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The Breadwinners Podcast

Alexis Contos

They say you can't have it all — that mothers must choose between ambition and presence. But what if we're asking the wrong question?

On The Breadwinners Podcast, Alexis Contos redefines what it means to be a Breadwinner in modern culture, moving it far beyond the paycheck. Through raw, honest conversations with women like Morgan Zanotti (CEO of Primal Kitchen), Nicole Trunfio (CEO of Bumpsuit), and Eve Rodsky (Author of Fair Play & Find Your Unicorn Space), we explore what it really takes to bring financial richness, emotional richness, and systemic change to our families.

This isn't about balance, it's about integration. Not perfection, but wholeness.

Whether you're already navigating motherhood and career, building your empire before kids arrive, or reimagining what family leadership looks like, these conversations will challenge everything you've been told about what's possible.

The Breadwinners: Where ambitious mothers aren't just earning a living, they're pioneering a new era for themselves, and everyone who comes next.

Learn more at thebreadwinners.co.

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Yesterday · 1 hr 4 min
Saved Seats | Devon McDonald on the Secrets Successful Women Keep: Burnout, Mom Shame, & Rebuilding with Intention
**This is a replay from a previous episode** What does it feel like to reach the pinnacle of your career — and realize it no longer fits? Devon McDonald spent 17 years in venture capital, rising to General Partner at OpenView Ventures while raising three kids and serving as the financial anchor for her family. In March 2020, OpenView had its largest exit ever when Datadog went public, returning the fund ten times over. On paper, it was the moment she'd worked her entire career for. On the inside? Devon was sitting alone in her car, listening to meditation audiobooks, wondering why she felt desperate to escape. In this raw, honest conversation, Devon and Alexis explore what happens when the life you built for everyone else stops fitting who you're becoming — and what it actually takes to rebuild. Devon opens up about the warning signs she ignored for years: the physical symptoms of chronic stress, the shame spiral of working-mom guilt, the perfectionism and control that masked how much she was struggling. She shares the terrifying work of dismantling a life that looked perfect from the outside — losing 30 pounds, hiring a psychologist and spiritual coach, learning nervous system regulation, setting boundaries at work, transitioning out of her GP role, and ultimately leaving her marriage. Today, Devon is the co-founder of Second Harvest, a retreat for high-achieving leaders at midlife who are ready for something more aligned to their inner truth. This episode is for every breadwinner mother who has ever sat in her car just to breathe. What we cover: - The moment Devon realized her biggest career win felt completely hollow - How the body signals misalignment long before the mind catches up - Mom shame, working-mother guilt, and why high-achieving women don't talk about it - The role of nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and spiritual coaching in Devon's transformation - Why divorce made her a better, more present mother - What "high achieving" actually means — and who Second Harvest is really for - How to build community rooted in giving, not performing Connect with Devon McDonald: 🌿 secondharvest.co 💼 LinkedIn: Devon McDonald 📸 Instagram: @second_harvest_retreats __________________________ Connect with The Breadwinners: 📩 Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Instagram: wearethebreadwinners __________________________ 🎙️ Rate + Subscribe wherever you listen — it helps us reach the women who need to know they're not alone. __________________________ #WomenInBusiness #HighAchievingWomen #career #BurnoutRecovery #WorkingMom #mom #MidlifeWomen #CareerTransition #WomenLeaders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 30 · 26 min
How real belonging gets built | A conversation with Marika Frumes of Mysha
Everyone is calling everything a community right now. Marika Frumes has spent six years building the real thing, and she knows the difference. Alexis sits down with Marika, founder of Mysha, the morning after the two co-hosted a dinner in Austin. Marika shares how a WhatsApp group of 18 expecting moms in January 2020 became a lifeline during the pandemic and grew into Mysha. She also opens up, for the first time on a podcast, about immigrating from the former Soviet Union at seven with $400. She talks about the childhood experiences that shaped why she builds spaces where everyone feels safe. In this episode: How Mysha started with one Facebook post and a WhatsApp group Marika's immigration story and the promise she made to herself in middle school The difference between a community and a group, and why it matters for brands How to create safety in a room before asking anyone to be vulnerable Why community should grow slowly, and what it takes to build a culture of value Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 22 · 1 hr 1 min
Saved Seats | Patrice Meagher on Building Systems to Support Working Moms in the Workplace
