The other day I was taking my stroller out of the car at the Farmers Market as a new mom with a little baby in a carrier walked past us.

I took one arm and pulled out the base, heaved it up in the air—it landed flat and open. With the other hand, I pulled the toddler seat out of the trunk and swiftly placed the seat attachment on top.

The mom... GAWKED at me, glanced down at her newborn, and said, "That was... really impressive."

One thing about motherhood no one can really explain properly is that once you become a mom, you see yourself with compassion in all the moms behind you (with younger ones) and with bewilderment ahead of you (with older kids). You're in deep empathy with those struggling through "the first times" and "the unknowns," while quietly praying for the wisdom of mothers who are years ahead of you—making it all look so effortless.

I turned around and laughed, quickly blurting out, "You know what's funny? I didn't take this kid on an outing by myself until he was almost 6 months old. I was so scared of even leaving the house alone, let alone assembling a car seat. But I've had a lot of practice."

What I didn’t have time to explain to this stranger was that it was another mom who helped me break out of those paralyzing, isolating early days of being a first-time mom—where, for some of us, anxiety takes over and every tiny outing feels like the most daunting thing you've ever done.

But a mom in my moms group encouraged me to come on their weekly walk back then. And anticipating my concerns, she said, "I can meet you at your car and help you get the stroller out, if you want."

And she did. And I went on the walk, little baby in that bassinet attachment that she helped me with.

The point of sharing this is that a lot of us moms, even if we feel like we have no idea what we are doing, are a few steps ahead of the moms behind us. They have so many questions—how you're approaching work, how you're navigating relationships after parenthood, how to talk to your boss, how to handle behavioral issues at school.

Stories, sharing examples, giving advice—it matters.

My biggest goal with Both& was to at least approach the topic of work like this. To have moms (and dads) show how they have navigated their own career journey alongside parenthood, and whether they stayed, shifted, or stepped away—how and why, and what became of that choice.

I hope we can do more of this. People really need that kind of honesty and support more than ever right now. So, if you’ve had an experience recently where you learned something, tackled something, found a new hack for something—I hope you share it. We need more of that real relatability out there.