The Balance Dilemma

Not all pivots are by choice. Beth Robbins , author of A Grief Sublime , explores the aftermath of the sudden and unexpected death of her husband. She bravely discusses what she took for granted before his death and her reinvention after. Her book was adapted into a film, in which Beth played herself, entitled Sproutman. Beth Robbins is a writer, an actor, a teacher, and a director who received he...

Professor Evan Mandery joins TBD to discuss his book Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us . On TBD, Evan discusses who gets in and why, and how colleges should do more for the greater good. He challenges the belief that these institutions promote diversity and upward mobility. According to him, the rich remain rich allowing few others to break into the top echelon. Rather, he says, it is schoo...

A master of pivots, sometimes by necessity, Loren Stephens, the author of All Sorrows Can Be Borne, shares her story. Early in her career she dealt with the realization that “passions don't pay bills.” After years of success in finance, fundraising, and documentary films, Loren found her way back to her first dream - writing and helping other write and publish. It’s a story that takes her cross-co...

Former New York Times columnist and lead dad, Paul Sullivan , discusses what it means to be a “Lead Dad”  and the implications for women, men, families, and the workplace.  As he tells TBD, Lead Dad “is a powerful proactive term. It's not a reactive term. And naming things matters."  During the episode, Paul introduces his new venture, The Company of Dads , which he terms the first...

Feeling burnt out? Ever wonder how you could just bow out for a bit and get you #$%! together? Discover the power of the pause. Former Google sales executive Rachael O’Meara tells her personal pause story that inspired her book, Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break . Learn terms like TASER, Mental Flossing, and Digital Detox, as well as the five signs that you need...

Professor Caroline Bicks discusses how her wedding ring became an issue in a job interview. She wrote about the dilemma in her NY Times Modern Love article, “Is The Husband Going to Be a Problem.”  There's a name for it in academia - the “two-body problem”  as our guest explains. Dr. Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine. She is also on the faculty o...

Episode 48  The Kids Are Not Alright with Dr. Risa Ryger Clinical Psychologist Dr. Risa Ryger returns to The Balance Dilemma to discuss mental health and our children.  Are the kids alright and what can we do to support their mental health in the age of technology and social media? WARNING: not for children and anyone sensitive to discussions of self-harm or suicide. Episode originally a...

Episode 47  with Chelsea Conaboy - Challenging the myth of  maternal instinct Does motherhood change the b rain or does the brain change in motherhood? This question is explored by author and journalist Chelsea Conaboy in her new book Mother Brain: How Neuroscience is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood . Hear how Chelsea’s own journey inspired this project and questions the idea of matern...

When someone describes themselves as an “accidental entrepreneur” we know we need to speak with them. Especially when that person is also a wife and mother facing her own balance dilemma. Guest Dori Acampora fits that bill as founder and owner of Integrity Media. We discuss how her unique upbringing with two moms (in the 1980s!) affected - or didn’t - Dori’s own plans. But wait, there’s more, lol....

Episode 45 with Ginny Poleman Swipe left or swipe right?  We’re talking divorce and dating.  And if you haven’t been in the scene since the 1980s, quite a lot has changed. Dating certainly isn’t exclusive to the under-thirty crowd. Writer and over fifty influencer Ginny Poleman joins The Balance Dilemma to answer all of our and your questions. From telling the kids about the divorce to w...

Imagine having one of your toughest marital conversations as part of a groundbreaking documentary. Well, guest Emily A. Hay did just that and she shares that experience and the aftermath on The Balance Dilemma. Long committed to careers based on flexibility, Emily is the founding member of Hay There Social Media - a platform that teaches mothers to run their own social media marketing businesses....

This mother, writer, professor of law, and director of the Criminal Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinics at the University of San Francisco School of Law chats with TBD about her new book,  Ambitious Like a Mother: Why Prioritizing Your Career is Good for Your Kids . Lara is a writer of fiction and nonfiction who has published op-eds in the New York Times and The Washington Post a...