In this episode, Alexis Contos sits down with Patrice Meagher, a 20-year Commercial Real Estate veteran turned Founder and CEO of MilkMate. After spending two decades leasing millions of square feet in Manhattan , Patrice realized that while we can fly to space, the most "innovative" solution for pumping at work was still a storage closet or a bathroom stall. Patrice shares her journey of leaving a successful corporate career to solve a problem that had plagued her through four children: the inefficiency and indignity of pumping in the workplace. She breaks down her famous "Coffee Pot Analogy" - asking men to imagine brewing their morning coffee in a bathroom stall while disrobing and carrying equipment back and forth - to illustrate the absurdity of the status quo. In this conversation, Patrice discusses the "tipping point" for working mothers - that moment when one small thing (like a forgotten pump part) causes the mental load to crumble. She opens up about the daunting process of gaining FDA clearance for MilkMate , the wisdom she carries from her late father’s "Don’t Quit" motto , and why she believes working moms are the most efficient workers in the universe. Whether you are an employer looking to support your team or a parent navigating the "drip effect" of balancing career and family , this episode offers a blueprint for how we can evolve the workplace—bird by bird, step by step. Join The Breadwinners community: The Breadwinners on Substack - wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow in Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 15 · 1 hr 15 min
When Success Becomes a Cage with Keren Eldad | The Breadwinners Podcast
Most of us are told to chase the title, the house, the marriage that looks good from the outside. Keren Eldad had all of it, and it nearly broke her. In this episode, executive coach and bestselling author Keren Eldad (Gilded, Gilt Free) sits down with Alexis to unpack what happens when your ambition outruns your actual self. Keren shares the exact moment her life "came crashing down" in the shower, why she believes overachievement is an addiction, and the difference between women with high standards and women trapped in perfectionism. The setup: Keren had every marker of success — a C-suite title at a luxury brand, a home in Zurich, two degrees, a marriage that looked good on paper — and was quietly miserable underneath all of it. The break: In her mid-30s, a breakdown in the shower gave her sudden clarity: she wasn't the problem, the life she'd built was. That's when she started "burning it all down" — leaving the marriage, leaving the job, starting over with no savings. Redefining "high achiever": Keren reframes it as a personality wired for intensity and an unhealthy relationship to effort, not a compliment. She draws a hard line between perfectionism (chasing something unattainable, inherently unsatisfying) and high standards (enjoying the work itself, staying "kind of chill"). Where it comes from: She traces her own overachieving back to being raised as the "golden child" — praised constantly for grades, achievements, and performance — and explains how that praise turns people into what she calls "dancing bears," performing for approval instead of living as themselves. The self-sabotage list: Debt, isolation, doom-scrolling, workaholism, harsh management styles — Keren walks through the ways overachievement quietly shows up as addiction, and why the first step out is simply acknowledging it. Rebuilding after loss: After her divorce, a fire destroyed everything she owned. She talks about what that taught her about materialism — and why her relationship to "stuff" changed even though her love of nice things didn't. Coaching, decoded: Keren breaks down how to actually vet a coach — look for rapport, lived experience, and results, not credentials alone — and pushes back on the excuse "I don't have time," reframing it as a preference problem, not a time problem. The climb is supposed to be hard: She compares building something new to a plane burning most of its fuel on takeoff — the early grind isn't a red flag, it's the cost of getting off the ground. Devotion over discipline: Her framework for sustainable ambition isn't intensity, it's consistency — showing up in smaller or bigger doses every single day, and letting that compound over time. Meet Monica: Keren names her overachiever alter ego after Monica from Friends — the part of her that shows up cleaning and barking orders the second something feels uncertain — and shares how she catches herself and resets (including literally booking a flight to Miami to do nothing). On legacy: When asked what legacy she wants to leave, her answer is refreshingly unbothered: "Who cares? I'll be dead." She'd rather be remembered as a nice, kind person than build toward some future she won't be around to see. Keren Eldad is a leadership coach and the author of Gilded and Guilt Free. She has coached thousands of high achievers out of burnout and into what she calls a "gold" life. She joins the show to talk about the cage of overachievement and how to walk out of it. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 8 · 57 min
Saved Seats | Go Get the Help You Deserve with Kelly Hubbell from Sage Haus
