Motherhood Advantage

Dr. Laura Marie Rivera
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Explore how the concepts of Motherhood and Leadership intersect with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera. What if Motherhood is one of the most powerful leadership trainings in the world? We’ve heard about the Motherhood penalty, but what about the Motherhood Advantage?  This podcast explores the powerful connection between Motherhood and leadership. Hosted by Dr. Laura Marie Rivera, the podcast grew out of Intuitionship, a groundbreaking research study with nearly 1,000 Mothers examining how the lived experience of Motherhood shapes the way women lead, solve problems, and navigate complexity.  Each episode features thoughtful conversations with remarkable Mothers—from bestselling authors and public leaders to entrepreneurs, creators, and Mothers just beginning their journeys. Together, they explore how Motherhood cultivates skills like adaptability, empathy, resilience, strategic thinking, and the ability to lead through uncertainty.  Part research, part storytelling, and part collective exploration, Motherhood Advantage invites us to reconsider a powerful idea: the experiences that prepare Mothers to nurture, guide, and protect the next generation also prepare them to lead in policy decisions and the paid workplace.  For more information or to recommend an amazing Mother-leader, please join us @motherhoodadvantage. 

  1. 2d ago

    Mothers, Power, & Public Policy with Senator Manka Dhingra

    Washington State Senator Manka Dhingra joins Dr. Laura Marie Rivera for a conversation about Motherhood, public leadership, and what changes when lived experience has a seat at the policymaking table. Drawing on her work in the Washington State Senate, Dhingra reflects on the leadership skills Mothers bring into public life—conflict resolution, relationship-building, humility, empathy, and the ability to recognize what families actually need. The conversation also explores why representation matters. Dhingra shares examples of policies shaped by women’s lived experiences, from breast milk access for premature babies and workplace pumping accommodations to paid family leave, postpartum care, and healthy-relationship education. Together, Rivera and Dhingra examine the politics of caregiving, gender equity, bodily autonomy, and the broader case for recognizing family-friendly policies not as perks, but as essential infrastructure. Key takeawaysMotherhood develops leadership skills that translate directly into public and professional life.Lived experience can reveal policy gaps—and practical solutions—more quickly.Representation matters because people closest to a problem often see what others miss.Childcare, paid leave, postpartum care, and workplace accommodations are deeply connected to economic freedom.Women’s issues, family issues, and caregiving issues are not niche concerns; they affect everyone.Sharing power and broadening who gets to lead can produce better outcomes for families and communities. -- Senator Manka Dhingra's bio: https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/dhingra/ Look up Washington State legislative district and elected officials: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder Use this site to find your elected officials anywhere in the country: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials About Motherhood Advantage At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    Mothers, Power, & Public Policy with Senator Manka Dhingra

  2. Sep 7

    The Corner Office Wasn't Build for Mothers with Dr. Lois Frankel

    For more than two decades, Dr. Lois Frankel’s landmark bestseller Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office has challenged women to recognize the subtle ways they may have been socialized to diminish their own authority at work. But as our understanding of gender, leadership, caregiving, and workplace inequity evolves, an important question emerges: How much should women have to change—and how much should the workplace change to better recognize the ways women already lead? In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with psychologist, executive coach, and bestselling author Dr. Lois Frankel for a thoughtful conversation about the enduring lessons of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and the realities women and Mothers are navigating today. They explore the pressure women still face to be agreeable, accommodating, and “nice”; the double standards surrounding assertiveness and ambition; and why skills like empathy, influence, coordination, relationship-building, and care are too often dismissed as “soft” rather than recognized as essential leadership capacities. The conversation also pushes beyond the question of how women can better navigate existing systems. What if some of the problem lies in the system itself? What if workplaces have been too slow to recognize the sophisticated leadership Mothers develop through caregiving—from advocacy and negotiation to crisis management, adaptability, and managing complex human systems? Frankel reflects on what has—and hasn’t—changed for women since her groundbreaking book first appeared, why women still need mentors and advocates, how organizations can create clearer pathways to advancement and better support parents and caregivers, and what this updated third edition can teach us. She also shares practical wisdom about raising confident girls, asking for opportunities, and building the next generation of women leaders. It’s a conversation that honors Frankel’s decades of work helping women claim their power while asking what the next chapter must be: not simply teaching women how to succeed within systems built without them in mind, but rethinking those systems—and expanding our understanding of what leadership looks like in the first place. In this episode: The lasting relevance of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner OfficeHow “nice girl” socialization follows women into the workplaceThe double bind around women, ambition, and assertivenessWhy leadership skills are still too often labeled “soft”Motherhood as a source of leadership developmentBetter workplace support for parents and caregivers --- About Dr. Lois Frankel: drloisfrankel.com Books mentioned: Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, Dr. Lois Frankel See Jane Lead, Dr. Lois Frankel Nuture by Nature, Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger Women Don't Ask, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think), Reshma Saujani The Ambition Penalty, Stefanie O'Connell Beyond the Pipeline, edited by Cassie Leonard Backlash, Susan Faludi Women's Reality, Anne Wilson Schaef @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera - motherhoodadvantage.com

