Abstract
Pregnancy and motherhood are often stigmatized as negatively impacting women's careers. Yet skills and capacity unlocked/enhanced during this stressful coping process may be transferable to facilitate improved job performance and career advancement in the workplace. Using a mixed methods sequential explanatory research design comprised of a systematic synthesis of multi-disciplinary literature and in-depth interviews with working mothers in the U.S. tourism and hospitality industry, this study explored the bright side of motherhood. The findings of the study suggested that motherhood and the coping process can enhance women's knowledge, skills and capacity, while strengthening women's mindset, willpower, and overall emotional intelligence — all of which are desirable attributes in the workplace. Further, motherhood experiences can unlock women's potential and prepare them for management and leadership positions. Yet to capitalize on this, working mothers need to believe in themselves and also need support from family, organizations, and society at large.