The Mothers with Sara Brown

Backline Media
  • 4.8 (21)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Sara Brown sits down with the people shaping our world — extraordinary leaders, creators, and thinkers — to explore how their identity, purpose, and ambition evolve alongside career and motherhood. These conversations invite you to get curious about who you are, what you want, and why you want it — and leave you inspired to build a life that honors those answers. Raw, smart, and deeply human, The Mothers blends the emotional honesty of We Can Do Hard Things, the practical wisdom of Mel Robbins, and the intellectual depth of Brené Brown. Follow, review and join us on IG @themotherspod.

  1. [BEST OF] Letting Go of “Superwoman” with Marisa Renee Lee

    1D AGO

    [BEST OF] Letting Go of “Superwoman” with Marisa Renee Lee

    What does it mean to live through grief and uncertainty, and still choose joy? In this BEST OF episode, Sara sits down with Marisa Renee Lee (www.marisareneelee.com) – author, advocate, entrepreneur, grief expert, and the brilliant mind behind Grief Is Love and her new book Waiting for Dawn. From Wall Street to the Obama White House, from profound personal loss to becoming a Mother through persistence and heartbreak, Marisa has built a life and career rooted in truth, impact, and the courage to “hold both.” In this conversation, Marisa opens up about: Losing her Mother young – and how grief shaped her life’s work Long Covid, identity loss, and navigating the uncertainty of life’s “in-betweens” Becoming a Mother to her son Bennett after years battling infertility The pressure Black women (and Mothers, we think) face under the "Superwoman schema" Separating productivity from self-worth Asking for help after a lifetime of being conditioned to go it alone Marisa’s wisdom is generous, disarming, and deeply grounding - and a reminder that even in the hardest seasons, there is still hope, meaning, and room for joy. Order WAITING FOR DAWN on Amazon and wherever books are sold! https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Dawn-Marisa-Renee-Lee/dp/1538770199 ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 1m
  2. The Courage to Leave: Academia, Motherhood & Starting Over with Christine May, PhD

    APR 14

    The Courage to Leave: Academia, Motherhood & Starting Over with Christine May, PhD

    What if the real risk isn’t leaving – but staying too long? Christine May, PhD, trained as a psychologist focused on behavior change and was on a tenure-track path in academia when, in early motherhood, she started to question whether the life she’d spent years building still worked. She shares how and why she left academia and moved into industry through Noom, where she led behavioral science and research, before going on to found Evolve Consulting. Today, she works with startups and digital health companies to apply the principles of behavioral science to product design, advising organizations including the American Cancer Society, WW, and UPMC Health Plan. We talk about: – How to recognize when a path that “works” no longer feels like yours – What it actually takes to leave academia and build a career in industry – How to structure a partnership where one person sprints while the other coasts. And then you switch! – Why non-negotiables only work if you’re willing to hold them – And a more honest definition of “having it all” A conversation about motherhood, identity, and the courage to start over on purpose. Remember: You can build the "right" life and still outgrow it. ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 7m
  3. What Will Your Kids Remember About You? with Barrie Farivar

    APR 7

    What Will Your Kids Remember About You? with Barrie Farivar

    After her grandmother passed away, Barrie Farivar found herself returning to something she couldn’t replace – recordings of her voice. Not photos. Not videos. Just her voice. Telling stories. Being herself. Still somehow present. That experience stayed with her. So much so that after a career at Google and YouTube and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Barrie left her “perfect on paper” job to build something very different – a company rooted in memory, family, and time. Barrie is the founder of Leaf, an app that helps families record conversations, stories, and everyday moments so the voices of the people we love don’t disappear over time. In this conversation, we talk about growing up as the daughter of immigrants, building a life through achievement, and the quiet shift that happens when you realize that what looks successful and what actually matters are not always the same thing. We talk about building a company while raising kids. The myth of overnight success. Defining “enough.” And about the strange, constant tension of living between past, present, and future – trying to build something meaningful while also not missing the life that is happening right in front of you. Because at some point, the question underneath all of it becomes very simple – and very hard: What will your kids remember about you? ******* Hold onto the little voices and moments you never want to forget with Leaf. Barrie is offering listeners 20% off an annual subscription with code THEMOTHERS20 at sharewithleaf.com/gift – a beautiful Mother’s Day gift for someone you love, or for your future self. ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 1m
  4. The Trap of Being Good at Everything with Dr. Anne Welsh

