The “work-life balance” is all the rage in self-help literature—and according to author and law professor Lara Bazelon, it is less of an ideal and more of another impossible demand placed on working mothers. Challenging the age-old wisdom of needing to choose between your children and your job, Bazelon argues that when a mother chooses prioritizing her career, she chooses both.

Lara Bazelon is a professor of law at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she holds the positions of Barnett Chair in Trial Advocacy and director of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice and Racial Justice Clinics. As a writer, her works have covered topics such as gender equity, family, racial justice and systemic oppression and have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

In her latest book, Ambitious Like a Mother: Why Prioritizing Your Career Is Good for Your Kids, Bazelon seeks to change the narrative about the work-life balance and show that being ambitious at work and a good mother are not mutually exclusive, but reinforce each other. She says that a mother focusing on her career allows her to not only provide financial independence and personal fulfillment for herself, but demonstrates to her children how to use their talents to help others and raise awareness about social issues.

Join us as Bazelon deconstructs what she sees as the stereotypes and false idols of the selfless mother, and shows how ambitious mothers help themselves, their children and society.