Her Next Chapters

79. Two Moms. Two Seasons. One Honest Conversation, with Guest Susan Lee

• Christina Kohl

Share episode

What do a toddler mom and an almost-empty nester have in common?
More than you'd think.

In this episode, Christina (navigating the early stages of an empty nest) and Susan Lee (mom to a 15-month-old) sit down for a raw, honest conversation about the identity shifts that unfold across every stage of motherhood.

Together, they explore how to preserve your sense of self while embracing the ever-evolving role of “mom.”

You’ll hear:

  • Why the transition into motherhood feels immediate, while the empty nest sneaks up slowly
  • How holding onto something that's yours outside of parenting builds resilience
  • The harm of "good mom" stereotypes—and how to resist them
  • Parallels between career transitions and parenting transitions
  • Why identity loss can happen in both early motherhood and after the kids leave home
  • How breaking isolation (even with something small) helps you reconnect with purpose
  • Why a strong sense of self is essential to navigate both expectations and doubts
  • The reminder that transitions aren’t detours—they’re invitations for growth

Whether you're in the thick of toddler chaos or staring down the hallway at an empty bedroom, or somewhere in between, this conversation is for you.

To receive Susan's Better Work Newsletter: 
https://www.heymslee.com

To connect with Susan on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heymslee

Grab the Free Strengths-First Resume Template - it's perfect for anyone in career transitions, whether with a long career gap, a career pivot, or just ready for a change.
Want to chat about your career goals? Schedule a free call HERE.
Send me an email ---> christina@hernextchapters.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn ---> www.linkedin.com/in/kohlchristina





Christina Kohl:

Hi and welcome to Her Next Chapter's podcast. I'm your host, Christina Kohl. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started.

Christina Kohl:

Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Her Next Chapters. I'm excited to share that we have a guest joining us today. Susan Lee is joining us and Susan is the founder of hey Miss Lee LLC. She is a career coach and a woman empowerment content creator who helps high-performing women stop sacrificing themselves for success by creating sustainable operating systems for their work and life. She's originally from Philly, a proud girl mom, and has traveled to 42 countries so far. Susan, welcome to the podcast.

Christina Kohl:

Thank you, Christina. Thank you for having me and welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Christina. Thank you for having me. Absolutely so. When we connected, we kind of talked about how we're at different phases of our parenting journeys. You have a 15 month old daughter. I have kids that are in their twenties, so I have a 19 year old son, a 22 year old daughter and a 24 year old son. So we are at opposite ends of the parenting spectrum and I think we have a lot to learn from each other and to talk about different identity shifts that people go through in the parenting world or parenting life, and how that impacts our daily lives and our careers and our identities as women. So that's what I'm looking forward to getting into our conversation today. So tell me more about your daughter and what it's been like for you in this transition and early motherhood.

Susan Lee:

So I had my daughter a little bit later in life and that meant that I got to accomplish several things in my life that I've always wanted to accomplish. I had a really thriving career as a teacher and in the nonprofit space. Now I'm running my own business. As mentioned in my intro, I traveled to 42 countries. My big goal is to travel to all of them and you know, my husband and I got to this phase of life where we said you know, what do we want next? And we decided that we would try slash, not try and see if we could have a kid. And my daughter came into our lives 15 months ago and I would say parenting, summed up in one word, is humbling.

Susan Lee:

As a high performer, I had a lot of expectations of how things would go, specifically how I thought I would feel like. I thought I would feel Like. I thought I would be ready to go back to work at three months. I thought that I would be fully recovered by six months, that my brain would stop feeling like mashed potatoes, but instead it really took a full year to even feel like. I'm starting to feel like myself again, and that phrase alone it made me reflect on what does that really mean Like feeling like myself again, because I'm never going to be that former version of myself before I became a mom.

Susan Lee:

Identity is supposed to be, because I strongly feel that I don't want motherhood to overtake my entire identity, because I've let my career do that in the beginning.

Susan Lee:

In the beginning I let my career become my entire identity and when that career burned down burned down it left me feeling really lost and I saw a lot of parallels there of it's another identity shift and there's unfortunately no guidebook or roadmap on how to navigate it.

Susan Lee:

So I had to really tap into the things that I teach my clients is being able to hold that tension of that transition and not try to rush getting out of that transition. I think a lot of us you know, when you're trying to look for a new job or you're trying to learn how to be a good parent, whatever it is, you want to just get there right. You just want to get to the place where you feel stable and consistent and confident. But the growth really happens in that transition. The growth really happens during that tension point. So I got really excited when you told me that you're on the opposite end when it comes to parenting, because even though at first glance it seems like we're in different places, but really I feel like there's a lot of similarities when will I be myself?

