Built for ambitious women
who haven't stopped wanting more.
Small-cohort programs at the intersection of career, identity, and early motherhood. Grounded in lived experience — not theory. The next cohort is coming. Get on the list to be notified first.
This work is personal because it has to be.
I run intimate, guided cohort programs for high-achieving mothers navigating one of the most disorienting transitions of their professional lives — the return to work, the identity shift, the long stretch of figuring out who you are when you're also someone's mother.
You built a career. Then you had a child. Now you're figuring out who you are in both.
The programs don't offer theory. They offer what it actually looks like — the decisions, the tradeoffs, the design principles that held. In community, with structure, in person and virtually. By design.
Each program is intentionally small. Applications are evaluated for personal fit and cohort chemistry — not first-come, first-served. The next cohort date will be announced to the waitlist first.
Motherhood by Design — The Design Year
Here's what a cohort looks like. The Design Year was an intimate, guided program for high-achieving mothers — built around weekly virtual sessions, in-person retreat experiences, and a curated small cohort selected for fit.
Weekly
Virtual Touchpoints
A consistent, protected touchpoint each week with the cohort and guides — an hour that belongs entirely to this work.
In-Person
Retreat Experiences
Immersive gatherings in the Chicago area — deep work, real conversation, and the kind of reset that only happens in person with people who get it.
Curated
Small Cohort
Selected for fit, not filled in order. Depth requires trust, and trust requires the right people in the room.
Included
MBD App Access
Every cohort member receives access to the Motherhood by Design App — a personal assistant built for the ambitious mom.
What a cohort looks like
Duration
9 weeks · optional extension
Format
Virtual weekly + in-person retreats
Location
Chicago area (in-person)
Time commitment
~2 hrs/week + light self-work
Cohort size
Small and intentionally curated
App access
Included at no additional cost
Ambitious women who are pregnant, newly postpartum, or in the thick of early childhood — and have never stopped wanting more from their careers.
You're returning to work or already back — and something still feels off.
You love your child fiercely and also miss the version of yourself that felt purposeful.
You're carrying more than anyone around you fully understands.
You want tools, not platitudes. Community, not content. Someone who has actually done the thing you're trying to do.
If you nodded at any of this — you belong here.
Join the waitlist →
Zeba Khan
I'm a senior technology consulting leader at EY, franchise owner, and the founder of Motherhood by Design. I built these programs because I lived the gap — the version of you that existed before the baby, and the version that arrives on the other side, with no real map for navigating between them.
I've spoken at GitHub Universe and Women Impact Tech, sit on the FinOps Foundation Governing Board, and hold certifications from MIT Sloan and Harvard. But the credential that matters most for this work is simpler: I'm a mother who has built multiple businesses and a demanding career at the same time, and I'm still standing — by design, not by accident.
- Senior Leader, EY Technology Consulting
- Founder, Motherhood by Design
- GitHub Universe speaker
- FinOps Foundation Governing Board member
- MIT Sloan & Harvard certified
Join the waitlist.
The next cohort date will be shared with the waitlist first — before any public announcement. Drop your name and email and I'll be in touch.