Tough as a Mother: Jenn Hildreth & Aimee Leone on Working Motherhood, Mom Guilt & Resilience

Jenn Hildreth and Aimee Leone on Motherhood, Careers, Resilience and the Beautiful Mess of Doing It All

Long before Aimee Leone became the co-author of a book about the resilience of working mothers, I had a front-row seat to hers.

I was a college student interning at NBC Sports inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, supporting legendary NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol and his team. Aimee was one of the first women leaders I ever worked for.

She was organized, smart, patient and kind. She took time to teach and guide interns. I remember how fit she was, how much healthier she ate than the rest of us (!) and how quickly she picked up the phone when one of her children called.

At the time, I noticed those things.

What I didn't fully understand was everything she was juggling beyond those office walls and before she even walked in the door each morning.

*Paige Kornblue and Aimee Leone | NBC Sports | Summer 2021*

Years later, after building my own career in television news, sports and media while raising three children, I understand it much differently.

That made my recent conversation with Aimee and her co-author, Jenn Hildreth, for The Paige Kornblue Show especially meaningful.

Their book, Tough as a Mother, pulls back the curtain on working motherhood through the stories of accomplished women in sports and media and reminds us that even women who appear to have everything under control are often figuring it out one day at a time.

Hildreth is an Emmy Award-winning ESPN play-by-play announcer whose career has included the FIFA Women's World Cup, Olympic Games and some of the biggest stages in sports. During the NWSL season, she also regularly travels to Fort Lauderdale to broadcast games from NEP South Florida. She and her husband, Chris, have two daughters, Ashley and Madison.

*Jenn Hildreth with daughters Madison (left) and Ashley (right) at an interview in Washington, DC, about Tough as a Mother*

Leone is a six-time Emmy Award winner and Senior Vice President of Talent Relations at FOX Sports who has worked with some of the biggest names in sports television. She and her husband, Wayne, have two grown children, Jay and Claire.

*Aimee Leone with husband, Wayne, and children Jay and Claire*

The two bonded over something far less glamorous than major sporting events and Emmy Awards: the shared experience of being working moms. Each had been developing ideas around working motherhood when their visions eventually came together.

And Tough as a Mother was born.

For the book, Hildreth and Leone interviewed dozens of accomplished women across sports and media, including Mary Carillo, Julie Foudy, Hannah Storm, Dara Torres, Alex Morgan and Laura Rutledge, along with Olympic champions, professional athletes, broadcasters, journalists, coaches and executives. Yet some of the most powerful stories aren't about medals, championships, breaking barriers or career achievements.

They're about pumping between professional responsibilities.

Missing moments at home.

Crying on airplanes.

Asking for help.

Questioning whether you're doing enough.

In other words: motherhood.

*Hildreth calling a USWNT soccer match with Julie Foudy and Carli Lloyd (center) joining them in the booth. Photo courtesy of Jenn Hildreth.*

During our conversation, we returned to three phrases that capture much of the book's message:

Mother Out Loud.
Embrace the Slop.
And remember: You are tough as a mother.

‘Mother Out Loud’ came from FOX Sports reporter Allison Williams and speaks to something Hildreth herself struggled with early in motherhood. Working in the male-dominated world of sports broadcasting, she initially tried to keep motherhood separate from her professional identity. Eventually, she realized there was power in letting people see both.

We hear the word resilience constantly in sports. Usually, we're talking about an athlete overcoming an injury, a difficult loss or enormous pressure on the world's biggest stage. But Tough as a Mother explores another kind of resilience: the kind required to simply get through an ordinary Tuesday.

Hildreth told me that motherhood required her to continually evaluate the "is it worth its" of her career.

Covering the Atlanta Braves was once a professional goal. She landed the opportunity and loved the work, but with two young daughters at home, the demands of the baseball schedule eventually became too much.

Walking away wasn't easy. She also knew it was right.

*Jenn Hildreth calling MLS for Apple TV in 2023 (Photo courtesy of Jenn Hildreth)*

Leone said she didn't necessarily recognize all the balancing, adjusting and pushing forward as resilience while she was living it. It was simply what needed to be done.

Sometimes resilience looks less like a triumphant finish line and more like finding the energy and positivity to keep going… not only for yourself, but for the people depending on you.

And of course, we talked about mom guilt.

During an incredibly busy December leading into our ESPN Boca Raton Bowl week, I blocked out time to take my daughter to a gingerbread-house-making class. We made it. We had our hour together.

Then, as we walked out, I took a work call.

The doors opened, the wind blew and down went the gingerbread house.

Crushed.

So was my daughter.

The local TV sports reporter I was on the phone with thought something terrible happened, hearing my reaction over the phone. We laugh about it now, but years later, I still think: Why did I take that call? Couldn't it have waited two more minutes?

Leone offered some perspective from the other side of raising children. Her grown children don't focus on all the things she wasn't able to attend. They remember the experiences they had and the moments when their mom made the decision to be there.

Near the end of our conversation, I asked Hildreth and Leone what they most wanted mothers to take away from Tough as a Mother.

Their answer came down to two simple messages:

You got this.

You are not alone.

Toughness doesn't mean doing everything perfectly. Sometimes it's asking for help. Changing direction. Laughing at the mess. Letting go of the moment you missed and remembering the thousands you didn't….

And sometimes it's simply getting up the next morning and doing it all over again.

That certainly may not come with a medal.

But it's tough as a mother.

Learn more about Tough as a Mother at ToughAsAMotherBook.com.