Podcast Summary: What the Fundraising

Episode 255: "Beyond the Balance Myth: Motherhood, Leadership, and Letting Go with Love"

Host: Mallory Erickson
Guest: Stacy Huston, Executive Director, SixDegrees.org
Date: September 2, 2025
Length: ~42 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode explores the intersection of motherhood and nonprofit leadership, challenging the myths of “balance” and “compartmentalization.” Mallory Erickson and Stacy Huston have a candid, humorous, and vulnerable conversation about navigating demanding careers while raising young children, the pressures and judgments that come with each role, and the messy, often unseen work of nurturing adult relationships during major life transitions. Both women reflect on letting go of perfection, the empathy gaps that occur until we share lived experience, and the power of modeling authentic leadership for the next generation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stacy's Background & Current Role

• Stacy is Executive Director at SixDegrees.org, founded by Kevin Bacon, supporting small grassroots organizations through storytelling and campaign development. Her focus is on elevating the visibility of community-based groups as economic and social drivers.
• Quote:
  “We sit at the intersection of storytelling and philanthropy… Our work is really focused on helping small grassroots organizations…tell their stories so that more people see them, learn about them, are inspired…and eventually give them dollars and time and capacity.” — Stacy (02:25)

2. Professional Identity vs. Personal Life

• Stacy grew up in California and now lives near DC; she notes the difference in social norms—work-first identity on the East Coast vs. more personal, holistic introductions in California.
• She is a wife, mom to two little girls, and active in her community.
• Both Mallory and Stacy struggle with expectations to “compartmentalize” motherhood and career, feeling that neither identity can be left behind.
• Quote:
  “There are these, like, interesting, exact expectations around when we're supposed to be sort of like career purists and when we're supposed to be mom purists… it always feels like I'm trying to leave like a part of myself behind that feels unnatural.” — Mallory (06:17)

3. Remote Work, Flexibility, and Mom Guilt

• Stacy appreciates the flexibility of remote leadership but highlights the ongoing struggle to turn off the professional or parental sides when needed.
• Day-to-day logistics (sick kids, last-minute schedule changes) still tend to fall on moms, often resulting in judgment from both professional and parental circles.
• Quote:
  “It's the pressure of being a mom and a wife and managing a house and even with daycare, it's like you're the first person they call… It's expectation that the mother is often the one that's going to be the first kind of line of defense.” — Stacy (08:25)
• She emphasizes transparent communication about priorities and capacity to family, friends, and colleagues to prevent burnout and resentment.

4. Renegotiating Adult Relationships

• As life stages diverge, adult friendships often require intentional renegotiation or natural letting go.
• Both describe the pain and awkwardness of realizing a relationship has changed or ended—not due to drama, but simply life moving on.
• Missing models for “non-dramatic” relationship transitions leaves women, in particular, feeling pressure to maintain unrealistic standards.
• Quote:
  “I wish there was more conversation, examples of adult relationships ending, not dramatically… sometimes a relationship is complete, right? Stage of life has changed, location has changed.” — Mallory (16:59)

5. Empathy, Apologies, and Growth

• Empathy often requires a “common memory”—it can be difficult to understand someone else’s reality without analogous lived experience.
• Storytelling, Stacy argues, creates shared points of empathy and understanding.
• Both discuss how sometimes only experiencing a major life change oneself (like motherhood or marriage) brings awareness of past insensitivities.
• The importance of taking accountability for missteps—even if unintentional—and being explicit in apologies to enable forgiveness and stronger relationships.
• Quote:
  “We may not always be able to [show empathy] until we've had the experience…that’s why storytelling is so important…begin building a memory for yourself to build empathy.” — Stacy (25:51)

6. Parenting While Leading

• Stacy shares her routines for staying connected to her daughters while traveling (letters, FaceTime, small gifts) and her commitment to protecting family time.
• Both agree that when work “takes from their bucket,” they are intentional about “pouring back in” with focused attention and play.
• They reflect on how leading both at home and at work makes them better and more compassionate on both fronts.
• Quote:
  “What we need to be more conscious of is when you're taking from someone's bucket…being intentional about how do we pour back into them that attention and love that they're craving.” — Stacy (31:55)

7. Modeling Vulnerability and Growth for Kids

• Both strive to model vulnerability, transparency about mistakes, and growth mindset to their children, recognizing this as a crucial aspect of raising resilient future change-makers.
• Stacy notes being grateful to become a parent later (“at 40”) with greater self-awareness, despite the logistical demands.
• Quote:
  “For my girls to see their mom be confident, also struggle sometimes…all of those things are important experiences for the young people in our life to see.” — Stacy (35:51)

8. Support Systems & Community

• The importance of finding and building a village—both for practical support (like Mallory’s story of another mom watching her daughter during a keynote) and for mutual emotional reinforcement.
• “We can't do this work alone. We need to show up for each other. That’s another way to fill each other's cup.” — Stacy (41:46)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Stacy: “If you drop the ball, it can seriously impact other people's lives. And so I think that I have had to compartmentalize at times, but just also just become way more transparent about when I've hit my capacity…” (10:29)
• Mallory: “I feel like I spent a lot of time pretzel twisting myself to try to make everybody happy and then got to a moment where I was like, yeah, I can’t do life like this.” (13:10)
• Stacy: “It is a practice… Instead of ‘what did I do wrong?’ sometimes it’s just life stage, not about you.” (17:57)
• Mallory: “Sometimes the choices feel impossible...in those impossible moments, I find myself feeling really isolated because... I’m either not enough here or not enough there.” (30:09)
• Stacy: “They’re seeing mommy do some pretty cool things and they now believe they can do those same things. That’s pretty powerful.” (35:51)

Key Timestamps

• 02:25: Stacy introduces SixDegrees.org and their storytelling-driven philanthropy.
• 04:10: Discussion shifts to blending (and resisting) professional identities with personal life.
• 08:04: Challenges of remote leadership and “turning off” work or “mom” mode.
• 11:29: Navigating logistics and cultural judgments about motherhood and work.
• 13:37: The necessity (and difficulty) of renegotiating relationships in adulthood.
• 16:59: The societal silence around mature, peaceful friendship transitions.
• 25:51: On true empathy requiring common memories and the power of storytelling.
• 31:55: Strategies for staying present and restoring relationships with children after work/travel conflicts.
• 35:51: Modeling confidence, vulnerability, and growth mindset for children.
• 41:01: The importance of practical support networks—“it takes a village.”

Tone & Language

Mallory and Stacy’s conversation is animated, funny, vulnerable, and compassionate. Both use real-life anecdotes, gentle humor (about birthday goodie bags and “mom brain”), and relatable examples to underscore deeper points about empathy, boundaries, and the impossibility of “having it all.” They are honest about imperfection and unapologetic about prioritizing what matters most in each moment.

Final Reflection

This episode is a must-listen for nonprofit leaders, parents, and anyone navigating demanding roles. It dispels the myth of perfect balance, encourages authentic leadership, and offers practical wisdom on boundaries, communication, and the sometimes-messy work of building lives—and organizations—rooted in love, growth, and community.