Christina Kohl:

Is it when three months postpartum, or six months, or a year? I distinctly remember having a conversation with my OB like you're going to the follow-up appointments saying I feel like there's this constant brain fog, and her reply was like well, of course that's because your heart is now living outside of your body and embodied in your child and your brain is constantly thinking about them, even if it's in the background, and it's just a shift that happens in our lives, obviously. And now I've got three hearts outside my body and even though they're young adults, it still takes some of my brain power in a good way, in a positive way. But yeah, it's an interesting conversation to talk to someone with a 15-month-old when I'm parents of kids that are away in college. And you mentioned the shifts that happen and they continue to happen. So you are now really experienced at how to take care of a 14-month-old. You're learning how to take care of a 14-month-old. You're learning how to take care of a 15-month-old, and every milestone that your daughter has are new milestones for you as a parent as well, and you're going to continue to learn and stretch and grow throughout all these stages.

Christina Kohl:

And I remember when the oldest was two years old. My husband was replacing our screen door or something and the two-year-old Adam just wanted to be right by his daddy and helping with tools. And my husband, john, he's like this isn't really helpful and can you keep them busy? And this is going to be so much more fun when they're older. And I was like, but then we're going to miss it. We have to enjoy the now because it's going to go so fast and before we know it we're going to be turning around going well, what happened, where did they go? And so I guess that just was a moment frozen in time for me, that two-year-old son and my husband of like, make sure you don't miss the two-year-old phase, because there's going to come a time when that child doesn't want to stick around looking over daddy's shoulder ready to help hand him a tool or something.

Christina Kohl:

There's just this constant evolution that happens throughout parenthood, and where I'm at is facing the other end of it, to where my kids don't need me all the time and you don't know when those last things are coming. The last time they want to cuddle, the last time they sit on your lap, the last time um, hopefully there won't be a last time that they call needing help. You know, um, but it's just recognizing this for you, for for all of us that become parents, it happens overnight. Like we, we have our nine months, what to expect when you're expecting, which can only prepare you so much, and then your life is turned upside down. Like you can prepare, you think you've got it, but for the empty nest it's a much longer, slower transition.

Christina Kohl:

But just as impactful is what I've experienced as far as the identity shift of like, if I'm not needed as a mom day to day and that was a huge part of my identity then who am I without? That role is kind of what I'm struggling with. What about for you as a new mom? What part of your role, your identity from, say, two years ago, has shifted as you've entered into parenthood?

Susan Lee:

Honestly, I think it's too early to tell, but what I have noticed is that I'm actually, to be really honest, I'm resisting the role of being a mom and not meaning I'm not taking care of my daughter. To be very clear, I'm resisting the role of being a mom and not meaning like I'm not taking care of my daughter. To be very clear, I am taking care of my daughter and I love my daughter. But I think it's less of me resisting the role of being a mother and more of resisting the stereotypes of what a good mother should be, and me more so, just trying to preserve myself, like the core of who I am, and the self-care and the nurturing and the really self-preservation that I've built for myself to protect myself, and so that way I prioritize myself so that I can take care of my daughter and the people around me.

Susan Lee:

It's constantly being challenged because I'm like you, christina, I'm on the end of, I'm constantly needed. And it's interesting how you say for you it feels like a slow transition, because for me it's slow and fast, because on the day to day it feels like we're running into this, I'm running into the same problem, like she's still being picky about eating, she's not sleeping through the night. It's just like when is this going, you know? It just feels like things are incrementally getting better. But then when I look back the last three months, like wow, there's been like this huge shift. So I think that's something right Everyone can relate to is like the days are long but the years are short.

Christina Kohl:

Yeah, yeah, that one has stuck with me throughout my my role as a mom and I think, too, something that you mentioned that I want to touch on is that identity piece of protecting your identity. I think that is brilliant, that you, as a mom with a young child the 15-month-old that you are very aware of that protecting your identity. I kind of lost myself in motherhood. I gave myself into it and I enjoyed it and I loved it, but it also I didn't hold onto things that were just for me. I got my enjoyment from raising my kids and my advice. I actually gave this advice to someone who I saw was pregnant and you know I said take it or leave it, but find something that you enjoy that has nothing to do with your family, so that you can go away for two or three hours. Go do your thing If it's playing tennis, hike with friends, reading a book, whatever it is, but something that is uniquely yours. And that's something that I didn't do because I wasn't modeled for me.

