In just a few short weeks, our family will grow as we welcome our first baby.
I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom, but I never really knew what that would look like or how to plan for it. What I’ve learned is that no one really does. We figure it out as we go.
We recently recorded a podcast for In Vista Veritas about this exact transition: becoming a mother while navigating life as a working woman. You can check it out here; it’s an honest reflection on how layered and complex this season can be.
Have you ever considered that very few men in the workforce are expected to plan when, or if, becoming a father will affect their career trajectory? But for women, this consideration is ever-present. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, it’s always there in the background: Will this change everything? How will I manage both? What will people think?
There’s so much noise when you start talking about adding a child into your life and how it intersects with your work. Everyone has an opinion. And those opinions are often deeply rooted in generational beliefs, some empowering, others outdated.
There’s plenty written about the hustle of motherhood: how to balance it all, bounce back quickly, and keep the momentum going. But my approach was more foundational than that. I started by identifying what really mattered to me: what I wanted my life to feel like, not just look like.
The truth is, I want to work. I love what I do. My career brings me purpose and fulfillment. But that identity, the driven, high-capacity professional, can’t be the only one I cling to. Because what’s left when the laptop closes, the calendar clears, and the travel pauses?
For years, I’ve poured myself into my work with intention and intensity. It’s a role I love and one I’ve taken seriously. Being a professional, a partner, and a problem-solver is deeply embedded in who I am. And now, I’m navigating a shift where the personal and emotional collide directly with the professional and logistical. How do I balance that—especially when I’ve always been taught that your personal life isn’t supposed to impact your work?
This moment has given me the chance to reflect not only on how I want to show up as a mother, but also on what it means to grow as a leader, as a teammate, and as a whole person. I’ve found myself holding questions that I believe are relevant to anyone facing a big life transition, especially women in leadership and the leaders who support them.
When my husband and I started having conversations about starting a family, our careers were top of mind. If you’ve ever worked with us one-on-one at Vista, you know the dynamic, but if you haven’t, I’ll just say this: as consultants, we’re deeply dedicated to our clients. We’re in it with them. We don’t just show up to give advice. We help guide people through the messy middle of growth, the tough decisions, and the big leaps forward. And once that momentum kicks in, it’s contagious, in the best way. It energizes the entire firm. Honestly, that’s one of the most fulfilling parts of the job.
So, the thought of stepping away, even temporarily, felt unsettling. I wasn’t just worried about what might happen in my absence; I was worried about how my clients would feel or what they’d think. Would they still trust me? Would they still feel supported? Would they still want to work with Vista?
What I’ve come to realize—with help from my team, mentors, and even my clients—is that there’s this myth baked into our culture: that if you pause, you fall behind. That if you step back, you lose your edge, your momentum, or worse, your credibility. I’ll never forget going to Tim, our CEO at Vista, full of anxiety about all of this. His response, in classic Tim fashion, was something along the lines of, “Kendall, the world did not come to an end when women decided to have children.”
That line has stuck with me because he’s right. The pause isn’t about disappearing. It’s about making room for transformation.
Early on, I was so worried my clients would see me as incapable of getting my deliverables to them through pregnancy. I held my joy close, waiting until the last possible moment to share it. But now, as I prepare for maternity leave, I’m offering myself more grace. This isn’t the abandonment of ambition. It’s the expansion of it.
Right now, ambition looks like rest. It looks like softness, space, and joy. It looks like trusting the foundation I’ve built with my clients and trusting my team to carry it forward. I’m not stepping back because I’m unsure of who I am, but because I’m sure of what matters most. The version of me who returns won’t be less focused or less driven. She’ll just be clearer, sharpened by perspective and aligned with purpose.
If you’re a woman reading this and preparing for a similar shift, here’s what I want you to know: You’re allowed to pause without apology. You don’t have to earn rest. You don’t have to hide your joy. You don’t have to justify this transition. You will not lose yourself in the process—you will meet new parts of yourself that your work never asked you to explore.
And that, too, is growth.
Since becoming a mom is an entirely new and unknown journey for me, I initially tried to wrap my head around it by siloing it, treating it as separate from the rest of who I am. But in doing so, I unknowingly reinforced a false assumption: that by stepping into motherhood, I would be stepping out of my professional identity. That somehow, my ambition or relevance would no longer be part of me.
As women, we work every day to push back against the outdated belief that it must be either/or. And yet, the message is still out there: you can be a great mom or a great leader. A present parent or a driven professional. But here’s the truth I’ve come to claim: identity is not a trade.
By becoming a mom, I’m not subtracting from who I am; I’m adding to the richness of it. The more we allow our full identities to integrate, rather than keeping a “work self” and a “home self,” the more empowered, aligned, and sustainable we become.
This mindset shift doesn’t just benefit the individual, and it matters deeply for leaders working to build more modern workplaces. If you're still operating with the assumption that a woman’s evolving identity threatens quality or continuity, you're missing the bigger opportunity: to build long-term loyalty, deeper engagement, and more human-centered leadership.
Women don’t lose their edge when they become mothers. They sharpen it on new challenges, deeper empathy, and an unmatched ability to prioritize what matters most.
