Leadership Transition | HR Leaders on Ambition, Motherhood, and Courage

How many women are waiting for the right moment to pursue an ambition they already know they're capable of?

HR leadership often demands compromise. In this episode of The HR L&D Podcast Nick Day sits down with Stanislava Susla, CEO of XperienceHR, who stepped into the role while four months pregnant and refused to choose between ambition, motherhood, and building a global payroll technology company. From her NGO work supporting Ukrainian refugees to scaling a mission-driven business, Stanislava brings a rare, deeply personal perspective on what it really takes to lead, grow, and show up fully without false choices.

Together, Nick and Stanislava unpack why so many parents, mothers especially, wait for the "right time" to chase their goals, and why that wait is so often driven by fear rather than a genuine lack of readiness.

This conversation unpacks how Stanislava normalized working through pregnancy and early motherhood, and why focus and efficiency often sharpen rather than suffer under real constraints. Nick and Stanislava also discuss the difference between fear and wisdom in decision-making, and why quality time, not quantity of time, forms the real foundation of confident parenting.

They also explore how psychological safety and honest feedback shape company culture, and why manipulation has no place in modern leadership. The discussion highlights the importance of boundaries between work and family life, and what separates healthy leadership from unhealthy leadership in both business and the wider world.

In an era where ambition and caregiving are still too often treated as competing identities, this episode examines what it actually takes for working parents, and mothers in particular, to build both a career and a family without sacrificing either.

A must-listen for HR leaders, working parents, entrepreneurs, and anyone who has ever waited for the "right time" to pursue something they already know they're capable of doing.