From SAHM To COO: Leah Steinkirch’s Path to Prowess Project
In this episode of Mom to MORE®, host Sharon Macey welcomes Leah Steinkirch, counselor, creative, and COO of Prowess Project. Leah’s path has taken her from counseling and corporate work to stay-at-home motherhood, side hustles, and now helping moms re-enter the workforce with flexible, meaningful careers.
She shares how motherhood reshaped her trajectory, why she calls her career a “patchwork quilt,” and how flexibility became her greatest strength. Leah also opens up about thriving as an introvert, the soft skills moms bring to the table, and the importance of boundaries.
Tune in as Sharon and Leah explore transferable mom skills, re-entering the workforce, and how saying no can open the door to what really matters. Leah’s journey is a reminder that creativity, courage, and impact can flourish in every season.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:39] Meet Leah Steinkirch
[02:45] Choosing family life and the creative itch that wouldn’t quit
[04:49] A patchwork quilt career path before motherhood
[07:00] Flexibility as a superpower
[10:46] The spark that grew into Prowess Project
[14:05] Thriving as an introvert in a world of visionaries
[18:26] The overlooked soft skills moms bring to the workforce
[22:30] Timing, boundaries, and the power of saying “no”
[27:11] Redefining success from limits to secret strengths
[28:23] Creating more impact
Meet my guest Leah Steinkirch:
Website: prowessproject.com
Instagram: @prowessproject
LinkedIn: Leah Steinkirch
Signal Awards Vote Here: https://bit.ly/3VMjwlX
Looking for More? Join the Mom To MORE® Community and grab your freebie: 6 Ways To Reinvent Yourself Beyond Motherhood at momtomore.com
Follow @momtomore on Instagram, Facebook and now on Pinterest. @Sharon Macey on LinkedIn.
Keep an eye out for episode #48 of the Mom to MORE® podcast where Sharon joined by Beth Stewart, CEO of Trewstar, placing outstanding candidates on corporate boards. Coming soon - you won’t want to miss it ♥
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Sharon Macey (01:29)
Hey y'all, welcome back. It's Sharon and I'm so glad you're with me today. So what I love about doing this podcast is I get to meet and learn from some truly incredible moms because each has a unique perspective on being a mom. And we chat about how who she is leads to a truly unique next chapter in her life. And my next guests will not disappoint because we will be diving into so many things that we're all dealing with now, like the frustration that many of us share
and what she did about that. Leah Steinkirk has never run short of passion.
Always drawn to the study of human connection, she got her master's degree in human services and counseling from DePaul University and has utilized this foundation in a variety of professional settings. She has been on a winding career path ranging from nonprofit to Fortune 500 companies. And that really sounds like a mom to me. After the birth of her first child, Leah decided to pause her professional career and focus her time and energy on being at home with her daughter. But her creative energy was not letting go.
Leah Steinkirch (02:23)
Okay.
Sharon Macey (02:35)
Leah quickly found herself taking on projects to fulfill her need to stay engaged with her professional goals, including writing and illustrating a children's book, love that, graphic design, coding, and many Etsy side hustles. Fueled by the frustration of the many barriers to re-entry into the workforce for women, as well as the lack of options that allow for motherhood as well, okay, that's a whole other discussion that we were gonna have to have in the future, Leah joined Ashley Connell in building
Prowess Project. Leah now applies both her creative and professional skills along with her counseling education as the COO of Prowess Project leading the charge on certification and online business manager training.
Outside of helping supporting women who want to return to work, loves to keep her, both her body and mind active by running, hiking, or diving into a creative project with her children. Her home is overrun with animals, art projects, yoga mats, and coffee mugs. And yeah, this energetic mama was also a stay at home mom. Welcome Leah. I'm so thrilled you're with me today.
Leah Steinkirch (03:41)
So happy to be here, Sharon.
Sharon Macey (03:43)
Thank you. So I like to start with what I call my essential mom question. And that is, how many kids do you have and where are you raising them?
Leah Steinkirch (03:49)
Well, two amazing kids. are 18 and 16 and raising them in Austin, Texas.
Sharon Macey (03:56)
Yeah, love it down there. So you are almost, you're trending toward empty nester here.
