There are very few people who can say they trained to go to space—and even fewer who will tell you that nothing prepared them for early motherhood.
In this episode, I sit down with Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican-born woman to travel to space, to talk about the parts of motherhood no one warns you about; not in books, not on TikTok, not even in the most thorough “research spirals.” We talk about exhaustion that rewires your psychology, the mental weight of missing milestones you can’t schedule, and the moment when your entire definition of success quietly collapses and reforms.
Katya opens up about how becoming a mother forced her to radically reorganize her life, her work, and her relationship to ambition. About choosing presence over prestige. About saying no without apology. About why productivity didn’t disappear, it sharpened.
We also go deep on something that genuinely caught me off guard: RSV. What it is, why so many parents don’t know about it, how easy it is to underestimate, and why prevention—not panic—matters. This part alone is worth listening to if you have a baby in your life.
At its core, this conversation isn’t about space. It’s about what we think we’re striving for, what actually sustains us, and how motherhood strips away the noise until only the essential remains.
If you’ve ever felt torn between who you were and who you’re becoming, or wondered whether you’re allowed to want less and mean it, this one is for you.
Connect with Katya on Instagram at @katvoltageExplore the Foundation :La Fundación Espacial Katya Echazarreta
*Tap the heart (it helps more people find this) — and send it to a friend who’d get it.*