You're expected to work like you don't have kids and parent like you don't work. Kelly Hubbell, founder of Sage Haus, looked at this impossible equation and decided to build the solution herself.In this episode, Kelly shares her journey from corporate tech sales to launching Sage Haus—a company that provides house managers and holistic family support for busy working parents. After her second child, Kelly found herself overwhelmed, creating a spreadsheet at 2am cataloging everything she was managing on top of her full-time job. That breakdown moment became her breakthrough. We dive into the reality of founder-motherhood, why the "mental load" conversation needs to shift from problem to solution, and how Kelly is building a business that reflects her values while showing her three kids what's possible when you refuse to choose between ambition and presence. Kelly Hubbell is the founder of Sage Haus, a company that helps busy families find holistic, versatile support through house managers and family assistants. A former software sales professional who worked her way through Silicon Valley startups, Kelly made the leap from corporate America to entrepreneurship after realizing the support gap working parents face.Kelly lives in Portland with her husband (also an entrepreneur), three children (ages 7, 5, and 3), and a 7-year-old dog. She's on a mission to normalize household support and give families permission to get the help they need. Find Kelly:Instagram: @mysagehaus LinkedIn: Kelly Hubbell Website: Sign up for informational calls about finding your house manager Get $200 off your deposit by using this link: sagehaus.com/alexiscontos Join The Breadwinners Community: Subscribe to The Breadwinners on Substack for Full podcast episodes In-depth written interviews with guests Live Q&A sessions with experts Exclusive content on hormones, finances, partnership dynamics, and moreIt's free to subscribe → wearethebreadwinners.substack.com #workingmom #mom #podcast #breadwinnermom #momentrepreneur #femalefounders , #worklifebalance #ambitiousmoms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
September 1 · 50 min
It's Okay to Not Be Okay: Sonny Williams on Maternal Mental Health | Courage to Confide campaign
Postpartum is not a diagnosis. It's an experience every mother has, whatever form it takes. What determines whether you need support is severity and how long it lasts, and most of us were never taught the difference. In this episode, Alexis sits down with Sonny Williams, a perinatal mental health certified counselor and clinician with BetterHelp, to break down the real spectrum of maternal mental health, from baby blues to postpartum anxiety, OCD, depression, and psychosis. This conversation is part of the launch of Courage to Confide, our campaign built on one belief: the courage to confide is the confidence to lead. What you'll learn: The difference between "PMADs" (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) and why postpartum depression is only one piece of a much bigger spectrum How to tell the difference between support and help, and why you need both Why identity shift, not just hormones, is at the center of the postpartum experience How ambition and motherhood can coexist without shutting down who you were before Concrete tools for what to do when you notice something is off, for yourself or someone you love Sonny Williams is a licensed professional counselor and perinatal mental health certified counselor who works with mothers across the full spectrum of the perinatal journey, from fertility through the first year postpartum. She joins the show to give clinician-backed language to a conversation that too often only lives in headlines. It's okay to have it all together and look polished and always be presentable. It's also okay to not be okay. #CourageToConfide If any part of this piece feels close to home, we’ve partnered with BetterHelp to offer a free month to anyone who signs up through The Breadwinners. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 18 · 1 hr 17 min
Trimester Zero, Male Fertility, and Why Balance Is a Hoax with the Founders of WeNatal | The Breadwinners Podcast
WeNatal co-founders Ronit Menashe and Vida Delrahim explain trimester zero: the three months before conception when both partners can improve egg and sperm quality through targeted nutrition, bioavailable supplements, and cutting alcohol, smoking, and vaping. Male factor influences roughly half of miscarriage and infertility outcomes, and men regenerate sperm continuously, which means the window to improve is real and short. On this episode of The Breadwinners, Ronit and Vida also share how they built a bootstrapped prenatal supplement company after two miscarriages a week apart, why the supplement industry runs on smoke and mirrors, and what burnout, a health crash, and losing a home in the Palisades fire taught them about time. Ronit and Vida were best friends and Nike colleagues who lost pregnancies within a week of each other in spring 2020 and were told by their doctors that it just happens. They refused that answer, dug into the research, put their husbands on antioxidants for three months, and both went on to have healthy daughters. That experiment became WeNatal, which has now helped 30,000 people become parents. In this conversation, Alexis Contos talks with them about building a company while postpartum, growing for three years on nights and weekends and no salary, why they turned down the paid-ads playbook, and