Genius Expert: How to Be Ringmaster of the Working Motherhood Circus
Posted by Ashley Kaufman
Jennifer Folsom is a dynamic leader with a proven record of growing all sizes of professional services firms. A human capital expert, she embraces a people-centered approach to drive revenue in organizations from start ups to large companies.
Jennifer knows that living your whole best life is the ultimate key to success. She's the mom of three sons, 17-year-old twins and a 12-year-old firecracker. Jennifer is also a wife, daughter, sister, friend, yogi, soccer player, amateur farm-to-table chef, paddleboarder, runner, reader and writer. Her book The Ringmaster, a practical guide to modern working motherhood, is available now.
Jennifer Folsom The Ringmaster
Jennifer Folsom The Ringmaster
SignUpGenius: Can you share a bit about your family and career? What inspired you to speak out about working motherhood?
Jennifer Folsom: I first became a working mother when I learned I was pregnant with twins — the day after 9/11 — in my second year of a very intense, full-time MBA program at Georgetown University. I took a career pivot away from investment banking and into consulting, and when my then Managing Director rescinded a recommended promotion because I "couldn't handle the next level with my responsibilities at home," I knew there had to be a better way.
SUG: You advise moms to avoid the pressure to create work-life balance and embrace the circus instead. How can this idea help empower working moms?
Folsom: We need to stop chasing some fictitious balance. It just doesn't exist. And in our quest for balance, we constantly feel like we're falling short. We're too slow on the promotion track. We aren't classroom parents. We don't make enough to pay for daycare AND save for college. We are too exhausted after a 10-hour day and hour commute to read to our kids at bedtime. Moms, you're doing just fine. There is no single perfect way to do this.
SUG: What are some ways busy families can fit in time together during the week?
