IN PURSUIT from Glassdoor - Lara Bazelon

Mothers might feel that they must be moms 150% of the time. Lawyer, law professor, and author Lara Bazelon started to question this assumption. Honestly examining the myth of “perfect” work/life balance helped Lara break through to redefine motherhood for herself. “I've never felt normal and I'm so curious to know if women listening to this also feel the same way,” she says in our interview. “Because in my mind I always had this idea of what a mom was. They were on the soccer field watching every kick. They were on the playground watching every game. I'm the kind of mom where I'm there, and then in my mind I'm writing my closing argument.”

When Lara’s passion for her legal work conflicted with the time she spent with her kids,  she learned to stop apologizing for her ambition and explain her work to them. She works for social justice, overturning wrongful convictions in court. Bringing her kids into her passion expanded their view of ”what mommy does at work” and inspired them. 

You can’t have it all every day, she recognizes, but you can play the long game.  

“I think a lot of women experience this where they've striven, they've achieved and then they find a life partner, and they have children, and there's this idea that somehow some switch is going to go off in their brain and they're going to cease to want to achieve in the professional sphere and cease to be ambitious,” she says.

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.   

Click to listen now.  Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.  Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way.  If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).