Marketing executive Stacey Epstein recently wrote a rebuttal for Inc.com about how moms can have it all, responding to The Atlantic’s July/August cover story, titled, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” Stacey, currently Vice President of Marketing at ServiceMax, a leading SaaS start-up, listed five things a working woman can do to combine professional success with a happy family life. Here, a portion of her list.

1. Make big strides early. These days, most women are having kids a bit later, so take advantage of the time before they come. Work your ass off. Work longer, work harder, sacrifice some play time. You will move up quicker, gain more experience, and you’ll feel much better about taking some of the time back when you do have children.

2. Set your priorities and stand by them. Make your intentions known. If you know you can’t be in early or stay late, make it clear and don’t hide it. Don’t take a job that requires 8 a.m.-7 p.m. face time and figure you’ll slip in and out. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook (a.k.a. BIG job) says, “I walk out of this office every day at 5:30 so I’m home for dinner with my kids at 6:00, and interestingly, I’ve been doing that since I had kids.” Come and go when you need to with your head held high, knowing that people respect your contribution AND your choices.

3. Don’t suck. If you need to work less or differently than the rest of the team, you better be damn good when you do work. Don’t hang out at the water cooler, never ever…

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