The Working Mom Blueprint:

A chat with Dr. Whitney Casares

In this week’s episode, I am chatting with Dr. Whitney Casares. She’s a private-practice pediatrician, an American Academy of Pediatrics published author, and a mom to two young girls. Whitney wrote her book The Working Mom Blueprint after experiencing earlier struggles of being a working mom and witnessing the same in moms in her circle and in her practice.

Dr. Whitney explains how societal burdens and the messaging around what it means to be a “successful mom” leads to guilt, especially for working moms. She believes that you can only show up as the best version of yourself to your kids when you give and care for yourself first.

Working mom or SAHM, this is an excellent conversation and Dr. Whitney has SO much wisdom to share. Enjoy!

What You Will Learn:

[1:29] Get to know Dr. Whitney- the mom, pediatrician, and her contribution to parenting.
[3:27] Whitney’s earlier struggles as a working mom and how she connected with other moms.
[6:07] The guilt and burden that comes around what it means to be a successful mom.
[8:59] How to give the best of yourself to your kids by caring for yourself first.
[12:15] The importance of having a vision that helps you prioritize what is important to you.
[16:36] Learning to say no to some things so you can say yes to what’s good for you.
[22:04] How to be more mindful and aware of the decisions you’re making.
[24:20] Whitney describes how the Modern Mommy Doc platform was born and has evolved.
[29:30] How Whitney defines balance as being centered as opposed to being conflicted.
[32:47] The different ways she spends her time as a form of self-care.
[35:57] How being a mom has taught Whitney that she doesn’t always have control of circumstances around her.

Whitney’s bio

Whitney Casares, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatrician, author, speaker, and full-time working mom. She’s a boots on the ground advocate for the success of women in the workplace and at home. Dr. Casares is a Stanford University-trained private practice pediatrician whose expertise spans the public health, direct patient care, and media worlds. She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Journalism degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is a Mama Mindset Thought Leader. Her book, The New Baby Blueprint: Caring for You and Your Little One (American Academy of Pediatrics, March 2020), is quickly earning media attention and consumer applause. The first of it s kind to address the unique needs of modern women as they transition to motherhood, The New Baby Blueprint questions our assumptions about what moms and their babies re ally need in the first few months of life with a no-apologies, straight-talk approach.

Her newest book with the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Working Mom Blueprint: Winning at Parenting without Losing Yourself (American Academy of Pediatrics, May 2021), gives practical, expert-rooted advice and support for modern working moms who are ready to level-up their motherhood experiences and find success in the workplace and at home. Her work focuses on moving modern moms from feeling conflicted to centered.

Dr. Casares practices pediatrics in Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband Scott raise their two young daughters.

Connect with Dr. Whitney: