My Story

Up until my daughter was born, I really felt really in control of so many areas in my life – career, relationships, health and wellness. You name it, I was on top of it! I was flourishing in my 40s… big career built on years of work, married the love of my life, and moved 3,000 miles across the country from New Jersey to California. All good! Great, even.

And then, as it happens when you become “Mom” …everything started to change. The one small human I gave birth to flipped the script on everything I thought I knew about myself, my partner, and the world we operated within. It was great, it was awful (in moments), and it was mostly just…VERY different.

“How could I focus completely at work while still worrying about, and planning for, our child and her needs? And—was this normal? Did every woman feel this way?”

I wanted to be the best mother possible for my beautiful child and felt the crushing weight, even with a fully engaged and loving partner, of the responsibilities that I had on my plate at home in addition to those at work. I struggled with this identity of motherhood that I also welcomed, unable to balance it as completely as I thought I should with the career person I had always been. How could I focus completely at work while still worrying about, and planning for, our child and her needs? And—was this normal? Did every woman feel this way? I also felt keenly the scrutiny of others, both real and perceived, on my motherhood and career.

So, I started to do some research on how I was feeling and experiencing and began to learn about the “mental load” of motherhood. I learned that even with a modern marriage of equality and shared responsibilities having a child had not only increased the visible work we were both doing in the home but for me the INVISIBLE workload had grown exponentially. I was one who planned, who scheduled, who noticed, who anticipated, who researched…who held the mental load. And why was that me I thought angrily? Was it due to ingrained gender social norms or because I liked to be in control and create order from chaos? Most likely both and more. But what I knew was this load wasn’t sustainable for me or my family and I had to make a change. Discovering that so many women were dealing with the same issues strengthened and inspired me.

With that inspiration I started Life Crafts Coaching. I want to flip the script again, for myself AND others. With Life Crafts I give support and provide community for the working mother. We co-create plans to manifest positive change and achieve goals. It’s a judgement free zone where a woman’s hopes and dreams are the focus, and we collectively release what is holding us down.

My Professional Life

My career began as a Clinical Social Worker and my niche was helping children and families in crisis. I left the therapeutic world to work in corporate one, starting out in Human Resource Management in the hospitality industry and from there moving into marketing and events and finally entertainment production and creative development. My professional career spans over 30 years: I have worked inside Fortune 100 corporations (American Express and Merck) as a leader of teams, help to run non-profits, and am a small business owner.

With the entertainment company that I have with my husband we create and produce many things but my favorite and most personal projects are “The Not-So Secret Society” a children’s graphic novel received to critical success and our feature film documentary “Street Gang—The Origin Story of Sesame Street” currently in post-production to be released in Fall 2020.

I am an activist on behalf of women and issues that impact our work and health. I am proud to have been recognized by the City of Los Angeles, The Board of Los Angeles County Supervisors, and The City of West Hollywood for my activism and volunteer work.

A central theme in all of my work has been managing through ambiguity and creating calm from chaos, leading my teams and clients to success!

Ellen Crafts, Certified Life Coach