Leah Steinkirch (04:02)
Yes. Yes, I'm mentally preparing for that.
Sharon Macey (04:06)
yeah, it's an interesting transition.
So talk to me about why was leaning into family life important for you and what did that look like?
Leah Steinkirch (04:15)
to be honest, when
I had my daughter and I thought maybe I would balance work. I think I'm one of those people where I don't put a ton of planning, even though like not professionally, I do a lot of that, the planning aside of things. But I thought, well, we'll just figure this out. But it was a kind of a hard stop for me that after I my daughter, she was about 11 months old and I was just couldn't keep going with the balance between the two. And I thought if I'm going to pour
energy into a human, want to pour all my energy into it. And so I thought that would be the natural thing to just stop and stay home. And then I found out the brain just wouldn't stop creatively.
Sharon Macey (04:54)
And I think you have that creative gene. And I feel like I have that too, given my background. I get that, right? I get that itch of, I've got to do something, you know? In addition to everything you're already doing because you're raising a child, which is, you know, a massive job in and of itself. All right, so let's start with your own journey. What did
your career look like before motherhood? And then how did it evolve afterwards?
Leah Steinkirch (05:18)
So I always say that I have this like patchwork quilt background because I started in human services and counseling. I got out of school and thought that's what I would be doing very much in the counseling world. And I worked in a bunch of different disciplines, but then life happened and I ended up in taking all that I'd learned in my counseling world and applying it to a sales job. was in pharmaceutical sales, so healthcare. was still
working that side of people and I was still helping because making an impact is really important to me. And I just kind of always fell into the, they needed someone for training. They needed someone to roll out a new thing. And I was always volunteering for the next thing. And so my career very much looked like it was always evolving and changing into something else. And I just realized I wasn't really great at staying in one spot. And I liked being the helper on the teams. So
Like I said, I started in the counseling world, went into sales, went into pharmaceuticals, then ended up in training for them, ended up in kind of the data analytics side of it. And that's got to that point and then decided, okay, now I'm going to stay home.
Sharon Macey (06:28)
Gotcha. So you have a really robust skill set going into your leaning into family life.
Right. And you know,
Leah Steinkirch (06:34)
Yes.
Sharon Macey (06:36)
Leah, I love what you just said about having that patchwork quilt nonlinear career path.
I know that that is so true for so many moms. I I knew that it was for me.
It seems to be pretty classic in sort of like the younger moms, the nine to three hustle, right? Working while the kids are in school and come three o'clock, it's like, see, I got to go, family time.
Leah Steinkirch (06:48)
Mm-hmm.
Sharon Macey (06:57)
⁓
So let's talk about, I'm going to call it like the layered richness that comes from so many life experiences that we just talked about that fall together when you're starting to find what your true path is going to be. So how do these layers affect and then add in like detours and challenges? How did all that prepare you for where you are now?
Leah Steinkirch (07:18)
You know, when I look back on it, again, I don't think I planned any of it. But as someone who liked to be the helper and always looking for how anyone can make an impact. So I loved hearing people's stories, hearing other mom's stories. So while I say I'm not this amazing networker who's out there making connections,
The connections I was making was at a birthday party or a play group of hearing someone else's story of they had an idea, they had a creative project, and I always wanted to help. Or it was ⁓ my husband at the time, was in marketing, he had a marketing firm and what he needed to do, right? Like that next, whether it was a technology or just something, again, I was pulling from this background of whether it was talking and working with people. the, and that
that side of thing or the technology piece of it, what I had run into, software, that sort of stuff. I always say I have some like my brain is just two sided. It's a created in the logical side.
I always enjoy looking at things from both sides. So if it was a creative idea, there's still the practical side of how you're to get it out there. What's that website going to look like? And I love that problem solving. So again, I was always sitting there listening to someone's story and saying, well, if you need help with that, or I can give you the three things that I've come across that are helpful. And it was always in sharing that.
I ended up in other opportunities and I would take little side projects or side hustles because someone had an idea and they just needed to get off the ground and I could help them for a little bit. And I got that fulfillment that I was looking for of using that side of my brain. And like you said, I could then, but I still dropped the kids off every day for school, pick them up and was present during those hours. I really felt like it was important to be there homework or activities and all that.
