You Don’t Have to Choose Between Ambition and Motherhood
Real stories of women who built powerful careers without giving up their personal lives, and what their journeys teach us about leadership, sacrifice, and self-worth.
Why Women Who Rise Matters
For generations, women have been told that ambition and motherhood are incompatible, that wanting more is something to apologize for. Women Who Rise challenges that narrative through deeply personal stories and original research on how women are redefining success on their own terms.
This is not a self-help book. It’s a mirror, a roadmap, and a call to action.
Rocio Ariela Izquierdo
Author · M.A Public Policy · Leadership Advocate
For over a decade, Rocio Ariela Izquierdo worked closely with women CEOs, witnessing firsthand the invisible tradeoffs behind ambition, leadership, and caregiving. What began as professional curiosity became a deeper mission — one that ultimately shaped her master’s thesis research and, later, this book.
Women Who Rise bridges two worlds rarely connected: the lived experiences of women leaders and rigorous academic insight. Drawing from original research and deeply personal interviews, Rocio explores how women navigate power, care, and success in systems that weren’t built for them — and what must change.
This book is for young professionals climbing the corporate ladder, managers navigating leadership pressure, and academics seeking grounded, real-world insight. More than inspiration, it’s a practical, story-driven manual for future leaders — created by leaders themselves.
What You’ll Learn From This Book
Discover what in-depth interviews with leaders reveal about ambition, motherhood, and the right to want more.
The invisible ceiling we place on ourselves
Why highly qualified women turn down promotions, negotiate less, and wait for permission. How to recognize imposter syndrome and the self-imposed limits holding you back.
How women actually build leadership careers
The four stages, from the family values that shaped their ambition to critical career decisions, the role of mentors and sponsors, and navigating discrimination that is often normalized.
Motherhood without giving up the career
The maternal wall, negotiating pay and flexibility, the partner factor, and redefining success when you refuse to choose between leading and loving.
What organizations must change
The policies and cultures that stop making ambition and caregiving a tradeoff: flexible work, mentoring, and care infrastructure. Essential for leaders and policymakers.
A go-to manual for women with difficult choices ahead of them.
“Women don’t have to choose between having a family, working, and being successful.”
WOMEN WHO RISE
Women Who Rise
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Contact
For speaking invitations, workshops, or press — I’d love to hear from you.
- The invisible ceilings we place on ourselves
- Ambition and motherhood: the right to want more
- What 14 women leaders taught me about rising without giving up family or self