Christina Kohl:

My mom was a stay-at-home mom and you know different generation and she poured herself into us kids and that was what it meant to be a good mom and I was a working mom for a while, but it just got to be too much. And this is, you know, 20 something years ago, where we didn't have all the tools that we have now and working from home wasn't on the radar. It was a rare thing to be able to do, and so once I had three young kids, some with medical challenges, it just didn't make sense to pay the daycare expense and navigate all of that. So I stayed home happily. I wanted that.

Christina Kohl:

My husband got to go golfing on weekends, which is great, but I didn't think of like, well, what is it I want to do? That's just for me and that's, in hindsight, something I wish I would have done sooner. And honestly, going back to work so I was home for over a decade Going back to work gave me that sense of individualism, I guess. Gave me that sense of individualism, I guess, and pride, and this is something just mine and my family doesn't know. These people I had my own identity as Christina when I went back to work, rather than somebody's mom, and so that was really valuable for me to do that, but something that, in hindsight, and something I would encourage in my daughter hold on to things that are uniquely yours and, yes, be an amazing mom, but it doesn't mean you have to lose yourself in doing so. So those are my words of wisdom looking backwards.

Susan Lee:

And it makes the transition to the empty nest easier too when you have your own identity because in transitions, naturally there's always change and then reflexively we want to grab onto something that isn't changing right, something that can be consistent, and I feel like you have to be that consistency for yourself. Who are you outside of the roles and the responsibilities that you have? And, to be honest, I was not always a self-aware. I made it a priority for myself. To be honest, I never knew if I wanted to have kids or not. Like even when my husband and I got married, he knew he wanted to have kids. I wasn't quite sure and I also felt kind of alone in that, because it felt like you either had to be on like team I've always wanted to have kids or team I'm going to be an auntie for life, right. So I had to kind of navigate that on my own and but what I knew was important for me was that I needed to work on my stuff, my own inner stuff, and I needed to know who I was before I decide that I want to have a child, because I didn't want to place expectations on my child that are not that't belong to her right. So it's I, I I believe that she, she is her own person, she deserves to live her own life and I'm there to support her and I.

Susan Lee:

It's funny because I use this analogy even before I had a kid, but someone gave this analogy to me or metaphor sorry this metaphor to me of it's like same thing with business. Like there's this line that gets blurred between like you and the business, especially when you're a solopreneur, and oftentimes it feels like you are the business, and so when you go to sell or to market, it feels like you're putting yourself out there and it feels icky. And the mentor of mine told me that your business is like your baby it's an extension of you, but it's not you. So you have to figure out where that line is and also be realistic about the growth of your business. Just like a baby, there's going to be so many changes in that first year, but your baby's not going to get accepted into Harvard in the first year. Like, same thing with your business. Like, despite what all these social media you know YouTube and LinkedIn and Instagram posts say, no matter how great your mindset is or how much you manifest, you're not going to. You're probably not gonna make six, seven figures in your first year, and that's totally fine, because that is normal to not hit those milestones so quickly. Just like with babies, they're not all hit the same milestones within a certain time. Every baby is different and we were told that one of the first things we're told as mothers every baby is different, every business is different and every career path is different.

Susan Lee:

So I, when I work with and you, know something that you and I have both have in common we're both career coaches, but more on the career growth, search of that and rather than the job search, and I encourage my clients to start thinking about, like, what kind of life they want to live. Right, like answering those questions what do you want? Because those are the harder questions to answer, starting there and then the job or the all that other stuff. We can figure that out later. But what you really want, in figuring out and being honest with yourself, like doing that work, that's much harder Because we weren't really taught how to answer those questions or even think about them and then we're left out on our own as adults to figure it out. So that's really where the work is. It's not really about the job. A lot of people think it is, but it's really not.