Sharon Macey (09:00)
I'm jealous of the fact that you actually have you you can you can straddle both sides of your brain. I think that's really fantastic. Let's talk about.
What did being a stay at home mom teach you that you could not have learned in a traditional career path? And how has that made you like a better person in what you do now?
Leah Steinkirch (09:23)
would say flexibility. ⁓ You know, I think we all kind of go into what stay-at-home life is going to look like, and it was going to be very cute, and there was going to be
Sharon Macey (09:25)
Mmm.
Leah Steinkirch (09:34)
whether it was dance classes or gymnastics or whatever. And I had kids that had very firm from birth, they were strong-willed kids. And so I had to learn to be flexible like, okay, they may love this for a while and then we're gonna go on a detour and it's the next thing they're interested in. And we laugh a lot at home, my son especially, he's probably a little bit like me where he's always changing his mind, he's always interested in the next thing. So I remember taking him to music lessons
And I had signed him up for piano and the teacher came out and said, today he wants to learn the drums. And I said, great, teach him the drums. But that flexibility has helped me in working with, you know, now I, like I said, I like to support people who have an idea and they're trying to create their next thing. That flexibility is so important because one minute a visionary can be really focused on.
Sharon Macey (10:11)
Go for the drums. Yeah. Yeah.
Leah Steinkirch (10:28)
I don't know one kind of concept and then it has to shift and change. And right now in business, I mean, I work a lot of online businesses. The landscape is constantly changing a new software, new technologies, new things impacting. So flexibility has been key.
Sharon Macey (10:43)
Yeah. And for someone like you who's in tech, you embrace all the changes. For someone like me, who I call myself a tech boob, those are scary for me, right? So I depend on people like you to help me through,
Leah Steinkirch (10:52)
Right.
Sharon Macey (10:55)
all those tech issues. Hey, Leah, we are going to take a quick break. And when we return, we are going to be diving into Prowess Project. Be right back.
Welcome back. OK, Leah, Prowess Project is built on the idea that moms bring invaluable skills to the workforce, which is so true. And don't we wish more corporations actually realized this?
Leah Steinkirch (12:16)
you
Sharon Macey (12:22)
How did you and Ashley Connell come together to grow Prowess Project?
Leah Steinkirch (12:27)
Thank you for asking this question, Sharon. I love talking about this
I knew her through my husband. Like I said, he had a marketing firm and so she was working with him and she, I was helping in the background
they needed technology, they needed some accounting, that kind of stuff. And I had done enough to be dangerous in other roles. And so I was offering that and she said, why are you doing this? And not,
in corporate or something full time. I had explained, actually time didn't have kids. And so I had explained like, it was a hard stop for me to be able to be around, to drop the kids off, to pick them up and be present. And so she had said, I have some ideas. want to bounce them off of you. And so when she started sharing how she wanted to make a bigger impact for women who had these other skills and how they could have both the flexibility and the career that they wanted, was, I was signed me up. How can I help?
And so it's again, that technology side of me and her ability to pull people together. We started working together then to build out prowess project. started helping with the website and when she said, well, I think I need training that counseling part of my background came out. And, you know, from my training days in pharmaceuticals, I was able to use that. So we slowly built this together over time into now
It's very fulfilling that we can help both women that are trying to have their what's next as well as people that want they're building out their dream and they need support with that.
Sharon Macey (13:52)
I love that.
you've mentioned a few times that
you like to be in the background. And what's so interesting, Leah, is how you took that background-ness of you and yet brought it to the foreground
You found something that utilized all your skillset.
you know, in Prowess Project. And I think that's wonderful.
I love the thought of having a career opportunity and yet the flexibility that is inherently built into that, which is as moms we all need. and younger moms, right, I'm a little older than you, but younger moms have that opportunity to do that. When my kids were younger, I was either working at home or working in an office.
and this whole gig economy didn't exist. So, you know, just hats off to you and Ashley for creating this, which allows women who want to lean into family life, yet still have their finger in something that is meaningful to them to be able to do that.
Leah Steinkirch (14:45)
Yes, well, thank you for saying that. And that's been the joy of helping women that still want to make that impact connect with whatever their what next is.
