Show Notes:
Are you a high-achieving mother ready to break through professional barriers, earn what you’re truly worth, and build lasting financial freedom—without burning out? This episode is for you.
We sit down with Khiara Cureton, Executive Career & Wealth Coach and Founder of AncHER Co., who’s on a mission to help ambitious moms claim their seat at the executive table. With a powerful blend of career strategy, salary negotiation coaching, and leadership development, Khiara empowers women to stop playing small and confidently step into roles of influence and abundance.
If you’ve ever hesitated to advocate for your value—or wondered if it’s really possible to grow your career and protect your personal life—this episode will leave you inspired and equipped to take bold action.
Top Three Things You Will Learn In This Episode:
- How to Overcome Common Hesitations Around Salary Negotiation
Learn why many women avoid advocating for higher pay, how to reframe fears of seeming ungrateful or pushy, and actionable strategies to confidently ask for what you’re worth.
- Mindset Shifts to Break Through Limiting Beliefs
Discover the internal narratives that often hold women back from pursuing executive roles or building wealth—and how to replace them with empowering beliefs that support growth and leadership.
- How to Build a Career That Supports Both Ambition and Motherhood
Gain insight into how ambitious mothers can thrive professionally without sacrificing their personal lives, including practical tips on boundaries, leadership development, and sustainable success.Practical shifts to help you step fully into your executive potential.
Episode Notes and Resources:
Khiara Cureton’s Website: http://www.ancherco.com
- Connect with Khiara on Instagram at @theancherco
- Take Khiara’s free Career & Money Action Plan Quiz at www.ancherco.com or book a free discovery call to learn about her ExecHER coaching program.
- Join Khiara’s free Facebook group, Her Next Title Collective (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1652420272051673/)— where ambitious mothers support each other in building the careers and income they deserve.
Support Mama Needs a Moment! Become a patron through our Mama Needs a Moment Patreon.HER Circle – https://www.herhealthcollective.com/membership
Transcript:
Cindi
Today’s guest is here to help us unpack something so many moms wrestle with…hesitation. We’re talking about the hidden cost of waiting, second guessing and playing it safe. Our episode is titled The high cost of hesitation, how inaction is holding moms back. And we’re going to dive into all of it with none other than Kiara Kirton. Kiara is an executive career and wealth coach who helps ambitious moms step into their leadership, boost their incomes and build financial freedom without sacrificing their personal lives. She’s the founder of AncHER Co where she coaches women on career strategy, salary negotiation and leadership development. With a background in operations, leadership and corporate strategy, Khiara knows firsthand what it takes to move forward with confidence and what it costs when we don’t follow our passion, helping high achieving women stop playing small, start owning their ambition and take up space in leadership and wealth building conversations. Let’s jump into this powerful conversation and start turning hesitation into action. Hi, Khiara, thanks so much for being here with me.
Khiara Cureton
Thank you so much for having me. Very excited for this conversation today.
Cindi
Yes, me too. I am guilty of hesitation. I actually just put this temporary tattoo on my arm that says faith over fear, because fear is what makes me hesitate a lot. But what I’d like to start our conversation with is by identifying the patterns. There’s a lot I’m sure that goes into this. What are the most common ways hesitation shows up for moms in their careers and finances. Help me understand, help all of our listeners understand, what does hesitation actually look like in life for working moms?
Khiara Cureton
Sure. So lots of many examples here, but the most common ones that I see when I work with my clients are, for example, not negotiating a salary or a raise, right? So the pattern is, you know, thinking, Oh, I should be so grateful for what I have, and accepting the very first offer or just even skipping the conversation altogether, right? And so an example could be, you know, you get back from maternity leave and your salary stays the same, although your workload has increased, right? So you’re you’re hesitating to have the conversation. You’re fearful to have the conversation. And again, it’s that framing of, I don’t want to seem ungrateful. I’m just grateful to have a job. You know, I’ll prove myself, while I can almost promise you that your male colleagues are definitely having that conversation, right? That conversation. So that’s just one example. Another one is delaying career transition, so waiting for the right time, right when the kids are older, I’ll focus on me, you know, whether in hesitating to apply for that promotion, or switch industries or start a business. And that thought is, you know, my family needs the stability right now, which, that’s true, but you can, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so you need to be fulfilled as well in what you’re doing and not delaying everything based on everyone around you, other than yourself.
