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Insights & Inspiration for Women Who Lead with Purpose
Explore reflections and tools on leadership, family and wellbeing.
Balancing Ambition and Family Life
Balancing professional ambition with family life is one of the most profound challenges many women face — and it’s something I’ve navigated deeply in my own journey. In a recent interview, I shared how equal parenting (gleichberechtigte Elternschaft) with my partner, Anand, has allowed us to build both a thriving career and a supportive family life.
At the heart of our approach lies a simple, yet powerful belief: care-work is real work. By redefining household tasks, child care and emotional labour as equally valuable, we protect both our financial independence and our relationship harmony.
Here are some of the key practices and insights we use to make this balance work — some may resonate with you as a woman leader, entrepreneur, or someone striving for work–life balance:
Weekly “kitchen meetings”: Every Sunday, we sit down for an hour and plan the week — who will do what, when, and how. It helps us avoid unspoken expectations and reduce mental load.
A shared Trello board: We use Trello to manage our responsibilities. We have lists for our child, our home, family tasks, and recurring chores. Each task is assigned, scheduled, sometimes marked “recurring” — so nothing important slips through the cracks.
Inbox for mental load: We keep an “Inbox” list in Trello—not just for household tasks, but also for things like social invitations, ideas, or emotional topics. Then we address them together at our weekly meeting, which helps us stay clear and connected.
Structured calendars: We use a shared Google Calendar, colour-coded for each of us. This includes parenting shifts, work hours and even personal appointments. It means we always know what the other is doing — and why.
Why This Approach Matters for Women Ambitious in Business
When you’re an entrepreneur or executive, there’s often a tension between “doing it all” and feeling like you’re failing in one or more areas. But here’s what I’ve found working with many women leaders: equal partnership at home is not a luxury — it’s a foundation for professional growth.
By sharing care-work equitably:
You preserve financial independence, avoiding the risk that one partner becomes dependent or sidelined.
You reduce everyday conflicts about who does what, which frees up mental and emotional energy for higher-impact work.
You give both partners space for “me-time” and “us-time”, which is vital for self-care, creativity and the health of your relationship. Marlinde and her partner have flexible childcare arrangements, allowing “me-time” and couple time to emerge from their shifting schedules.