    MAR 31

    The Trap of Being Good at Everything with Dr. Anne Welsh

    A lot of us are doing an extraordinary amount – at work, at home, emotionally, logistically – and still feel like it’s not enough. In this episode, I talk with clinical psychologist and executive coach Dr. Anne Welsh, who calls this the “ambition paradox” – the impossible standard modern mothers are trying to meet: to be exceptional at work, exceptional at home, and somehow never fall apart in the process. When that inevitably proves impossible, many women don’t question the system. They question themselves. Anne is a mother of four and the author of the forthcoming book Ambitious Mother. Her work focuses on high-achieving women navigating perfectionism, people-pleasing, identity, career pivots, and the pressure to hold everything together. We talk about leaving a dream job when it no longer fits your life, ramping a career up and down over time, why so many capable women still feel like they’re falling short, and what it actually looks like to move from burnout and impossible standards toward what she calls “healthy striving.” This episode is about understanding the pressure we’re living under – and what it looks like to start putting some of it down and building a life that actually sustains us. Preorder Ambitious Mother: https://a.co/d/0brsMW9u Get to know Dr. Anne Welsh: https://www.drannewelsh.com/  ****** Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+ 👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/ ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 30m
  5. Building S’well and a Life in Chapters with Sarah Kauss

    MAR 24

    Building S’well and a Life in Chapters with Sarah Kauss

    Sarah Kauss is the founder and former CEO of S’well, the category-defining brand she built from $30,000 of her own savings into a company generating over $100M in annual revenue and helping displace billions of single-use plastic bottles. Today, she is a Managing Partner at Avignon Partners and serves as an investor, advisor, and board member, working with leadership teams to build and scale companies across retail, tech, and wellness. But this conversation isn’t just about building S’well. It’s about searching for the idea, building something in the right season of your life, and recognizing when it’s time to begin the next chapter. Sarah describes herself as a “restless soul” – someone who always knew she wanted to build something meaningful but spent years on a nonlinear path before the right idea emerged. We talk about that search, the career “jungle gym” that prepared her to build S’well, scaling quickly, the decision to bring her husband into the business as the company grew, and how becoming a mother reshaped her relationship to work and success – and ultimately led to her decision to step away. This is a discussion about timing, identity, motherhood, and taking the long view of a life – where building something extraordinary is not the final chapter, but one of many. ****** Learn more about Sage Haus: helping busy households hire vetted, professional House Managers, Family Assistants, and Meal Prep Chefs – whether you need 10 hours a week or 40+ 👉 Get started at https://themothers--sage-haus.thrivecart.com/hiring-services-deposit/ ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 1m
  6. Finding Yourself Again After Motherhood with Amy Reinert

    MAR 17

    Finding Yourself Again After Motherhood with Amy Reinert

    Amy Reinert’s career in tech marketing was on a clear trajectory – until motherhood, layoffs, and the realities of raising a family reshaped the path entirely. After being laid off while pregnant and navigating the realities of childcare, commuting, and workplace culture, Amy stepped away from the fast track she had been on - a quiet trade-off many mothers make to keep life working for everyone else. For years, she redirected her ambition into building a life that worked for her family. But when her daughters grew older, a new question began to surface: who was she now? Today Amy is a writer, storyteller, and founder of MAR Advisory, where she helps leaders and organizations clarify their voice, shape powerful narratives, and bring meaningful ideas into the world. Her deeply honest reflections about career, motherhood, ambition, and identity have resonated with thousands of people online. In this conversation, we explore: – the hidden career trade-offs many mothers quietly make – why caregiving is often more than a “pause” from work – the financial and identity cost of stepping away – the pressure to be the one who holds everything together – and what it means to rediscover who you are later in life Amy’s story is deeply personal – but it’s also one that many women will recognize as their own. ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 48m
  7. It’s Not You. The System Wasn’t Built for You with C. Nicole Mason, PhD