what their daughters see when they watch their mothers work. What you will hear: Why "just happens" is not an answer, and what to ask your doctor instead Trimester zero and the specific antioxidants that support sperm and egg quality How to read a supplement label: third-party testing, bioavailable forms, and fillers "Balance is like a hoax": what a health crash and a house fire taught them about non-negotiables Bootstrapping against competitors with $40 to $50 million in venture money The Google Doc called "Bestie Co" and why you should write letters to your future self Timestamps: 00:00 Why WeNatal chose podcasts over paid ads 02:23 The club of women told they were too old 04:09 Two miscarriages a week apart 09:18 Trimester zero: what they put their husbands on 13:16 How men show up in the fertility conversation 18:20 Supplement industry smoke and mirrors: third-party testing and bioavailability 25:05 Building the company while postpartum 30:35 Burnout, and why balance is a hoax 36:32 The Palisades fire and the wake-up call 38:20 Don't wait for rock bottom 43:09 What their daughters see 48:29 Bootstrapping and the cost of patience 55:34 The legacy question 56:38 Breadwinner Artifacts: the Bestie Co Google Doc 59:31 Letters to your future self and trusting your gut 62:39 Breadwinner Bites 72:06 Where to find WeNatal Start your WeNatal routine today by going to wenatal.com/BREADWINNERS and receive a free Rest+Digest Magnesium supplement ($30 value) with your first prenatal subscription. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate and review wherever you listen. It helps more women find this show. #breadwinner #fertility #trimesterzero #womeninbusiness #femalefounders #prenatal #motherhood #entrepreneurship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 11 · 51 min
Saved Seats | The Mental Load of Dads: Nick Firchau on Modern Fatherhood
*This is a replayed episode from earlier in Season 1* The first man to sit at the Breadwinners table. We're bringing back this conversation with Nick Firchau, host of the Paternal podcast, because the questions it raises haven't gone anywhere. Nick has interviewed more than 130 men about fatherhood, and this episode gets into what those conversations reveal: men parenting without a model, the friendships they don't know how to build, and the load they carry but rarely name. Alexis and Nick also take on the topics that tend to get avoided, from the respect-versus-love dynamic in marriages to whether lifting up mothers has left fathers out of the conversation. In this episode: Why roughly 40% of the fathers Nick has interviewed grew up without a father figure at home, and how that shapes the way they parent now The sitcom trope that taught a generation of men how to be dads, going all the way back to Father Knows Best What Nick learned about himself when he examined why he says "be careful" to his kids The invisible load of fathers, and why men are reluctant to talk about it "Benefit of the doubt," the two-word operating rule at the center of Nick's marriage Nick Firchau is a longtime journalist and podcast producer, and the creator and host of Paternal, a show about the brotherhood of fatherhood. Since launching in 2017, Paternal has featured Super Bowl winners, Pulitzer Prize winning journalists, and award-winning authors, and has been named a best podcast for fathers by Apple Podcasts and Lifehacker. Nick lives outside Boulder, Colorado with his wife and two kids. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August 4 · 1 hr 6 min
What New Moms Actually Need: Melanie Kaplan on Postpartum Mental Health and Building oPPal
Melanie Kaplan is the founder and CEO of oPPal, a peer support platform for postpartum moms that matches new and expecting mothers, called Little oPPals, with trained, experienced mothers, called Big oPPals. She built it after her own experience with severe postpartum depression and anxiety, and she joined host Alexis Contos the same week oPPal launched nationally in May 2026. In this conversation, Melanie shares the full story for the first time in this much depth. Four months after her first daughter was born, a weaning hormone crash collided with a birth control error, and Melanie left home for four nights, driving toward the ocean because she needed to see something bigger than what was happening inside her. Two years later, she found a video she had recorded for her daughter during those days, posted it on Instagram, and woke up to hundreds of messages from women sharing their own postpartum stories. That morning changed her career. Melanie and Alexis talk about the early warning signs of postpartum anxiety that get dismissed as normal new mom worry, why the standard six week screening misses the gray area where most struggling mothers actually live, and the hole in American postpartum care where a woman goes from weekly appointments during pregnancy to almost nothing after birth. Melanie explains how she validated oPPal before writing a single line of it: a survey that drew over 300 responses in 48 hours, with more than 80 percent of moms saying they would mentor a new mother, and a beta that proved matches work best with someone outside your inner circle. She walks through the Big oPPal training, including the platform's central rule that every check-in starts with the mom, not the baby, and how oPPal's partnership with Phoenix Health creates a path to therapists trained in maternal mental health when peer support isn't enough. The episode closes with the legacy conversation, the story behind the logo drawn from her grandmother's handwriting, and what Melanie's daughter says her mommy does all day. This episode is for anyone navigating postpartum, supporting someone who is, or building a company from lived experience. Find oPPal: www.myoppal.com Instagram: @myoppal Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate and review wherever you listen. It helps more women find this show. If you are struggling with postpartum depression or anxiety, Postpartum Support International is at postpartum.net. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 28 · 58 min
