You didn't lose yourself.
You're redesigning.
A small-cohort program for ambitious moms in the early years — built to help you find clarity, rebuild your rhythms, and show up fully without burning out. In person. In community. By design. Cohort begins September 2026.
Nothing is due until you're accepted.
The Design Year
The Design Year is an intimate, guided program for high-achieving mothers navigating one of the most disorienting transitions of their professional lives.
You built a career. Then you had a child. Now you're figuring out who you are in both.
You're at the peak of your career. Leadership role. Strong compensation. A great partnership. And you decide — it's time to start a family.
Nobody told you that the version of you who walks back into that office after maternity leave would feel like a stranger in her own life. That the confidence you built over a decade could feel so fragile. That you'd sit in a meeting where you used to lead the room and find yourself wondering if you still belong there.
Nobody talks about the grief of leaving behind a version of yourself you worked so hard to build. Or the guilt of wanting your career back when you love your child more than anything. Or the loneliness of being surrounded by high-achievers and not knowing a single one who admits to feeling exactly this.
That's who this is for.
Returning to work after having a child isn't just a scheduling problem. It's a neurological shift, an identity reconfiguration, and a relationship renegotiation — all happening at the same time, while you're also trying to perform at a high level professionally.
Most support out there treats it like a logistics problem. The Design Year treats it like what it actually is.
This program is for you if you're pregnant, newly postpartum, or in the thick of early childhood — and you're a woman who has never stopped being ambitious, even when everything feels impossible to hold at once.
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. And someone who has actually done the thing you're trying to do.
If you nodded at any of this — you belong here.
The Founding Cohort
This is the first cohort. Which means the women who join aren't just participants — they're architects. Founding members receive benefits that won't be available to future cohorts.
Benefit 01
Founding price, locked for life
Your $2,500 rate applies to any future Design Year program you return to. The price for founding members never increases.
Benefit 02
Lifetime community access
The relationships you build in this cohort extend beyond the 9 weeks. Founding members keep permanent access to the MBD community.
Benefit 03
MBD App founding user
Early access to the Motherhood by Design App before public launch — and your input directly shapes the product.
Benefit 04
Shape the program
Founding cohort members help determine what comes next. Your feedback directly informs how The Design Year evolves.
This isn't a course.
It's a container — designed to hold you while you figure out what the next version of your life looks like.
Weekly
Virtual Touchpoints
A consistent, protected touchpoint each week with your cohort and your guides. No commute required — just an hour that belongs entirely to this work and to you. Approximately 2 hours per week total, including light self-work between sessions.
In-Person
Retreat Experiences
Up to 4 in-person gatherings across September, October, and November in the Chicago area — immersive half-day or full-day sessions built around deep work, real conversation, and the kind of reset that only happens when you're physically present with people who get it.
Curated
A Curated Cohort
Applications are evaluated for personal fit and alignment — not processed first-come, first-served. 8 seats. Because depth requires trust, and trust requires the right people in the room.
Included
Free MBD App Access
Every cohort member receives free access to the Motherhood by Design App — a personal assistant built specifically for the ambitious mom. Cohort members join as founding users, with early access before the public launch.
Program at a glance
Duration
9 weeks · optional extension to 12
Format
Weekly virtual + in-person retreats
In-person windows
Sep – Nov 2026 · Chicago area
Time commitment
~2 hrs/week + light self-work
Cohort
8 seats · curated for fit
Investment
$2,500 · two-payment plan available
App & community
Lifetime access included
Applications close
July 31, 2026
The people in your corner
Program Lead
Zeba Khan
I'm Zeba Khan — a senior technology consulting leader at EY, franchise owner, and the founder of Motherhood by Design. I built this because I lived the gap: the version of you that existed before the baby, and the version that arrives on the other side, and no real map for navigating between them. This program is that map.
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.
Program Partner
Rachel Kurasz
This cohort is supported by Rachel Kurasz, PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University, where she researches how people communicate across difference, rebuild civil dialogue, and develop critical thinking skills in a world that makes all three harder than it should be.
In early motherhood, many women lose the language to articulate what they're experiencing — to their partners, their employers, their communities, and themselves. Rachel's research gives us a framework for that. Because before you can redesign your life, you have to be able to speak it.
She's also a mother to a 7-year-old daughter — which means she brings lived experience alongside the academic rigor. This isn't theory applied to motherhood. It's motherhood informing the theory.
$2,500 · Everything included
- Full 9-week program — plus optional 3-week extension at no additional cost
- Weekly virtual touchpoints with your cohort and guides
- Up to 4 in-person retreats in the Chicago area (September–November 2026)
- High-touch facilitation — 8 seats only, every participant fully supported
- Free lifetime access to the MBD App (founding-user early access)
- Lifetime access to the MBD community beyond the program
Two-payment option available. Split the investment into $1,250 at Week 1 and $1,250 at Week 5. Just mention it when you apply.
Nothing is due until you're accepted. Payment details are shared upon acceptance.
Refund policy: full refunds for withdrawals before the program begins; prorated refund for withdrawals in weeks 1–2; no refunds after Week 3. Full terms in the program agreement.
Questions, answered.
Apply for The Design Year
This program is intentionally small — 8 seats, curated for fit. Applications are reviewed for personal alignment, not processed in order. There are no wrong answers. We're looking for women who are ready.
Application received.
Thank you for applying to The Design Year. We'll review your application and be in touch within 5–7 business days. Check your inbox — and your spam folder, just in case.
Questions in the meantime? Reach out here.