Christina Kohl:

Yeah, so many nuggets in there. I hadn't really thought of like the analogy or metaphor of your business as a baby, um, but it's very true, like all the different stages and and how things grow and develop at their own pace, and you and our roles as moms, that's going to grow and develop at its own pace as well. And there's someone that I follow. Her baby is about the same age as yours. She's like. I believe that he chose me as his mom and that means I can't make a mistake, like. Of course, you can still make mistakes, but he chose me because I'm the mom that he needed and I just need to show up as myself. And I know, a lot of times in, whether it's in careers or in parenthood, there's always this yardstick, at least maybe for me anyway. This yardstick I'm trying to measure by am I doing everything right as a parent? Am I? You know, you're at the stage of like okay, is she eating the right foods? Is she eating enough foods? Is she developing, on course? Is she walking the way she, you know, like? Or is she talking the way she's supposed to be, like you know, or is her, she's only like? I had one of my sons he was an early um with his motor skills. He was riding a scooter when he was like 15 months old but his language skills were slow to develop and the doctor was like, don't worry about it, he's like developing his brain is so focused on his motor skills his language skills will catch up. He's just not focused on that right now. And he did. He talks in full sentences now in college and doing great, but at the time time, every little milestone is am I, are they doing okay? Am I doing okay? Am I doing the right things? And worried that we're gonna make a mistake. I was reading something talk about future oriented. It was from a grandparent's perspective and someone who had just become a grandparent and she's like I've have the wisdom, the experience to know that I can't mess them up, right. So as a parent, you know it's like okay, are we doing the right things? And yeah, they're going to go to Harvard. What do we have to take to get there, you know, versus just loving them and making sure their needs are met and be yourself and things are going to work out. They're going to grow and they're going to be who they're going to be. Anyway, it's just been my most rewarding role being a mom, and it is something that I always wanted.

Christina Kohl:

When my husband and I got engaged, we hadn't talked about kids at all when we were dating, but we got engaged he's from a family of six, I'm from a family of two, and so the conversation was like, basically, how many kids do you want? I'm like, well, at least two. And he's like, well, I was thinking three. I'm like, well, let's have two, and then we'll decide. And so it was like a one minute conversation, cool, and. But it wound up being me pushing okay, I'm ready for baby number three. But then once we had our third's, like, all right, we're complete, family is complete. Uh, without a doubt. Um.

Susan Lee:

So yeah, it's been a um, I don't know a fun journey yeah, like I mentioned, um didn't know if we wanted to have kids, and then I was like, I think we maybe if we have guys. I was like, I think one's enough. And then we had my daughter and I'm like, yep, I was right, one, he's like maybe two. And then we had my daughter and I'm like, yep, I was right, he's like maybe two. And then we had our daughter. He's like, yep, one's enough, one and done, one and done.

Susan Lee:

But what's interesting, though, is we get a lot of questions about no, not a lot of questions, it's the same question but from a lot of people who ask us why, like, why just one? And you know, there, and that question started to bother us because, first of all, it's none of your business. You don't know if, if we even struggled to have one which we actually did we dealt with infertility for almost two years. So you know, you don't know if there's health issues, you don't know if it's a financial like, you don't know the reasons why people make their choices, and I feel like, even though that question might be coming from just a place of curiosity, just be prepared, as the person who receives those questions, to stand firm in your decision and realize like you are doing what's best for your family. Um, but it's still frustrating sometimes and it's the same way with with people's careers and their businesses.

Susan Lee:

The way you choose to, to the choices that you make for your career and your business is going to look totally different than other people. And there often is this like assumption of the right way to do things. And people will constantly question you of why you're doing those things. And you can't stop that. But as long as you're not questioning yourself, like as long as you are sure about not sure, but as long as you know your why. And that goes back to that identity piece, because the choices that you make, the sum of it, make up who you are. And when other people question you, it's not because you're doing the wrong thing, it's just that you decide to do things differently, different than the status quo.

Susan Lee:

And I feel like a lot of your listeners and my audience are those types of people. They want to do something different. That's why they're listening to this podcast. The standardized advice out there just doesn't work for them. The conventional lifestyle that's put in front of there just doesn't work for them. The conventional lifestyle that's put in front of them. Just doesn't work for them anymore.

Christina Kohl:

Yeah, you said a lot there to unpack it a little bit Like so I know I've, I'm certain I've been guilty of that question oh, are you guys going to have another? And it's from a place of curiosity. But I also remember when I had a boy and a girl and when we were going to have a third, I got more than once the question you already have a boy and a girl, why do you need another?

Susan Lee:

See, you can't make anyone happy, right.

Christina Kohl:

Right, yeah, it's like well, because my family isn't complete is why I need another um, and and even after being a newlywed for a couple years. So when you having kids and you know again, it's a place of curiosity. I try to recognize that. That's where people are coming from, um, and just you know, I guess my insider thought there would be to have a standard answer. It depends on the day, right, you could have a answer of yeah, we're having sex tonight, as a matter of fact, trying to have that baby, so we'll have to know how it goes, or I don't know what the that would be a really flippant answer and not something I would actually say I can't believe. I just said it here, I've said it before.

