Upon giving birth for the first time in late 2000, a winter that was notable for its numerous under-20-degree days, I attended a "new mommies" luncheon in New York City with eager anticipation. Sure, at that point an outing to the drugstore held newfound excitement, but I bundled my little newborn Hannah into a stroller that was notable then and is absent from the sidewalks now, and went to meet OUR new lifelong best friends. And in fact, there were some terrific women there, at least one of whom remains a friend today. However, it was to my great surprise and widening sense of dismay that as each new mom went around introducing herself, the most common refrain was, "I'm not going to be working."My first question (thought, not spoken) was, "are you ALL married to hedge fund founders?" (This is Manhattan, for goodness sake; hardly the land of bargain living). And my second thought (again, not spoken) was, "really? What about your careers? That other part of you? And my third, most practical and instantly pressing thought was: "who are we going to talk to and bond with if I'm at work at they're all having playgroup on Tuesdays at 1:00 pm!"I returned to work a few weeks later (then, as head of Global Advertising for Unilever Cosmetics International, i.e. all of the fragrances for designers like Calvin Klein and Vera Wang) and with growing confidence felt the urgency of those first pangs lessen a bit. However, that very plaintive, personal, (newbie mom) fear and hope was enough to spark a search for a resource FOR women like me, women who were proud of being mothers AND proud of their careers… and in turn a sense of astonishment that I could not find any.The more I talked about it, the more I found that there were indeed many, many more of us who shared this common ground, but lacked the actual ground in common. It was enough to make me go through the labor pains of giving birth again, in late 2002, to a bouncing baby organization– the one you are (happily) in the midst of now.Throughout the genesis of Executive Moms, I have continued to maintain a (very) full time corporate career as well. Thus, the career line above today should more accurately read "Founder and President of Executive Moms" AND "Vice President of Global Digital Marketing for The Estee Lauder Companies." One of my favorite pieces of research we've done with the members of Executive Moms found that 92% agree with the adage, "If you want something done, give it to a busy person." I would venture that I reside decidedly in that majority.Through both careers, there have been many late nights and also many rewards and media recognition. However, the best reward is having the network today beyond what I had ever imagined, back in the very earliest days of this most amazing journey of motherhood, indeed the best career of all.