In the premiere episode of Confessions of a Female Founder, Meghan Markle, 43, invites listeners behind the curtain—not just into her brand launch, but into the reality of becoming a mother under a global spotlight. Her first guest? Longtime friend and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, 35. What begins as a conversation about entrepreneurship quickly becomes something deeper: a candid, vulnerable look at postpartum recovery, including a health scare that both women experienced but never expected—postpartum preeclampsia.
“Can you believe we both had that?” Wolfe Herd says. “It’s so rare. It’s so scary. And you go and you’re still trying to juggle all of these things, and the world doesn’t know what’s happening quietly. In the quiet, you’re still just trying to show up—mostly for your children. But those things are huge medical scares—I mean, life or death, truly.”
Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare but serious condition that can develop after childbirth. It’s marked by elevated blood pressure and signs of organ damage, typically to the liver or kidneys. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), it can appear up to six weeks postpartum and may lead to seizures, stroke, or worse if untreated. Symptoms often go unrecognized—headaches, swelling, blurred vision, nausea—because they’re so easy to dismiss in the haze of new motherhood.
For Meghan, the experience was compounded by public pressure. Just days after delivering Prince Archie, she was expected to step in front of cameras and present a composed image of new motherhood. Wolfe Herd remembered the moment with disbelief: “I’ll never forget the image of you after you delivered Archie, and the whole world was waiting for his debut. I thought, how is this woman doing this? I could barely face a doorbell delivery for takeout food.”
That pressure to perform isn’t just something celebrities face. It’s something many mothers feel: the weight of trying to hold it all together while navigating recovery, identity shifts, and in some cases, serious medical concerns. And for both Markle and Wolfe Herd, those early postpartum days brought exactly that.
But this episode doesn’t dwell in diagnosis alone—it pulls back the curtain on what many mothers (especially those building something from scratch) struggle with behind closed doors. Wolfe Herd, who is mom to two sons, reflected on how motherhood reshaped her priorities: “I could either be doing that thing, or I could be with my children. And if that thing’s not going to add to their well-being—or enhance the experience for our customers—why would I do it? It’s not high-value enough.”
She continued, “There’s this pressure to be the cheerleader for everyone. But also—who’s cheerleading you?”
That question—who supports the women who seem to do it all—feels central to Confessions of a Female Founder. Meghan’s answer is one many mothers will recognize: survival. “You’re still trying to show up for people. Mostly for your children,” she says quietly.
The podcast is tied to Meghan’s latest venture, American Riviera Orchard, a lifestyle brand she’s building from the ground up. But it’s clear that this show isn’t just a behind-the-scenes look at product development. As Meghan shared in a recent Instagram post:
“I’ve been having candid conversations with amazing women who have turned dreams into realities, and scaled small ideas into massively successful businesses. They’re opening up, sharing their tips, tricks (and tumbles), and letting me pick their brains as I build out my own business, As Ever. It has been absolutely eye-opening, inspiring…and fun!”
Related: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry juggling the absolute chaos of two toddlers in the morning = all of us
What sets this project apart is its emotional honesty. Meghan isn’t just spotlighting the glow-up—she’s naming the cost, especially when building a business collides with building a family.
“Being a mother—as you know—nothing comes before that,” Meghan shares in the episode. “They’re extensions of our soul and our heart, and their well-being is our well-being.” She offers a glimpse into her own day-to-day with 3-year-old Lilibet: “She only has a half day in preschool… If she wakes up and she wants to find me, she knows where to find me—even if my door is closed. She’ll be sitting there on my lap during one of these meetings.”
It’s a moment many working parents will recognize: the blurred lines between work calls and toddler snuggles, between building something new and nurturing what matters most.
In a world that often rewards burnout and hustle, Confessions of a Female Founder offers a counterpoint: that our health, our boundaries, and our stories deserve space. That building something meaningful shouldn’t require hiding the hardest parts. And that for so many mothers, the strength it takes to show up quietly—again and again—is the most powerful kind of leadership there is.
Related: This new at-home program is redefining postpartum care for moms