Sharon Macey (14:53)
OK, also, I love that you told me that you are the introvert of the team and that proves to me that all personality types can find their niche and thrive there. So please give a shout out to all the other introverted moms who listening to this about how they they too can find their passion and next chapter. And it's possible to be a fractional professional.
Leah Steinkirch (15:15)
I love sharing that I am an introvert. And I think it comes in seasons, right? mean, definitely as a stay at home mom, that was the season of where that energy needed to be preserved. And so I liked being behind the scenes. I liked being the helper for other people's. And now I think a lot of people ⁓ connect with my story because they feel that too, where they are the introvert. They like being the one behind the scenes. They like being the helper, but yet they wanna make a difference.
Sharon Macey (15:20)
Yeah.
Leah Steinkirch (15:43)
Again, that always seemed to be the moms I sat next to.
Sharon Macey (15:46)
a great place to meet future collaborators and people that you could eventually, you know, go into business with. I think that's such a valuable network, that mom network, because everybody did something else before they became a mom and so, so valuable.
Leah Steinkirch (15:50)
Yes.
I'm sure you find this at all of your guests on your show, that moms are amazingly creative. And they come into something where they start to feel really passionate about it, whether it's part of their past career or something that they had done in their life. And now they want to bring this forward. And sometimes they see it in how they're helping their kids evolve and move through the world. And they realize, if I could help more people. And that's what I love helping amplify.
Sharon Macey (16:11)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I love that. so the part of you that just loves helping others, you have found a release for that. You found a way to make that happen in a professional setting. So I think that's fabulous.
Leah Steinkirch (16:39)
Yes. Yes.
Sharon Macey (16:41)
When we first chatted,
You mentioned that something felt like a wall. And I think it was something about your creative side,
and for your mom's side to
live side by side. Talk about that.
Leah Steinkirch (16:53)
When I first was trying to figure balance everything out, I didn't know how to blend the two. I thought that I either needed to be 100 % dedicated to being a stay-at-home mom or I needed to go back to work. And slowly over time, and it was other inspirational moms that I had met, I started to realize that you can do both.
there's a lot of time blocking that happens, but I could have both and...
Instead of feeling it being like a wall that was stopping me from using any part of my past professional career or just the creative side of me,
you can meander through it. You can say for right now, this is how much time I'm dedicating and it can change and shift. Again, why that flexibility is so important and with Prowess Project, why we saw that that was such a need for women.
Sharon Macey (17:36)
Yeah. And also I think
when the kids are much younger, there is no flexibility.
But as the kids
start to go to school full time, you have more daylight in your schedule and you have more opportunity to explore what is it that...
really thrills me. What is it that I want to explore for me? Could even be taking a class, right? Or something that you've never thought you would have interest in, but guess what? You are interested in it.
OK, so this is going to be our PSA portion of the episode,
What are some of the most in-demand, I'll call soft skills, that you see moms bringing to the table that companies often overlook?
And these should be on our resume, right?
Leah Steinkirch (18:15)
I would say problem solving. Right now, I'm always in awe of other moms and the ability to figure it all out, find the right solution that works for their family or their kids, and stay very calm.
Sharon Macey (18:17)
Hmm.
Leah Steinkirch (18:29)
And that problem solving and that ability to read the whole room, that's what's needed in professional settings, right? As things are changing very fast, as things are, you know, whether it's new technologies or things are shifting, the ability of a mom, we don't get rattled by it too much after a while, right? We've seen all the landscape shifting at home. And so we're able to problem solve quickly and keep calm and make those suggestions.
and then implement quickly, right? Moms can, once we see that solution that's needed, I mean, we can go to work very quickly and get things accomplished.
Sharon Macey (19:09)
Do you find that women have a better ability to pivot than men do? Not to be sexist here, but I hear this from so many women that they think they're doing X with the kids and then something happened and all of a sudden they're doing the Y and the partner's like, well, wait, I thought we were gonna be doing whatever and you realize, nope, it's changed, we're doing something else. And that other person may have problems kind of going, like accepting it, but the woman's like, boom, we're off, we're doing something else.
