Ambitious Like a Mother

Why Prioritizing Your Career Is Good for Your Kids

By: Lara Bazelon

Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez

In this captivating and radical look at “work-life balance”, Lara Bazelon reframes our understanding of working women—and shows how prioritizing your career benefits mothers, kids, and society at large.

In this singular cultural moment, mothers have unparalleled opportunities to succeed at work while continuing to face the same societal impediments that held back our mothers and grandmothers. We still encounter entrenched gender bias in the workplace and are expected to shoulder the lion’s share of labor and burdens at home while being made to feel as if we’re never doing enough. All the while we’re told that the perfect work-life balance is possible, if only we try hard enough to achieve it.

It’s time to change the conversation—about work, life, and “balance.” Work and life are inextricably, intimately intertwined. We need to celebrate what we do give our children—even and especially in moments of imbalance—rather than apologizing for what we don’t. In this way, we can model for our children how we use our talents to help others and raise awareness about the issues closest to our hearts. We can embrace the personal fulfillment and financial independence that pursuing meaningful work can bring as a way of showing our children how to live happy, purpose-driven lives. Bazelon argues not only that we can but that we should. Being ambitious at work and being a good mother to our children are not at odds—these qualities mutually reinforce each other.

Backed up by research and filled with personal stories from Bazelon’s life, as well as that of her mother and the many other women she interviewed across the cultural and financial spectrum, Ambitious Like a Mother is an anthem, a beacon for all to recognize and celebrate the pioneering women who reject the false idols of the Selfless Mother and Work-Life Balance, and a call to embrace your own ambitions and model your multiplicities for your children.

©2022 Lara Bazelon (P)2022 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"Ambitious Like a Mother is an anthem for mothers everywhere: dream big, for your children and for yourself. Bazelon's bold thesis—that ambitious mothers should embrace imbalance and empowerment—is backed up by stories that will make you laugh, cry, and raise both fists in the air." (Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex)

"This is a fascinating and provocative book that will resonate and spark debate. A must-read." (Emily Oster, author of Crib Sheet)

"Lara Bazelon has written a must-read call to action for women. By persuasively arguing that maternal ambition can benefit our children, she empowers working women to reject the false construct of 'mom guilt' and instead embrace our passions." (Elise Jordan, MSNBC political analyst and Morning Joe panelist)

Love This Book

I am very excited to see what Lara Bazelon writes next. I’m a lawyer and soon to be mom in the Deep South - I’ve been searching for a book like this for months. LOVED

Must-read book for any working parent

If you’re an ambitious, hard-working parent, you need to stop what you’re doing and go get this book. I can’t even begin to express the amount of inspiration, validation, and comfort I got from this book. Lara Bazelon is a badass. She’s not just an author, she’s a lawyer and a professor, and a mother. As a father who works his ass off and is always trying to find balance, it was so refreshing to read this book and realize that I’m not the only one dealing with all of these internal conflicts.

Yes, the book is female-focused, but dads can gain a ton from this book as well. In fact, Lara discusses how a lot of her ambition came from her father. In this book Lara discusses her internal conflicts of being a mother while also trying to pursue her goals. As a man, it was really interesting to learn about all of the biases, stereotypes, and overall BS women have to deal with in the world as mothers. Bazelon discusses double-standards for women as well as the unrealistic expectations of women that were really highlighted during the pandemic as more parents had to work from home.

I could go on and on about this book, but I just hope it gets as much attention as it deserves. Lara interviews amazing women throughout the book. Through her personal story as well as theirs, you’ll walk away from this book knowing that you can be a badass parent while also working hard. This book will be an inspiration to anyone who reads it, and I know I gained a ton from my experience with it.

Good read

I enjoyed this book and finished it in no time. As a working mom, in an Academic position, the book surprisingly made me feel like I was not ambitious enough, so it was not really the feel good self help book I was expecting. There is a slight bias towards the stories of very highly achieving women, but the author attempts to present a balanced view, which I appreciated.