{"podcast":{"title":"Her Intentional Reset: Career changes and second acts for women in midlife","slug":"her-intentional-reset-7728413","podcast_index_feed_id":7728413,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/her-intentional-reset/","website_url":"https://www.herintentionalreset.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/c9c80ed7-edb9-4873-87fc-41db04f803d6/Podcast-Cover-Art-Copy-of-Intentional-Reset-1.jpg","author":"Molly Wipperfurth","episode_count":20,"summary":"Her Intentional Reset is the podcast for women in their mid 30’s, 40s and 50s navigating midlife career change — whether you're eyeing a full career pivot, building a second act, or just wondering if the career you chose 20 years ago still fits. Host Molly Wipperfurth talks with real women who've made the leap: from corporate to creative, from climbing the ladder to building something new. Every conversation covers the practical realities of career reinvention — the finances, the trade-offs, the timeline, and what life actually looks like on the other side. If you're a woman in midlife rethinking your career, this is where your next chapter starts. If HIR has been valuable to you, you can support the show here: https://ko-fi.com/herintentionalreset No pressure — just making it easy for listeners who want to say so. CONNECT WITH HIR Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/herintentionalreset.co/ Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587329908947 Website: https://herintentionalreset.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGntCEey4YretrZ39A7mINUiy-Dmz7iRv0BDLhY2OcDQkfqMmMGK8--zTX20RE_aem_d_Ys…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T18:17:57.280427+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/her-intentional-reset-7728413"},"episode":{"title":"Career Pauses Aren’t Gaps: Returning to Engineering After 12 Years at Home | Leah Tilstra, Ep. 9","slug":"career-pauses-aren-t-gaps-returning-to-engineering-after-12-years-at-home-leah-tilstra","published_at":"2026-05-12T08:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/her-intentional-reset-7728413/career-pauses-aren-t-gaps-returning-to-engineering-after-12-years-at-home-leah-tilstra","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/her-intentional-reset-7728413","url":"https://herintentionalreset.com/all-podcasts/career-pauses-arent-gaps-returning-to-engineering-after-12-years-at-home","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/8ef6d303-23c9-4db1-adea-69dac9e5d7d0.mp3","summary":"Returning to work after a career break? Here's what stay-at-home moms get told: the years home don't count, you'll come back at a lower title, and you should take whatever salary is offered. Leah Tilstra rejected all three — and walked back into engineering at Abbott with a senior title and a sign-on bonus after twelve years raising four kids. How did she pull it off? She refused the apologetic part-time re-entry, used one old work relationship to land the right R&D team at Abbott, and walked into salary negotiations with a clear number and the willingness to be told no. The mantra she carries into every high-stakes interview: \"They didn't know me yesterday, but they'll remember me tomorrow.\" ABOUT GUEST: Leah Tilstra is a mechanical engineer and senior R&D engineer at Abbott, working on artificial heart valves in the TAVI space. Early in her career, she climbed quickly through medical device roles then made the intentional decision to step away for twelve years to raise her four children and support her family's move from Texas to Minnesota. During her career pause, she didn't just stay at home. Leah ran a nonprofit preschool, built a sewing business, coached middle school athletes, and led a moms' community group. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: [00:14:10] The pharmacy wake-up moment that pushed Leah from \"testing the waters\" to returning to work full-time [00:21:29] The networking move that helped a stay-at-home mom return to engineering after a 12-year career break [00:37:13] How to negotiate salary and a sign-on bonus after a long career pause — even when the company offers less [00:38:57] The one-line confidence script she repeats before any high-stakes room or interview [00:27:10] The \"Sift My Wife Does\" Google Doc that names the mental load every working mom is ca…","meta_description":"Returning to work after a career break? Here's what stay-at-home moms get told: the years home don't count, you'll come back at a lower title, and you sho…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3625,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/her-intentional-reset-7728413/episodes/career-pauses-aren-t-gaps-returning-to-engineering-after-12-years-at-home-leah-tilstra/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/her-intentional-reset-7728413/career-pauses-aren-t-gaps-returning-to-engineering-after-12-years-at-home-leah-tilstra.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}