Leah Steinkirch (19:37)
Yes, and there's a lot of studies around this, not to get too far into our PSA announcement, but the emotional intelligence that women bring to teams. There are studies that show that when you do like a 360 review that a lot of times women are the ones that are recognized for being flexible, being calm, you know, under fire, being able to problem solve quickly. And that's what is needed most often when they look at hiring. So, yes, and again, I think it's part innate, the nurturer side of us.
Sharon Macey (19:43)
haha
Yeah.
Leah Steinkirch (20:07)
you know, that feminine energy, I do think we have a little more of it. But then, I mean, it's put to the test as moms and it's, don't think we claim it a lot of times. Like you're saying it should be on our resume, our high EQ skills. But yes, I do think that when push comes to shove, that is what is needed. And women are often recognized for it, but not, there's no award handed out at the, at the annual meeting.
Sharon Macey (20:17)
Right. Absolutely. Yes.
Right. But I think that's something that women have to take upon themselves to say, these are the skills I bring to the table. And I mean, I have the years that I was a stay at home mom on my resume. And I talk about all the things I did, all the money I raised, the skills, in addition to building children who are participating members of society and understand the value of giving back. Like that was really important to us. And so I absolutely believe for women listening to this that
Those years, I don't care if it's like three years, five years or 18 years, those years and all the things you did belong on your resume and keep track of it. Right. Keep a little note app on your phone and write down, OK, project managed
Leah Steinkirch (21:12)
Absolutely.
Sharon Macey (21:16)
helping to build the new playground for the elementary school. And I co-chaired an event that raised one hundred thousand dollars. mean, those are valuable, viable, marketable skills.
Leah Steinkirch (21:27)
Absolutely. And Ashley's really good about reminding people like, we never want to use the word just like I just ran the PTA, right?
Sharon Macey (21:34)
Yes, I know, I know.
Leah Steinkirch (21:36)
We need to claim that and we yes, it absolutely should be on your resume and, the storytelling that goes with it. Tell all those stories about
Sharon Macey (21:36)
yeah.
Leah Steinkirch (21:44)
in how many people in the room did you have to have bring together to make a decision? Those negotiating skills are extremely powerful.
Sharon Macey (21:50)
Exactly.
I love what you just said, and I 110 % support you for that. That's fantastic. All Let's talk about timing. OK. So let's say a mom has a dream, but the timing doesn't feel right right now. What would you say to her?
Leah Steinkirch (22:07)
It's about that right next step. If the timing doesn't feel right, but you still have that inkling, you still have that little spark, then take the class, read the book, listen to the podcast, keep talking to people, because you never know when it's all gonna gel and come together. You may meet the person who says, I need someone two hours a week to help me with this, and you're passionate about it.
Sharon Macey (22:20)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Leah Steinkirch (22:29)
It may be that it becomes something that you didn't realize that you could use those skills professionally. So for example, it could be, I was talking to someone who she felt like, well, I've got to go all the way back to work if I want to, and I said, why don't you just pull together an online course? had all these amazing skills. I said, you could coach people in a very flexible way and then do it around your schedule. But she'd never thought of it. She didn't see it from that angle. it's, it's keep going.
keep having the conversations and just take the next right step to where it's gonna lead.
Sharon Macey (23:03)
Mm-hmm.
And it's all going to come together. It will, just like it did for you with all of your skills, how they all converged, doing what you're doing now. Let's talk about moms being OK with saying no. Go for it.
Leah Steinkirch (23:07)
Mm-hmm.
Oh, know is a full sentence, isn't that the phrase? And for me, this is one that I had to learn the hard way that as I was getting started with being okay with doing some work as a stay at home mom, right? Little roles and something would pop up. I felt like I had to say yes because sometimes I thought someone was being generous to ask me to help, you know, offer me a job or whatever, a side hustle.
Sharon Macey (23:19)
Yeah.
Leah Steinkirch (23:42)
And I had to realize that the boundaries are so important. And I always go back to our first priority is those little humans that we're raising and that's where our energy should be. So learning the ability to say no or not right now is so important and we can't feel guilty for it. So sometimes it is just having that other person in your life that you can bounce it off of and say, remind me that it's okay to say no. And that even comes to all the volunteering. mean, how many times...
I would say to someone, do not let me volunteer for one more thing at the kids' school because we know we can and we feel like we should help, but it is okay to put ourselves first and absolutely our little ones and our family.