Cindi
Oh my gosh, those definitely touch home for me, especially holding back from starting something new. My kids were a little bit older when we started the business, Crissy and I together, and I needed the push from a partner, for sure, to get over that hesitation and just have that push forward. So I relate to that a lot. And in there, there was mindset shifts that the hardest part, yeah, I needed to make in order for me to overcome that hesitation. Can you talk us through some of the mindset shifts? So once a mom realizes that she’s been playing it safe or holding back, what kind of internal shift needs to happen for her to move forward?
Khiara Cureton
Sure, I’ll give you some examples. So I feel like another common one that I often hear, is we all stress about, are we doing enough? Are we a good mom? Right? So changing that narrative of, I’m a good mom if I sacrifice X, Y, Z to I’m a great mom when I’m fulfilled, right? So that old belief of a good mom puts everyone and everything, the children and family first always, to that new belief of, I’m a much better engaged mom when I’m energized, fulfilled and financially secure, right? So that mindset shift, I mean, listen, motherhood, as we both know, I truly say it’s a mirror, right? So that doesn’t mean abandoning your dreams, you know, kind of as if you’re talking to your child like you wouldn’t tell your child to abandon their dreams, their desires and so forth. It really just means designing a life where all of that is in alignment and all of that can coexist, family, career, financial, health and so forth. So that’s one that I hear quite often. Another one is I need to be perfect, right? So I need to be perfect and transitioning that to, you know, progress beats perfection. Much easier said than done. This is one that I’m still working on myself. But, you know, I have to have everything figured out before I take the next step. Right? That’s kind of our old belief versus, you know, clarity comes through taking action, not overthinking, not having the perfect plans for everything. So that, in my opinion, when you take action, even small micro movements. That’s what creates the confidence. That’s what helps build that overall momentum.
Cindi
Yeah, that makes so much sense. It sounds to me like when you’re working with your clients, you’re also working with a lot of limiting beliefs, and you’re helping them overcome those limiting beliefs. And do you do that also around money, because that is huge.
Khiara Cureton
Yes, yes. Actually, the first part of us working together and through our coaching is all about mindset. And I know a lot of times people like, oh, that’s woo, woo. I’m fine. I’m fine. But until you start to peel the layers of that onion, I feel like, once you get really deep and you understand the why in your finances, in your hesitation, in your motherhood, etc, that’s what really helps you to launch forward to the next step. You gotta peel that onion.
Cindi
You’re right. The onion is a perfect example of that. There’s so many layers. I’ve been working on it for years, just trying to understand where these beliefs stem from. And it’s crazy, the messages that I adopted without even realizing it. Can you talk a little bit about what a typical time with your client would be like from the start to finish? Perhaps when you start, how many sessions do you usually have with your clients?
Khiara Cureton
Yeah, so our coaching program is a 12 month program. And I know people are like, 12 months, oh my gosh, that’s so long. But the reality is, we’re moms, we’re women, we’re busy, right? And I believe in small micro habits. I’m not trying to change your life overnight. I want us to create small, micro habits that are going to sustain a lifetime. And so the first couple of months, we are doing a lot of touch points on covering, you know, your money story, to your point about, you know, the messages that were fed to you when you were four, whether it be with Barbies, whether it be the church plate, you know, like all these messages that we’re getting as women and that we carry with us to adulthood, that’s one. And then understanding your career, right? Like, where do you have hesitation there? What is your limitations there? Did people tell you you can’t be x, y, z, because you need to be something else. And then just really getting clear with yourself. So that’s a lot of that first work. We’ll get to the budget, we’ll get to the, you know, the resume review and all of that. But I really like to start at the core, because then I think that really brings clarity. And then the second part of that, we meet twice a month, you know, just making sure we’re implementing I’m supporting you the full 12 months and thereafter, of course, because I’m always cheering for my mamas, and then it’s just maintenance mode at that point. So it’s a long journey, but I really want the work that we do to sustain.
