As working moms, we’re often told to “know our worth.” But how do we define that worth when society still ties value so closely to productivity, hours worked, or money earned?
In this episode of the CPA MOMS Podcast, Nicole Kehl and Mayumi Young dive into this exact question and share a powerful reframe for every woman in accounting who’s ready to stop playing small.
Why We Struggle to Claim Our Value
Mayumi explains that owning your value is both a mindset and a behavior. Biologically and culturally, women are conditioned to prioritize others first, especially as mothers. This natural selflessness can make it hard to put ourselves first or advocate for our worth.
In the accounting profession, a field historically designed by men, the hustle-over-everything culture can leave women, especially moms, feeling undervalued or invisible. When time is the currency, caregiving often becomes a penalty.
Redefining Value Beyond the Numbers
One of the most impactful parts of the episode is Mayumi’s challenge to redefine value not as a number, but as a feeling: Do you feel respected, appreciated, and valuable?
She shares how value can’t be assigned by others. Even external praise or compensation can fall flat if you don’t believe in your own worth internally. And if there’s a gap between how much you believe you’re worth and what you’re receiving, that’s a sign something needs to change.
From Awareness to Action
So what’s the first step? Awareness.
Mayumi offers a simple but powerful exercise: Write down everything you’ve been tolerating in work, in life, and in relationships. Then, get honest. Get angry if you need to. Use that emotion to move up the scale from resignation to courage. Because real change happens when you step into your own power, not by waiting for permission but by choosing not to tolerate what no longer serves you.
Rethinking Compensation and Culture
Mayumi also challenges the traditional hourly-based compensation model, advocating instead for value-based billing, not just for clients but internally for team members. Her firm experimented with paying employees a percentage of billings, rewarding efficiency and ownership instead of time.
This model creates a culture of intrapreneurs, team members who think and act like owners even if they’re not. And for professional working moms, that mindset is often already present. They’re disciplined, flexible, and responsible, not despite their lives but because of them.
Final Thoughts
Your value isn’t something you earn. It’s something you recognize, honor, and build upon.
This episode is your reminder that you have a choice. You get what you tolerate, but you also get to raise your standards. And when you do, everything changes.
Feeling inspired? You don’t have to do it alone. Join a supportive network of women who are redefining success in accounting: https://cpamoms.com/start