Saved Seats | Julie Cordua on Protecting Kids Online: AI, the Dark Web, and What Parents Can Do
This is a replay of an earlier episode. Alexis reunites with Julie Cordua, CEO of Thorn, the organization building technology to defend children from online sexual exploitation. The two worked together 15 years ago on Thorn's launch, and Alexis has watched Julie turn that early mission into her life's work while raising three kids of her own. **Content warning: This episode discusses child sexual abuse and exploitation. We don't include graphic details, but the subject matter is inherently difficult.** This conversation explores what it means to be a Breadwinner when your currency goes beyond the financial - measured instead in children identified, abuse content removed, and platforms made safer. Julie breaks down how AI has changed the landscape of child exploitation, what actually happens on the dark web, where tech companies must do better, and what parents can do right now to protect their children online. What you'll learn in this episode: Why kids see no divide between online and offline life, and why "stranger danger" no longer works as a warning When to start age-appropriate online safety conversations (hint: before the first device, and yes, that includes the iPad) The warning signs of grooming and sextortion, and why kids block instead of reporting Exactly what to do if it happens to your family: why you block but never delete, the Take It Down tool, and when to contact the FBI How AI is being used on both sides of this fight, and what policy changes Thorn is pushing for in Washington Whether you're navigating your child's digital life or want to understand how to make a difference, this conversation will leave you informed and equipped. Resources: Thorn Thorn on Instagram Julie's TED Talk Thorn Parent Guide Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E26
July 21 · 1 hr 1 min
Jaclyn Johnson on Building, Losing, and Reclaiming Everything
Jaclyn Johnson built Create and Cultivate from a blog into a multi-million dollar company, sold it, watched it fall apart under new ownership, and bought it back. In this episode, Create and Cultivate founder Jaclyn Johnson breaks down what it actually costs to build a company: a $75 million acquisition deal that collapsed because of COVID, a private equity sale two years later, a stage zero breast cancer diagnosis, and a marriage that ended along the way. She explains how she negotiated her way back into ownership of the company she started in 2012, why she now runs Cherub to get more women into angel investing, and how resilience carried her through every setback. What you'll learn in this episode: - Why Create and Cultivate didn't turn a profit for five years, and why that was the point - The difference between a strategic acquisition and a private equity buyout - How COVID killed a $75 million deal and forced a pivot to virtual events overnight - What to know before your next mammogram, and how to push for a second opinion - How she negotiated to buy back her own company after the PE firm decided to sell - Why women get 1.9% of VC funding, and how Cherub is closing that gap with angel investing starting at $10,000 Jaclyn Johnson is the founder of Create and Cultivate, the media and events platform for women entrepreneurs she built starting in 2012 and grew into a multi-million dollar company before selling a majority stake in 2021. She later bought the company back and now also runs Cherub, an angel investing platform built to get more capital into the hands of women. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro/Teaser 02:32 Meet Jaclyn Johnson 05:30 Building community before it was trendy 10:15 Early career, layoffs, and starting over 16:14 The moment Create and Cultivate got real 20:08 Getting acquired, a deal falling through, and COVID 25:12 Strategic acquisition vs. private equity, explained 30:05 Buying back her own company 34:28 Identity, marriage, and the crash after the sale 38:03 Her breast cancer diagnosis 44:01 What to do when you get "the call" 47:22 Founding Cherub and democratizing angel investing 49:26 Accreditation and check sizes, explained 53:34 Her mom, the unofficial co-founder 55:34 Defining "breadwinner" Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show #CreateAndCultivate #WomenInBusiness #FemaleFounders #AngelInvesting #WomenAndMoney #BreastCancerAwareness #Breadwinner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 14 · 55 min
Saved Seats | Morgan Zanotti on Building Brands while Building Family.
