Episode 133: The Ambition Decisions
/“In a lot of our friends’ relationships the default was, ‘My husband’s career takes priority,’ even if that didn’t actually make sense for the two careers people had.”
Elizabeth Wallace and Hana Schank
“I empathized in some ways with the stay-at-home moms, but also I had this tugging feeling inside of me of wow, you had so much potential, why did you give that up?”
In the early '90s Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace graduated from college with big dreams for the future. But more than 20 years later they didn't feel like success stories. Career and family life felt messy and underwhelming. But surely their friends from college had it figured out - maybe they could pick up some tips? Hana and Liz set out to interview the women they'd graduated with to find out how they'd channeled their ambition over the years and what their stories can teach the rest of us. The result is their book The Ambition Decisions.
In this episode we cover everything from how ambition changes over time, to ceding control at home, to not automatically falling for the advice to ‘do what you love.’
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You can also read a transcript of the show.
Further reading: Here you’ll find links to the original series of articles Hana and Liz wrote for the Atlantic that eventually led them to write the book.