Christina Kohl:

Right, it ends right conversation real fast. Yeah, but yeah, so it just. I guess it depends on who your audience is, but you know, having a standard answer of like for you, it could be our. Our child is amazing and is meeting every one of our needs as a parent.

Susan Lee:

We're good, we're set she does have a sister, but she's covered in fur, so I she's covered in fur.

Susan Lee:

I'm like what well, that could be the answer right and yeah, I mean, that's the thing is, it's coming from a place of curiosity and really connection too, because oftentimes that question of like, why only one, come from those who have more than one, you know, from people who, uh, who also have just one. They're like yep, like like no, no questions. They're like, yep, we get it. Um, but it, it can be, yeah, it can be easy to take it in a different way, and I think, again, it goes back to like, when you have a strong sense of self, you, you, you.

Susan Lee:

You bounce back quickly if it first is like, oh, how dare they ask me that? But it's like, oh, wait, this is, this is where it's coming from. Right, it's coming from a place of curiosity and wanting connection rather than judgment, and that goes with anything with your career, with your kids, with your relationship with your partner. However you decide to take it, you just have to make sure that you are at peace with your own decisions and having a few boilerplate answers. I also like that too. I like to think proactively. So, yeah, we have some queued up, just in case we know we're going to be asked that right for a long time, because you know it'll still be coming.

Christina Kohl:

you'll be getting those questions, fielding those questions for the next 20 something years at least, um. So I'm curious as someone for me in the beginnings of the emptiness phase and you in the beginnings of the parenting phase um, what I see, especially in social media and some of my friends, they are really struggling with this emptiness phase, with this emptiness phase and there's a sense of grief the chapter is closed on, you know that, family life, the daily rhythm of family life and the sense of loss. And I'm wondering if you're feeling that too in a different way, because it's you've kind of closed a chapter of your life and started a new one. Are you feeling that sense of loss as a new parent? Um, and any advice that you would have?

Susan Lee:

that's a great question. I want to be thoughtful about my answer because obviously I'm I'm not in the emptiness phase, but the closest, the closest I can compare it to, is when I was unemployed, and I was unemployed because my husband and I just got married and at the time he was active duty military. So we were moved to the middle of nowhere, upstate New York, and I don't mean Syracuse, I mean way, way upstate, close to Canada. I didn't know a single person there. No one looked like me and I could. Even, despite my glowing resume, I couldn't get a job Because, besides part-time type of things or like $15 an hour type of gigs, because I was living in a town where everyone knew each other and they knew I was not from the area and it was pretty obvious that I was a military spouse and they knew that military families move at least every two to three years, sometimes even more often.

Susan Lee:

So why hire someone who's not going to stick around? And this was in 2018. So those before COVID, before remote work really boomed. And so I found myself at home, my husband's at work, freezing cold. No work, no friends, right, like I I had. I had so much time and my husband was like you can do whatever you want. Right, you can do whatever you want and all this freedom?

Susan Lee:

yeah, exactly, and, and in a way it was, like you know, at the time I was like, well, I should be grateful. I should be grateful that, like I don't have to work and like my husband's income covers our bills and all that stuff. Obviously we'd love to save more, but I can do whatever I want and, in a a way, I didn't have any quote unquote problems. And that's when I learned that not having any problems is worse than having good problems. The goal isn't to have zero problems, right. The goal isn't to have zero responsibilities where you can just like go like prance around and do whatever you want, like everyone thinks that that's what they want, but it's when you actually get it, it's much. It's that you probably experience that freedom is it's hard to know what to do with it. Like we need a little bit of structure, you know well, that lack of purpose.

Christina Kohl:

yeah, like I just sleep in till 10. Does it matter today? Or, okay, I'll, I'll go to the gym and be healthy, and then what? So, yeah, I see what you mean. So how did you navigate that you had you had this window of zero problems. Time is completely your own.

Susan Lee:

How did you? What'd you do it? It took a long time. It took a lot of. It took a lot of work in terms of going to therapy and doing the inner work, like I realized that I didn't recognize my own biases about myself and I couldn't see the blockers that were those mental blockers. I needed an outside perspective to help me understand what was going on. I read so many books I think last time I counted it was like over 70 when it comes to self-help, slash, personal development type of books and I was just like trying to find answers.