In this episode, Alexis Contos sits down with Morgan Zanotti, the founder behind Waay and former leader at Primal Kitchen, to discuss what it really takes to build wellness brands while being a breadwinner mother. From navigating the competitive CPG industry to creating products that align with her values as a parent, Morgan shares the unfiltered reality of startup life, financial responsibility, and integration. Learn about her journey from established brand to founder, her philosophy on health and family, and how she's redefining what success looks like as a mother-entrepreneur in the wellness space. The Breadwinners Join The Breadwinners on Substack - wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Waay Morgan's Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 7 · 1 hr 3 min
Your Kid's Boredom Matters More Than You Think - Lizzie Assa on Independent Play | The Breadwinners Podcast
Most parents think entertaining their kids is the job. Lizzie Assa says the real job is stepping back enough for kids to build the skill of playing independently. Lizzie Assa, founder of The Workspace for Children and author of But I'm Bored, joins The Breadwinners to break down what independent play actually is and why it's disappearing from modern childhood. Alexis and Lizzie get into the difference between a toy and a prompt, why a bored kid is a sign you're doing something right, and how to build independent play skills from toddlerhood through the teenage years. What you'll learn: We co-regulate our kids. When we're a calm presence, they can be one too, they just want to be in the same room as us The permission slip to do less: stepping back and saying less is what gives kids their lead back How to look at how your kid is most successful in play, and give them more of that instead of trying to fix how they play Why a bored kid is usually looking for connection, not an activity How to look at behavior through the lens of curiosity instead of discipline Why no kid is a bad kid, and what changes when you actually believe that Lizzie Assa is a former teacher with a master's degree in education and the founder of The Workspace for Children, a play-based parenting platform with nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram. She is the author of But I'm Bored and works with private clients to build independent play skills in kids of all ages. Join Lizzie’s community: https://www.workspaceforchildren.com/ Her Substack: The Workspace for Children Purchase Lizzie’s ‘But I’m Bored’ book ____________________________________ Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen - it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 30 · 1 hr 19 min
Saved Seat | Ali Tate Cutler on How Moms Actually Build Businesses
Ali Tate Cutler⁠ gets brutally honest about what nobody tells you: how to build a business while grieving the version of yourself you once were. Less than 1% of guests on major business podcasts are mothers. The rest? Childless men teaching strategies that don't work when you're building while celebrating your own transformation as a working mom. Ali (former supermodel turned social media strategist) created a new framework: Mothers don't grind, we create. We don't hustle, we flow. She shares the grieving process of losing her pre-mother self, what she misses, the paradox of freedom, how to create when your time is fractured, and what small business owners get wrong about social media. What You'll Learn: How moms actually build businesses versus the traditional playbook The grief of losing your pre-mother self and why it's okay The paradox of choice after choosing kids Creating (not grinding) with constant interruptions What's wrong with "hustle" advice for working parents Building visibility without burnout Honoring who you were while becoming who you are ⁠Connect with Ali⁠ ⁠Join The Breadwinners on Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 23 · 1 hr 32 min
Neha Ruch on the Best Payback: Loving Your Life When No One's Watching | The Breadwinners Podcast
Twenty years ago, Neha Ruch and I were colleagues at an ad agency in Boston. Two twenty-somethings staying late, expensing cab rides home, measuring our worth by how hard we hustled. Today, between us, we have six kids, two platforms, and a completely different definition of what it means to be ambitious. Neha is the founder of The Power Pause and the author of the book by the same name. For a decade she's been building language for a question most high-achieving women won't say out loud: if I'm not working for pay, what is success? This isn't an interview. It's a reunion - two old friends comparing notes on what the journey actually cost, and what it gave back.In this episode, we talk about: Why the real turning point in Neha's life came in motherhood, not business school How to write your ideal day, and why it works like a contract with yourself The invisible emotional labor of parenthood, and how to start noticing it again Making decisions that no one else has to understand, and why that's the hardest muscle to build Growing up alongside your kids as they need less of you Redefining ambition as aligning your time with your values, not maximizing your output Why we punish women for slowing down, and what it costs all of us The best payback: loving your life when no one is watching _______________________________ The Four Agreements book mentioned by Neha Find Neha at thepowerpause.com and on Instagram at @neha_ruch Subscribe to The Breadwinners on Substack Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 16 · 14 min
In Confidence: A Series from The Breadwinners | What Breadwinner Mothers Say When No One Is Performing