    The Corner Office Wasn't Build for Mothers with Dr. Lois Frankel

  3. Sep 2

    Motherhood, Maestras and Making Space with Composer Georgia Stitt

    What does it take to build a life big enough for Motherhood, artistic ambition, and advocacy? In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera talks with composer, music director, and Maestra founder Georgia Stitt about creating space—for women in theater, for caregiving in professional life, and for the constant recalibration Motherhood requires. Georgia shares how noticing the absence of women in theater music departments led her to build Maestra, an organization now helping women and gender-expansive musicians become more visible, connected, and hired. She also speaks candidly about the less visible work of Motherhood: the executive function, emotional labor, logistics, and mental load required to keep a family moving while sustaining a creative career. Together, Laura Marie and Georgia explore why leadership is often less about controlling the outcome than finding deeper ways to trust and collaborate, through listening, respecting, and recalibrating when others share information. They discuss breastfeeding and caregiving in creative workplaces, sharing responsibility at home, the persistent tendency to define women’s accomplishments through the men around them, and what happens when we stop pretending that caregiving exists separately from professional life. Georgia also reflects on raising two daughters finding their own artistic paths and shares her latest creative work, including her album Bell Tower and its newly published sheet music.  A conversation about visibility, collaboration, creativity—and building a life where Motherhood doesn’t have to exist in the margins. Learn more about Georgia Stitt at georgiastitt.com Listen to the full songs mentioned in this episode at  https://georgiastitt.com/music-library/get-show-ocean/ https://georgiastitt.com/music-library/kites-children/ Connect with women, gender expansive and under-represented musical theater artists at maestramusic.org Credits: “I Get To Show You The Ocean” from THIS ORDINARY THURSDAY featuring Faith Prince for MCB on her first birthday Music and Lyrics by Georgia Stitt © 2006 Geocate Music (ASCAP) All Rights Administered by Concord Music Publishing About Motherhood Advantage At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    Motherhood, Maestras and Making Space with Composer Georgia Stitt

  4. Aug 24

    From Infertility to Triplets with Gratitude and Grit with Denise Lieu Kakimoto

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of infertility, IVF, miscarriage, and a medically complicated pregnancy. Please listen with care. In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera talks with Denise Lieu Kakimoto, a Southern California educator, longtime teacher, and Mother of triplets, about infertility, perseverance, community, and the deep connection between teaching and Motherhood. Denise shares the emotional road to becoming a Mother—from fertility treatments and miscarriage to the exciting discovery that she was pregnant with triplets—and the difficult decisions, uncertainty, and extraordinary support that surrounded her pregnancy. Through it all, gratitude became a grounding force, as friends, colleagues, and community members stepped in with meals, laundry, classroom help, and the practical care her family needed. After nearly three decades as an educator, Denise also sees striking parallels between teaching and parenting. Both require patience, anticipation, modeling, flexibility, clear expectations, and the humility to recognize that children ultimately have to become who they are—not simply who we imagined they might be. Denise’s story is a reminder that Motherhood can be exhausting, complicated, and profoundly demanding while still being experienced as an extraordinary privilege—and that some of our greatest strength is built not by getting everything right, but by continuing to show up. Key Takeaways Motherhood can be both deeply demanding and deeply valued. For Denise, years of infertility shaped her enduring sense of Motherhood as a privilege rather than something she takes for granted.Community is a form of resilience. Practical support—from meals and laundry to simply showing up—can fundamentally change how a family moves through a difficult season.Teaching and Motherhood develop many of the same leadership skills: patience, modeling, anticipation, communication, adaptability, and knowing when to step back.Resilience does not require perfection. Denise’s philosophy is simple and powerful: “I will screw up, but I will not give up.”--- Find Denise on Instagram: dkakimoto Infertility & Family-Building Support If Denise’s story resonates with your own fertility journey, RESOLVE: The National Infertility and Family Building Association offers free peer support groups, information, and resources for people experiencing infertility and navigating family building.   https://resolve.org/ ReproductiveFacts.org, from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), provides patient-focused information about infertility, IVF, fertility preservation and other reproductive-health topics, plus a directory for finding reproductive-health professionals.   https://www.reproductivefacts.org/ About Motherhood Advantage At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    From Infertility to Triplets with Gratitude and Grit with Denise Lieu Kakimoto

