16 Celebs Who’ve Gotten Real About Their Working Mom Struggles

Serena Williams is the tennis GOAT, but she's also a deeply devoted mom to her daughter, Olympia. In 2018, she candidly shared that she sometimes struggles with that common feeling of not being a good enough mom. "It's totally normal to feel like I'm not doing enough for my baby," she wrote on Instagram. "We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I'm trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means I'm not around as much as I would like to be."

She went on to say: "Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes." It official: We want Serena Williams to be that mom friend we can always call for a pick-me-up.

Singer Pink spoke for a lot of moms when she admitted that she puts "way too much pressure on myself, I think we all do. I don't know, we put that on ourselves, that is how we mom now." That feels a little too accurate, Pink!

One of the things we appreciate about Megan Fox's perspective on being a working mom is that some of the struggles we face are structural, meaning that workplaces aren't often set up for moms to succeed. For Megan, that means Hollywood. She shared with Kelly Clarkson that Hollywood is "not adapted to women and us actually having lives and being moms."

Beyoncé is a singer, actress, business owner, and seriously creative visionary. Her most stressful role, though? According to her, it's being a mom.

"I think the most stressful thing for me is balancing work and life. Making sure I am present for my kids — dropping Blue off at school, taking Rumi and Sir to their activities, making time for date nights with my husband, and being home in time to have dinner with my family — all while running a company can be challenging," she told Elle. "Juggling all of those roles can be stressful, but I think that's life for any working mom."

One of the things that can be hard for working moms is taking time to do self-care and to not feel guilty for having divided attention sometimes. Jessica Alba encourages other working moms with this advice: "Don't be hard on yourself. Doing your best to be present wherever you are is what's important. Make time to eat healthy and stay active."

Businesswoman and former Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel is outspoken about the importance of keeping her identity as both a mom and a person with a career. She once explained to Business Insider, "I am as much a mom as I am a businesswoman — and vice-versa." We love the reminder that it is OK to keep embracing the parts of ourself that love to work as much as the parts that love being a mom.

Marvel movie actress and mom of three Zoe Saldana was blunt in 2015 about the fact that being a working mom is often as much about the work as it is about being able to pay the bills. She revealed that going back to work after twins was "painful" and that she's "pretty sure that every parent — not just every mom — would take time off as long as your work doesn't suffer. But we have to pay bills, and at the end of the day, I think that's the best example we can set for our children."

For actress Reese Witherspoon, being a working mom is all about being a good role model for her kids, something she learned from her own mom. "My mom worked, and I think it's good for kids to see women working and being successful," she told Time. "I think it's going to make them hard workers because they see that I don't get much sleep. But I love what I do. I want them to grow up with passion. This is the one life you get, and you have to live it to the very end."

Kim Kardashian has her hands full with four kids, her clothing brand, and with her goal of becoming a lawyer. Her key for making it all work as a working mom is to be "more selective and work on projects that are meaningful" so that she can maximize her family time.

Being a celebrity working mom includes both struggles that are universal to all working moms and some that are unique to the famous. Carrie Underwood has thought about what the impact of the fame that comes with working will be on her kids, saying that she "still constantly wonders, 'Is this fair to him? Is my life fair to him?'"

Amy Poehler is a celebrity working mom who has spoken openly about how critical help like a nanny is to her being able to keep working. She's also talked about being a mom as an equally valid choice as staying at home. We love her philosophy that she shares here: "I have always had a job, so when I had my two children I didn't assume I would stop working. I slowed down, which I was happy to do. I was grateful that I could. Most can't. However, I had no plans of being a full-time stay-at-home mother. This is not to say I don't think being a stay-at-home mother is not a job. It certainly is. It's just not for me. Remember my motto, 'Good for you, not for me.'"

One of the most down-to-earth-seeming celebrity moms is Jennifer Garner. She is just like the rest of us in that she is also sick of the mommy wars, including the shade to mothers who work. She summed it up by saying: "I will tell you what I can't abide — women criticizing other women and mothers criticizing other mothers. It just makes me crazy, whether it's between staying at home, going to work, how long you breastfeed, if you use formula. I feel like we should just assume everyone is doing the best they can. Women should take care of each other, not tear each other down."

Part of making it all work as a working mom is having realistic expectations and a sense of limits, according to Debra Messing. "Knowing your limitations is important. It took me a long time, but now I have a pretty good idea of how many hours I can work on a TV show and still feel like I'm able to be present when I get home."

We make it from day to day, keeping all the balls in the air, but sometimes it just feels hard. Tina Fey can relate. "I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you're just thinking, 'This is impossible — oh, this is impossible.' And then you just keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible."

One thing that can sometimes be hard for working moms to talk about is that having a big career can take up a lot of space and might result in having kids later in life. Mindy Kaling has been open about this, noting in an interview with W that having her first child a "little bit later" in her career meant having more power to be able to adjust her schedule and to carve out more time with her kid.

While the word "working" may come first when we talk about working mothers, country singer Faith Hill spoke for all of us when she said: "Before, my career came first. All I had to think about was myself. Now my children prevail. It doesn't mean my career is less important; I just have to position things differently."