Are you the Executive director of an international company or are you one of the growing crowd of mumpreneurs?

A recent rumour has been suggesting that women can’t have it all, but we think this is wrong. Especially when you consider that the current CEO of YouTube has five children, the youngest being under 3. Furthermore, she makes it a rule to be home every night for dinner!

 

So, what is the secret?

If you are currently questioning your high-ranking position and worried about the effect it may have on your personal life, stop! Take a look at the following article for inspiration. Accept that you are not superwoman and that you cannot be everything to everyone at all times. Face the challenges head on, change the things you can, but don’t worry if you don’t always get it spot on.Are you the Executive director of an international company or are you one of the growing crowd of mumpreneurs?

A recent rumour has been suggesting that women can’t have it all, but we think this is wrong. Especially when you consider that the current CEO of YouTube has five children, the youngest being under 3. Furthermore, she makes it a rule to be home every night for dinner!

 

As women, we often fail to give ourselves the credit we deserve. Your current position is no accident, it is a recognition of your ability and your personal drive. You are passionate about what you do and that passion motivates the team around you. However, there is a fine line, give too much and you could find yourself suffering a burnout.

The rise of the tablet and the smartphone means that it is easy to slip into a habit of being on call 24 hours. To continually function at a high level, downtime is a necessity. And downtime does not equate to simply leaving the office, it needs you to fully disconnect. You need to be both physically and mentally available to your family or friends, which brings us on to the next point. The team that set up Mai Tai Balance say that work emails should not be connected to your phone or smart devices, to avoid dropping in and out of work during your downtime.

Even though the time you spend at work compared to outside of work are not the same, your work life and home life both deserve the same amount of attention. As a high flyer your organizational skills in the office will be truly honed, but do you apply the same skills to managing your home life? We know that you would never miss an important presentation meeting, so why would you miss your child’s piano recital. It is up there with the most important of meetings and it is not negotiable.

We have already pointed out the perils of the smartphone, but it is not all bad news. Technology has granted us the freedom to work out of multiple offices, we don’t physically need to show up to be at work. Take advantage of the benefits and choose to work from home during school holidays or perhaps when you want to attend the earlier boutique gym class slot.

Of course, let’s not pretend that the pressures of an executive position are only felt by women with a family, as this is just not the case. Indeed, the pressures of a high-powered job are often instrumental in women struggling to enjoy long term relationships or to expanding social and professional network. Just as you diarize time for meetings, set aside time for socialising or simply spending time with your family on a regular basis. And stick to the date.

Indeed, time is such a precious commodity that there are companies dedicated to helping executive personnel to maximize their off-duty hours. At Mai Tai, we are dedicated to making socialising easier for like-minded professionals. The concept is quickly gathering traction and members are signing up to enjoy the benefits of sharing experiences and ideas in a relaxed environment which broadens your professional circles.

Networking was once an on-trend buzz word, but now it is a term necessary for doing any kind of business. So, what about networking outside of work, are you good at it?

Invest in yourself! In the busy day to day you will be expecting to get a lot out of your body, so think about what you are putting in. Nutrition is key to powering your day. You should also ensure you invest in good sleep habits, leave the mobile phones and devices out of the space. Find good balance both spiritually and emotionally, through Yoga or Pilates.

Remember that you cannot be all things to all people, it is just not possible. It is likely that you have built a strong team around you in the workplace which enables you to delegate, so make sure you continue the same approach at home.

Overall, the key to a good work-life balance is planning and preparation. To enjoy success in the work environment or in your social life, you need to priorities what is important. It is imperative that you add value in whatever you are doing.

 

But 85% of the league’s players aren’t chosen as All-Stars—and despite the growing sponsorship opportunities in women’s sports, many players still must figure out what comes after their professional careers. Rasheeda Clark is a former WNBA player who has found excellence off the court, in a very different field: fast-food franchising.

Clark played D1 basketball at Pepperdine, played for USA Basketball, and was drafted in the WNBA’s third round in 2001 (she’d been expected to be a first-round pick, but suffered an injury her senior year). Between 2001 and 2003, she played for three WNBA teams—the Portland Fire, the Charlotte Sting, and the Connecticut Sun. Her time of play coincided with a change in fortunes for the WNBA as teams began folding following financial restructuring of team ownership. Of those three teams, only the Connecticut Sun is still around—although Portland’s new WNBA franchise will start play in 2026 with the same name in homage to the city’s first.

