For all the moms—and future moms, friends of moms, daughters of moms (heck, everywoman!)— you’ll want to check out Sh*tty Mom, a laugh-out-loud humor book about all those awkward parenting scenarios. Like how to drop off a sick kid at daycare (um, not that I’ve ever tried that haha!). I loved, loved, loved the book and was honored to catch up with two of its co-authors, Mary Ann Zoellner (left) and Alicia Ybarbo, who happen to be producers at the Today Show.

Debra: Okay, why the title Sh*tty Mom?

Alicia: Why not Sh*tty Mom? Whether we choose to admit it or not we’ve all been (or are going to be) Sh*tty Moms . . . Yes, the title is an eye opener (we love attention) but the overall message of the book is to liberate women from this “all or nothing” ideal of parenting. Moms need to cut themselves a break and laugh at those less-than-perfect parenting moments while finding a way to press the recharge button. A happy mom is a happy family. Right?

Mary Ann: Because there is no better word to describe those moments when you just fail as a parent. This isn’t about being a “Bad” mom. It is about being a relatively good mom— but not being that good always. Basically, parenting the way our parents parented.

Debra: In the book there’s a hilarious chapter suggesting McDonald’s as childcare so mom can work. You both have demanding jobs at the Today Show—so how did you find time to write the book?

Alicia: Well, it takes a village! Mary Ann Zoellner, Karen Moline and I were out to dinner—enjoying margaritas and chips and salsa —when we had our Aha parenting moment. We realized that instead of letting the guilt ride us for “life” happening (like buying store bought Halloween costumes or eating one too many take-out meals during the week) we needed to embrace them. Think of it as parenting lite, with 40% the effort. Lowering expectations on yourself allows you to love your children more, smile more, laugh more. Anyhow, the three of us came up with the idea and brought on comedian Laurie Kilmartin (a stand-up comic and writer for Conan) to deliver the funny.

Debra: Most of the book is tongue and cheek, which all us moms appreciate. But what’s your best real tip for managing the proverbial juggle?

Alicia: Let the balls fall where they may. There’s no secret to juggling work/life, because it is truly impossible to do. Understand that some days work is going to win and other days your family will win, but rarely do I as a career women handle both with similar success. Rely on husbands and partners, and thank them often, and be in the moment as much as you can. Now that’s a quality I wish I was better at.

Mary Ann: It’s impossible. Try as hard as you can without driving yourself, your kids or your partner crazy. Some weeks we are great at work, other weeks we are good at home, other times we are good with our husbands. It is a major balancing act and knowing that you will fail to be perfect helps alleviate some of the guilt.

She’s the owner of eponymous Rosie Pope Maternity, author of the new book Mommy IQ, star of Bravo’s “Pregnant in Heels” and mom of three young kids. I spoke with designer Rosie Pope shortly before the birth of her third (we were due a few weeks apart!) about her business and making it all work. Here are three great tips she shared with me:

Organize old-school. We have a huge chalkboard in our apartment that’s near the front door. It has information like who’s picking up oldest son up from preschool; supermarket shopping that needs to be done; if anything needs to be turned in for a school trip so our nanny and family members are on same page. Nobody else can touch it! I normally fill out the board on Sunday evenings.

Prepare the night before. I shower and make lunches in the evening. I try to incorporate my sons in basic things I do in the morning—like sit in the bathroom with me when I put makeup on. They end up painting on the walls with makeup brushes. But we’re doing it together, so it’s a bit of quality time.

Surrender to the chaos of motherhood. It took me being pregnant with my third child to let go of the control. Some days we look around the messy apartment and cry. I did just fall over a Tonka truck. There’s icing in my hair. But my kids are smiling and laughing. It sounds so cliché: you talk to people to who don’t have kids and they roll their eyes, and think it’s crazy that I’d rather be playing with my kids in this chaos than sipping a martini in my Christian Louboutins. But it’s true.

Harvard MBA. Fluent in Spanish, German, and French (plus a little Dari). Expert multi-tasker as deputy director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Women and Foreign Policy program, contributing editor-at-large for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and mom to a 10-month-old baby. Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a woman who got up at 4 a.m. to squeeze writing a (NY Times bestselling) book around a full-time job and actually conducted an interview for a Newsweek story from the hospital when her baby was five days old. She’s driven by some wise words her cousin once told her. “He said, ‘Changing your life is supposed to be this hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.’ In other words, don’t try to go around the work. You have to go through it,” she says. I caught up with Gayle one morning to learn a few more of her secrets.

I believe in having a plan A, B, and C. You can’t say I’m going to “follow my passion” unless you can also make sure the rent gets paid. I learned this because my mom and aunt were single moms who worked more than one job to make rent.

I try to work out six days a week. It really helped me manage the hormone swings after pregnancy. I do a combination of yoga, dance, and classes at the Tracy Anderson studio.

I recently switched to an iPhone. But I miss my Blackberry keyboard! Now it takes me an hour to send one message.

I’ve been a vegetarian since I was little, to the horror of my family, and try to follow a vegan diet. When I’m traveling [to far-off places], I eat a lot of protein bars, especially Think Thin ones. Afghan food is great. Airplane food is not.

I live by the words of strong women in my family. My mother used to say, “On a scale of major world tragedies, yours isn’t even a three.” Meaning, keep it all in perspective. My aunt would say, “After the dance [i.e., once you make your dream happen], they can’t take it away from you.” And my grandma always encouraged me to take big leaps and not dwell on the downside. She reminded me, “McDonald’s is always hiring.”

