The Power Pause: Redefining Motherhood, Career, and Ambition with Neha Ruch

Motherhood often brings with it a thousand unspoken questions: Do I miss life before motherhood? What no one tells you about motherhood is that the journey isn't just about nurturing little humans; it's about redefining your own identity in ways the world doesn't always understand. Neha Ruch's book, The Power Pause, illuminates this hidden side of motherhood, especially for those navigating the vast territory between career and caretaking.

Breaking the Second Wave Feminism Mold

The 1970s image of the stay at home mom or stay at home wife is woefully outdated. Neha's story, as shared on our recent episode of Work Unscripted, makes clear that modern mothers occupy a "vast in-between." They are ambitious, creative, and deeply engaged with both their children and their own personal growth. While second wave feminism pushed women into the workforce, this generation is grappling with a new evolution: motherhood and entrepreneurship, juggling motherhood and career demands, and balancing motherhood and career on their own terms.

Rethinking the Career Break Mindset

Neha's journey began with a powerful decision to downshift her high-powered brand marketing career. What shocked her wasn't the internal uncertainty, but the external pushback: "Are you giving up?" "Won't you be bored?" This reflects a lingering bias in our culture that equates paid work with worth, and unpaid care work with stagnation. But Neha found fulfillment in the messy, creative, and exhausting reality of raising children. Her career break mindset wasn't about stepping back, but about recalibrating toward something deeper.

Owning the Narrative: More Than Just a Stay at Home Mother

What Neha discovered, and what she champions in The Power Pause, is the need to own your story with confidence. Rather than stumble over the question, "What do you do?", she encourages mothers to say, "Right now, I get to be with my kids. And I'm exploring new projects and passions." This simple reframing acknowledges the fluidity of life stages and the reality that motherhood is a season rich with learning and growth.

What No One Tells You About Motherhood

Neha also reminds us that motherhood and entrepreneurship often go hand in hand. In fact, motherhood helped her launch her own business. Even more so than in the office, motherhood helps mothers learn time management, emotional regulation, negotiation, and creativity in the trenches of family life. These aren't resume gaps; they're skill-building years that can serve as the foundation for launching a business, pivoting careers, or re-entering the workforce stronger than before.

Her advice? Don’t rush. Whether you’re taking the power pause now, or contemplating one, remember this is a long game. Build skills slowly, nurture networks in unexpected places (like the playground), and stay open to evolution. Your next chapter isn’t predetermined. It’s being written by you, every day, right now.

Redefining Ambition in Motherhood

Neha's work underscores a broader cultural shift: ambition isn't just linear anymore. The modern conversation is about cycles, not ladders. About choosing presence, not just productivity. About recognizing that stepping out of the workforce doesn’t mean stepping out of ambition.

So if you find yourself wondering, Do I miss life before motherhood? remember: you can love parts of the past while fully inhabiting the present. And you can shape a future that brings together all the parts of you: mother, creator, leader, human.

Listen to the full conversation with Neha Ruch on Work Unscripted and discover how the power pause might just be the most transformative career move you ever make.