So what can you do as a leader? Start by evaluating your culture. Have you created an environment where people don’t feel like they have to hide their personal evolution in order to be seen as professional? Don’t let assumptions outweigh your curiosity. Ask better questions:
And for the women preparing for a similar shift, let me remind you: You’re allowed to hold all of your identities at once. You don’t have to choose between building a business and building a family. You don’t have to dilute your drive to deepen your joy. You are allowed to be fully present in both.
My team has been incredible, personally and professionally. From the moment I shared that I was pregnant, they celebrated with me. There was no scrambling, no panic, no hint of “How will we survive without you?” Even though I’m the first consultant in Vista’s history to go on maternity leave, their reaction was exactly what you’d hope for: joy, support, and immediate confidence in the plan. They didn’t just cheer me on, they showed me through their actions that my temporary departure wasn’t a disruption. It was something we could plan for and navigate well. And honestly? I trust them deeply because they do what they say they’re going to do. They lead by example in every way.
Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hesitate before sharing the news. Culturally, maternity leave is often treated like a logistical problem to solve, a quiet interruption we’re supposed to manage efficiently and then move on from. But what if it’s looked at as more of a leadership opportunity? One that benefits everyone in your organization.
Maternity leave isn’t only about what pauses—it’s about what grows. Done well, it prompts powerful conversations:
If you’ve had the same person in a role for a long time, chances are you haven’t audited those things in a while. This is your chance.
It’s a gut check for your practice.
Preparing for this transition has pushed me to operate differently. Not because I don’t trust my team, but because I care deeply about continuity, for our clients, my colleagues, and the organization as a whole. I’ve documented each client file with clarity and intention, what we’re working on, what’s next, and what we’ve already accomplished. The goal is that anyone on the team can step in and keep the momentum going. That should be the goal for your client files at your law firm, too.
One of the things that makes Vista special is that while every client is assigned a lead consultant, no one ever truly gets just one of us. Behind every engagement is the collective brainpower and collaboration of our entire team. We problem-solve together. We strategize together. We share ownership. Your firm should aim for the same. Clients deserve the full strength of your team, not just one person carrying the load.
This is often the part leaders want to rush past: the emotional side of transitions, such as maternity leave. And if you’ve never walked through it personally, it can feel especially uncertain or even uncomfortable to address. But we can’t afford to pretend it’s not there.
Behind every transition timeline, coverage plan, and delegation checklist lies a deeper reality: this shift is not just logistical, it’s emotional. Preparing for maternity leave isn’t just stepping away from work; it’s stepping into a completely unfamiliar version of life and self. It comes with layers of grief, gratitude, fear, and joy, all colliding at once.
And yes, it feels hard because it is hard. But naming the emotional weight doesn’t make you fragile. It makes space for support alongside strategy. I’ve felt this firsthand, and I’m grateful for a team that never made me choose between being seen and being supported.
As leaders, it’s on us to normalize this, not just for the women navigating it, but for the managers and teams supporting them. If your business depends on people, then it must also make space for the realities of life. You can’t lead humans and ignore their humanity.
Planning for parental leave, or any kind of leave, should never be a scramble. Whether your firm has five employees or fifty-five, here’s what good leadership looks like:
When you do this well, you don’t just help people step away with confidence, you help them return with clarity, energy, and trust. That’s how you build a workplace where people grow through change, not despite it. And when you make room for the emotional reality of these transitions, you won’t just retain talent, you’ll continue to elevate it.
This season isn’t just a logistical transition; it’s a deeply personal one. I’m making space for a new identity, Mom, without leaving behind the woman and professional I’ve worked so hard to become. And what I’m learning is that growth doesn’t always come from pushing harder or moving faster. Sometimes, it comes from pausing, from stillness, surrender, and softness.
As a first-time mom, I don’t know exactly what the road ahead holds. But I do know this: I want to be fully present at every moment, thankful that I do not have to worry about whether initiatives are still moving forward or that my clients feel supported because I trust that my team has it handled. I want to give myself permission to slow down, not because I’m stepping away or losing momentum, but because I’m stepping fully into something new and just as meaningful, and work will be there when it is time to return.
This pause is not a stop sign; it’s a threshold. A chance to breathe deeply, reflect honestly, and prepare to show up as a whole person, not just in one role, but in all the roles that matter most. I am able to do this because my organization has set me up for success in not only the preparation for leave but also in supporting the emotional side of this.
And when the time comes to return, I have accepted that I won’t be picking up where I left off, I’ll be stepping forward with a renewed sense of clarity and purpose. That’s not a disruption to who I was before; it’s an expansion of who I’ve become. For women navigating similar transitions, returning isn’t about proving you’re unchanged. It’s about honoring how you’ve grown and allowing that growth to shape the way you lead, contribute, and connect. For leaders, this is the moment to meet returning team members with curiosity and flexibility, knowing that the reintegration phase is just as critical as the leave itself.
When you make space for both the pause and the re-entry, you ensure your team has space to evolve. That’s how you build workplaces where people grow not in spite of life’s changes, but because of them. And when you make room for becoming and for reimagining, everyone wins.
