It’s not a sin for women to have ambitions. Still, women feel judged when they dare to pursue their dreams. Now, imagine moms with ambitions. You can imagine how family and society will give them that look of disapproval.

“Chairmom” is Merlee Cruz-Jayme’s second book. This book is about women fighting to keep their ambitions strong while making the tough choice of being good mothers.

So different from all other books written about work and family balancing acts, this does not gloss over women wanting to have it all. It celebrates imperfect lives, sharing different helpful experiences and showing the gritty truth.

Cruz-Jayme was named among top 100 chief creative officers globally in the 2019 Drum Global Ranking—one of only eight women.

She was recognized with the Hall of Fame Award by the 4As Creative Guild, The New York Festivals Creative Achievement Award and the CEO of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators. She was the first to be awarded the Creative of the Year by Campaign Asia in 2013. This year, Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change awarded her as a Women’s Advancement Champion for her creative work for diversity, equity and inclusion. With her as chief creative officer, Dentsu International Asia and Pacific won the Adfest Network of the year 2020 and 2022, Spikes Network of the Year 2021, Cannes Lions Regional Network of the Year 2021 and Ad Stars Network of the Year 2021.

In her book, she writes about her sacrifices and guilt-ridden episodes as a woman and a mom. Ultimately, she wants to prove that motherhood is never a stumbling block to a successful career.

Cruz-Jayme will sign copies of “Chairmom” at the Manila International Book Fair on Sept. 15-18, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the SMX Convention Center.