When they said, "You can take the girl off the farm but you can't take the farm out of the girl…” they forgot to mention, it takes a businesswoman to run the farm! Adrienne Evatt left behind the big city/corporate rat race but not the knowledge she learned from her twenty-year career. Hear how Adrienne went from urban to rural to live a healthier, happier, and sustainable life with her family, run...

If real life were a movie, guest Nina Sadowsky could write the script. Nina's experience has toggled from coast to coast and has spun from marriage to difficult divorce. Hear how, through it all, she has found success. This former entertainment lawyer was the screenwriter for The Wedding Planner and her short film The First Year’s a Bitch won the best editing award at the New York Short Film Festi...

Skills like a mother . . . make a difference in the world. Guest Meg Kaüfer went from educator to full-time mom to President and founding member of The STEM Alliance , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Hear how Meg’s personal evolution, passions, and balance dilemma led her to this important role, organizing events like STEM-tastic, a hands-on festival of learning that attracted 2,000 attendees in its inaugu...

In the mood for a cocktail? Guest Ute Londrigan can mix you one with a hundred year old German tradition. In 2018, this mother and entrepreneur started craft liqueur business HEIMAT, inspired by recipes handed down from her grandmother. From sourcing fruit locally, to designing bottles and labels, hear how Ute not only survived the pandemic but flourished, adding a woman’s touch to a predominantly...

Fran Hauser , best-selling author of The Myth of the Nice Girl , discusses with us her new book Embrace the Work, Love Your Career . Hear how, well before her superstar career in media rising through the ranks at Time Inc., she honed her business skills as a school-aged child of immigrant parents helping with the books for her father’s business. She also learned the advantages of being nice and wh...

Entertainment lawyer turned writer/novelist Ginger McKnight-Chavers shares her inspiration for her debut award-winning novel In the Heart of Texas, influenced in part by the lessons she learned from her mother, a prominent African-American woman of Dallas. From Harvard Law School, with friend/classmate Michelle Obama, to suburban mom, Ginger expounds upon her article “Beyonce Is My Type of Feminis...

Have you experienced a little stress over the last couple of years? . . . Yeah, us too.  Join clinical psychologist Dr. Risa Ryger, an expert in change. Risa explains her trademarked “disruptive self-ownership” and how it can help you  thrive personally and professionally. She takes us through a calming exercise and provides strategies for facing the day and world. Hear about her Four Fs...

Tired of being the ‘she-fault’ parent, guest Eve Rodsky decided to do something about it in her own home. That inspiration led to her book Fair Play , a system (and game) for more fairly allocating domestic workload with rules like: “All time is created equal.” Eve discusses with TBD the seeds that were sown in her childhood watching her single and divorced mother struggle to do it all and the spa...

Guest Elana Milianta shares her story as a self-made wealth management consultant, retail business owner, and author, who came to this country with her family as a young émigré, seeking freedom. Elana’s life passion has been to help women build financial literacy. Her book,   A Girlfriend’s Financial Survival Guide, educates women on building financial independence as they transition through...

From 15 years old and pregnant to President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, guest Gloria Feldt has quite a story. The author of five books including her latest Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take the Lead for Everyone’s Good , Gloria is committed to propelling women to their fair share of leadership positions by 2025. As she reminds TBD, “companies that have more women in t...

Guest Susanna Herlitz-Ferguson committed to starting a business in her favorite location. She shares her entrepreneurial story, founding MV Salads on Martha’s Vineyard, a near-immediate hit from the time it opened in 2019.  Susanna’s journey is anything but straightforward, beginning with being barely functional in the kitchen to becoming a successful restauranteur. How the heck did she do it? Wit...

This is a classic tale of,  How the heck did she do that?  From working-class roots to Managing Director and Private Banker at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, Joanne Jensen is a star in the financial world.  Joanne managed WFH and flex hours long before they were commonplace and in a field where they were virtually unheard of. Joanne shares with TBD the importance of know...

Fill in the blank… “Women can’t be or do ____.” Whatever your answer, corporate anthropologist, futurist, and author Dr. Andi Simon disagrees. Her latest book Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business recounts the experiences of 11 women, including Simon, and how they succeeded. On this episode, she emphasizes the importance of role models, mentors, and support systems, and that there's no...