You Don't Have to Choose Between Motherhood and Ambition| Prof. Winnie Jiang | Ep 40

There's a moment in early motherhood that most never admit out loud. The moment you look at your baby and think — I didn't sign up for this. When the career you spent a decade building feels like it's slipping away. When you wonder if choosing to have children was a mistake.

Professor Winnie Jiang went there. And she came out the other side with the science to explain why — and what to do about it. I first reached out to Professor Winnie 2 years ago and it’s a conversation that was definitely worth the wait!

Winnie is an organizational behavior professor at INSEAD Singapore, a Yale PhD, and one of the world's most influential management thinkers (Thinkers50 Radar Class). But in this conversation, she shows up first as a young mom of two under five — still in the trenches, still figuring it out, just like the rest of us.

From Singapore's unique pressures on working mothers to navigating a dual-career marriage without letting resentment quietly build, we go deep on the things working moms in Asia rarely say out loud.

What we get into: 

😶 The shame of not wanting to call yourself a mother — and why it makes complete sense 

💔 Why the "back to work after three months" fantasy falls apart, and what the timeline actually looks like

 ⚖️ The invisible power struggle happening in dual-career marriages — and the conversation that can fix it 

🧭 The six anchors of meaning that explain why your job can feel empty even when it looks great on paper 

🤖 Why AI might give working moms something no one else has — time

If you've ever felt like a worse professional for becoming a mother — or a worse mother for caring about your career — this episode was made for you.

—-------------

Chapters:

00:00 When Motherhood Feels Like a Career Killer 

01:12 Introduction

02:59 Finding Your Spring After the Hardest Winter 

04:05 Why Your Village Changes Everything 

09:58 How to Find Meaning When You're Running on Empty 

26:28 Why Work Feels Like a Relief (And That's Okay) 

27:03 The 6 Anchors That Make Work Feel Worthwhile 

31:21 The Resentment No One Talks About in Marriage 

43:02 What Workplaces Get Wrong About Working Moms 

49:30 Could AI Actually Give Moms Their Time Back?

—-------------

Connect with Winnie: 

👋 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnie-jiang-363ab745/

👋 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winnieeeyunn/

Follow Make It Work! ⁠https://linktr.ee/makeitwork.podcast⁠

📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/ 

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/ 

🎵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Make-It-Work/61566472637714/ 

🍏 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-work/id1701442085 

🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/78ulY0B27nYxGB6jPCABPI?si=abfc48d037d943be 

📥 Email: [email protected]

Join our free Mommas Making It Work WhatsApp community: https://bit.ly/MIWcommunity

➤➤ Like the video and subscribe for more honest conversations with working moms across Asia!

🔔 Hit the bell so you never miss an episode — and share with a mom who needs to hear this.

💬 Drop a comment — we read every single one.

#WorkingMoms #CareerSeasons #ModernMotherhood #Resilience #WomenInLeadership #MakeItWorkPodcast