  5. Aug 17

    NASA, Motherhood, and Mystery Novels: The Art of the Pivot with Nina Simon

    What if quitting isn’t failure—but a creative act? Nina Simon has reinvented her career more than once, moving from NASA engineer to museum leader to bestselling mystery author. In this episode, she shares what those pivots taught her about ambition, identity, and knowing when it’s time to let something go. Nina defines Motherhood as fierce care expressed through action—not biology, constant presence, or self-sacrifice. She also offers a provocative distinction between Motherhood and leadership: leadership organizes people around a shared goal, while Motherhood centers the relationship itself. Together, we explore the realities of power and choice for working Mothers, why workplace accommodations matter, and how boundaries—even strategic absence—can be part of healthy Mothering. Nina’s story is a conversation about creativity, flexibility, honesty, and the intentional tradeoffs that shape both our work and our lives. Quitting the wrong thing can open the door to a more meaningful thing.  Leadership and Motherhood call for different kinds of presence, responsibility, and attention.Workplace accommodations should expand parents’ choices, not prescribe how they use them.Strong families are often built through seasons of intentional tradeoffs, not perfect balance.Nina’s bestselling mystery novels emerged from the intersection of caregiving, creativity, and the need to make meaning during a difficult season.Strong women are a recurring theme in her life and her writing. Learn more about Nina Simon at https://ninaksimon.com/ Preorder for My Sister is Going to Kill Me: https://bookshopsantacruz.com/preorder-nina-simon At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    NASA, Motherhood, and Mystery Novels: The Art of the Pivot with Nina Simon

  6. Aug 10

    The Radical Idea That Mothering Is for Everyone with Dr. Amber Johnson

    What if Motherhood isn't defined by biology, but by the radical practice of nurturing growth, telling the truth, and helping others become more fully themselves? In this episode of The Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with Dr. Amber Johnson—educator, artist, writer, and leader at UC Berkeley—to explore how Motherhood, leadership, justice, and healing intersect. This conversation challenges traditional ideas about caregiving and leadership, arguing that both require deep listening and a commitment to creating spaces where people can thrive. Drawing from their work in higher education, community healing projects, and life as a parent, Dr. Johnson shares how Motherhood has reshaped the way they lead and imagine a more compassionate future. Together, Laura Marie and Amber explore what happens when we stop viewing Motherhood as a private responsibility and begin recognizing it as a profound source of leadership and social change. In this episode, you'll learn:Why Mothering is about nurturing, creating, and caring—not simply biology.How leadership and parenting both depend on empathy, curiosity, accountability, and deep listening.Why healing should be communal, accessible, and rooted in connection rather than isolation.How forgiveness and accountability can coexist without minimizing harm.How academic institutions—and workplaces more broadly—continue to undervalue the leadership developed through Motherhood and caregiving. This episode invites us to rethink what leadership looks like and challenges us to recognize the wisdom, resilience, and transformational capacity that Motherhood cultivates. Whether you're raising children, leading a team, mentoring others, or building community, this conversation offers a powerful reminder that the skills we often associate with caregiving may also be the skills our paid workplaces—and our world—need most. -- Links and more information:The Justice League:  https://thejusticefleet.org/ Dr. Amber Johnson's LinkedIN: www.linkedin.com/in/dramberjohnson At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    The Radical Idea That Mothering Is for Everyone with Dr. Amber Johnson

  7. Aug 3

    Innovation Begins at Home with Dr. Nia Ruth: Family Health Organization through Tech

