She grew up believing she was the least qualified person to become a mother.
Childhood was difficult. The parenting she received was not the kind she wanted to pass on. And for a long time, she thought that past would follow her into the room where she would one day raise her own child.
It did not.
Jen Loong-Goodwin is a venture capital professional by day, a clinical therapist by night, and a content creator who refuses to let the working mom struggle stay silent. She founded LifeLoong Therapy after years inside high-performing corporate environments and time spent sitting with the clients those environments had quietly worn down. She also created Long Long Tales, a bilingual cartoon series helping mixed-race children find belonging in Chinese culture.
She has worked across six countries. She navigated postpartum depression while completing her master's degree, clocking clinical hours, and flying for work. She pumped breast milk in cars in emerging markets, carried frozen milk through customs, and did almost all of it without saying a word about how hard it was.
Because she was raised to believe that silence was a virtue.
This episode is about what happens when you finally stop being quiet.
What we get into:
🧬 Why she almost did not become a mom and the one thing her husband said that changed everything
🌊 Going through postpartum depression as a therapist and what it actually took to move through it
🤱 Her first day back to work after maternity leave was a 2-hour flight + 6-hour car ride + pumping 2L of milk per day away, and why she stopped doing it silently
🔇 The cultural weight of Asian silence and what it really costs working moms who never learn to advocate for themselves
🧠 What she means when she says your career might just be one big trauma response
🤖 How she uses AI not to do more but to protect the hours that matter most with her son
🌏 What it actually takes to raise a mixed-race child to feel like they belong
💼 Why women hit their creative peak between 45 and 55 and what that means for how we design our careers right now
If you have ever stayed quiet about how much you were carrying because you were raised to believe that was strength, this episode was made for you.
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CONNECT WITH JEN LOONG-GOODWIN
👋 LifeLoong Therapy (Book a call): www.lifeloongtherapy.com
👋 Bilingual Chinese culture cartoons: www.yotuube.com/@longlongtales
👋 Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/loongstoryshort
👋 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenloong
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Nobody Warned Her About This
01:13 Introduction
03:34 When Motherhood Hits Differently
07:35 The Cheapest Tool Nobody Uses
12:25 The Cost of Staying Silent
22:24 Healing and Parenting at the Same Time
23:39 What If Ambition Is Just Survival
26:59 How AI Buys Working Moms More Time
33:55 What Does a Full Life Actually Look Like
40:57 What Works at Work Fails at Home
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Watch more:
A Single Mom Who Rewrote Her Story And How You Can Too - Elise Tan| Ep 42 - https://youtu.be/7WkbLCbP8fY?si=brYJUbn0uYL8fDEq
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