To learn more about Gayle, visit her website. And, check out her fantastic TEDx speech here.

Ofelia de La Valette always wanted to be a dancer, but after marrying young and having kids, the Cuban native chose a sensible path– insurance broker– and built a successful career. But when she was 34, some stubborn baby weight led her toward the pulse of a dance exercise class, and reignited her dormant passion. One weekly class soon became twelve. In 2004, she opened Atlanta-based Dance 101, a studio geared toward adult dancers that is now the largest of its kind in the country. Here, Ofelia shares three lessons learned during her dramatic reinvention.

Start where you are.

“I began training at an age when most professional dancers are retiring. But, I had mentality that if I kept this up, by the time I was 50 I’d be a phenomenal dancer. I was going to make up the 20 years I lost. It’s never too late to get really good at something no matter how old you are when you begin. The age you start is just your starting point. If you layer consistency and practice, you’ll move forward.”

Chase the purpose, not the paycheck.

“When I started the studio, I had the moral support of my students and family, but nobody was going to pay my bills for me! But, I felt the future is today, and if I don’t follow my dream now I may not get that opportunity. I wanted to do something that got me out of bed and gave my life a deeper sense of purpose. I understood the financial sacrifice that goes with it. It’s hard in the beginning but, having been a businesswoman for years, I knew that it would get better. Now, the studio supports me [financially] at a level greater than insurance did.”

Make friends with your fear.

“Hands down, fear is the greatest deterrent to happiness. It keeps you confined in a box. You won’t accomplish anything if you can’t come to terms with fear. I dealt with fear by welcoming it into my life. I said, ‘Fear, you’re going to be my constant companion. I’m going to acknowledge you– but that’s it. I’m not going to let you talk me out of anything that is in my plan.’”

To learn more about Ofelia (and her amazing dance studio), visit www.dance101.org.

Growing up around her Italian family in Michigan, Michelle Bommarito— best known as a cake design guru on Food Network Challenge— learned to love being in the kitchen. As a child, she helped out on weekends at her family’s Italian Market, Bommarito Brothers CO, and just enjoyed being around food.

“Whenever I wasn’t at my dad’s store, I would be in the kitchen with my Mom and my grandparents,” she says. But she never thought food would be her life’s calling. Instead, her dream was to one day own a bed and breakfast in Europe.  Michelle graduated with a Marketing Management major and a Psychology minor from the University of Michigan, and her first job out of college was for Marriott.

She resisted being around baking and cooking, but her heart kept being pulled in the direction of the kitchen. After working in the marketing and hotel business for years, Michelle decided to take a bread-making class, just for the fun of it.

“I didn’t think I was going to culinary school to change my career,” she says. “I thought it was to have that backbone and knowledge as a woman.”

After a nudge from a coworker to pursue cooking school, she attended The Institute of Culinary Education in New York. Then, she moved back to Michigan, and opened her own wedding and pastry business called Michelle Bommarito LLC.

It was a slow start; her first year she had just 17 wedding cakes.  “But then, it grew to 35 and then to 55 a year. It just kept building,” she says. “Whatever you want to do, go out there and do it! Volunteer, do charity work; I can’t tell you how much charity work I did to get my name out there. I was doing what I loved even though I wasn’t getting paid.”

After running the business for 10 years, Michelle got the itch for something new. “I always loved what I did for a living,” Michelle says. “But then I started feeling that figurative tap on your shoulder, you know, that feeling that says ‘Hey, you are not doing exactly what you should be doing, ‘ I knew it was time for that transition, to take a risk.”

In 2009 she closed up shop and decided to try her hand as a traveling chef, teaching her vast knowledge of cake design, and also conducting “Eating Well” Speaking Engagements and Super Power Food Culinary Demonstrations.  Years earlier (before she even opened her cake company), Michelle had found herself bed-ridden from working too much. “After about a couple months of putting up with it, my cousin took me under her wing and said, ‘Michelle, you’re going to my Holistic doctor,’” she says.

The doctor put her on an extreme diet that consisted of grains, lean cuts of meat, nuts, flaxseed oil and vegetables.  After two weeks on the regimen, Michelle was filled with bouncing energy– and she’s kept up the healthy lifestyle for fifteen years. (Yes that’s right: the cake designer doesn’t eat cake–except of course to test each batch of her creations for quality, and the occasional “just a bite” at a party to celebrate!)

Making wellness her primary career focus was a natural progression. Says Michelle, “I just decided one day, I really think I’m supposed to follow in the wellness direction. I lived it for so long and I believed in it. It’s good for my body and it made me be who I am as far as my high energy.”

As for what’s next in Michelle’s life, only time can tell.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do next,” she said. “It happens to be every 10 to 12 years is when I evolve; ironically it’s what happens.”

Inspirational, that doesn’t even begin to describe this risk taker, but ambitious and courageous . . . that’s a start.

Needs some inspiration for taking the plunge in your career?

Check out The 9 steps of getting started the Bommarito style:

1.     Find your strength and your passion.

2.     Invest in your knowledge and skills.

3.     Create your own style and niche.

4.     Develop (figure out what is good for you to make you a success).

5.     Impress quality in every aspect of your job, career or passion.

6.     Not all business is good business, check who you will do business with.

7.     Know your competition.

8.     Price yourself correctly (competitively and accordingly to what’s right in the market).

9.     Put yourself out there and market yourself.

–Erin Lucido