    What happens when the everyday challenges of Motherhood become the catalyst for innovation? In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera sits down with researcher, entrepreneur, and mother Dr. Nia Ruth to explore how the invisible labor of managing a family's health inspired an entirely new way of thinking about caregiving, leadership, and problem-solving. Drawing on her background in UX research, Nia shares how becoming a Mother sharpened her ability to identify unmet needs, design practical solutions, and navigate the uncertainty that comes with building something new—all while raising a young family. Together, they explore why Mothers are uniquely equipped to lead through complexity, how technology can reduce cognitive load for families, and why the everyday work of caregiving deserves far more recognition in conversations about innovation and leadership. Whether you're a parent, entrepreneur, or leader, this episode offers a fresh perspective on the skills Motherhood cultivates—and how those skills can transform our workplaces, communities, and families. Key Takeaways:Why Motherhood often reveals problems hiding in plain sight—and inspires innovative solutions.The invisible mental load of managing a family's health and why it matters.How research, curiosity, and lived experience can fuel entrepreneurship.The leadership skills Mothers develop every day, from adaptability and resilience to systems thinking.Why empowering children to make decisions and solve problems begins earlier than we think.How workplaces and technology can better support working families.Motherhood doesn't just change how we care for others—it changes how we lead, create, and imagine what's possible. -- Connect with Dr. Nia Ruth on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nia-gordon-ruth/ https://everahealth.co/ At The Motherhood Advantage, we explore the research, stories, and leadership lessons that emerge when we recognize Motherhood not as a detour from leadership—but as one of its greatest teachers. If you'd like to learn more about the research or recommend a Mother, please visit us at MotherhoodAdvantage.com @MotherhoodAdvantage with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera

    Innovation Begins at Home with Dr. Nia Ruth: Family Health Organization through Tech

  8. Jul 27

    Motherhood and the Art of Divorce with Olivia Howell

    What if divorce support looked less like crisis management — and more like community, strategy, and care? In this episode of Motherhood Advantage, Dr. Laura Marie Rivera talks with Olivia Howell, divorce coach and founder of a first-of-its-kind divorce registry platform, about what women really need when they are moving through one of life’s most destabilizing transitions. Olivia shares how her own experience with divorce, Motherhood, and raising two boys shaped her work supporting women through separation, co-parenting, rebuilding, and starting over. She explains how divorce coaching can serve as a crucial bridge between therapy and legal counsel — helping women save time, money, and emotional energy while making clearer decisions during a high-stress chapter. This conversation explores the support gap around divorce, the importance of asking for help, and why rebuilding your life is not a failure of leadership — it is leadership. Olivia also shares how women can create stronger support systems, communicate honestly at home and at work, set boundaries, and invest in their own healing without apology. At its heart, this episode is about more than divorce. It is about reinvention, resilience, and the leadership required to begin again. For any Mother navigating transition — or supporting someone who is — Olivia’s story is a reminder that starting over can be an act of courage, clarity, and power. Starting over is not a failure. Sometimes, it is the bravest form of leadership. Connect with Olivia Howell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviadreizenhowell Fresh Starts Registry Learn more about Motherhood Advantage Follow along on Instagram: @motherhoodadvantage For the complete Intuitionship research results and a free copy of the report, visit https://intuitionship.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com Connect with Dr. Laura Marie on LinkedIn for research updates, podcast conversations, and reflections on Motherhood and leadership. https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-marie-rivera-intuitionship/

    Motherhood and the Art of Divorce with Olivia Howell
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About

Explore how the concepts of Motherhood and Leadership intersect with Dr. Laura Marie Rivera. What if Motherhood is one of the most powerful leadership trainings in the world? We’ve heard about the Motherhood penalty, but what about the Motherhood Advantage?  This podcast explores the powerful connection between Motherhood and leadership. Hosted by Dr. Laura Marie Rivera, the podcast grew out of Intuitionship, a groundbreaking research study with nearly 1,000 Mothers examining how the lived experience of Motherhood shapes the way women lead, solve problems, and navigate complexity.  Each episode features thoughtful conversations with remarkable Mothers—from bestselling authors and public leaders to entrepreneurs, creators, and Mothers just beginning their journeys. Together, they explore how Motherhood cultivates skills like adaptability, empathy, resilience, strategic thinking, and the ability to lead through uncertainty.  Part research, part storytelling, and part collective exploration, Motherhood Advantage invites us to reconsider a powerful idea: the experiences that prepare Mothers to nurture, guide, and protect the next generation also prepare them to lead in policy decisions and the paid workplace.  For more information or to recommend an amazing Mother-leader, please join us @motherhoodadvantage. 

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Laura Marie Rivera
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    31
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Dr. Laura Marie Rivera
  • Show Website
    Motherhood Advantage