Most working mothers have never been asked what they actually carry, and what they bring. At our Los Angeles dinner, we pulled women aside and asked. In Confidence is a five-part documentary series filmed at The Breadwinners' inaugural Los Angeles dinner. Eight women stepped away from the table and into something rarer: unfiltered truth. What came out wasn't curated. It was real. Over five episodes, Breadwinner mothers, primary earners, founders, executives, single mothers, confront the questions that don't typically get asked. What IS my job description as a mother, no one gave it to me? Am I feeling guilty about working, or just devastated that my kids are growing up? What do I actually bring home beyond the paycheck? Presented by The Breadwinners in partnership with birthFUND and Hearth. Episode 1: Reframing Motherhood — What We Bring The series opens with the question at the heart of everything: what do you carry, and what do you bring? Elaine Welteroth leads a conversation about the invisible weight of working motherhood - and the value we bring home that never makes it into the performance. The cuddle party. The fresh whipped cream in the fridge. The things our families need that only we provide. This episode is about remembering what that is. Episode 2: Who Am I Now? The Vulnerability of Motherhood Not every mother fits the traditional template - and for some women, figuring out what their version of motherhood actually looks like has been the hardest work of their lives. This conversation asks a question most of us have never been asked out loud: what is your job description as a mother? No one handed it to you. This episode sits with the women who had to write it themselves. Episode 3: That Unstoppable Feeling — When Motherhood Unlocks Ambition Shilpa Shah, co-founder of Cuyana, didn't slow down when she got pregnant. She felt unstoppable. This episode is for anyone who has ever been told they can't do it with kids - and responded, internally or out loud, with watch me. It's about what pregnancy unlocked, what ambition looks like when you stop caring what everyone else thinks, and why motherhood is, for some women, the moment everything accelerates. Episode 4: Raising Better Humans — The Legacy We Leave Shilpa Shah still makes her 17-year-old breakfast every morning. He wrote his college essay about wanting to live the way she has. This episode is about presence, ripple effects, and what it actually means to build something your kids will one day describe as the permission structure for their own lives. Having it all without doing it all — what that actually looks like in practice. Episode 5: Reclaiming "Breadwinner" for Today's Mother The word breadwinner used to mean one thing. These women are rewriting it. Three breadwinner mothers, three very different origin stories, one shared conviction: this is the revolution we asked for. This episode closes the series with the question of legacy - not just for our children, but for the definition of what it means to provide, lead, and build a life that is both financially powerful and emotionally rich. _______________________________________________ Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen — it helps more women find this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 9 · 1 hr 19 min
Saved Seats - Replaying Libby Leffler on Protecting Your Future Self: Your Marriage and Money
This is a replay of an earlier episode with Libby Leffler of First. Libby Leffler built an entire company around the conversation most couples never have. As founder and CEO of First, a platform making prenuptial agreements accessible to modern couples, she's reframing the prenup not as a divorce document but as a partnership design tool - the first legal agreement a couple makes, not the last resort. In this episode, Alexis sits down with Libby to explore what it actually means to build a financial foundation before a marriage, why money is harder to talk about than sex, and what the $80 trillion great wealth transfer means for women right now. They also go deep on integration over balance, raising daughters who watch you work, focus as a superpower, and what it looks like to lead a startup while showing up as a parent. What you'll learn in this episode: Why nearly 50% of millennials now get a prenup — and why women are initiating that conversation at the same rate as men. How a prenup protects the future you, not just the assets you have today — including your business equity, IP, real estate, and even your social media handles. Why money is the last great taboo and what it will take to normalize financial conversations the way we've normalized talking about sex. - What "partnership design" actually looks like when couples approach a prenup as a joining point. How Libby integrates running a high-growth startup with raising young children — and why she's replaced "balance" with seasons. The Breadwinners Website ⁠- Join The Breadwinners on Substack - wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Breadwinner's Instagram⁠ - @wearethebreadwinners ⁠First Official Website ⁠ First's Instagram⁠ ⁠Libby’s Instagram⁠ Business Insider Article _______________ Promo for The Breadwinners Community: $100 off your prenup with First by using code BREAD100 at checkout. Discount codes must be applied at checkout. No retroactive coupon codes or refunds applied. ________________ Rate and review The Breadwinners Podcast wherever you listen — it helps more women find this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
June 2 · 1 hr 18 min
Jeni Britton | Founder of Jeni's and Floura, on the Cost of Being a Woman with Ambition | The Breadwinners Podcast
Jeni Britton built Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams from a $30,000 SBA loan into a $175 million company. She is doing it again with Floura, her next-generation fiber company turning produce trimmings like watermelon rinds and apple cores into nutrient-dense bars. This episode is not a business case study. Alexis Contos sits down with Jeni for an interior conversation about the person underneath both companies. The near-death experience at age seven that made her feel invincible for the rest of her life. The family that broke apart violently when she was fourteen. Why she does not believe in free will anymore. The ninety-eight-year-old version of herself she talks to most days. What she has refused to give up for any company, in any season. This is a conversation about belief. About vision. About what it costs to be a woman who is ambitious, and what it costs to keep pretending you are not. What you will hear: The near-death experience at age seven that shaped every decision after it Why Jeni had to "pretend to be less ambitious" to build something big How she thinks about intuition, vision, and listening to her future self What her definition of 'financial freedom' actually buys a woman Raising her daughter Greta, and what it taught her about herself Leaving the company that carries her name, and the time it took to recover Why she does not want a legacy. She wants to be wrecked at ninety-eight. Jeni Britton is the founder of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, which she built from a single farmer's market stall in Columbus, Ohio into a national brand with more than 80 scoop shops and 12,500 retail placements. She is now the co-founder and CEO of Floura, a Certified B Corporation tackling America's fiber deficiency and food waste through upcycled produce trimmings. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen. It helps more women find this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E22
