1231: The Power Pause: When Professional Women Pause Their Career with Neha Ruch
Emotionally Uncomfortable
Hosted by Heather Chauvin | Insights inspired by Mel Robbins, Bréne Brown, Danielle Laporte, Elizab
4.6 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 24 September 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if success didn't have to look like climbing the ladder or doing it all at once?
In this episode, Heather is joined by the founder of The Power Pause and author of The Power Pause, Neha Ruch. Together, they unpack the societal narratives that make ambitious women fear slowing down and why pressing pause doesn't mean giving up. This is a conversation about reclaiming your agency, reframing ambition, and choosing a life aligned with what really matters.
What we cover:
🩶The profound identity shifts that occur when women slow down and redefine success on their own terms.
🩶The emotional, cultural, and psychological work required to release external validation and create more spaciousness.
🩶The rediscovery of personal ambition, especially during seasons of motherhood and major life transitions.
About Neha:
Neha Ruch is the founder of The Power Pause, the leading platform for ambitious women leaning into family life. A thought leader, influencer, and sought-after speaker focusing on women, work, parenting and identity, Neha's work at The Power Pause is catalyzing a shift in how society views stay-at-home motherhood. Her USA Today bestseller, "THE POWER PAUSE: How to Plan a Career Break After Kids – and Come Back Stronger Than Ever," published with Putnam in January 2025. Neha lives in Manhattan with her husband, their two children, and their dog Coconut.
https://thepowerpause.com
https://instagram.com/neha_ruch
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehaleelaruch
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What if success didn't have to look like climbing a ladder or doing it all at once? |
| 0:05.4 | I am so excited to share today's episode with you with Neha Roush. |
| 0:11.0 | She's the founder of the Power Pause, her book, The Power Pause, and also The Movement, |
| 0:16.1 | which is a leading platform for ambitious women leaning into family life. |
| 0:20.2 | She's a thought leader, an influencer, |
| 0:22.2 | and a sought after speaker focusing on women, work, parenting, and identity. Neha's work at the |
| 0:29.6 | power pause is catalyzing a shift in how society views stay-at-home motherhood. She is all about |
| 0:37.4 | how to plan a career break after kids |
| 0:41.7 | and coming back stronger than ever. So I wanted to have Neha on the podcast. I actually |
| 0:49.4 | reached out to her and I said, I want to interview you about the power pause. And I'm sure, you know, |
| 0:55.9 | whoever you are listening to this, if you're raising children, you know that this is a very |
| 1:01.1 | important role in your life. There's one thing that I noticed, though, whether you identify |
| 1:07.4 | as a professional woman, whether you identify as a business owner, whether you identify |
| 1:13.2 | as a stay-at-home mother, like, you know, domestic goddess, domestic engineer. As women, |
| 1:19.9 | we have work. We are working women. And this is a very interesting phenomenon to me, because especially when I look at Neha's work and read her book, The Power of Pause, it's like the shame around pausing. |
| 1:37.9 | The shame around taking a break from something that you've built in her case, her professional corporate career, |
| 1:47.1 | to pause and to focus on her family. But isn't that a privilege? This is what I don't understand |
| 1:55.5 | culturally, that the ability to pause and take a break is a privilege. |
| 2:03.7 | Like, you have won if you have the ability and well-resourced enough to be able to take a break, |
| 2:11.4 | right? Doesn't that make sense? |
| 2:13.1 | Like, obviously, if you take a pause in your career, whether you are self-employed, whether you are |
| 2:19.8 | working for somebody else or whether you are in transition and or you've never quote |
... |
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