Sharon Macey (24:23)
Yeah, all right, folks, you heard it here. It is OK to say no, honor ourselves. And if you feel that you're volunteering too much, just say time out.
you know, thank you for the invite, but it just doesn't work for me right now. And that's OK. That's OK to say that. Question for you. If I had told you 10 years ago that you would be doing what you're doing now with Prowse Project in 2025, what would you have said?
Leah Steinkirch (24:47)
not even on, it was not even on the horizon. I never thought that it would all come together. Something that I felt interested in and passionate about and I had some skills. I didn't think that that kind of opportunity, all those pieces could be in one role and it's stay flexible. Cause I still, even though prowess is I guess a full time job there, I still can leave for the field trips. I still can go to all the doctor's appointments. I still have all that flexibility.
Sharon Macey (24:49)
Hmm.
Leah Steinkirch (25:17)
And it really is just continually manifesting that idea of what you want. Didn't know it was possible, but I'm so glad that I had that coffee meeting with Ashley when she said she might need a website.
Sharon Macey (25:22)
Yeah.
I love that. ⁓ So strong in how you have taken everything that you're really good at and it has turned into something where you are giving back in some ways. Yes, it's a business, but you're also giving back to other women and saying, it's possible, right? And there are ways to make it happen.
Leah Steinkirch (25:48)
will say too that what I've loved about working with prowess is working with another female who is a visionary. Females are really good at seeing the strengths in other people, right? So that's an, I really do appreciate that part of my role in working with a lot of women. We work with men too, but there's also that way to, I feel like women often want to help other women up. And so her recognizing strengths and her letting me be an introvert.
not forcing me into something that I wouldn't want to do. And she says, you're great at this, keep going with that. And we'll find the right person to do the other stuff.
Sharon Macey (26:21)
Fantastic. I I love your story, Leah. All right.
What do you think is the one thing you used to think was career ending that actually turned out to be one of your secret superpowers?
Leah Steinkirch (26:31)
this would be admitting my limits. Before, I would always push through and I did like to raise my hand to volunteer for things, but I also thought I kind of had to to move up and move on to the next thing. And now where I said I realized that if I'm more honest about this is what I'm really good at and not giving away all that energy,
Sharon Macey (26:37)
Hmm
Leah Steinkirch (26:57)
like public speaking with one, being one to be able to say like, I really don't want to go to that event or that I'm probably not the right person and staying where I am really strong. That moves our project so much further than me giving away that energy into something that it's, I'm spending more time in my head than actually on the work that I need to do.
Sharon Macey (27:04)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah,
such a great answer. Thank you for that. So I have a question as we start to wrap up. This has been so enlightening, Leah, today. So I want to thank you for your time today. I have a question that I ask all of the incredible moms I have the privilege of speaking with. And that is, since this is the Mom to More podcast, Leah Steinkirk, what is your more?
Leah Steinkirch (27:39)
My more is more impact. ⁓ As I've loved doing this professionally and helping women, you know, with their next step in their careers and helping companies find that right person that's going to amplify their business. Now I want to help more women and that can look like my niece who's figuring out what college is or even my kids who are
⁓ figuring out what their life is going to look like and just helping more people make an impact and helping more people be just curious about what something else could look like. So it is just more impact.
Sharon Macey (28:15)
Fantastic. And that seems very you. So I admire that. And that is a fantastic, fantastic more. So thank you for that. So please tell our listeners where people can find you and find Prowess Project online. And folks, everything is going to be in the show notes.
Leah Steinkirch (28:31)
You can find me on LinkedIn, Leah Steinkirk. That's a great way to get a hold of me. Prowess Project, we have our website at prowessproject.com. You can also find us on Instagram, as well as our LinkedIn pages.
Sharon Macey (28:44)
Fantastic,
Leah, what an enlightening and necessary conversation today. So thank you for being honest about being an introvert and just sharing how everything that you have done at various times of your life have all finally come together.
to live in an area that is just so meaningful for you and you're helping other women. And I just think it's fantastic. So thank you for your time and energy today. It's been a great conversation.
Leah Steinkirch (29:12)
Absolutely, I've enjoyed it. Thanks for having me.