    MAR 10

    It’s Not You. The System Wasn’t Built for You with C. Nicole Mason, PhD

    More and more women are leaving powerful institutions to build businesses and careers on their own terms. But many of those “choices” were shaped long before they ever made them. C. Nicole Mason, PhD is the founder and president of Future Forward Women, a policy network working to build women’s political and economic power in the United States and globally. She previously served as President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research – one of Washington D.C.’s most influential think tanks – becoming the youngest person and first woman of color to lead the organization. She is also the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America. Raised by a single mother in Los Angeles, Nicole went on to earn a PhD in political science and become one of the country’s leading voices on gender and economic inequality. But it wasn’t until she became a single mother by choice to twins that the structural issues she had spent years researching became deeply personal. In this conversation, Nicole and I talk about the moment many women encounter: when “choosing to leave” a demanding institution or corporate path isn’t really a choice at all – it’s the only way to try to build a life that works. We discuss: – the “false choice” many women face between staying inside powerful institutions or building something outside them – why childcare remains one of the biggest barriers to women’s economic power – the sacrifices required to reach the top – and whether they’re worth it – becoming a single mother by choice while leading major policy organizations – redefining power on your own terms If you're contemplating a career move outside the system, this conversation may change how you think about that “choice.” Nicole and her team recently launched Shaping Power, Shaping the Future, the first national bipartisan study of women state legislators examining their leadership experience. If you or someone you know is serving in state government, you can participate or share the survey here: https://futureforwardwomen.org/shaping-power-shaping-the-future-national-survey/ ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 10m
  8. I Was a Neurologist and Nothing Else with Dr. Pria Anand

    MAR 3

    I Was a Neurologist and Nothing Else with Dr. Pria Anand

    You built the career. You earned the title. You became, fully and completely, the thing you worked so hard to be. Then you got pregnant — and felt something no one warned you about. Grief. Dr. Pria Anand is a Yale and Stanford-trained neurologist practicing at Boston Medical Center, Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Medicine, and author of the award-winning The Mind Electric — a PEN America Literary Science Writing Award finalist and Best Book of 2025.   And she is a mother of two under four. She spent a decade pouring everything into medicine. "I was a neurologist and nothing else," she writes. It was her whole identity. It was more than enough. Until it wasn't. In this conversation, she gets honest about the identity shift no achievement prepares you for, the residency system built around a cocaine-addicted surgeon who didn't sleep, writing her book somehow during maternity leave, and what she never saw coming: that motherhood wouldn't shrink her world. It would finally let her see it in color. This one is for the woman who has spent years becoming someone — and is now quietly asking: who am I now? Purchase The Mind Electric here and wherever books are sold: https://a.co/d/01K1StMN ******* ⭐️ Follow The Mothers and leave a 5-star review if this resonated 💬 Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it 📱 Join The Mothers on Instagram @themotherspod ✍️ Subscribe to ⁠⁠Sara’s Substack⁠⁠ for reflections on life, work, meaning & motherhood 💼 Find Sara on ⁠LinkedIn The Mothers is a production of Backline Media.

    1h 30m
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4.8
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

Sara Brown sits down with the people shaping our world — extraordinary leaders, creators, and thinkers — to explore how their identity, purpose, and ambition evolve alongside career and motherhood. These conversations invite you to get curious about who you are, what you want, and why you want it — and leave you inspired to build a life that honors those answers. Raw, smart, and deeply human, The Mothers blends the emotional honesty of We Can Do Hard Things, the practical wisdom of Mel Robbins, and the intellectual depth of Brené Brown. Follow, review and join us on IG @themotherspod.

Information

  • Creator
    Backline Media
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Backline Media
  • Show Website
    The Mothers with Sara Brown

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