In the Middle of It
Honest conversations about motherhood, creative business, personal growth, and the messy middle of becoming who you're meant to be. Hosted by Erin Leech, this podcast is for women who are building something beautiful while raising babies, healing old patterns, and rewriting the rules. If you're craving depth, magic, and permission to hold all parts of yourself - you're in the right place.
In the Middle of It
The Postpartum Mental Health Factor Nobody Talks About: Fulfillment for Ambitious Moms
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
You don't just want more than motherhood. You need it. And there's research to back that up.
I've been building toward this episode for a while — it's the one that ties together everything I've been talking about in this series on ambitious motherhood, and honestly, it's the reason I do this work at all. Today I'm getting personal about my own postpartum experience, the identity loss I didn't see coming, and why I believe fulfillment isn't a nice-to-have for women like us. It's a protective factor for our mental health. And the absence of it has real consequences.
In this episode, you'll hear me talk about:
- Why fulfillment is a genuine mental health need — not a luxury — for ambitious, entrepreneurial moms
- What the research actually says about purpose and identity outside of caregiving as a protective factor against postpartum depression and anxiety
- My personal postpartum story, including the moment the fog lifted and what I know now that I didn't then
- Eve Rodsky's concept of "unicorn space" and why it matters for women like us
- What our kids are actually learning when we advocate for our own purpose and go after what we're called to do
- Why wanting more than motherhood is not selfish — it's survival
Stay Connected!
- 🌐 erinleech.com
- 📸 Instagram: @iamerinleech
- 🎵 TikTok: @erinleech
postpartum mental health, ambitious mom, fulfillment for moms, mom identity loss, postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, entrepreneurial mom, mompreneur, unicorn space Eve Rodsky, purpose outside motherhood, identity shift postpartum, mental health for moms, ambitious women, female entrepreneur, work from home mom, postpartum identity crisis, building a business with a baby, mom guilt, postpartum support, fourth trimester, new mom mental health, postpartum entrepreneur, self-worth for moms, thriving in motherhood, women's mental health, business and motherhood, female founder, mindset for moms