Susan Lee:

All about purpose and it's hard to sum it up into a few words of like what the solution is. I will say that what helped a lot was getting out of the house. Get out of the house, whatever the go somewhere, don't stay in the house Like. I think that's like the simplest advice I can give you and anyone else who's looking for this kind of who's in this situation, because the more you stay in the house and isolate yourself with your own thoughts, like just the worse it gets, like the deeper the hole you dig. So go to a coffee shop or go for a walk or go to Target. I mean, do I don't care what you do, just get out of the house and don't be by yourself. And sometimes by doing those mindless things and just kind of meandering and wandering, you allow your brain to relax, you allow your body to relax and that's when you start to when, when that's when ideas start to come, that's when that true voice starts to come out and you start to hear it. Because when you are busy listening to podcasts and reading words by other people and watching YouTube videos, you you're not hearing your own voice. It's just a lot of noise. So start to get comfortable with that quiet. But to get comfortable with the quiet, get out of the house. Initially, that silence is deafening and it's scary. So get out of the house, go do something different. You don't have to go to a retreat in Bali, you don't need to do anything crazy like that. Start exploring, like what things might be interesting to you. Like.

Susan Lee:

For me, one of my goals for this year is to do something um, tangible, that's without screens and more tactile. So I want to start learning how to make my own clothes, but more specifically clothes for my daughter, because she keeps growing so bad so those clothes from day she just like destroys really quickly, and like PJs, and I'm like I can make PJs. Right, I can make t-shirts and pants, at least I think I can. These YouTube videos make me think I can, so I mean, but that is like, but for me, I'm like, okay, I should like look for a class on like how to you know that's outside the house, on how to make these clothes, you know, or join like play dates and it's.

Susan Lee:

It's hard because I'm an introvert and I don't like leaving the house, but I have to push myself to do it and I always feel better afterwards. It's just like going to the gym. No one wants to go to the gym, but when they once they're there and they finish their workout and I'm like, okay, I'm glad I went. So it's that I'd notice is that connection is like when you put yourself out there and you do it slowly and gently, it starts to get easier and you start to discover things about yourself yeah, that makes a lot of sense and getting in these days, it's so easy to stay in the house now that we have these new skills and technology of what we're doing right now is in the house, and I find, even for myself, like when COVID first happened and everything was shut down, it felt so claustrophobic.

Christina Kohl:

I'm a prisoner in my own home and all I could do was go for walks and to the grocery store. But what's really ironic and it drove me crazy what's ironic is now, as an entrepreneur, I'm in my house all the time, I go for walks and I go to the grocery store, but the difference is that I'm talking to people from around the country and around the world on these types of calls. But yeah, I need to take that advice and get out of the house more. I'll take it. Um, well, I think that's great advice for someone just to to plug in and rediscover who they are, and it makes a lot of sense that you've become the coach that you are. Having spent that time alone and going through that experience and reading 70 books and distilling all that knowledge, I'm sure that all comes forward into your coaching. And I want to kind of wrap us up with an invitation for you to share how people can learn more about you and the type of coaching that you do and how can we connect with you after this podcast.

Susan Lee:

Yes, so the best way to connect with me is on LinkedIn. You can find my LinkedIn and also my newsletter called Better Work. It's a free newsletter for high performers who care deeply about their personal growth, and the newsletter is a great way to get an idea of what my coaching style is or what it's like to have a conversation with me, and that comes out twice a month. It's actually fairly new. It just started in 2025. I rebranded and everything, but I've been getting really great feedback on it, but you can find all of that at HeyMissLeecom, my website. Yeah, and that's that's really. I just try to keep it really simple. Linkedin, my newsletter. As you mentioned in the intro, I am a woman empowerment content creator, so I love creating, just being creative, creating content, whether it's LinkedIn posts or doing collabs and videos or doing in-person workshops. I love seeing women win. So if you'd like to connect over a coffee chat, whether it's in-person or over Zoom, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. I would love to connect with you.

Christina Kohl:

All right, Well, I'll make sure to put those links in the show notes so that make it easy for people to find you. Thank you so much for joining us today, Susan. I appreciate your time and sharing your insights from the other side of parenthood. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely Well, everyone that does it for this week's episode. Thanks for listening in and we'll talk to you next time. Does it for this week's episode. Thanks for listening in and we'll talk to you next time. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and, if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time. Remember, your story is uniquely your own and your next chapters are ready to begin.