There's a moment in early motherhood that most never admit out loud. The moment you look at your baby and think — I didn't sign up for this. When the career you spent a decade building feels like it's slipping away. When you wonder if choosing to have children was a mistake.
Professor Winnie Jiang went there. And she came out the other side with the science to explain why — and what to do about it. I first reached out to Professor Winnie 2 years ago and it’s a conversation that was definitely worth the wait!
Winnie is an organizational behavior professor at INSEAD Singapore, a Yale PhD, and one of the world's most influential management thinkers (Thinkers50 Radar Class). But in this conversation, she shows up first as a young mom of two under five — still in the trenches, still figuring it out, just like the rest of us.
From Singapore's unique pressures on working mothers to navigating a dual-career marriage without letting resentment quietly build, we go deep on the things working moms in Asia rarely say out loud.
What we get into:
😶 The shame of not wanting to call yourself a mother — and why it makes complete sense
💔 Why the "back to work after three months" fantasy falls apart, and what the timeline actually looks like
⚖️ The invisible power struggle happening in dual-career marriages — and the conversation that can fix it
🧭 The six anchors of meaning that explain why your job can feel empty even when it looks great on paper
🤖 Why AI might give working moms something no one else has — time
If you've ever felt like a worse professional for becoming a mother — or a worse mother for caring about your career — this episode was made for you.
—-------------
Chapters:
00:00 When Motherhood Feels Like a Career Killer
01:12 Introduction
02:59 Finding Your Spring After the Hardest Winter
04:05 Why Your Village Changes Everything
09:58 How to Find Meaning When You're Running on Empty
26:28 Why Work Feels Like a Relief (And That's Okay)
27:03 The 6 Anchors That Make Work Feel Worthwhile
31:21 The Resentment No One Talks About in Marriage
43:02 What Workplaces Get Wrong About Working Moms
49:30 Could AI Actually Give Moms Their Time Back?
—-------------
Connect with Winnie:
👋 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnie-jiang-363ab745/
👋 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winnieeeyunn/
Follow Make It Work! https://linktr.ee/makeitwork.podcast
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makeitwork.asia/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/
🎵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Make-It-Work/61566472637714/
🍏 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-work/id1701442085
🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/78ulY0B27nYxGB6jPCABPI?si=abfc48d037d943be
📥 Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com
Join our free Mommas Making It Work WhatsApp community: https://bit.ly/MIWcommunity
➤➤ Like the video and subscribe for more honest conversations with working moms across Asia!
🔔 Hit the bell so you never miss an episode — and share with a mom who needs to hear this.
💬 Drop a comment — we read every single one.
#WorkingMoms #CareerSeasons #ModernMotherhood #Resilience #WomenInLeadership #MakeItWorkPodcast
