Balance Is a Scam:
Ambition, Motherhood, and Why We Don't Have to Pick One
Balance Is a Scam:
Ambition, Motherhood, and Why We Don't Have to Pick One
If You're an Ambitious Mom, You Already Know the Truth
You've been sold a lie.
They told you that you could have it all—the thriving business, the present motherhood, the fulfilling life. All you had to do was find balance.
So you wake up at 5 AM. You batch your work. You color-code your calendar. You try to be "present" while your brain is three steps ahead on a business idea. And still, you're failing.
Your business needs more attention. Your child needs more of you. You can't remember the last time you took a full breath without guilt.
And the worst part? Everyone else seems to be doing it. Their Instagram looks effortless. Their LinkedIn is inspiring. Meanwhile, you're Googling "am I screwing up my kid forever?" at 2 AM.
Here's what I learned after becoming a single mom, running multiple businesses, and rebuilding my life from scratch: Balance is a scam.
And once you stop chasing it, everything changes.
What If You Stopped Trying to Balance and Started Living Who
This book isn't about doing more. It's not another productivity hack or morning routine.
It's about giving yourself permission to be human. To want both. To claim your ambition without apologizing for it. To build a life where motherhood and ambition aren't enemies, they're both just you.
Inside, you'll discover:
- The myth of either/or - why the world tells moms they have to choose, and why that's a lie
- Reclaiming ambition - how to stop hiding your drive and start modeling it for your kids
- The shower floor moment - the breaking point that forced me to rebuild everything
- Building resilience - not the Instagram kind, but the stubborn, messy, get-back-up kind
- Perfect was never the point - how the chaos connects you more than the curated ever could
- Goldfish crumbs & big dreams - what it actually looks like to live with ambition and motherhood in the same body
- The new scorecard - rewriting success on your terms, not theirs
- Why balance is a scam - and what to focus on instead (spoiler: priorities, not perfection)
- The tribe you didn't know you needed - finding your people in the mess
- Your both/and life - claiming it all, unapologetically
This isn't a blueprint. It's a permission slip for the ambitious mom who's tired of feeling like she's not enough.
Hi, I'm Dr. Amber Bartlett, and I Get It!
I'm a business psychologist, entrepreneur, university professor, and single mom to one amazing kid who thinks Tuesdays are a holiday because that's when he comes home to Mommy.
I run multiple businesses, teach college students, and spend most evenings stepping over Hot Wheels cars while answering client emails. My house has dog hair tumbleweeds (five dogs, don't ask), my laptop has a mysterious sticky film on the keyboard, and there's a pile of laundry that's been "temporarily" in the basket since last Tuesday.
But it wasn't always this unapologetically messy.
I used to believe the myth that if I just tried harder, I could balance it all perfectly. Be the present mom. The successful business owner. The supportive wife. I color-coded calendars, hired help, optimized every hour. And still, I was drowning.
At 41, I got pregnant, which was a complete & happy surprise. My then-husband and I built businesses, built a life, and started building a family.
Then, when my son turned two, everything imploded within four months. Foot surgery. Corporate layoff. And the most cliché marriage implosion you can imagine. (Yes, it was the nanny. I know.)
Suddenly, I was a single mom with a toddler, a mountain of bills, and a choice: keep pretending balance was the answer, or accept that the whole game was rigged.
I chose the truth. And it changed everything.
Now I help ambitious moms stop apologizing for wanting more and start building lives that actually work; lives that are loud, chaotic, and unapologetically whole.
This book? It's the permission slip I wish someone had handed me years ago.