Clark’s injuries—and the WNBA’s low player salaries, around $37,000 at the time, she says—ultimately led her to leave the sport. She started looking elsewhere for the satisfaction she got from basketball’s teamwork and leadership opportunities. As an athlete, she felt she was sometimes at a disadvantage breaking into the business world; while her fellow students were interning and exploring job fairs, she had been training and traveling for games. She got into retail operations, and then was chosen for PepsiCo’s famed management training program, which helped her gain more formal experience—her business version of “training camp.”

Today she is the president of Flynn Wendy’s, the Wendy’s segment of the largest franchisee operator in the U.S. She oversees more than 300 Wendy’s locations, almost 10,000 employees—and $724 million in annual sales. She’s one of seven presidents within the Flynn Group, which also runs franchising operations for Applebee’s, Arby’s, Panera, Pizza Hut, Planet Fitness, and Taco Bell.

Post-retirement, today’s athletes are pursuing a range of paths, from podcasting and sports commentating, to investing and startups, to coaching and team ownership. Players are eager for more former athletes to work in league offices, too. For Clark, that didn’t feel like an option at the time. “It was almost like I had to cleanse my system of it,” she remembers. “I would have continued to try to be on a team or go, ‘Maybe I’ll give it one more shot.’ For me, it wasn’t an option. But those are very viable avenues for current players.”

She urges corporations to recognize athletes’ unique skill sets—helping those who wish to enter new industries to make the jump as she did. Athletes have a “die-hard mindset,” she says. At the same time, they know that “no one victory is won by the individual effort of one player on the team,” she says. “You’re always collaborating, learning the roles of other players on the court in order to be successful.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Sara Braun. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

– PBS fights back. Congress is expected to vote this week on a proposal that would end federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes funds to NPR, PBS, and local public media across the country. The impending deadline has led to an influx of ads, meetings with local officials, and media appearances to garner lawmaker support. New York Times. 

– Abortion travel. A provision of President Trump’s domestic spending bill that prevents Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health clinics from billing services to Medicaid could have a devastating effect on abortion travel, as clinics in states that have become abortion havens are most at risk of major funding losses and even closing health centers. The statute is temporarily blocked as it moves through the courts. The 19th

– Citi celebration. Citigroup, led by CEO Jane Fraser, shocked analysts with high second-quarter results that dramatically outperformed the market. The company’s net income of $4.02 billion climbed 25% from the same quarter last year. Citigroup said in a presentation on Tuesday that it now expects $84 billion in revenue for the full year, a figure that is on the high end of the bank’s previous guidance. CNBC

– Female-led society. Scientists have discovered evidence of one of the oldest known matrilineal societies at a settlement based in the Shandong province of eastern China. The site, named “Fujia” after a village in the province, dates to around 2750 B.C. to 2500 B.C. and, researchers say, is a sign of how norms people today consider set in stone can change. Wall Street Journal

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Disney president of global advertising Rita Ferro is now chair of the board of directors for the Ad Council, succeeding YouTube VP, Americas Tara Walpert Levy. 

Lyft appointed Dana Rasmussen as chief people officer. She most recently served as the chief people and culture officer at Stitch Fix.

March Capital, a venture growth firm, appointed Melissa Montan as vice president of platform and marketing. She most recently served as senior vice president at HSBC Innovation Banking.

Zum, a student transportation provider, hired JoAnn Covington as general counsel. She most recently was the chief legal officer at Glydways.  

ON MY RADAR

The work from home gender gap is wider than ever as women continue to resist return-to-office efforts Fortune

She helped launch COVID-19’s vaccine in the depths of the pandemic. Now, she’s planning her next act Business Insider

Men might be the key to an American baby boom The Atlantic

PARTING WORDS

“I don’t not care; I just don’t carry.”

— Singer Lizzo on how her self-worth has evolved as a public figure 

This is the web version of MPW Daily, a daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.