The Power Pause: How Stepping Back Can Be a Step Forward
Why a “Power Pause” might be exactly what you need.
Ever feel like your life no longer quite fits? Like the version of yourself you’ve grown into doesn’t match the space you’re in? For so many moms, that feeling hits hard after having kids. Suddenly, you’re staring down what feels like an impossible either/or: keep the career you worked so hard for, or step away entirely to stay home.
But what if it’s not so black and white?
What if there’s a middle path—a way to press pause without losing momentum?
That’s the idea behind The Power Pause, a new book by Neha Ruch that’s changing the conversation around career breaks, especially for women. In her recent chat with Vanessa on the MomForce Podcast, Neha shares how stepping away from the traditional grind helped her reconnect with herself, her values, and what really mattered.
Neha calls it the “gray area”—the space between being a full-time working mom or a full-time stay-at-home parent. It’s where so many of us actually live, even if no one’s really talking about it.
After having her son, Neha didn’t want to quit, she just wanted more space. Less stress. More time to figure out who she was becoming in this new chapter. Not for anyone else, for herself.
Vanessa shared a similar story. When she stepped away from her opera career, she wasn’t walking away from her passion, she was making room for a new version of herself to take shape.
This space, this pause, isn’t giving up. It’s growing differently.
So often we think of ambition as charging forward, climbing fast, always doing more. But Neha offers a new take: ambition is simply “the determination to do things with intention.”
Seen that way, a pause can be an incredibly ambitious move. It takes real courage to step off the expected path and create space to grow in a different direction.
For Vanessa, that pause wasn’t a break in her story, it was a powerful chapter of reflection and realignment. One that ultimately made her stronger and more centered when she stepped back in.
We’re used to thinking of careers as ladders. But in real life, they look more like winding paths—with dips, turns, seasons, and shifts. That’s normal. That’s human.
Careers, like family life, are fluid. There’s a time to go all in, a time to coast, and a time to pause and reassess. And each phase can teach us something valuable, if we let it.
As Neha says, “Sometimes the most generous thing you can do for everyone is to take the time to figure out who you're becoming.”
A career pause often brings one unexpected gift: clarity. You may work fewer hours, but show up with more focus, energy, and creativity. You may do less on paper, but feel more aligned and fulfilled.
Whether it’s parenting, creating, working, or dreaming, how you show up matters more than how much time you log.
The biggest takeaway? You don’t need anyone else’s permission to pause, but it helps to hear that it’s okay. Okay to slow down. Okay to change your mind. Okay to want something different now than you did before.
A power pause isn’t about stopping—it’s about shifting. It’s space to reconnect, realign, and grow into what’s next.
Because your story doesn’t stop when you hit pause, it deepens.
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