Cindi
Oh, it makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense, because you can’t break through some of the mindset patterns that you have in a really short period of time, correct? Yeah, like I said, I’ve been doing this for years, and I’m still uncovering places where I have these silent messages that are just playing on record in my head and just over and over and over that make me just feel less than or, you know, make me hesitate.
Khiara Cureton
Recognizing, that’s the hard work, and that’s why, I mean, honestly, the work would probably go beyond the 12 months. I mean, I would love to continue to work with everyone forever, but it truly does take time when you’re honest with yourself and you’re really trying to do that work. It’s really hard work. So yeah, everyone who does that and just and,
Cindi
Is it a group program, or is it individual?
Khiara Cureton
Right now it is one on one, we’ll eventually get to group, but right now it is direct one on one.
Cindi
Gotcha. Oh, it sounds amazing. It sounds wonderful. And it’s all part of your business called AncHER CO and explain the HER in AchHER.
Khiara Cureton
So I had, you know I wanted, I knew I wanted her in the word, but long story short, I decided to go think of a ship anchor, right? And what does a ship anchor do to a boat or to a ship? And so for me, it was just a play on words, but I really wanted women to feel grounded in themselves, in their career and in their money. And plus, you know, the anchor has kind of the three spokes, if you will. So it just all made sense.
Cindi
It does. It’s great! Plus, I mean, I might be partial, because the HER is perfect for HER Health Collective as well. So great blending of everything. Before I move on to my last question for you. I would love it if you could share something in your life that you’ve had to make a mindset shift. I mean, you’re working with moms, you’re helping them change their mindset. I’m sure you’ve had to tackle a bunch on your own.
Khiara Cureton
Yes, absolutely. And so what I’ve had to change a lot financial you know, examples pop up for me. But one thing is more so in my motherhood, and what does motherhood look like, right? Okay, we were fed these messages when we were younger, you know, Barbie and Ken, whatever that may have looked like in their life, or just actual, real life examples, right? And so for me, I’ve always been ambitious, right? And I think ambition kind of gets, you know, some people love it, some people don’t like it, and that’s fine, but I always just strive to do more in my career to be challenged, and I did not want that to be diminished when I became a mother. But I had to, I was like, Oh, am I going to be a good mother if I’m not, you know, doing X, Y, Z. And so for me, I had to get comfortable with saying, This is what I want my motherhood to look like. This is how I want to show up in motherhood for my son, but this is also how I want to show up in my career. And so it’s a daily and business too, right? So it’s a daily conversation I have with myself. It’s like those 10 minutes of mindless scrolling on Instagram or 10 minutes of screen free time where I’m literally turning over my phone so I can’t see any notifications popping up and playing with my son for those direct you know, 1015, minutes, and I’m looking him in his eyes and so forth. So that is one of the biggest daily shifts. He’s four years old right now, so still needs a lot of love and attention and still wants it from me, but just that notion of what does being a good mother look like for Khiara,
Cindi
Oh, that’s wonderful. I love it. And when you said” still likes the cuddles.” I mean, I have a 12 and 15 year old, and they still like the cuddles. So cross my fingers that yours will keep liking them.
Khiara Cureton
I haven’t heard it go that far.
Cindi
This has been wonderful. I have really enjoyed my time talking to you, and all of the pointers and the feedback that you’ve given have just been really helpful. So thank you, Khiara, so much for this time.
Khiara Cureton
Thank you so much for having me.
