📖 Genre: Nonfiction, Self-Help, Career & Motherhood
⭐ Rating: 4.5/5

📚 Overview
Balancing a thriving career with motherhood often feels like an impossible juggling act. Executive Motherhood by Ashley Quinto Powell offers a refreshing perspective on how women can truly "have it all"—without burning out in the process. Powell, an entrepreneur and executive, shares practical strategies for working moms to succeed professionally while delegating, outsourcing, and reframing societal expectations around motherhood.

🧐 What I Loved
✔ Realistic and Actionable Advice – Unlike books that simply glorify the hustle, Powell provides actionable strategies, including networking tips, salary negotiation insights, and ways to navigate imposter syndrome.

✔ Empowering Mindset Shift – She challenges the notion that women must "do it all" to be good mothers, advocating instead for a redefined version of success that includes self-care and smart delegation.

✔ Candid and Relatable – Through personal anecdotes, Powell brings humor and honesty to her journey, making this book feel like advice from a trusted mentor rather than just another self-help guide.

🤔 What Could Be Better
🔹 Geared Towards Executives – While the book is invaluable for women in leadership roles, some of the strategies may feel less applicable to those in different career stages.

🔹 Could Dive Deeper – At just over 140 pages, certain topics—like balancing guilt and setting work boundaries—could have been explored in more depth.

✨ Final Thoughts
Executive Motherhood is an empowering, no-nonsense guide for ambitious women who refuse to choose between career success and being a great mom. Powell redefines the narrative around working motherhood, showing that "having it all" is possible with the right strategies and mindset.

📌 Would I recommend it? Absolutely! If you're a working mom striving for balance without sacrificing ambition, this book is a game-changer.

I truly loved reading Executive Motherhood. The exercises are definitely ones that I wish I could complete but only a few apply to me. I have been attempting to become an adoptive parent and a foster mom with little success but it doesn't mean it will never happen. I believe that as a woman who is also a mom and an executive your time is precious and few minutes to spare. You are expected to be that superwoman. And your child deserves no less but will often be given less.
I think she gives you great tips regarding the people you should be aware of and align yourself with. I think the lessons that she has learned over time give each person a different perspective on the life of a woman who is an executive.
Should women and men both read this book? Yes. Should women who aren't executives read this book? Hard yes.
Go for it ladies, definitely not one to miss.

Books like this make me ponder the way forward, strategies, and reflect on everything that we're juggling. This is no exception, and it's one that I would recommend for those of us juggling it all. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book

I didn't enjoy this one, and found some of the writing and issues quite problematic. Not as advertised. DNF.

Extremely well-written, interesting perspective on the role of women and how our careers play into our family lives.

Ashely Quinto Powell may be known for her TedxNormal presentation or her other work promoting women advancing their careers while raising children, and Executive Motherhood: The Art of Having It All (Without Doing It All) is a natural extension of her professional presence. Written in a direct tone and including some scientific or other academic research supporting her claims, Quinto Powell manages to be both matter of fact and inspiring.

Want to get more done? Let go of the need to control how things happen at home. Feeling like an imposter as you grow your career? Rethink that.

Although her guidance may not be applicable to all, she writes in a way that encourages readers to take what is useful and apply it in their own lives. I have already read bits and pieces aloud to fellow working moms, because I wanted to share the bits that I thought were particularly useful to me.

This book is not just for working moms but their partners too. It gives great insights into gender equality, how we get there, how men can lend a hand, how to keep good balance as mothers, wives, and successful workers. Great book. Entertaining writing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because I love books about the intersection of motherhood and careerism. The author’s general premise is that working moms cannot have or do it all, but they can get darn near close with supportive relationships and delegating non-essential tasks to others. Of course, this mentality/way of life does not necessarily work for everyone. Regardless, I felt that the author’s experience was well-written and interesting. I liked that the book was fast-paced, entertaining, and motivational.

I loved the real-life reader contributions to the end of the book (people submitted what they wished would change in the workplace to support working parents). The responses were amazing: eliminate the pressure to do it all, eliminate mom guilt (feeling like a career failure while simultaneously feeling like a mom failure), support BIPOC employees, eliminate social media perfection, eliminate the societal perception that only mom can care for kids, implement family-first flex time. For those who enjoyed Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, this is a must read.

This is a short read but I really enjoyed it. This book is for anyone, parent or not, who cares about gender equity. It's so true that if you are going to split up responsibilities with a partner, sometimes you just have to deal with your living room being orange so that you can commute to another city every week. Key message: learn to delegate and let go. And letting go includes that guilt that we feel as parents and career people every single day for not being perfect, because none of us are.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the opportunity to access this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book so much… it was just so freaking good. One of the best of 2022 and I’ll be recommending it to every one of my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
5 stars!!