Changing the Conversation

As the host of the podcast "She Pivots," Emily Tisch Sussman has interviewed myriad successful women, including Vice President Kamala Harris. This is what she's learned about identity, career, and redefining who you are.

- Emily Tisch Sussman

Remember when we all believed that women could have it all? I do. I was at the height of my political career, working as an executive at one of the largest think tanks in Washington, D.C., taking on huge fights like repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (the military's ban on gay service members) and going head-to-head with the NRA.

Other things were hitting their peak then, too. Like the merry-go-round of aspirational content on social media, spinning out picture-perfect photos of women posing with their families in color-coordinated outfits. Women showing off their fairytale houses. Women brunching with friends. Women rocketing into work in stilettos. Women-having it all. I bought into it.

Until 2016, when I had my first child. Within the next few years, I had two more. That's when I left my decade-long career in politics. It was a crushing blow of defeat. And without my career as an anchor, I slowly began to lose my grip on my personal identity. I no longer knew how to answer the simple question of who I was.

Now, women are pushing back against the tropes of having it all and leaning in. We are in the midst of a massive societal shift where women are continuing to reshape and re-examine the narrative around work. We're over the Girl Boss and we're leaving behind the systems that don't serve us. Perhaps that's why last year over 40 percent of Americans planned to make a career change.