Make Your Career Your Guilty Pleasure | Mackenzie Roebuck-Walsh | TEDxCherryCreekWomen
A speaker addresses the "guilt" felt by working mothers, arguing that achieving "work-life integration" requires actionable community support, advocating for corporate policies and societal norms to support women's careers, ultimately suggesting viewing one's career as a "guilty pleasure." She bases this on three takeaways from working mothers: prioritizing parental love, building a "village," and never quitting. The speaker illustrates the economic necessity of women's retention by citing that equal representation at the top increases revenue and share price by 50 percent. ## Speakers & Context - Unnamed female speaker; speaking to an audience of working mothers/career women. - The context is addressing the "guilt" associated with the challenges of being a working mother. - The speaker acknowledges the inadequacy of traditional solutions, stating the need to move beyond "work-life balance" to "work-life integration." ## Theses & Positions - The primary emotional need for a child is to feel their mother's love, whether for five minutes during bedtime or a few hours on a Saturday. - A crucial survival mechanism for working mothers is having a "village"—a reliable network of people who support them. - Women must not "step back" or quit their careers, as this hinders both personal fulfillment and societal advancement. - For corporations, maintaining women in the workforce is economically valuable: when gender representation at the top is equal, revenue and share price increase by 50 percent. - The speaker reframes personal professional achievement by suggesting women turn their careers into their "guilty pleasure." ## Concepts & Definitions - **Guilt (working mother context):** The feeling experienced by working mothers that cannot be solved through conventional means like confession. - **Work-Life Integration:** A necessary approach replacing the concept of "work-life balance." - **Village:** The necessary support network of people (family, friends, community) required for a working mother. - **Guilty Pleasure:** A term initially associated with minor indulgences (ice cream, bad TV), which the speaker reappropriates to describe a positive, self-affirming aspect of one's career. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Economic Impact:** Companies with equally represented male/female leadership see revenue and share price rise by 50 percent. - **Salary Gap Calculation:** The current pay gap for women is cited at 81 cents on a dollar; after having a child, this gap drops further to 70 cents. - **Transition Support:** The need to "invest in the time" for new mothers to transition back to work, citing the need for policies like extended family leave. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Morning Routine:** Day begins at 7:55 a.m. with a child drop-off and makeup routine, leading to the initial feeling of guilt. - **Professional Milestones:** The speaker discusses spending one's entire life building a career, referencing college, 40, 60, and 80-hour weeks. - **Societal Concern:** Notes that "one in four women is thinking about stepping back," which cannot be allowed. ## Named Entities - **Catholic:** The speaker identifies with this faith tradition. - **Mississippi:** State where the speaker lives and where the 12-week family leave policy was recently passed. ## Numbers & Data - Proportion of women thinking about stepping back: **one in four**. - Gender ratio needed at the top: Moving from **85 to 100** for women out of 100 men. - Economic increase from equity: **50 percent** increase in revenue and share price. - Hypothetical return calculation: A $100 investment yielding $200, versus the same $100 yielding $300 with equal representation. - Current pay gap statistic: **81 cents on a dollar**. - Post-child pay gap statistic: Down to **70 cents**. - Family leave duration mentioned: **12 weeks**. ## Examples & Cases - **Personal Guilt:** The emotional ache felt when transitioning into motherhood while maintaining a career. - **Mother's Career:** The speaker's mother, a senior vice president of investments, used the 20-minute commute ride home to conduct business while the speaker was left at school. - **Personal Support System:** The speaker received support from her father and family who acted as an external "village" while her mother worked. - **State Policy Example:** The speaker notes her current state passed a **12-week** family leave law. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Computer/Laptop:** Used to log into the internet to seek information. - **Stock Market:** Referenced for investment opportunities (buying stocks). ## References Cited - **The expert advice:** Drawing on other working mothers who have been in the field "their whole lives." ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Work-Life Balance vs. Integration:** Transitioning the concept of work-life boundaries to a model of integration. - **Self-Care/Validation:** Comparing career fulfillment to the indulgence of a "guilty pleasure." - **Economic Improvement:** Recommending reinvesting funds saved by improved workplace equity (e.g., going from $200 to $300). ## Methodology - **Consultative/Experiential Learning:** Drawing insights from expert advice and the speaker's personal family narrative. - **Macro-Economic Modeling:** Using quantitative data (50% increase, 81 cents to 70 cents) to build an economic case for gender equity. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - Society must recognize that retaining and advancing women in the workforce provides "real value to the bottom line." - Governments and corporations must provide systemic support, such as extended family leave, to support the transition of new mothers. - Actionable advice: View and cultivate your professional life as your "guilty pleasure." ## Implications & Consequences - Failure to support working women results in economic drag, as demonstrated by the significant drop in earning potential after having children (from 81 cents to 70 cents). - Normalizing the expectation of female career longevity and advancement is critical for corporate health and economic stability. ## Verbatim Moments - *"don't look for work life balance make it work life integration"* - *"what your child needs most is to feel your love whether that's for five minutes as you tuck them in a few hours at the end of the day on saturday when you can give it"* - *"do not step back do not quit keep climbing stay on the ladder"* - *"for every 100 men there are 85 women and the air gets thinner the higher up you go"* - *"both their revenue and their share price go up by 50 percent"* - *"I'd get in she'd smile i'd smile and she'd turn back to her car phone dial her next client and do business for the 20-minute ride home"* - *"love is what we really need and it takes a village"* - *"it could become a guilty pleasure and it will be better for your child to see you thrive to listen to you to learn from you to feel your love to get the support from other people who can also fill their world up"* - *"my guilty pleasure my moment to shine"*