Leaning My Way

After interviewing 13 incredible working mothers, host Mikenzie Ginsberg reflects on the biggest lessons from Season 1. She shares four key takeaways from season 1: why perfect planning doesn't work, how meaningful work can anchor you through motherhood's identity shifts, building support systems that fit your family, and choosing authenticity over societal expectations. Mikenzie weaves together p...

Join Leaning My Way Substack: https://substack.com/@leaningmyway Attend Jaclyn Udell’s Matrescence digital workshop: https://lu.ma/zwhtzj8k Show Notes: Livia Paggi is a political risk consultant, business partner, and mother of three who has always lived life by her own rules. In this episode, she shares her remarkable career journey from helping global investors navigate geopolitical crises to tu...

Shachar Peled shares her journey from reporter to working mother, and how she's learned to find meaning when life doesn't go according to plan. A former journalist for CNN and other international outlets, Shachar opens up about her three-year fertility struggle, transitioning from the unpredictable world of reporting to Google, and facing two unexpected layoffs in recent years. She's refreshingly...

Camilla Kater has been promoted seven times at Deliveroo—including twice while on maternity leave. In this episode, she shares her 10-year journey from Head of UK Operations at the “start-up” to public company executive while navigating IVF and raising three kids. Camilla opens up about keeping her fertility treatment secret while working at a high-growth startup, the practical challenges of daily...

Genia Mineeva has crafted an unconventional career path guided purely by passion and purpose. From growing up in post-Soviet Russia to building a decades-long career at the BBC, then running communications for a major NGO, and finally creating Been — a social enterprise turning waste materials into luxury products — Genia's story is one of following your gut even when the path isn't obvious. In th...

For years, Karina Valencia was certain kids would derail her ambitious career. Growing up in a traditional Mexican household, she rebelled by dedicating herself to climbing the corporate ladder, working in the office of the CEO for companies like Citigroup and Palantir. But after her first marriage ended, she met her now-husband in her late 30s, and everything changed. After a challenging fertilit...

Award-winning filmmaker Shaina Feinberg joins Mikenzie to discuss her  New York Times Op-Ed film "I Almost Quit My Career for My Kids. Then I Met Joan Darling" and how becoming a mother actually amplified rather than diminished her creative ambitions. In this conversation, Shaina opens up about the moment she almost gave up filmmaking due to the overwhelming pressure of trying to make it as a film...

Marketing strategist Charlotte Brown shares how an early endometriosis diagnosis shaped her career goals — fast-tracking her rise in the corporate world so she could start a family before 30. She opens up about navigating fertility challenges, a difficult pregnancy, and the realities of returning to work after maternity leave. Charlotte also reflects on the surprising way motherhood reignited her...

In this episode, venture capitalist Leila Zegna shares her inspiring journey founding Kindred Capital while becoming a mother of three. When her first daughter was born with a rare genetic condition, Leila's identity as a high-achiever was challenged, forcing her to redefine success beyond metrics and accolades. She candidly discusses navigating the venture capital world while pregnant, and her ev...

Silke is a senior leader at Dow Jones who has built her career and family life across three countries—Denmark, the UK, and the US. In this conversation, she shares her journey from leaving her native Denmark after university to establishing a successful international career while raising two young children with her husband Thomas. Silke speaks candidly about the mental challenges of early motherho...

Psychotherapist Jaclyn Udell shares her unconventional life path from studying Mandarin in North Carolina to working in Chinese textiles, retraining as a psychedelic therapist in New York, and building her practice in London as a new mother. Jaclyn discusses how exposure to diverse cultures—from the American South to China, New York, Paris, and London—shaped her unique approach to career decisions...

In this special episode, Mikenzie gets to chat with her older sister Candice about her career and motherhood journey. Candice is a mother of four girls who has navigated multiple career transitions from corporate real estate law to in-house counsel, stay-at-home motherhood, and now entrepreneurship. In this  episode, Candice shares about her lifelong plan to be both a mother and lawyer—and how rea...

Emily is a commercial operations leader at a major tech company, where she’s helped grow the organization from scrappy startup to public company—all while becoming one of the first senior employees to navigate parenthood. In this episode, Emily shares openly about her deep-rooted drive for achievement, being the primary breadwinner in her family, and the ever-evolving dynamics of balancing an inte...

Cecilie Jakobsen is the founder and CEO of Wawa Fertility and a single mother to her son and stepdaughter. In this episode, she shares how she turned personal fertility pain into purpose and how she is building a VC-backed startup while raising a child. Cecilie shares openly about her fertility challenges, how she uses her flexibility to make running a business and family work, the crucial role of...

Welcome to Leaning My Way, a show where I have honest conversations with working mothers about how they really "do it all". This show serves as a resource for all women, whether you're a mother, considering becoming one or just asking some of these questions about how to balance career and parenting.  Join us every Thursday for new episodes of Leaning My Way.