May 26 · 1 hr 20 min
You Can't Productivity Your Way Out of Burnout | Dr. Pooja Lakshmin on Why Real Self-Care Is Infrastructure
Most women have been sold self-care as a product. Dr. Pooja Lakshmin is here to tell you it's infrastructure. Pooja is a board-certified psychiatrist, New York Times contributor, and author of the national bestseller Real Self-Care: Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included. In this episode, she breaks down the four principles of real self-care (boundaries, compassion, values, power), the difference between performative wellness and the internal work that actually moves the needle, and why high-achieving women keep landing in the same burnout loop. She also shares the moment she landed in the hospital after her own bestseller launch, what she had to unlearn about pacing and ambition, and the framework she now uses to make every yes, no, and negotiate. What we discussed: The story of how Pooja landed at the very first Breadwinners dinner seven months pregnant with twins, and why she calls that night the room where strangers became people speaking the same language. Her origin story: growing up the eldest daughter in a South Asian immigrant family where becoming a doctor was decided before she was born, choosing psychiatry against expectations, and the moment at 27 when she blew up her marriage and moved into a San Francisco wellness commune that turned out to be a cult. The difference between faux self-care and real self-care, broken down through the yoga class most women have lived: walking in stressed, comparing yourself to the woman in the better leggings, leaving more depleted than you came in. Why the four principles (boundaries, compassion, values, power) are not affirmations but infrastructure, and how Pooja walks her own patients through schedule audits to surface what's actually optional. The line that landed hardest: "If you're a good mom, you can productivity your way out of this." We unpacked the meal kits, the apps, the planners, and the question almost no one is asking: to what end. Why hobbies are not a luxury. Why the activity has to be uniquely yours, not performative, not productive, not posted. Tennis as a happy place. The Substack prompt that hit: what would you do to truly enjoy something that no one else needs to see. The Real Self-Care Thermometer: how to know when you're in the green (spontaneously generous, easy yes, real energy) versus the red (resentful, zombie scrolling, every ask feels like a chore). Modeling this for our kids. Pooja telling her four-year-old she was going to a Florence and the Machine concert instead of saying "work meeting," and why that distinction matters. Family logistics. The decision to make childcare a permanent line item in the family budget. Night nurses through every pregnancy. Why getting support is not a luxury and the case for being transparent about it. Pooja's own burnout. The four nights in the hospital after Real Self-Care became a bestseller. The coach who told her the thing that will stop her career is not her skill, it's burnout. The Glennon Doyle invitation she pushed to January, and what happened when she did. The boundary framework that changed how she works: the boundary is the pause, not the no. Every request has three answers: yes, no, or negotiate. And if you can't absorb the cost of no today, the question is what you need to do over the next six months to get there. Quantum Shifts, her next book. The in-between space after a divorce, a launch, a diagnosis, a birth. Why high-achieving women try to rush through it, and what they miss when they do. What she would tell her 27-year-old self. The slow-down advice she rejected for decades and now claims as a superpower. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate and review wherever you listen. It helps more women find this show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
S1 · E21
May 19 · 55 min
School Is Closed 46% of the Year. Molly Morse Finally Built the Solution.
School is out 46% of the year. After you subtract PTO and federal holidays, working parents are left covering 99 days with no formal childcare — and no amount of workplace flexibility closes that gap. Molly Morse isn't just naming the problem. She built the solution. Molly Morse is the co-founder of Recess, a marketplace that connects parents to afterschool programs, camps, and kids' classes - with real-time availability, actual filters, and no glorified Craigslist energy. She spent a decade building consumer marketplaces before becoming a mother and experiencing firsthand how broken the search-and-booking experience was. That rage-plus-inspiration moment became a company. In this episode, Molly breaks down the data most people feel but haven't quantified, why ethical appeals to corporations will never move the needle on childcare, what AI is doing to marketplaces (and why it's actually a tailwind for Recess), and how she and her husband structured their household so she could build without burning everything down. What you'll take from this conversation: - Why 1.3 million people miss work every month because of childcare breakdowns — and 90% of them are women - How to make a business case for childcare benefits that corporations will actually act on (hint: it's ROI, not ethics) - The marketplace dynamics that explain why parents feel like everything is full while providers can't fill seats - How Recess is building the real-time inventory layer that makes AI search actually useful for families - The "systems are temporary" framework Molly uses at work and at home — and why fixing things at the wrong time is its own kind of problem Find Recess at hello-recess.com and on Instagram @hello_recess. Molly is active on LinkedIn. Join The Breadwinners community: Subscribe on Substack: wearethebreadwinners.substack.com Follow on Instagram: @wearethebreadwinners Rate & review wherever you listen — it helps more women find this show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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