like that. It's not your everyday occurrence where it’s just kind of happening to you.

You're making much more conscious decisions around when you're working, how much you're working, and what you're getting done.

No More Automatic Overwork: “I’m Asking What Actually Matters”

Ena: Yes. I’m not trying to log in every weekend just to get the job done. But I question it now. I even try to prioritize—how important is it for the team? How important is it for the manager? How important is it for the company?

So if you start ticking all of those boxes—yeah, I better put my time in now so that we, as a company or team, win. And that’s a win for everybody. But if it's just a “good to have,” then let’s just ride on this.

 

Rebecca: Yeah, yeah, so good. Oh, I love it. I love it.

The 3 Cs in Action: Clarity, Confidence, and Control

Rebecca: Well, I mean, I've described this program here on the podcast many times. I talk about—you know—clarity, having direction, really defining for yourself what success is, defining what matters most, defining your priorities. That's all a part of the clarity process.

We talk about confidence, which is that belief in yourself and learning how to control that negative talk track in your head—so you have internal freedom.

And then control—right? Learning how to be much more in control of your time, your boundaries, your priorities. So you know that you're actually investing your time and energy into the things that matter most to you at the end of the day.

So that’s kind of the 3C process. Is there a way that you would describe that to a listener that might be a little bit more insightful or from an actual participant of it? Like how would you describe this program to those that are listening?

“You Don’t Have to Be Perfect—You Just Need Help”

Ena: If you're constantly overworked, exhausted, silently wondering, Is this it for me? Is this my—like, is this it for me as a career? And this is all I can do for my kid? Then this program can change your life.

You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have it all together. But you do need to have that mental capacity to sit down and think. Because we’re all capable, confident women. Yes, we were not always exhausted.

Before kids, we all had our aspiring career goals. You still have it. You just need help.

“You Feel More in the Driver’s Seat Than Ever Before”

Rebecca: Yeah. I love it. Thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing your experience and talking about where you're at today. It's just so fun to see such a different human being in front of me than it was nine months ago—or even, you know, however long ago we had our first conversation.

You are grounded. You're more confident. You feel more decisive and clear around what brings you joy and what doesn't. I can tell that life—just, you feel much more in the driver’s seat of your life than you probably have in a very long time.

And I'm just delighted to have been a part of that journey. And thank you for sharing it here.

Ena: I am so grateful that you had that call with me. And I’m so grateful that you thought about this cohort. You’ve changed so many women like that. That—that is very nice. And I mean, your contribution to society is...

Rebecca: Thank you so much. I don't want any woman to feel like they have to choose like that. That really does get me out of bed every day—as I think about that idea that so many women feel like it's a choice between being a great mom and having the career they want.

And I want to eradicate that idea. Right? Like, you really can have both. It's a both/and life.

And learning how to be in control and take ownership over yourself and your life and your choices and your priorities—that is exactly what this program is about.

Real Change in Just Three Months (If You’re Ready for It)

Rebecca: In a really short period of time—I know there's some people out there like, Really? Three months? That’s it? I'm like, Yes. Because we are hyper-focusing on just the most impactful tools, lessons, and shifts that you have to make in order to feel much more in control and free in your life.

And yes, it’ll happen within three months. So the next cohort is… Oh, you have something else to say?

Ena: I was just going to say—three months, but a series of tough questionings.

Rebecca: Yes, you have to be ready. You have to be ready for it. Yes—to be challenged. Yeah. But that’s—I mean, I could elongate it. I could make it nice and long. We could make it a year-long program. But I want—I mean, we’re fast results people, right? We want efficiency.

And I'm saying, yes, we can do this in three months. And you're going to see results really quickly as you go through this—as you go through the process—for sure.

Ambitious and Balanced Starts in September 2025

So the next cohort is forming right now. It doesn't start until September but I only take 10 women into that group and I want to make sure you have all of the materials that you have all of the preparation that you have set aside the time and your schedule for it. So we are forming that group right now. 

I would love to connect with you if you are interested in joining. You can simply go to the website www.rebeccaolsoncoaching.com/ambitiousandbalanced. You're going to get all the dates there. You will see a button that says connect with me book a 30 minute call with me and let's discuss you joining this next September cohort. 

All right and to all the working moms out there until next week. Let's get to it.

Daniel Roth