The Breadwinners

Author, speaker and Money Tips for Grownups podcast host Bobbi Rebell joins Jennifer to talk about learning to launch our kids into their financial futures the right way, mistakes and all — and how we’ve each learned our own breadwinning lessons too.  Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today!  Episode Links  How to Be a Financial Grownup: Proven Advice from High Ac...

To mask or not to mask, that is the question we all have as we step into a changed world. In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider this latest stage of the pandemic: reopening and the impact of what some scientists are calling COVID-19 anxiety syndrome.  Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today!  Episode Links  COVID-19 anxiety syndrome: A pandemic phenomenon? ...

Feeling dissatisfied, disconnected, and maybe even a little bored, management consultant Tina Berger asked herself: Surely this can’t be all there is to life?  That question led Tina on a spiritual quest to reawaken the inspiration she lost on her way to success. Today, she joins Jennifer to discuss her new book, Coming Around, and shares lessons learned by questioning not only how we judge  accom...

With the number of vaccinated Americans growing, CEOs are now turning to returning to work — with some handling the transition better than others. In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider the pushback some leaders are facing as they consider post-pandemic office life, especially one that that comes without school or child care services firmly in place.  Please help us grow: Rate, review and su...

At last count, the U.S. was home to about 10.3 million teen girls (15 to 19) thinking about who they want to be — but not quite sure how to get there.  That’s where former M&A lawyer Illana Raia comes in. Illana has founded Être, a mentorship platform to connect girls in the U.S., Canada and India with female leaders to help them see potential futures for themselves. Illana joins Jennifer to talk...

As society has begun to reckon with the impacts of systemic racism, sexism and white privilege, such sensitive and painful topics come to the workplace as well.  In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider how some leaders have blundered into such conversations, even as others are using such discussions to bring diversity topics to the fore — and the lessons we can learn from both. Please help us...

This year’s Bright Horizons survey of working families finds that the stress and mental loads are bigger than ever. Yet it’s not only us parents who are struggling. Chief Marketing Officer Kristy Cunningham joins Jennifer to share how children are managing their own mental loads and what’s worrying parents right now in terms of the impacts on our children’s social skills, cognitive development, an...

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s quiet commitment to maintain her teaching career at Northern Virginia Community College even as First Lady has us thinking about the growing numbers of Americans, especially women, who hold more than one job at a time, how we’ve done it ourselves — and 21 suggestions for side hustle gigs.    Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today!    ...

We’ve all experienced a career transition (or two) but a career transformation is something altogether different.    In this episode, Pat Roque of Rock on Success joins Jennifer to share how she’s helping women find the mindset, skill set and tool set they need to create the career and life they truly want.  Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today!  Episode Links ...

In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider Anne Helen Petersen’s insightful essay, “Against ‘Feel Free To Take Some Time If You Need It’,” which considers the internal and external pressure to stay productive at all costs. “The myth of meritocracy teaches you that if you do say no, you are closing off roads to your potential excellence. Or, more bluntly, you are not ambitious, and a lack of ambi...

To Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, there is much more to connecting than sending a generic LinkedIn invite.   Known for her extensive, vital and vibrant network of contacts, Susan joins The Breadwinners to share her passion for connection as well as her new book, The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships.  Please help us...

Vaccines are rolling out nationwide, meaning that life is shifting once again. In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider how the pandemic is prompting some people to see opportunities for change and action, while Jennifer experiences a deep case of the Blahs.     Please help us grow: rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today.     Episode Links  Out of the Pandemic, Chances for Anothe...

Nearly 4 million babies are born every year in the U.S., and yet it seems like we all start from zero when it comes to learning what we want — and need — to know as new moms.    In this episode, certified doula and author Bailey Gaddis joins Jennifer to talk about her new book, Asking for a Pregnant Friend: 101 Answers to Questions Women Are Too Embarrassed to Ask About Pregnancy, Childbirth, and...

As vaccines reach more adults and older teens, families with younger kids have a new equation to solve when it comes to making summer plans. Will this be the second year of no summer camp, limited travel and shocking amounts of screentime? (#askingforafriend)    In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider the latest advice on family travel and share how they’re navigating the long days of summer...

A time of isolation and stress can also be one of clarity, helping you to answer the essential (and eternal) question: What is your Why?    Executive and personal coach Shoshanna Hecht joins Jennifer to share how she works with high-achieving women to take concrete and powerful actions toward their goals — and how lessons we’re learning now will impact our lives as breadwinners in the future.    “...

In a move to increase job satisfaction and lower hardship, Seattle has passed a law requiring major employers post schedules 14 days in advance.     In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider the 58 percent of U.S. workers paid an hourly wage (82 million) and the impact that unpredictable work schedules can have on their lives and families.    Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to T...

One of the biggest weapons in the fight for gender equality comes from how we spend our money. Since 2014, journalist Amy Cross has been working to make it easier for consumers to do just that by assessing thousands of companies through Gender Fair.   In this episode, we consider how to make the world a fairer place, one purchase at a time.  Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The B...

In 2019, American women were starting an average of 1,817 new businesses per day. In this episode, Rachael and Jennifer consider what drives women to cut their own path, share their own experiences with entrepreneurship and revisit Morra Aarons-Mele’s excellent essay on the dangers of “entrepreneurship porn.”    In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider the research     Please help us grow: Rat...

Today 20% of children in the U.S. have an ongoing health issue related to physiology, development, behavior, and/or mental health — and that number is rising. Sehreen Noor Ali, co-CEO of Sleuth, a guide for early childhood health that helps parents identify solutions, resources and cures through shared stories and smart technology, joins The Breadwinners to discuss the fight parents face to get th...

As some employers begin to reopen offices, a new survey finds that half of all workers wish to remain remote permanently. In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider how leading firms are considering the answers to the important questions when, how, and why should employees return to the workplace? And why no one size ever fits all.   Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwi...

In her new book, Think Like a Breadwinner: A Wealth-Building Manifesto for Women Who Want to Earn More (and Worry Less), financial expert and author Jennifer Barrett returns to The Breadwinners to reframe what it means to be a breadwinner. By dismantling the narrative that women don’t — and shouldn’t — take financial responsibility to create the lives they want, Jennifer reveals not only the impor...

The question is, will that anger equal action? In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider Helen Lewis’ insightful new essay, “The Pandemic Has Given Women a New Kind of Rage,” and remember how spot-on she was a year ago as the pandemic erupted. (Revisit that one in Episode 11: Breadwinning + Caregiving in a Pandemic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, former magazine publishing exec Deborah Burns joins The Breadwinners to talk about what she learned about writing after completing her memoir. It’s a lesson she now shares with brands and executives alike as they seem to invent — and reinvent — themselves in her new book out this month. Please help us grow: Rate, review and subscribe to The Breadwinners today! Our music is “Run fo...

Before the pandemic, the price of childcare already rivaled that of many college tuitions   — and that’s if you could find it. Now researchers estimate that at least 20,000 childcare centers have closed in the pandemic, with thousands more expected to follow suit.    In this episode, Rachael + Jennifer consider the growing impact of childcare deserts — and how they’ve navigated childcare needs thr...

When it comes to navigating careers, author and thinker extraordinaire Lindsey Pollak says the most successful and happy professionals describe themselves as frequent and deliberate recalculators, constantly considering where they want to go next. In Recalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work, she shares actionable advice for activating your own personal GPS to avoid ob...