How Motherhood Changed My Ambition

First Written 2018. Updated 2026

My whole life I knew I wanted to be a career woman. As a child when I was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Many of my friends responded enthusiastically, “A MOM!” I however, never understood this. I always wanted to be a career woman. I went to a University, I studied Engineering, I got a full-time job as a transportation engineer and had prestigious ambitions for my career. I wanted to get to the top. I wanted to be a leader. I wanted it all.

After settling into a career that I felt good about and my husband finishing up his degree and starting his career, we felt it was time to start a family. I was only 25, but many of my friends around me already had two or three children. We were excited. When I finally got pregnant, it felt our dreams were all coming true. After all, we dreamed of this beautiful life together as a family. 

After I had my baby, I was so in love with him, I can’t even describe the feelings I had. I got to stay home for 8 weeks and then went back to work part-time for another 8 weeks. My sister came and stayed with me and it was honestly so wonderful. I felt fulfilled in my job, I felt excited to go home. I was living the dream.

When my sister left, I had to start taking my baby to the sitter, and this is when feelings of mom-guilt really started to creep in. I felt anxious all the time and worried all the time about the well-being of my child. For the first time in my life, I hated my job. I hated that it pulled me away from what I felt mattered most. I wanted so badly to be a stay at home mom. 

I spent hours searching the internet and applying for work from home jobs, jobs that I was overqualified for and didn’t pay enough. Jobs that had nothing to do with my industry or niche. I was so lost. I really had lost my passion for my work. My coworkers and my boss at the time had a hard time understanding what I was going through and I had such a hard time relating to anyone.

I looked again for help. I wasn’t the first mom to go through this, there had to be way to have both a successful career and be a wonderful mother. This is where Working Moms Connection came in. It was created by Mothers from all walks of life, work at home moms, career women, and wanna be stay at home moms. We all came together because we recognized the world needed an organization that was dedicated to bringing resources to working moms.

2026 Reflection

When I first wrote this article in 2018, my oldest child was still very young and the emotions were fresh. Reading it years later, I’m struck by how much has changed—and how much hasn’t.

The love I felt for my son, the anxiety I felt leaving him, and the struggle to reconcile motherhood with my professional ambitions were all very real. At the time, it felt like I had to choose between being a successful engineer and being the kind of mother I wanted to be.

Today, I see things differently.

I no longer believe fulfillment comes from choosing one role over another. The challenge has been learning how to integrate the many parts of who I am: wife, mother, engineer, entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, athlete, friend, and community member – without burning out.

Some seasons have required me to lean more heavily into family. Other seasons have required me to pursue opportunities that stretched me professionally. Through it all, I’ve learned that the goal isn’t balance. The goal is alignment—making sure the things I spend my time on reflect what matters most.

Working Moms Connection was born out of that struggle. It wasn’t created because I had all the answers. It was created because I was searching for them.